Newer cars worth scavenging parts from

'04 -'07 Ford Crown Vic front suspension fits very nicely in a '63 F100 and is way cheaper than aftermarket. It's from a newer car, but as soon as you use IFS you're away from tradition anyway and hotrodding to me has always been about interchanging parts from other cars.

 

I will 3rd or 4th or whatever the Caravan bench seat.....fits like a glove, even grinded the welds for the back off, drilled a pair of holes, slipped in some bolts, now it tilts forward for my future tool pouch access.


Things I am using on my build so far....
hood release cable (for my trunk)
VW Bug door striker and latch
a small trunk latch adapted for my trunk
16"x4" Jeep rim with a temp spare tire (small enough to fit in my trunk)
84 Trans Am T-5
72 International Scout Dana 44 rear diff (3.73 gears, drum brakes, 5 on 5 1/2 lugs, and exactly the same width as my dropped front axle)
Flat windshield glass and very very simple wire harness from a 70something Jeep Mail Truck.
....ok not everything is real new, but it was all found at that place with the yellow and black signs on 1/2 price days.....I hope crawling around in the gravel, scrounging is still "traditional"

OH ya, and my e-brake handle came out of a newer car...

 

Front seats! I made a frame for this one and put it on casters. It makes a very comfortable work chair in my shop. Excellent for working under or alongside a car.
Ed


Twitter @edsrodshop

 

This is genius! I need to find a vinyl bucket and some big off road casters for my "garage"!

 

It's so comfortable I can fall asleep in it. It's a Ford Sierra seat, about 1989. The fabric is fire retardant. Gets small holes in it from grinding sparks and welding but has never caught fire yet. The wheels are hard plastic and I can scoot around the shop on it without standing up. It just makes some jobs so much easier on the old back.

 

I used exactly the same seat in the '32 3W I built, right down to the same upholstery. After it had been re-upholstered in black tuck 'n' roll leatherette, you could never tell where it came from.

 

OH YA, My rear panhard bar is a OEM panhard bar sourced from a Nissan Pathfinder, great size, plenty long solid steel bar stock. Bushings that look like they will outlive me. The best part, is one end is just a hollow tube with split bushings, so shortening it was a breeze without the hassle of burning up pressed in bushings.

 

Okay, that one takes the Cheapskate Award. Good find.

No, all your traditional parts have to be drawn up in traditional 3D solid modeling software, cut on a traditional waterjet cutter and machined on a traditional 5-axis CNC mill

 

There's any number of vehicles out there with tubular suspension links that might prove useful for some purposes, from various Japanese 4x4s to Saabs and Volvos, the adjustable transverse lower arms off the rear suspensions of some '90s GM FWD W-body cars, etc. Soak the bushings in WD40 or dish soap and press 'em out before you cut and reweld the things, then press the bushings back in, please.

I haven't yet heard anyone having made use of a set of '60s GM pickup truck arms, but then maybe I'm the only one who 'collects suspensions' on half-price days just to see how the factory did it, and if I might have a use for 'em someday...

 

Best use ever for those truck arms. A bit OT for here though.

 

I want to see some pics of junkyard sheet metal put to good use! I bet there are some pretty creative builds using odds and ends. I also find it interesting at the amount of BMW parts being utilized

 

I used to work at a place that killed BMWs. At least on '80s and '90s models they seemed to still be built from a somewhat modular point of view. Lots of things with nice simple square flanges. And BMW tends to use high grade parts. We did Mercedes too, they tend to be all cast in place from the looks of it, lol. The older Mercedes swing axles is interesting looking though. Might hve a place in a show T build. Big cast aluminum thing that you could polish the hell out of.

 

hahaha!

 

Yep,excellent fit and proportions,have to remove the one arm rest and try to source a reclining mechanism from a jap front bucket seat since the bench seat is a fixed position...

 

Also a front rack system from early to mid 80's Jaguar,they fit nice in the F1's and F100's and are compact...

 

Oh, and for the channel floor guys that want buckets,early to mid 80's Fiero seats,very compact,recline..if you wanna street-rod leve the headrests on,they have dual speakers in them!!

 

I knew a guy who used modern spare tires (doughnuts) as rollers. They're easy to transport if /when you're picking up a non-running car. I thought a lot of the bucket builders used third row mini van seats? -and I think I saw a thread here about modern cup holders. Otherwise, I dont know - aftermarket stereo stuff?

I like the picture of the valve stem caps! That's funny.

 

It depends on how "Traditional" ou want to be and what "Tradition" you are following.

The "Tradition" in building REAL HOT RODS was to use what you could get cheap that did the job. I guarantee if the old hot rodders could have got mini truck 5 speed transmissions, rear ends, and steering boxes they would have used them.

The wrecking yards around where I'm at now are all full of late model. There are a few pushrod engines with FI that could go back to carb pretty easy, lots of four speed automatics and lots of mini truck stuff, Jap and American.

The Australians are big on putting Toyota 5 speeds behind slant sixes and even the Supra 6 speed behind Mopar LA V-8s. They are overbuilt, as are the 5 speeds in Land Cruisers. No computer needed.

Alternators, Sanden AC compressors, power steering pumps, by the ton.

Someone mentioned BMWs. You know it's amazing how many BMWs get scrapped because of electrics with perfectly good mechanicals. That 5 series rear end would work at least as well as a Jag in a T bucke, wouldn't it?

This reminds me of a conversation I had, a very long time ago, with an old guy who raced flathead Ford homebrews and later Devin bodied Chevy specials, International red tractor paint and all, in road racing and also ran them at Bonneville. He had a couple of speed records that stood a long, long time there. He also crewed on the ill fated twin 911 engine Indy racer. He said, "We didn't run this old shit because we liked them better than a Gullwing Mercedes or a Birdcage Maser. We ran 'em because we could afford to and it was fun, but if I'd have hit the lottery I'd have bought a new Ferrari that day. The flathead Ford was a loose turd and the Chevy was a hell of a lot better, but it'll never run like a purpose built racing engine like a race Ferrari or Maserati or a 270 Offy. All these kids just don't get it. We didn't have money, but we had skills and a lot of energy and the time to f*** around. If you got Ferrari money buy a g-ddamn Ferrari. Blaming the guy that does is like blaming Frank Sinatra for marrying Ava Gardner. I would have too."

 

Mounting bucket seats in a fat fendered coupe or sedan is made easier if you pick up some pedestals from a GM Astro van. They are the perfect height. Used them to mount '90's Camaro buckets in a '40 Chevy coupe.

 

Jeeps have everything. Dana axles, sway bars, clean columns, neat hinges and brackets, on the earlier ones. I knew a guy that put an A on a modified wrangler chassis. Full fendered and it came out nice. At the time I was thinking, " jeep chassis? Spare us." But it turned out nice.

 

Did anyone mention S10 frames yet?

 

The "Z" cars had really bitchen trouble lights under the hood.
The wire could go about 9 feet.
They look cool, I guess if you had trouble they'd be OK.
I have them on my VW van. HAHAHAHAHA jap car wanker!!!!!!!!!!

 

Right on the money son

 

Clear forgot: though I mentioned it long ago on at least one thread. Though most high-end rear-drive sedans have gone to multi-link rear suspension there are doubtless lots of various semi-trailing arm rear suspensions lying around. The ends of the arms, appropriately cut and welded to a suitable tube, make a relatively easy DeDion axle.

 

Good idea, what would be a typical example of a good candidate for that?

 

2 wheel drive jeep Cherokee's have a cool straight axel under the front

 

Most Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs of the late 20th century and the first of the IRS-equipped Thunderbirds spring to mind. There are many other European and Japanese examples: in the latter case the model ranges and local-market model names can become rather confusing.

 

late 80's 2 wheel drive jeep grand cherokee's have a strong as hell narrow strait axle PERFECT for any gasser aplication .

just cause it's new does not mean you cant use something off of it.. LOOK before you judge.

 

turbos off of volvos and Mercedes

 

damn.. you beat me to it.