My new F-100... the Digger gets a hauler...

The Bomb Factory Hauler... BFH for short.

I've been eyeing '57 F-100's lately... and saw this one on e-bay.

It had an opening bid of $690... and I was the only guy to bid on it.

So last Tuesday ChopperBob and I loaded up and left here at 4:00am... got up to Salem at around 3:30pm, put it on the trailer and then headed back home... I drove 1200 miles in 23 1/2 hours! The next day I was shot...

So after eyeing the '65 Chevy frame (that has mid 70's Chevy front suspension) in my garage, I measured and discovered that it was the EXACT same width and heigth just under the cab on both trucks... and it'll give me a modest 5" drop. So plans are to find a 60's Chevy pu front frame and a 70's suspension with all the amenities.

The engine will be whatever I come across, Ford or GM, that is cheap and makes plenty of power... I'll put AC in it... do all the body work and paint myself... and hopefully end up with a cute little hauler.

As far as what it will look like... I want it white (like the old Ford ivory white) with red interior. Wheels and tires will be chrome reversed wheels with blackwall tires.

Other than that... it'll look stock.

Now all I have to do is get the '65 in my garage done... AND widen the rear and narrow the tires on my Model A before I can get started on this.

But that doesn't prevent me from scrounging parts!

Sam.

 

Ah yea... as far as condition goes... the bed is the most perfect 2nd series short bed you will ever find... weld up a few holes and straigten a few woops in the floor and call it DONE... the cab has rust in the steps and rust in the pillar supports... but otherwise straight. The doors are done, no rust. The fenders are rusty, already found a perfect replacement at PNP for the right side... and the hood is decent and just needs a couple dents whacked out... overall, it's a damn nice truck considering its age and what I paid for it.

Stay tuned...
Sam.

 

right on Sam... for the price you paid, that thing will be perfect for the BFD... low budget theme all the way.

 

Damn this is driving me crazy,i gotsta drum up the fundage to go up to Ala.and bring down my 60 F100 everyones having fun but me oh and great score on that 57 i'm glad to see more 57-60 F series Fords are getting more exposure seem the 57-60's are the most forgotten Fords trucks

 

cool ride, you putting a wooden push bumper on it?

As for front susp, since you are considering Chevy, consider a 88 - 98 frame set up... I believe same width and must easier to find parts for lowering

 

Sam, you keep saying 70's front suspension. Keep in mind, they are the same all the way up through 87 on the trucks and even through 91 on the Suburbans.

I do a lot of "closet" work on 67-72 trucks, and I always aim for the newest front suspension I can turn up. Plenty of nice Suburbans up through 91 get parted and they usually have fewer miles and tighter parts.

 

Nice truck Sam, but please don't drop a Chevy motor in it! If I see another SBC in a cl***ic Ford, I'm gonna puke!

 

Better get your raffle ticket for the motor and trans,keep it all ford!

 

Thanks for the tip Hillbilly!

Yea, I know... SBC, blah... I feel the same way about certain colors of pimer and painted wheels!

I'm actually just gonna look for some kind of Big Block that is CHEAP... pull it at the yard and drop it into the thing.

I have a question... will the 70-80's Chevy p-u A arms bolt up to the 60's crossmember? Or do you have to swap the crossmember too like I did on the '65 in my garage??

As far as lowering... I'm going to go a little against the grain here... I really don't want this truck slammed. Just swapping the Chevy p-u frame and suspension is going to drop it 5" from where it is at right now... that'll put the fender well about 1" above the tire... about right.

Thanks!

Sam.

 

An old 390 would be perfect for that truck--easy to make gobs of torque with one of those critters...

 

390... or a 500ci cadillac motor

 

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390... or a 500ci cadillac motor



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I'd go Caddy, I'd go Olds... Buick, Ford... Chevy... even a Mopar. (I have a 392, but I don't think I could do it "on the cheap")

No Pontiacs though... I don't care for the way they sound.
Sam.

 

Sam, the later arms will bolt onto the earlier crossmember with no mods at all. The later arms will have later balljoints which are needed for the disc brake spindles.

The upper arms are held onto the crossmember with 2 nuts per side and the lower arms are held on by two little u-bolts per side.

 

Looks good, Sam. Not sure if I understand what you're thinking about doing, however. Are you talking about front-halving the back of the Ford frame with a GM front? Can't imagine why; just use the entire GM ch***is. They are all essentially the same width through the '60s and some up into the '70s. Way back in Dubya-Dubya Aye-Aye the gummint mandated standardized frame dimensions for American truck manufacturers so needs for a particular application (weapons carrier, communitcations body, ambulance, etc.) could be filled by any or all manufactures. Long after the mandate was rescinded truck manufacturers continued to use the old standards.

 

In the late '80s and on into the '90s racers were pulling the gas-guzzling 454s out of their late-model GMC/Chevy crew-cab-dually tugs and replacing them with 500 inch Cadillacs for a big jump in fuel economy thanks to the Cadillac's greater torque delivered at lower engine speeds.

The Ford truck 460 is stingier than the GM 454, but not nearly so much as is the Cadillac 500 -- which is also lighter than the others.

 

I'd tell you that you **** and that you always find the cool stuff, but then I wasn't on ebay looking for a 57 Ford PU - not exactly the popular search. It's only when you see someone elses' and hear the deal that they made when they got it that you actually concider looking for one.

Good find anyway. It reminds me of a comercial back in the 80's where the tag-line was "Don't you go buyin' no UGLY truck!!"

I remember it cause my dad bought an UGLY truck (International Harvester) and my mom gave him a rash of **** over it. It earned the nick name "ugly truck" shortly thereafter.

Looks like you just bought an ugly truck too.

 

When I first measured the '65 frame in my garage (and got all teary eyed-excited) That was my intention... to do a frame swap.

But those hopes were soon squished when I realized that the kick up in the rear was almost three times what it was for the stock Ford frame. The Ford frame kicks up 2.5" in the rear, just after the cab... and the Chevy frame kicks up 6 1/2"... I then went and measured a '79 around the block from me... and it kicks up dang near 10" from the flat section just under the cab.
So I'm thinking a simple splice in the middle (I'll make it look faktry) will be a quick and easy way to do it... and it will and up looking the cleanest.

Then I don't have to fabricate bed risers, rear bumper mount, suspension mounts etc.

I'm also pretty happy with the rear suspension on this truck... it seems supple, yet when it hits the over-ride wprings it'll be able to handle the load. To lower it, I'll just move the front spring mount upward 5"... that'll give me about 2.5" of drop...

Sam.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I'd tell you that you **** and that you always find the cool stuff, but then I wasn't on ebay looking for a 57 Ford PU - not exactly the popular search. It's only when you see someone elses' and hear the deal that they made when they got it that you actually concider looking for one.

Good find anyway. It reminds me of a comercial back in the 80's where the tag-line was "Don't you go buyin' no UGLY truck!!"

I remember it cause my dad bought an UGLY truck (International Harvester) and my mom gave him a rash of **** over it. It earned the nick name "ugly truck" shortly thereafter.

Looks like you just bought an ugly truck too.

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Beauty is in the eye of the behinder!

I actually think that the '57 is a better looking truck than the first series F-100's... to me, those are too nose heavy and dopey looking... This truck looks like it should be hauling an old digger... and maybe it's not as good looking as the Tri-Five Chevy trucks (I like them better), but you aren't going to find one of those with original faded paint for $690...

Broman, you're gonna laugh when I tell you this story... Bob and I were crossing over into California when I asked Bob "what do you think they'll ask us?" Bob says: "Well, they'll ask us if we have any fruits or vegetables..."
and I said: "No veggies... but we got this big ****ing lemon on the trailer!"

Sam.

 

Oh, I like it

 

Perfect truck for the digger Sam!

FONZI

 

Sam - just a simple question, 'cause I must be missing something. Wouldn't it be easier and probably less costly to do a Mustang II in the orig frame?

 

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Sam - just a simple question, 'cause I must be missing something. Wouldn't it be easier and probably less costly to do a Mustang II in the orig frame?

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I can do the truck swap for around $150-$200... and get good used parts with it... A Mustang II set up is a little too light weight for me... I'm going to use this pickup and a pickup... not really a profilin' truck. I don't know what width you can make a MII system, but it is also very important to me to have the track width as close to original as possible... and initial measurments show that the Chevy p-u and the F-100 are only about 3/4" different...

Just one easy splice, some careful measuring and graft on the front frame horns to hold the core support and the stock front bumper and I'm done.
If I elect to go with a BBC... the motor mounts will be there... the trans mount will be there... and it'll just be a matter of hooking up the tilt steering column...

I appreciate the opinions though... there are things that you will miss until you dig into it.
Sam.

 

Sam, 72-79 torino elite ltd 11 ranchero fronts work well under these 57-60 f 100s. did two of em back in the 80s. Cal

 

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Sam, 72-79 torino elite ltd 11 ranchero fronts work well under these 57-60 f 100s. did two of em back in the 80s. Cal

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How and where do they mate up?, How wide is the track and how low will it sit when done?

Sam.

 

Just a small note on rear leaf spring mounts. I believe the front mount on the spring should always be lower than the rear mount. If it ends up aove the rear mount then you may have handling problems. I don't know the full facts on this just the basics. So it is something worth considering if you are going to raise the front mount to lower your pickup. You don't want a truck that may handle unpredictably, especially as you will be towing with it. Geoff aka Whodaky

 

[ QUOTE ]
Just a small note on rear leaf spring mounts. I believe the front mount on the spring should always be lower than the rear mount. If it ends up aove the rear mount then you may have handling problems. I don't know the full facts on this just the basics. So it is something worth considering if you are going to raise the front mount to lower your pickup. You don't want a truck that may handle unpredictably, especially as you will be towing with it. Geoff aka Whodaky

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No ****?
I didn't know that... I guess I could flip in on top of the springs...
anyone else have info on this?
Thanks for the tip... hopefully someone will tell us why this is so...
Sam.

 

Yea Sam, there is something about keeping the relationship the same. I was looking a raising both front and rear on my '48 F1 and notching the frame to lower to it. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do, just considering options. Hopefully someone will come on and explain the mount situation.

Frank

 

damn Sam...I just listed a 55 f100 panel on ebay....you could haul the digger and crash in the back....think **** carpet baby!

 

Sam-Id use the chevy frame complete and a 403 Olds or 455 Olds.....Caddy 500 is tourquey but will burn MORE gas by far anfd arent nearly as dependable or easily replaced if needed as availability is skinny [a bit] nowadays.

 

sam,

i was discussing this with enjenjo this spring and he told me he'd done many like it, i.e., putting the axle over the springs (like a car is done), and that it works well.

so that's my plan for the future for clarence. i'm trying to just get the springs replaced so i can get to mokan right now, but maybe this winter i can swap places with the springs and axle. C'ing the frame at the same time, of course.