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Well, burnouts someday anyway...
I know this isn't the typical 'stance' build, but the truck doesn't fit in on traditional hotrod forums, and I hoped some people here would appreciate it. This truck was my grandfather's, and it sat in the field at our farm for years up until I was about 12. After that it was traded to a friend of the family, and he started to restore it. He didn't get far before life got in the way, and it sat at his house for almost 15 years, and despite my relentless attempts to get it back he wouldn't give it up. Finally in the summer of 2014 he decided he wouldn't be able to work on the truck again due to some health issues, so he signed it over to me. Unfortunately, him and my grandfather both passed away that year, but not without knowing the truck was finally back on the farm, and with someone who wouldn't let it go ever again. My grandfather was a very practical man, and the fact he kept this truck around for years after it was useful in the hopes of fixing it up always spoke volumes to me, because somehow this truck must have been different from all the rest that were simply tools to be used and thrown away at their time. But we're not here for an existential discussion, we're here for hotrods, so let's get back to that...
My plans for the truck aren't exactly practical, but I still want to be able to daily drive it in the summer, cruise to shows near and far, put the boards on the ground when I park, and if I'm lucky still carve a corner. I probably should have started with an all new frame, but I want to keep as much original as possible, and I didn't have a whole lot left to work with. It's going to be on a narrowed Crown Vic IFS, a Lincoln MK VIII IRS, and powered by some sort of 351W backed by a TKO600. The exterior is going to look very stock, with only some subtle cosmetic changes to clean it up a little. This is a far bigger project than I've ever undertaken before, especially with the body work it's going to need, but I'm eyeball deep now and this isn't a project I'm going to give up on. Enough talk, here are some pictures to calm everyone's ADD.
This is where the old girl was for almost 15 years.
After a quick bath, and sitting next to my old turbo Ranger
Finally in my shop, and ready for the work to begin.
Started disassembly.
At this point I straightened the frame rails that were tweaked from dragging it out of the woods.
Kids, don't try this at home.
Then it was time to pull the guts out.
A little more work, and I had a paperweight
Right about then I started playing around with narrowing the Crown Vic crossmember. I cut 4.75" out of the middle, which leaves it the right width to mount an SN95 Mustang steering rack. I cut and filed it all by hand, which sucked, but the final fitment was worth the misery. I clamped it down to the bench with all thread and angle iron to keep it from warping, then cut the piece I removed from the middle up to plate it.
Then it was time to modify the factory rails to accept the new, narrowed CV parts. In hindsight, there were definitely easier ways to have done this. I thought I had more pictures, but you get the idea. The main goal here was to bring the bottom of the frame up high enough that I could lay the truck out on the running boards when it's parked.
Then I mocked the CV crossmember into place, and I was pretty stoked that everything lined up with no tweaking, filing, or screwing around.
So I slapped the control arms on to see what would happen. If anyone cares, that's a 97 BMW M3 undergoing an LS1/T56 swap in the background. A little more this forum's cup of tea, and it's going to be a fuuuuun car.
Then I laid it out for the first time, and I think it's going to look mean. I need to make some adjustable uppers for the CV setup to dial out some of the camber at ride height, but you get the idea. The Mustang rims are just for mock up, I'm probably going to run 20" Detroit Steel Wheels with some thin whitewalls. Am I doing the stance thing right??
Then I started mocking up the IRS and found out it wasn't going to play as nice as I'd hoped if my plan was still to put the boards on the ground.
So out came the plasma...
And suddenly everyone gets along! I also started using a transmission jack for mock up at this point, which made life a lot easier.
With the piece of angle iron tacked in at my axle centerline I jacked the IRS cradle into place and set the pinion angle to 3* up with the CV at 0*. Then the bracing started.
Then I went back up front to build the rear lower control arm mounts for the IFS. I had a friend machine two pieces of steel to wrap halfway around some 3" DOM, then I boogered them together.
First thing was to split them so I could install the bushings, and rotate them for alignment in the future. Not bad for a sawzall!
Up next was cleaning the frame so I could build the mounts into the frame. I didn't want to grind the frame because I was worried about how much material I would lose trying to get the rust out of the low spots. I bought a few surface prep discs at Harbor Freight, and they sucked. They didn't fit the arbor on my grinder, they clogged up easily, and were only rated to 10,000 RPM so they tended to rip themselves apart. I bought some nicer ones, and paid the premium of $10 each at Fastenal, but they were worth every penny. This picture shows a great comparison of before and after using only the surface prep disc, no flap wheel, grinding wheel, or sanding.
And the disc.
After all that fun, I started cutting and rebuilding.
The driver's side is done as well, I just didn't get any pictures.
Then I began the oh so fun task of cutting/air hammering out all of the rivets for the factory crossmembers and brackets on the frame. That was miserable, but now the frame is ready to bring outside and sandblast when I get home this weekend.
That's how it sits right now. Unfortunately I'm stuck in Georgia this week doing training for work. I'll be back this weekend, and hopefully the weather will hold out so I can get the sandblasting done. I've started ordering parts, and the last big thing I need before I can finish the chassis is an engine. Kind of important I guess...
I know this isn't the typical 'stance' build, but the truck doesn't fit in on traditional hotrod forums, and I hoped some people here would appreciate it. This truck was my grandfather's, and it sat in the field at our farm for years up until I was about 12. After that it was traded to a friend of the family, and he started to restore it. He didn't get far before life got in the way, and it sat at his house for almost 15 years, and despite my relentless attempts to get it back he wouldn't give it up. Finally in the summer of 2014 he decided he wouldn't be able to work on the truck again due to some health issues, so he signed it over to me. Unfortunately, him and my grandfather both passed away that year, but not without knowing the truck was finally back on the farm, and with someone who wouldn't let it go ever again. My grandfather was a very practical man, and the fact he kept this truck around for years after it was useful in the hopes of fixing it up always spoke volumes to me, because somehow this truck must have been different from all the rest that were simply tools to be used and thrown away at their time. But we're not here for an existential discussion, we're here for hotrods, so let's get back to that...
My plans for the truck aren't exactly practical, but I still want to be able to daily drive it in the summer, cruise to shows near and far, put the boards on the ground when I park, and if I'm lucky still carve a corner. I probably should have started with an all new frame, but I want to keep as much original as possible, and I didn't have a whole lot left to work with. It's going to be on a narrowed Crown Vic IFS, a Lincoln MK VIII IRS, and powered by some sort of 351W backed by a TKO600. The exterior is going to look very stock, with only some subtle cosmetic changes to clean it up a little. This is a far bigger project than I've ever undertaken before, especially with the body work it's going to need, but I'm eyeball deep now and this isn't a project I'm going to give up on. Enough talk, here are some pictures to calm everyone's ADD.
This is where the old girl was for almost 15 years.
After a quick bath, and sitting next to my old turbo Ranger
Finally in my shop, and ready for the work to begin.
Started disassembly.
At this point I straightened the frame rails that were tweaked from dragging it out of the woods.
Kids, don't try this at home.
Then it was time to pull the guts out.
A little more work, and I had a paperweight
Right about then I started playing around with narrowing the Crown Vic crossmember. I cut 4.75" out of the middle, which leaves it the right width to mount an SN95 Mustang steering rack. I cut and filed it all by hand, which sucked, but the final fitment was worth the misery. I clamped it down to the bench with all thread and angle iron to keep it from warping, then cut the piece I removed from the middle up to plate it.
Then it was time to modify the factory rails to accept the new, narrowed CV parts. In hindsight, there were definitely easier ways to have done this. I thought I had more pictures, but you get the idea. The main goal here was to bring the bottom of the frame up high enough that I could lay the truck out on the running boards when it's parked.
Then I mocked the CV crossmember into place, and I was pretty stoked that everything lined up with no tweaking, filing, or screwing around.
So I slapped the control arms on to see what would happen. If anyone cares, that's a 97 BMW M3 undergoing an LS1/T56 swap in the background. A little more this forum's cup of tea, and it's going to be a fuuuuun car.
Then I laid it out for the first time, and I think it's going to look mean. I need to make some adjustable uppers for the CV setup to dial out some of the camber at ride height, but you get the idea. The Mustang rims are just for mock up, I'm probably going to run 20" Detroit Steel Wheels with some thin whitewalls. Am I doing the stance thing right??
Then I started mocking up the IRS and found out it wasn't going to play as nice as I'd hoped if my plan was still to put the boards on the ground.
So out came the plasma...
And suddenly everyone gets along! I also started using a transmission jack for mock up at this point, which made life a lot easier.
With the piece of angle iron tacked in at my axle centerline I jacked the IRS cradle into place and set the pinion angle to 3* up with the CV at 0*. Then the bracing started.
Then I went back up front to build the rear lower control arm mounts for the IFS. I had a friend machine two pieces of steel to wrap halfway around some 3" DOM, then I boogered them together.
First thing was to split them so I could install the bushings, and rotate them for alignment in the future. Not bad for a sawzall!
Up next was cleaning the frame so I could build the mounts into the frame. I didn't want to grind the frame because I was worried about how much material I would lose trying to get the rust out of the low spots. I bought a few surface prep discs at Harbor Freight, and they sucked. They didn't fit the arbor on my grinder, they clogged up easily, and were only rated to 10,000 RPM so they tended to rip themselves apart. I bought some nicer ones, and paid the premium of $10 each at Fastenal, but they were worth every penny. This picture shows a great comparison of before and after using only the surface prep disc, no flap wheel, grinding wheel, or sanding.
And the disc.
After all that fun, I started cutting and rebuilding.
The driver's side is done as well, I just didn't get any pictures.
Then I began the oh so fun task of cutting/air hammering out all of the rivets for the factory crossmembers and brackets on the frame. That was miserable, but now the frame is ready to bring outside and sandblast when I get home this weekend.
That's how it sits right now. Unfortunately I'm stuck in Georgia this week doing training for work. I'll be back this weekend, and hopefully the weather will hold out so I can get the sandblasting done. I've started ordering parts, and the last big thing I need before I can finish the chassis is an engine. Kind of important I guess...
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