hows that 56 coming along? 56 is my favourite year besides my 49 of course LOL I would have been more than happy with one or the other.
She's been kept hibernating in the shop. Still been too busy with house repairs and renovations, so far. There's a short list of to-do's to kill before I go crazy cleaning the shop out and getting started on her, or the wife's truck, or one of my F-100s.....
I can really understand that, we are currently redoing our kitchen. life can sure get in the way sometimes and I'm getting excited to drive mine someday. oh well, we just have to keep plugging away at it. So, am I right in thinking your f100s are 56s?
Sorry for late reply. Life again, including a hospital stay a couple weeks ago.... rhabdo taught me I ain't as young as I used to be! Yeah. I still have the '56 my dad bought for me when I was a teenager. It stalled at the bare frame when I met my wife and got married real young. Then I have a '54 F-100, and a slew of various 53-56 cabs, doors, hoods, (etc). Most will be sacrificed to the crew cab gods. The '56 COE and F-100 will get built to be matching, period correct-ish, appearantly stock, crew cab trucks, atop newer drive trains. I'll probably build the '54 as a beater/daily. I might do that sooner than later as my oldest is about to want my daily when he turns 16.
Glad to hear your ok now after hospital, thats never fun. And i get the not so young anymore, trouble is at 65 I still feel like I'm 25 sometimes. I don't mind getting old but I hope I never grow up. lol. I also got married pretty young and I'm proud to say nearly 43 years later I'm still married to the same wonderful woman. My oldest son is infected with this same disease/hobby/profession and will be helping with some of the body fabrication on the rear of my truck soonish. He just turned 40, my youngest son just turned 17. Both will get to drive my COE, but for now I'm keeping the keys. LOL I know of a 55 F100 id love to build as a daily but gotta finish the COE first, then a couple of bikes require my attention, then.....
Having kids who share the love of a hobby is great. I'm pretty sure my boys are mostly interested in cars just to do something fun with dad, more so than a genuine interest of their own. And that's okay. I force myself to play video games with them from time to time, even though I really don't find any enjoyment in them at all. The investment in each other is the most valuable collectible!
So the same PROBLEM that most if not all COE guys have is the steering and how to make it work and fit. I started with the Isuzu power steering box and after having moved it THREE times I gave up and threw it in the that didn't work pile. My issue was the pitman arm hitting the back of the headlight bucket on full right lock. So now I'm using a big Chevy power box further back along the rail. Ive made a idler/bellcrank setup on the rail at the rear of the front spring with a drag link from the pitman arm to the idler and then from the idler forward to the R/H steering arm on the stub axle. What a marathon, but no more interference with the H/L bucket. Took some sitting and looking at it for awhile let me tell ya.
I think we need some pics of this "fix", might help someone else out plus I'm curious. Good that you got it sorted finally!
its dis***embled at the moment but ill put some more picks up soonish. I tend to jump around a bit on different areas on the project, I'm currently working on a Lincoln style dash after s****ping the previous one I spent considerable time on. But, thats just how it goes sometimes, I'm trying to build this exactly how I want it with no compromises. for instance, I love four spoke Bell sprint car steering wheels but also love wood rim wheels. So I made my own wood rim four spoker, the things we do. LOL
Hi Lexcoe- I see how the Isuzu power box was likely mounted too far forward for most COE cabs. Have you gotten your fix for that problem ***embled now so you could share a photo or two? Thanks Bantam
Bantam, sorry no its not ***embled again at the moment, but ill try to explain it...... the original Isuzu steering was mounted on the frame rail with a drag link going directly back to the steering arm from the right hand stub, simple push/pull steering. BUT, the actual BIG steering box is to far forward and interfers with the short front sheetmetal. So now, I have a big Chevy power steering box further back on the frame with a drag link going back to a idler setup mounted on the frame and another drag link going forward to the steering arm stub. Essentially I have reversed the whole deal and that has allowed me to move the steering box to where I want.
Thanks, Lexcoe. I understand from your description how you handled the steering now. Sounds like a great solution. Is there a bell crank you borrowed from some other application or did you fabricate the bell crank? For this unfamiliar with the Isuzu ch***is I stole this picture off of a craigslist ad and it shows the problem statement with the Isuzu NPR ch***is stock steering box location. The steering box in its stock location sits outside of the grill when a COE cab is set on the NPR ch***is. Note that in the photo the steering box and drag link are hanging loose but the box in the photo is still in the approximate location where it is normally mounted. There may be some COE makes/models that are long enough to cover the box but most are too snubby.
It depends where your front axle is! Ford, Chevy, and Dodge all have the axle set forward which work great with the various Detroit van ch***is' from about 1970 on up. The Isuzu works better with the Ford C series, (width?) Whites and Autocars which have a set back axle.
Bantam, I fabricated the idler/bellcrank thingo by using a trailer type stub axle and bearings in a machined tube welded into the bellcrank. I had it laser cut from 3/4 steel and then drilled it and used a 7.5 degree tapered reamer. I used DOM tubing for the two drag links which are tapped to the correct thread to suit my tie rod ends. I must have moved the Isuzu box 4 or 5 times and still wasn't happy so then I had a big rethink and came up with what I have now. My SBR frame had two crossmember close together at the front of the frame so i cut the frame off at the very front of the front spring hangers and moved one of the crossmember back slightly. The width of the SBR frame is very close to the same as the original Ford frame and the configuration is very similar only better brakes etc of course. My engine and trans are still in the front because I didn't want to go mid mount, mainly because I wanted to keep the frame and suspension simple, no IRS to accomadate a short driveshaft. This build is complex enough with the standalone engine management etc. BUT, I like a challenge so just keep moving forward I guess.....LOL
Been a little while since I did an update, and I'm pleased to say I've made a fair amount of progress I had a BIG aluminium radiator built and now have it mounted, just trying to sort out top and bottom hoses and mount a fan to the rear face. Finally have ALL my steering finalised including hoses and firewall mounted reservoir etc. I s****ped the first dash design I was going with and have now started on a Lincoln Zephyr inspired style using a Large central speedo. A friend found a nice 36 I think Plymouth speedo at a garage sale that I've had rebuilt. It now features a voltmeter and upgraded 12v internals for temp etc. It now also uses a GPS signal for the actual speed. That was a issue for me as to how to generate a signal from my auto trans. I've also made pipes up to the turbos, some of the Ebrake stuff, electric brake booster vacuum source etc etc So now I'm busy banging metal on my sandbag and wheeling away the hours building a new dash. I'm still struggling to post pics but ill try.
don't know whats going on with pics, I can import them from my iPad onto the Mac, and then I can't find the darn things. This has been going since the last time the Mac program was updated, should have left the darn thing alone. but ill keep trying, sometimes I think building cars is easier.
Took my engine away to be rebuilt today, forged pistons, h beam rods, o ringed heads etc etc to handle the planned 15 psi boost from the turbos. I'm pretty excited about this big step, even tho it will be awhile before I get it back. having the two piece driveshaft done at a different place also, should get it back in a couple weeks. slow but steady (and expensive) progress, did I mention I'm excited?
I've pretty much been off of this page for reasons that even I don't understand. It was great to go back through this and see / read your progress. Hopefully I'll remember to check in more often now.
Great to have you back and now with two COEs. It does seem to have been a little quite on here lately, but most of the regulars are still here I think. Progress on mine has been slow but steady, and progress is still progress I guess.
Well I’ve been watching everyone but been busy with other projects . First I chopped a Tudor and built myself a hot rod . Then the wife wants me to redo our Airstream, which is what I’m doing now . Should have it done by February. Then nothing except life should stop me from working on my COE build .
Toaster is right . Metal shed with no insulation in Texas sun . 106 outside and 140+ in shed in afternoon .
Ive been watching the Tudor build, looks great. I find having only one pair of hands problematic, LOL. My wife and I recently bought a 62 Valiant which will become our daily, so always something going on. But would I have it any other way? NO, of course not I hope to experience that Texas heat someday, LSR is on my bucket list
Been slowly chipping away at my COE, BUT, it has taken a back seat while I've been extending my garage. its now 42ft by 20ft plus a separate area for my four poster hoist, Life is good.
Wow, looks like I might be able to post pictures again, from my iPad . Anyway I'll try these, showing how I ended up doing the steering on my 49
Looks like that worked, so here's a couple pictures of my rebuilt speedo. I'm using a gps generated signal to drive the speedo cable, as my trans doesn't have a cable drive. So now I have a volt meter rather than amps and 12v conversion for the other functions.
Thanks for the pics! Great to see progress on your build, seems like most build threads here start well then fade away......
The Jalopy Journal
