So last week I turned 33, I have never , not had a pre 71 vehicle since I was 17. This last year was rough. I finished a 71 Monte 406 SBC build and grenaded the motor almost exactly one year ago. Since then I've sold the Monte and focused on my chopper. I've been pre 71' vehicle(less) for just shy of a year, it started driving me insane. I went to the track to watch some friends run there Mopars and I got the itch in the worst way. So I started looking at project mopar car., I became obsessed with 1960's mopar drag racing propaganda. Just as I knew I couldn't afford one at the time. So I stumbled on a 60' F-100. The truck's loving owner sadly p***ed away and nephew was selling the truck, asking price $1,250. Now I got kid #2 due any day so I told the wife it's going down now before this kid gets here. I go look at it, and it's kinda rough. Needs cab corners inner and outer. Hood needs love , both door jambs need love. It spent many a year in a barn, or what the nephew described as a dirt floor garage. The bed is immaculate & it has buckets out of a 68-72 Chevelle. The rear looked like a 9" and its got a set of magnum 500's with Astro star ultra wide L-60's out back , then I notice tubs in the rear. Now I raise the question , what's under the hood. So he pops the hood , immediately something don't look right(distributor), the heads were pulled, oil valley looks beautiful, I pulled a lifter looks good...... . So I ask again and he replies it's a 302 , 383 stroker. Yea at this point I realize this dude is lost. Now, I needed to see the heads. He pulls two tubs of parts over and the heads look great, almost new springs and retainers , high lift collars. But ...... I see shaft mounted rockers. My heart starts pumping , I pop the hood and it hit me. This is a RB mopar. I s****e the vin plate and Holy $hit. C440 with a HP specialty code. It then hit me I'm looking at a swapped 440 hp , 727 , 8 3/4 and yes it's got the 915 heads. I kept my cool and haggled him down to $800 and couldn't get the $ out of my pocket fast enough. The truck came with loads of receipts and artifacts, even the previous owners death certificate. I know trucks were seldomly run in the g***er era, if at all. That being said the plan is to build a period correct 60's g***er , just with the wrong vehicle. Im so amped about this build its insane. Definatly getting a purple shaft, fender well headers , a stall and 390-430 gear. I def plan on tapping the 57-60 f100 group for info on sourcing high arch springs for the lift. I also plan on paying Tribute to the original owner Elbert lee Spaw will be painted on the driver door above the handle. Being that the truck was purchased in Indiana 9/14/79 the name we came up with is "Corn Snake Moan"
A name that was come up with after many beers. Some one was talking about the movie black snake moan. Jokingly later on a friend called the truck corn snake moan. The Corn part is in reference to the truck being from Indiana & corn being a Indiana staple.
The rear end could easily be a 9" Ford as that is what it came with when new. It could also be a MOPAR 8 3/4". A photo of the center center section would be helpful. Looks like an interesting project. Ray
Nice find. I agree that the rearend could be Ford 9-inch, that was stock in the truck. Have fun with the new project.
I guess I shoulda mentioned I confirmed it as a 8 3/4 with a .323 gear. It's going to be a fun winter, but, a whole lot of measuring needs to be done first.
Sleeper, now all you to do is figure out to make I t hook up! How about, E. L. Spaw Delivery Service on the side, with the appropriate phone # and location. Have Fun with it!
Thanks , I got my work cut out for me. There is little to no info for lifting these trucks. After a bunch of research I think I found the best, easiest and cheapest way. Maybe after I take a bunch of pics and get things done I'll start a build thread .
I plan on swapping to at least a .390 rear gear. Possibly as high as .430. I do want to be able to cruise it locally, avoiding highways of course haha.
I think you mean 3.90, correct? A .390 ratio means your rear wheels would make 2.56 complete rotations for every one rotation of the driveshaft. With this kind of a ratio and a 26" tall tire your driveshaft would turn a mere 303 rotations per mile. Convert that to engine RPM which means at 60 MPH your engine will be turning 303 RPM (***uming direct drive through the transmission in high gear, no overdrive). Lets ***ume you have an idle speed of 909 RPM (triple the 303 RPM, easy math). It all boils down to 180MPH at a 909 RPM idle speed. Like I said, it's gonna be a ***** to launch, but the top end will be incredible.
.....waitaminute, no pics of the engine?!? All that wadding up of ******* in a tight wet wad......and NO pics???!?!!
It's not much to look at right now. Motor is pulled. Heads are pulled, there's no ridge and cylinders look very good. I'm a little baffled because its stock numbered Pistons, I would think there would be some wear but appears to have hone marking still in the cylinders. Gonna flip her over and pull the main caps this weekend and regasket. I also have been up late trying to find compatible springs and I found it. Ford 57-64 F-100 front springs are 22.5" eye to center pin on each end and 2" wide. Jeep YJ springs are exact match but 2.5 " wide. So for future reference Ford replacements are in the $150 range. Jeep YJ springs are $58 a pop for up to 4" lift and the +4" are a 3 spring pack high arch. Not sure how much lift the springs will give me with that big block but either way it's a cheap alternative to f100 springs.
You could build a clone with that drivetrain, you were looking for a mopar in the first place. Put an FE in the Ford & either move it on or enjoy it. Sounds like a win, win, to me.
I'm gonna run what I got in what I got, for now at least. If I come across a early scamp on the cheap, things will change rapidly hahaha
Great find, and an unusual project. Why go back to Ford power when this is a good, strong setup, and will drive the purists up the wall.
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