1970 F100 SWB CV/TBird build

[Ridgerunner]

I like your creativity. Your truck is turning out well.

 

[elgemcdlf]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I am currently on a scavenger hunt for pieces to get it running. I should have everything except a carb today. It has got pretty warm around here & I am getting the itch to drive it!

 

[Beach66Bum]

Incredible build and pic's to go along with it!!! Fantastic work, you've got all the skills needed to make that one biacth'in Ford.

 

[elgemcdlf]

Managed to gather all the parts needed today. Driveshaft is going out to be shortened. The goal is to hear her breath fire by Friday. I am hoping to have the dash in the truck by the end of summer along with new wheels and tires. Then she goes into "tons of money with nothing visual to show" mode. Things like complete new harness, thicker anti-sway bar for the rear, posi for the rear, heavy duty axle shafts, new rear gears, et cetera.

 

[elgemcdlf]

Ordered my plates yesterday. FARM TRK I thought it fitting.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Ordered my plates yesterday. FARM TRK I thought it fitting.

I like it!
We're on a farm

My regular plate is CT 8020, which we joke stands for Country Truck from 8 to 2.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You're making great progress.

 

[catatonichampster]

Yes

What a beautiful truck! Beautiful shop and beautiful women. You got it made buddy! I like those indents in the fenders. It gives character and personality. Love your shop. To have the use of forklifts and the like! How cool is that! I have a couple handyman jacks and lay in the dirt/mud to change oil and such.

 

[elgemcdlf]

The dash is almost ready to go in. Truck runs but not drivable yet. Have some wiring to do along with getting the exhaust connected. I will post pics of the dash prior to install along with pics as I go through the process. Getting warm out here in IN and the itch to drive it is getting strong.

 

[elgemcdlf]

Well the engine is getting a little attention before the dash goes in. Taking apart tomorrow & putting on a set of C9VE-A heads, early timing set, C8 dual plane intake & recurving the distributor. Should be somewhere between 375 & 400 hp when done. Not too bad for starting with 220 hp & using stock parts.

 

[elgemcdlf]

I managed to get the engine tore down today. Should have parts to put it back together tomorrow.

Hood storage

Our new plate for the truck

The core support is set up for a 6cyl. I have a big block core support coming but until then I need to open up the core support for more air flow.

An old man pulling the lower hose

Pulling the radiator

The original opening

The same old man cutting out the opening

Carb off. If you look closely you will see a passage below the carb on the right rear for the egr system. The C8 intake does not have this passage. Both intakes are dual plane.

PS pump out of the way

Valve cover off to reveal a Pennzoil/Quaker State or some other paraffin based oil engine. Have some cleanup to do here.

There's that old man again

Intake, water pump & harmonic balancer pulled. We can now see how bad the valley is caked with paraffin

That guy is just plain fat!

Timing cover off. Not that easy to see but the timing set is shot. Just doing a replacement would greatly help but I am advancing the stock cam 4* with the replacement timing set

Another shot of the valley

These pistons are dished out in the center (lower compression). The pistons in the engine that donated the heads were flat top with valve relief cuts in them.

More pics tomorrow as the engine goes back together.

 

[elgemcdlf]

Time to put her back together again.

Cleaning major parts at the car wash.

Timing cover on, heads set in place & putting the head bolts in.

Rockers back in & intake on.

Nothing like getting into your work. All the bending over doing this still has my back feeling it. Gotta love getting old. Bolting on the left header in this pic.

Connecting vac lines on the back of the intake.

Water pump on.

Distributor tore down for recurving. I had 10L & 15L slots in mine. It was originally set on the 15L slot. I moved it to the 10L slot. It may get moved back we will see how it all goes.

Distributor back together, PS pump on, 1" carb spacer & carb on.

Valve covers going on.

Air cleaner on. Still needs painted & will be replaced with a pretty one in the future.

This has definitely "woke up the sleeping giant". Hopefully Monday I am picking up a 750 dp for the engine. It has been worth every bit of effort. The higher compression has given her a deeper, throatier sound out the pipes. Pulling out of the driveway for the test drive I got sideways with it without even trying. That woke me up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Looks like everything is going well.

 

[Beach66Bum]

great work, lots of pics thanks!

we are not allowed to wash parts at the car washes anymore, or even wash the engine bay, cameras have been installed as surveillance, hefty fines !!

 

[elgemcdlf]

I have a pressure washer here just a bit of a pain to hook it all up. On the other hand loading & unloading the heads & intake was no picnic.

 

[primetime]

we are not allowed to wash parts at the car washes anymore, or even wash the engine bay, cameras have been installed as surveillance, hefty fines !!

Same here, although I`m not sure about the fine part. Real cool build though. I like it.

 

[elgemcdlf]

I installed pwr windows in my truck some time back with issues. Always had a plan to get back to it & fix my mistakes. When I originally did the install I used the track on my windows which was the beginning of my mistake. The next thing I did wrong was I set the regulator at halfway & mounted based on that with the window halfway up. The track on the bump windows is narrower & shorter. The original track is still on the window in this picture with the F150 track laying on the window just above it

This required grinding the nylon down on the end of the '90 F150 regulators so that it would fit.

This is what the nylon looks like when in the F150.

We start by removing the door panel. I assume most all know how to do that.

You will notice a screw located just above the door panel. This screw is part of what hold the vent window in. You will also notice I have a hole in my door panel. That is where the crank was. In this next image we see 3 screws running up the front of the door. These too help hold the vent window in place.

In this picture you will see I have made 2 cuts in the door to remove the recessed areas. They are in the way of the regulator movement. Just below the regulator gear you see a nut. That is the final piece that holds the vent window in place.

Since we will be changing the track we need to remove the vent window in order to remove the main glass. Once it is removed either you can change the track or you can take it to a local glass shop & they will do it for you. I was going to do mine but the rubber was so far deteriorated I ended up taking it to a glass shop. It cost $10 to have them put it together with new rubber. A great investment in my opinion. Here is the window with the track removed.

Here is the window after I got it back from the glass shop.

You will notice in the picture of the door with the panel removed 3 shiny nuts. Those are what was holding the regulator in place. What you want to do is set the regulator in the all the way down position. At this point when laced into the track You will be able to line up one of the holes with the lower right original regulator hole. You will also notice that the window travels upward through the door on an angle. You want to set the regulator up to match this angle of travel as best as you can. This reduces stress on all the pieces involved. I used 1/4" flat washers that I glued together. In this lower right corner I used 9 washers. I had to move slightly to the left of my original holes from the 1st attempt. In the top right I used 5 washers & top left I used 7. I used a small tie wrap laced through the washers to lower them in place without losing them in the bottom of the door. It worked well.

 

[elgemcdlf]

Current picture of our truck.

 

[elgemcdlf]

Well went shopping today for rear gears. I could not find and 3.55s I did find 3.27, 3.73 & 4.10. Some with Limited Slip & some open diff. I think I am going to go with the 4.10 Limited Slip. My problem then becomes locating spider gears. The carrier is in an Explorer which should be 31 spline. I need 28 with the MN12. I will most likely put the ring & pinion in with the open diff while locating the spiders I need for the Limited Slip.

What is this you ask. It is the pinion gear from my 4.10 gears going in my truck!

Here is the Limited Slip carrier. Life is good!

I actually found a set of the 3.55s that I originally wanted today. My wife would have divorced me if I didn't do the 4.10 gears. Ok not really but she did want the lower gears.

 

[elgemcdlf]

I swapped out the rear gears today from 3.08 to 4.10.

A couple pics from behind after the rear was out of the truck.

The spindle is held on with 3 bolts. I left the axle shaft in the hub & dropped the entire spindle axle shaft & all.

Time to do something about all that grey hair! All you young guys this is what happens to your hair from working on old trucks! I have the gears swapped in this pic. The old gears are sitting on the floor next to me. I was pulling the fill plug from the rear cover in preparation for the install.

Staging for the install.

Getting it under the truck & aligned for install.

Running up the 2 front mount bolts.

Finishing up with getting the spindle back in place.

Final step prior to adding fluid. Reinstalling the driveshaft.

I have not a chance to do much driving with the new gears yet but what I have done I think I went too far. Quicker? Not so sure. I will probably end up trying either 3.73 gears next or the 3.55 ratio I originally wanted.