Projects 1966 F100 "FE" Powered Project

October 1965 my dad pulled into the driveway with a brand new 1966 F100 powered by a 352 with 3spd on the column. Red with Red interior. Learned how to drive in that truck when I was 8yrs old. Loved the body style ever since dad pulled into the drive with one.

Dad gave me the truck in 1984 but I moved to Phoenix january of 86' and had to sell it. Told myself someday I would like to have my own. Color choice would be Orange but was told for years no such color on a 1966 F series. For years tried to find any super nice rust free example.

Fast forward to Feb 1st 2000 when a friend pulled into my driveway with a factory Orange/White 66 F100 short bed custom cab in its original paint. Within minutes had a deal to trade for my 428 Powered 71' F100 Ranger. The rest is history.
Truck was purchased new from Sam Posie Ford in AZ. (dealership was west coast distributor for Shelby) He also had lots of pull at the Texas truck plant where he was able to buy 9 trucks in the Orange/White combo this being #2 of those 9.

This is truck as purchased but a few more years of Arizona sun.







In 1978 I bought my first 425hp 427 powered ride a 1967 Mercury Capri, at that time I told myself it would be a sweet engine to drop in my dream truck a 1966 F100. Later the dream was a 427 SOHC and had the engine but had to let it go. If I could only turn back the clock!

Engine bay of my first 427 car.



So for now until the dream is realized the 427 Side Oiler will be engine of choice.

Goal is to bring me back in time of what I remember dads truck to look like but with a few upgrades like brakes and steering and of course the power plant.

 

Nice !!
I like it a lot.......
Cheers......

 

Nice Truck you should join the 61-66 f100 group on the HAMB

 

step 1
Pull truck into shop and take photo with intended 427 Side Oiler





Seeing as though it was still original paint decided to strip some paint prior to teardown to see some of that cherry sheet metal!

 

Thanks! more to come..

Already joined..

 

Teardown time

 

prior to removing bed and cab built some carts to make it easier to move stuff around.


The carts are stackable so I can put cab on top of box cart for blasting etc.

 

THANKS!

Prior to complete teardown did a mock up of engine, then it was time to strip frame down and give it a sandblast before off to powdercoater.

 

all hardware and other bare metal went into the evapo rust for a bath prior to trip to plater










stripping of paint found some simply AMAZING sheet metal!

 

This wheel combo with NOS hubcaps was planned on setup, things changed because of clearance with the added disc brakes.

 

That sheet metal is amazing.

 

The cobra jet c-6 had been sitting for nearly 40yrs so decided it should be gone thru, my first auto trans complete rebuild so lets hope it works!

Unfortunately someone put a bottle jack on trans front and popped a hole in it so I just made a patch and welded it up.

 

Trans complete and restored.

 

Although I had the complete 427 Side Oiler hanging around decided to built a complete brand new engine. What better way than a new side oiler block with same date code as the trucks original engine? What better way to haul it home than in a 1965 F250!

Also ordered up a set of CNC'd edelbrock heads and a 4.25 x 4.25 Stroker kit with custom pistons, nice solid street roller cam, a custom Precision Converter and more.

 

Custom Pistons

 

Cnc Cyl Heads











pre-fitting the head to see which head fit best on which side. (did make a diff too)




A bit of CC work

 

Holy cow that's nice stuff. What stripper did you use?

 

That's going to be a strong motor for your truck, cool build.

 

I have a 66 and its getting a stroker FE as well...WHEN i start on it that is haha...That metal is beautiful...

 

Please tell me what a 1967 Capri is?? I had a few of the 70 to 74 "Sexy Europeans" back in the day, but never heard of one from the sixties?

 

My favorite Ford trucks by far. I miss mine every day, but it has a good new home. Keep the I beams and use a DJM dropped beam, they work great.

I used a Boss 351/C6 combo and it ran great.

Now all you need is a BIG ORANGE UT to go in the back window.

By the way, I like the wheels. Keep us posted....

 

Aircraft Paint Remover. Been using same stuff for 30+ yrs

Kind of a small roller cam and I am building it for a torque monster. Could probably add 100hp with a HUGE cam but want to be able to drive it daily and love the torque especially in part throttle.

Yes, The metal is really nice on this truck. (have two others with equally nice sheet metal) What engine/Stroker combo you going with?

In 1966 & 1967 Mercury built the "Capri" as a trim level on the Comet.
Cyclone, Capri, 202 etc. I owned a 1972 Euro style capri too. great car.

Thanks! More pics and info soon.

 

For those interested in these trucks this is my parts hauler. A original paint truck with engine bay/engine freshened up. Other wise all stock. 1965

 

A few pieces back from the powdercoater and plater. Most is done in electro-less nickel to hold up to the elements. Some zinc too.

 

Chassis back from powder coater and going back together...

 

Sloppy workmanship on the DJM's. note how crooked they are welded together. Camber was different from side to side as was caster. One had negative caster other was not as much as stock.

 

stock DJM and AIM beams. note how the DJM king pin end is just 1/4" plates tacked together instead of a solid piece like the AIM. Also notice diff in drop.

 

Before and after of rear axle.

Added a Posi unit as originally a open. Kept the stock 3:50 gear set.
I will most likely have to upgrade the center section and axles at some point with this power level....

 

Amazing work!!

 

Nice truck, and it is very nice seeing what you are doing with it.

Amazing work so far... Love the engine!