Ford UNIBODY p/u... body mount question

[TimBob]

I know of at least a couple people on here that own one (ElPolacko, Hotwheel...).
I want to know where the cab/bed mounts are supposed to be and how many there should be.
I've looked at a few unibodies but guess I haven't paid enough attention. I know the cab mounts tend to rot, and are often repaired poorly. Now that I'm seriously considering one I'm suspecting that all the mounts aren't there or where they should be. Potentially scary stuff, but I'm not certain.
Thanks in advance

[SnoDawg]

I will go out in tomorrow and get some measurements from my 62 long bed The front mounts have been removed and crossmember replaced but I think I may still have the old floor and crossmember pieces somewheres. I am not sure about the differences between the short and long beds tho. What are you trying to do??

[Reggie]

Let me know if you need pics. If my memory serves me right...you have two just below the firewall(one on each side), then there are two below the gas tank (again one on each side), and then one in each corner of the bed. My body is the short bed unibody.

[TimBob]

Thanks for the help! I'm just looking at a truck to potentially buy, and I think it might be missing the mounts under the gas tank (I've just seen pictures, haven't seen the truck yet).

SO, I don't need exact measurements, just need to know where to look when I do see the truck. I'm trying to attach some pics where I think there might have been body mounts, but I'm not sure. If you guys could have a look at yours tonight or even take a pic, it would be really helpful.
http://images8.fotki.com/v108/photos/4/43402/153660/Picture_0033-vi.jpg
http://images8.fotki.com/v108/photos/4/43402/153660/Picture_0038-vi.jpg


Thanks again.

PS Hotwheel your truck rules. And Snodawg there was a clean looking uni sb in your neck of the woods on e-bay not too long ago. Shipping was a b!tch though.

[ELpolacko]

There are only two "wings" on the frame, right up front. Everything else is plugged into the top of the frame. There should be 8 mounts on a short bed and 10 on a long.

[SnoDawg]

On the The stock frame the rear cab floor mounts are not used If you look they should not even be drilled. Ford used the same cab floor stamping on all of the pickups so there is quite a gap between the front mount and the next mount (1st mount in the box) that is why the buyers was not too fond of the unibodys. the frame twisting with no support sometimes made it hard to open the doors when the body started sagging. I have my unibody on a 74 F250 frame and I used those mounts all I had to do was drill them the lined up with the 74 frame actually it is a pretty solid setup after I did that. One point to check on that unibody you are looking at buying is if it has a tail gate thay are hard to find if it is missing on the truck see if the seller has it stashed away. They are repoped along with the latches and hinges but the support rods are not being made yet. That looks like a really clean truck from the bottom side if the top looks as good as the bottom it must be a pretty nice truck. The pictures you posted is a typical factory unibody mount setup.

[ELpolacko]

I went back and counted 10 on a '62 Unibody frame I have here. The two front cab mounts, two under the gas tank(back wall of the cab. Two in front of the axle kick up and two directly behind and the final two at the tail gate.

[ELpolacko]

[ QUOTE ]
On the The stock frame the rear cab floor mounts are not used If you look they should not even be drilled. Ford used the same cab floor stamping on all of the pickups

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe that is true on the trucks you have there, of the four trucks I have here at this very minute, they all have the four inside cab bolts installed from the factory. I have two short bed small window trucks, One big window short bed and one small window long bed (mine) I have build about a half dozen of these in the last few years and never have I seen the rear/inside cab mounts deleted.

You are correct about cab flex, the other concern was with the single wall bed and cab panel and the "non-replaceable" bed box when it went to shit.

You have to think of this as the full size version of a Ranchero, as the Ranchero name was fixed to a Falcon instead of the ultra cool Fairlane based models in previous years. Never was marketed as a utility vehicle.

[TimBob]

Thanks alot everyone! That's exactly the info I wanted.

Looks like I probably won't go for this particular truck (although the body mounts seem to check out). But when I do find the right one I might have to bug SnoDawg for the details on a frame swap.

ElPolacko, I hope to pick your brain on the finer points of a Dakota swap once I find 'the one'.

Hotwheel, any more pics of your truck will just make me feel worse about not having one http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

PS anyone else looking for one of these, the truck I was looking at is the red one on ebay right now.

[Reggie]

TimBob, thanks for making me feel good about my UNI. On a scale of 1-10, I put my truck at about a 5.....but I tell you ElPolacko's is at leat a 25. I had the pleasure of seeing that truck in person...man, what incredible workmanship...Neat shit everywhere...plus it runs like a scalded ape.
El, when you get a chance to put that thing on the track make sure you post some of your E.T. Slips. A few of us boys in Texas have a bet on how fast that thing is.

[SnoDawg]

Ask away Mine is on a 4 by chassis It was quite a job and I am in the middle of building a floor for it. But it is a cool truck and runs pretty good with a tired 390.