This came from my Dads uncle in NV as payment to my Grandpa. It then sat in my Grandpas back yard for 30 years. He was one of those guys that just loved cars and would hold onto them. When he died I asked for the truck (wish I had asked for the 41 Ford also). I got it to my house a little over a year ago and it sat till I could get some $ around. I sold my rock crawler to fund the build. The name "Impending Doom" came from my Dad when he thought he was having a hart attack at work and looked up the signs, one being a sense of impending doom. I told him that we need to get the truck on the road. I didn't want to make this a son only project. At the time I was looking for a 351, 390,428... something like that to power the truck. I also wanted to get a lower stance and some other fun stuff to make it a nice ride. The day she came home My Dad cleaning out coyote poop... yeah I just said that... ready to pull the eng Then I pulled the eng. The eng got a little heavy... And OUT!!! This was going to be a grandfather, father, son deal but its just me and my dad now... And just me most of the time... Its ok I love the truck and the dream of what the build could have been.
I ended up getting a 302. Its shiny and came from a mustang so it should have HUGE H.P. Bwahahaaha... Yeah anyway... Its a 302 and it was cheap. Its nice when you walk into a guys home shop and there is not a speck of dirt or oil on anything. All the tools have a spot and he knows where everything is. We ran the 302 for about a min and It sounds great. Has a little bit of a cam and some other goods. It was a back up eng for his Mustang drag car. Things were moving now! I also picked up a 3" drop axle and started the swap. The pitman arm got stuck and things came to a hault with my turkey hunt and scouting and people being out of town. Im back at it and picking up parts. I found a C4 that will be bolting up to the 302. with a 2500 stall and shift kit. It was just rebuilt by Hughes in phx. Still in the plastic wrap. Now that all the parts were here I started looking for a shop and to have them place the eng and trans (needs new cross members) and wire it up.
Got the drop in and love the look. Even with the eng out it looks great! Cant wait to see it with the eng and trans in. Here are some pics of the x-members. From the look of it the 292 came from a car and they (My Dads Uncle) welded in the x-member (not a good weld job) so they coud run the oil pan... The truck got taken to the shop on Monday. Vintage Auto Repair will be doing the x-members and getting the 302 and C4 placed. I will post pics as soon as its out of the shop
Plan is to get it on the road. After I get it driving I will start on the body and int. We would love to do a dark blue on it but that is still up in the air. All me and my Dad can say is that we want some color.
Going to order the Lokar 23" floor shifter for the C4. Still looking for headers for the 302. Just not sure what style to go with.
I've never seen or heard the need for an X-member in a pickup frame. Just do not cut out the transmission's cross member. It reinforces the frame from the front cab mounts.
Great looking truck. What size tires did you end up going with? I need to bring mine down a bit, and yours with the 3 inch drop look perfect.
Just a quick update: Got the Lokar 23" shifter. Its nice... but not $250 nice. Still looking for headers for the 302. The truck is in the shop still having the eng and trans mounted with new mounts. As soon as it gets home I will start getting everything ready for wire. To get it on the road it still needs: All new wires Brakes and brake lines ect... Drive shaft 9" cleaned up and re sealed Thats all the big stuff. More to come!
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