Projects 1956 F100 Build Thread

INstalling a 04 Vic front end on a 56 for a buddy of mine. Going for the bolt in non narrowed project.

 

Any pics. If I decide to change mine somewhere down the road it would be a great reference.

 

those are some crazy looking headers ...

keep up the good work ...

 

Cool truck in the making

 

Nice project.

 

For all you guys contemplating an IFS conversion on your '53-'56 F-100 (whether Crown Vic, M II , or Jag) now is the time to consider moving the wheel centers forward 1 1/4" forward to correct Ford's "too far rearward in the wheel arch" problem.

 

Here is how the originals were position. Flush towards the end near the middle of cab, and down 1/4" at the end of the cross member. They were centered on the bolt hole.


Mine are offset like this...(both sides did the same thing) If I allow them to sag just a little more than the originals they center up ok.


The after market pillars don't match the rockers. The front is close, but the rears are way off.




Here are some overall shots.... Notice the sag in the inners at the cross member.
The outside corners do fit though......




I think I am just going to weld the gaps up where the pillar meets the rockers... What's your opinions on doing that?

Also, I noticed when I closed my doors that everything looks pretty decent on the outside but the gap between the inside bottom edge of the door and rocker is about half an inch from the front of the door and then widens to nearly 1" at the rear. Is that normal???

I am afraid the door won't seal up like this.....

 

Got the aluminum driveshaft cut down and fitted up!

 

Got the Driveshaft hoop fitted up. Still have to cap the top and bottom and repaint it but now I have an idea as to how high my transmission hump will be.

Started with a Lucky Charms box pattern. Broke out the torches cut the patterns out of 10 ga. center is 16 ga. which I will double up and spot weld together.

 

Match the door bottoms and skins to your cab. I found out the hard way on my drivers door and ended up getting a new one.

 

Great work so far! I love the 300 six too, what an overlooked motor. I wish I had one in my OT truck instead of the 5.0!

 

Some work on the back of the cab...





Got my driveshaft cleaned up welded and together......

Before and after acid bath on the yokes:



Here is a shot of the factory weld and our weld after shortening:



Here is the final product with new spice u joints (50 for the shaft, 25 for the welding, and 40 in u joints .... total of $115.00 isn't too bad for an aluminum shaft):

 

Here is the new cab rear cross member:

 

Wow, awesome welding/fab skills. Love all the pictures too!

 

Excellent job sir. Jealous of your ifs set up. I am stuck with a volare front end in my for the time being. What wheel options are you considering?

 

Well.....it is taboo on here but probably some 18" x 8" billets. I may have a custom set of steel wheels made that replicate the factory wheels and caps but in a much larger size with higher offset.

I am really liking the new taurus and explorer 5 spokes as well.


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You could get a set of Delmos new wheels they fit the center caps now.

What kind of braded lines are you running to the rear calipers for the disc brakes I need to find some for mine just was not sure if they made them to fit mine have a big square mount with rubber line now .

Jake

 

Mine are goodridge through speedway. I,m not sure if they have the sizes for your stock lines.... mine have the through frame tubes from speedway also. I am sure mid fifty has some braided stock lines.

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Well I am so thrilled, I finally got the cab sitting back on its own mounts. I feel like the worst part of rust reapair on the cab is on the down hill now. I know I have a ton of sheet metal still to do but I no longer have to work around braces and in nooks and crannies....

I decided to do a smooth floor and transmission hump. So I am going to frame the floor with 16ga. 1 x 1 tubing.






Went ahead and welded the jambs solid.









Some of the welding is a little sloppy, I was practically standing on my head to get some of this tacked in. Just one of the down falls of not having enough room to get the cab off and where I can flip it around. Oh well, I will get them ground down and everything cleaned and rewelded as needed once I get the cab off.

 

Oh and did i mention everything is square with good gaps!!!! Yes!!!

 

I like the front you are using. Could you tell me what years ford used this setup in the crown vic?

 

Very nice build. I'll keep watching the progress.

Frenchy

 

looking good .... =)

 

Thanks for posting your progress. I'm enjoying this build.

 

Crown Vic runs from 03 to 07 believe. I think in 08 or 09 they went back to steel.

 

Well I got my pans cut out and fitted. I lack a little bit of trimming before tacking them in but they turned out really well.

I actually impressed myself with how well they fit and how symmetrical they were.






I was actually able to sit in it for the first time..... man did that feel good!

 

its looking great. keep up the great work. i will continue to follow this

 

Some more pics of the substructure, floor pans and cowls.










Should be starting the chop and section next weekend! Stay tuned!

 

I too am running a 300, with plans to supercharge it! I shied away from the T5 though because I was concerned it wouldn't be strong enough. I'll be very interested to see how yours handles, because they're damn sure cheaper than a TKO500!

Where did you score your aluminum driveshaft? I've been considering one too but haven't found many for much less than $100 (which won't stop me but I'd like to know if there's a cheaper option).

 

Mine was out of a crown Victoria interceptor.

As far as the T5 goes, I plan to put it on the Dyno before I spend much money on it. If I get it up over 300 ftlbs of torque I am going to get an astro gear set for it. Even with the gears and a rebuild it is cheaper than most TKO500's I could find.