Rusty63 F100 + 2004 CV PI = Fun!

[hosko]

Yes! Please keep them coming, very interesting.

 

[rusty63]

Ok, so we got to spend the afternoon in the garage! Cut some patch metal out of the car, including these cool little curvy cowl patches:

Then cut out a big patch panel...

LOL - figure at scrap rates, that's some cheap metal in case I need to patch anything...

I also cut out the piece on the passenger firewall where the wire harness goes thru - just in case I can't get the right size holesaw later to fit the grommets.

Next step will be to get most of the firewall where the master cylinder & steering column mount - figure that way I'll have all the holes for the ecu, harness plugs, etc to go thru. Still trying to decide where to cut.

So I changed gears & got the jack stands under the body so I could drop what's left of the frame down from under the body. That worked well, so I could finally get the brake lines out. Next up will be getting the fuel line & vapor line off the passenger frame rail.

Ok, so now I'm at a point where I'm trying to decide how much effort I put into cutting patch metal out of the CV, since I've got a line on a rust free '64 cab.... and my '63 cab is VERY rusty.... hmmm

What do you guys think? he wants $400 for the cab (includes column, seat, front & rear glass... and it's an uncut dash w/ original am radio) - have a look:

No rust over/around the windshield like I have in places

No rust in the rear cab seam...

Solid steps...

Waiting for more/better pics & plan to go get it Monday (he's out of town this weekend), but here's a tiny pic from the front:

So, like I said, he wants $400 for the cab, $800 gets the cab with the doors, and the front end sheet metal. Sounds like he bought it for the bed & the drivetrain - no engine, trans or rear axle....

I know my cab needs floor pans & front cab mounts, work to the door jambs, steps, area over the windshield & also on the roof near the rear seams.... easily more than $400 worth of patch panels & umpteen hours of welding. He said the doors have some odd cuts in them - though I haven't seen them yet - are the doors & front end sheetmetal worth another $400? I'm inclined to offer $600 for the whole shebang. What do you think?

 

[O'Rattlecan]

Keep the updates coming, I'm enjoying your project for sure.

Ryan

 

[dragogt]

I'd offer the 600 for the truck..

 

[rusty63]

Started off by cleaning the gas tank - the ting is always in my way and it was just FILTY! Looked like they overfilled the rear axle, so the breather tub had blown gear lube all over the tank which had attracted loads of road grime.... hit it with the simple green, rubbed it down & hosed it off. No more dirty hands & shins!

Next I got to dropping the rear half of the frame down from under the body. Actually, I had intended to drop it completely, but it's hung up under the rear quarters - from the hit it took, the frame pretzel'd outward, and the quarters bent in & under, almost locking them together. Anyway, so I dropped the front end of the remaining frame so I could unbolt the fuel lines & brake lines. Brilliant design. I'm sure someone who knows these cars could've done it without - but how was escaping me & so...

Next I picked up the reciprocating saw & hacked out the driver's chunk of firewall - so I have all the holes to run the wires & computer thru. Again, I figure I can either weld these pieces in, or use them for templates, but since the body has to go, I'm taking what I *might" need later...

Next I turned my attention to getting some elbow room near the 63 itself - which meant I needed to move the engines. I'd sorta built a wooden engine stand for the 302 & figured I'd put casters under it so I could roll it around. Last trip to HF, they had little furniture dollies for $8, or the casters for $4 each. Hmm. I got two dollies for the price of 4 casters. Figured I'd use them if I could, and if not, just take the casters off & do my own thing. After seeing the guys on powerblock setting their dual cam Marauder engine flat on the floor on the oil/trans pans, I thought hmmm... now this isnt a permanent or long term solution, but gives me a little mobility this weekend...

I kept it hooked to the hoist in case it rocked off the dolly.

So I left the 4.6 sitting there & went to lift the 302 - and got this:

Bear in mind, before I pulled the 302/c4, I dropped the pan, drained it & wiped it clean, then put it back on, and when I pulled engine/trans, I tilted it up & drained the rest out the tailshaft into a big plastic bin. I figured it was dry. Not so. I apparently had another quart or two of mystery atf waiting to waste my time. Times like this it pays to have a cat & a supply of kitty litter. Cleaned up that mess & simple greened the floor - all good.

And the point of all of that? To get to this - I swear I could taste the frame sitting on the CV front end when the phone rang to tell me we were gonna be late for the party if I didn't get my a' in the shower. Oh well, today's another day!

 

[rusty63]

Only got a few hours in the garage today - hotter that hades out there - spent the whole time sweating! Funny since most of the country is probably still cold, right?

So I managed to drop the frame down onto the front end. Sweet. Here's a pic:

I measured, and it should drop another 3 inches with the drive train & sheet metal back on it.

I bolted the frame back up under the body so I can get the carcass outta here soon, then started some exploring. A while back I was looking at the frame rails & realized that the rear of the lower arm bolted through the frame to an insert inside the frame. Most guys take the bracket off the lower arm & take it to a metal fabricator and have plates made to attach to the frame. I figured why pay to make something that's already here? Free works for me. So I had my way with the frame rail and a fresh blade in the sawsall...

Open Sesame:

Looky inside:

Here's the piece out to see - suspension (under) side

& frame (top) side

Here's the piece bolted up to the suspension with the piece of frame rail in between - as it would be.

And a close up:

Now what guys usually do is loosen the nut at the back of the control arm & rotate the bracket so this whole thing is parallel to the underside of the frame rail. I'm thinking that I can use '04 frame metal to box this piece up to the underside of the '63 frame rail - sandwiching the insert between the new bits & the stock rail. Your thoughts?

Oh yeah - fun stuff - more pics of the donor body I'll be getting this week:

Looks just a *little* more solid than the body I've got now....

 

[rusty63]

Buh-bye Vicky!

Kissed the CV goodbye today! Oh what fun. We finished cutting a few bits off the frame (e-brake cable bracket, rear shock brackets) and then dropped it down onto my skates. Talk about a LOW RIDER!!!

Remember when I said the hitch was twisted all the way down from 3 to 6? Check it out - the rear of the car is sitting on the receiver hitch on the skate! LOL

Now's where I got creative, and most (including me) will say "stupid". We bolted a chain down to the rear seat belt mounts, then used the HF engine hoist/cherry picker to lift the car up & roll it over the trailer & dropped it into position. If only it was as easy as that description sounds! LOL

Here's Dad acting likes he's man-handling the car single-handedly.

Slide it in, nice & easy...

Snug as a bug in a rug

At the scrap yard

Bye bye, Vicky!

Next up - road trip!! Ugh - 258 miles each way to go check out the donor - hope it's worth the gas & our time!

 

[O'Rattlecan]

you going to part out all of the extra pieces in the CV? I noticed you stripped it pretty good.

Ryan

 

[rusty63]

Hoping to sell off the parts. Attracted a buttload of idiots like flies to a pile o dung. Seriously, guys say they're coming tomorrow to buy the whole nose. No show. The seats - no show. Fender, grille surround, headlight - no show. Crazy! Hopefully the ad gets better results this month...

 

[rusty63]

Just got back from a 540 mile round trip goose-chase. I called yesterday to get the address. He gave me his home address - miles from where the truck was. So I called from his house saying "We're here - where are you & the truck?" at which point we were given directions to a dirt drive off a side street -- I swear I heard "dueling banjos" as we drove through a hole in the trees smaller than a garage door. After 1/4 mile of wilderness, we came upon a trailer in a "clearing" littered with the bones of countless stripped cars. In front of the trailer is the truck in the above pictures - the rear of the frame hanging from a chain around a home-made boom attached to what appeared to be a nearly new fork lift. (??) The rear axle nowhere to be seen, and the rims replaced with mismatched steelies & deeply cracked tires. The guy turned out to be nice enough - but in discussion we learned he "used to run a junkyard" and "knows what these trucks are worth". Fan-tastic. $800 FIRM as it "hangs".

Let me tell you about it. The dash was the nicest thing on the truck & truth be told is true to the above picture - nice. Oh, and the "step" area on the driver's side was indeed pristine. The passenger's likely was before some bozo apparently used a bottle jack to lift the truck by the underside of the step. Great. What else? The "rust free" kick panels had peeling out bondo that'd been primered over to blend it all in. The floor pans had 1/4" rust holes all over -- like a dozen per side. The cab mount bolts weren't even touching metal since there wasn't any metal for them to touch. The grille, which looks great in the photo, in person is a pretzel. The hood & radiator support have only surface rust, ok, not bad. Drivers fender - dented, but yes, rust free - on top. Heavy-scaly underneath. Drivers door - tweaked, ill fitting, someone felt the need to cut the leading edge to stop it from continuing to hit the cowl. The cab corners had rust through. The back of the cab had 3 fist sized dents. The passenger side is a disaster. Starting from the bumper that is MUCH worse in person, the fender is wasted, the door is pushed in all across the lower 3rd, and there's a boot-sized punch dent in the door right where the body line drops. And there's a dent in that body line in the B pillar. Look up - "Oh yea, a tree branch fell on it - hazard of being in the woods". Yup - a double crease in the roof over the B pillar, right across the roof body line. Looks like the branch hammered the drip rail against the roof too.

We asked if he was negotiable on the price - thinking that as screwed up as it is, it is still better than what we've got now - he responds that the "very rare door pocket" (that doesn't unzip, mind you, is dry rotted to heck, and has completely wasted plastic trim) is "worth over a hundred dollars", and that if we didn't want it he was "going to put in on the short frame over there and sell it for double that".
"You mean the 65-66 frame I saw over there?"
"Yeah, that's it - 65 was the first year for the - uh"...
"Twin I Beam suspension?"
"Yeah, that's it".

Right. Idiot. It won't fit anyway. But looking around, I decide not to tell him he's an idiot.

I figure the cab is worth $250 to me (it needs pans, cab corners, doors, hinges, possibly mounts, and a half dozen dents fixed), and the radiator support maybe $50. No rust through visible, but it's scaly. Maybe I could sell off the grille & hood. Fine - I offered him $500. He refused & wouldn't even counter. $800 or leave it was his attitude.

We left it.

Time for a beer!

 

[O'Rattlecan]

WHAT A JERK! Beer thirty is right after that...

Ryan

 

[73F100Shortbed]

Too bad you had to spend all that time finding out the guy was an idiot. But from the way you describe the place good move on not calling him one. You wouldn't want to hear 'squeal like a pig' from the guy

 

[rusty63]

Most folks would miss the "dueling banjos" reference. Good catch! Yeah, kinda glad we got out of there with our anal retentiveness intact.

 

[rusty63]

Finally got some progress made today...

So here's where we are: I put the straight axle back in & used it to mark my axle center line on the top of the frame rail, then took it back out again. I measured off any & all reference points I could find, and then center punched the axle CL on the frame rail. I wrapped a piece of twine from the inside of one rail, up & over the axle marks, down the outside, under the frame, up the outside of the other rail & up & over the marks. In this way I (hopefully) transferred the axle center line to the underside of the rails. After reading a bunch of threads, I noted that it seems most guys on the 61-64's place the "pins" 3/4" to 1" ahead of the bump stop holes. So I measure forward from the string & made marks. Measuring the pins on the cross member, they're 31-1/2" on center. The rails measure 34" outside to outside, so I made cross marks 1-1/4" in from each side. I measured several times, then center punched & pilot-drilled the holes. After a few tool malfunctions with my holes saw (don't ask), I managed to get both pin holes drilled. Rolled the cross member under the rails, & jacked it up into place. Whaddayaknow? The pins popped right into position. I love it when a plan comes together. Enjoy the pics... hopefully tomorrow I can get the tubes in position...

From what I can tell, with the engine & body back on, it should droop about another 2"... Nice!

 

[rusty63]

Hey guys! It's been quite a while since I've worked on old Rusty. This is where I left off when I stopped - front end mocked in, engine & trans in, up on skates & pushed aside for storage.

I got out there last week, pulled the engine & tranny back out, slid out the front end, and got ready to tackle the evil rivets! I hate these things. Center punched, drilled with a small bit, then again with a larger bit until I took the heads off, then beat the hades out of the brackets to get 'em off. Fun!

In the process of the beating, shower of rusty metal bits came out of the lower cowl & cab mount. Yes, that's the floor you can see through the cowl & cab mount!

After lunch I was getting ready to do the same to the passenger side when I managed to knock over a bucket holding the antifreeze from when I pulled the 302. GRRR!!! Of course it went UNDER everything and all over the door mats leading into the house, so I then spent the next 2 hours moving & cleaning up the mess! I could've just wiped up the worst of it & left the rest to dry, but the dogs are dumb enough to lick the garage floor without the "sweet" antifreeze to tempt them. Better to clean up then deal with sick dogs. Now I've got the fan blowing on the floor to dry the last of the water I used to rinse/mop up the mess... Hopefully more to report tomorrow!

 

[polarbear]

Very cool!

 

[rjphillips]

Wow lots of work, but well worth it. Pretty cool swap, I like it.

 

[rusty63]

Spent some more time cleaning the garage today, but did manage to get the rear leaf bracket and the stub of the 2nd cross member out.

Before:

After:

Not too exciting, but at least it's progress!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Great. Now I have a new project Thanks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Update??

Does it have to be a 2004 CV or can it be a earlier model?