Projects another damn project...61 uni body ford

so once again i got myself into a project that i really didn't want or need.
my morning ritual of surfin the inter web got the best of my mind for a day and i had to see my vision through.

im in the process of building a pro touring 65 mustang ( i know i know, not traditional blah blah, his money sure is traditional though) out of a really nice 2 year old restored mustang gt 350. this car will be getting all new drive train , interior, etc.the car was damaged badly in the recent tornado.

i have been thinking about needing, wanting, a " shop truck" you know something that you can hop into to run to lunch in all dirty, run to the store etc.

one of my am stops is the duckuscrapus.com forum. i looked in the for sale section and saw that an old buddy ( chadillac) was selling his 61-62 ford uni body. i recently just finished up some airbag work on one of these and kinda dug it, not sure why, never really liked them, but i guess it just grabbed me. i thought about it for a day. get this old truck from chadillac, throw all the running gear from the mustang in it and have a cheap cruiser/shop truck.

i started looking on the net at different ways people where lowering thiers, or trying to get them low, with out doing a front clip. i quickly realized that doing a cheap lowering job was not going to be in the cards for me. i made a call to good old uni body/chassis expert elpolacko and got some info from him. my mind was made up that i now needed this, not sure why, but damn it i did. so a deal was made, and my buddy mike standley and i pointed the trailer south to pick it up. chadillac threw in some extra stuff and we had a good visit with him.

got it unloaded in the am and spent a solid 5 hrs pressure washing and cleaning out the inside, not sure what was living in this ol truck, but it sure shit allot. the stock fuel tank in the cab had leaked and the spilled fuel had eaten the rubber mats on the floor leaving a tar like substance and stench. after the pressure washing i quickly realized that it had more rust then i was hoping for, the front driver cab brace is basically missing, and sagging, needs floors, toes boards, etc.. all fixable, just was hoping that i don't need to do this extensive of a build on it.

with that said, it was decided that i was going to have to do a front end on this to get it down where id drive it. i started to look a different options and decide a tried and true mustang 2 with a power rack was in order, all with air bags, because if im goign to do all this work i mine as well make it cool, at least in my eyes.

so here's some pics from the past 3 days.
ill try to update this everyday, my goal is to drive this truck to the Springfield swap meet and hamb drags aug 20 in primer.

picking it up Tuesday the 26th.




cleaning up






im a cali by so i don't do well with rodents, spiders, etc.. this thing scared the shit outta me, then i realized it was fake.


all cleaned up inside


quick mock up with the pony interior and center console.

 

day 2
aug 28th
got all the front sheet metal pulled off.

 

First... i'd kick a nun in the shins to own your trailer. (oh it was a joke. And i'd say sorry..)

Its almost rediculous how cool those mustang buckets look in there huh? Makes me want a unibody pickemup. I have a little 302 based stroker motor that'd be fun in one.... hmmmmm....

 

day 3
decided that i would start and get all the suspension ripped off the frame and ready it for the fab work on teh rear end and front.
got it leveled out and on the lift.
started on the rear suspension. notch fab'd and all welded in today.

 

What front suspension are you going with? I've got a 62 Uni SWB thats waiting in the wings as well. Is that a '64 Fairlane 4 door sitting beside it in the shop?

 

the front suspension is going to be just a std. tubular a arm mustang 2 with power rack, disk brake etc

no fairlane, 60 chevy kingswood wagon, that keeps getting pushed back!

 

love your project!

 

I cant wait to see this layed out.

 

you kill me with these build threads. stop getting to work so damn fast on these things! it took me 2 weeks to get time to replace the line on my oil pressure gauge. oh and by the way i dig the truck too.

 

Hey i've got a 61 like this its got a big back window with a large stainless stip at the bottom i was told it is a pretty rare truck does anybody knoe anything about these uni 61 with the large back window....

 

This will be fun to watch. I really need to get a shop truck on the road one of these days.

 

im new to the ford truck world, but from what I've gathered what you have is the cream of the crop.

thanks for all the nice comments fellas, keeps me motivated!

 

Awesome man... Glad to see you decided to go ahead with this project!
Looking forward to your quick progress - see ya in a few short weeks!



Malcolm

 

Look at the 03-08 crown vic front suspension swap. Really cheap, really simple and handles like a dream.

 

http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47610 this is a link for the crown vic front suspension

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress on the MII front end. I've got some work to do on mine to correct a few mistakes made by the PO. Not sure how set you are on the MII but the late 70's early to mid 80's Jags are supposed to be the shit when it comes to '60's F-100's. Good luck either way you go.

 

Cool project. These trucks are jut too cool.

 

Wishing I was there to help.

Looks like a blast!

 

Unibody Fords rule.

 

yep, decided to go for it!

your always welcome here, my offer for the drags still stands also.

 

aug 30th
day 4

didn't get as much as id like done.
spent the morning cleaning up and removing the stock brackets off the rear end. got it all da'd down and looking good, when a buddy called and said he was heading to kc obsolete parts in miller mo to pick up some stuff from his buddy Reggie, and if id like to roll with, so i closed up shop and headed to miller/phelps, basically middle of now where!

reggie only does ford trucks parts. he has a lot of stuff that id like to get, but trying to stay on track with the budget build here.

after our trip and some lunch , we decided to dig into pulling the motor and tranny ( fairly built 289 30 over balanced etc, and a cruise o matic automatic) that im going to be using in this truck out of the donner mustang. we got the front sheet metal, gill assy, motor, tranny, etc all pulled in about 2 hrs! mike has been building custom mustangs all his life and knows every damn nut and bolt on these things like the back of his hand. we also got the 9" rear end all rebuilt with new bearings, seals,brakes, drums, etc and inspected the gears. all good and ready for some brackets and link bars tomorrow!

 

Cool! Love the Uni. ;-)

 

The Mustang buckets are naturals. Ford even thought so, in 1965 they offered the Ranger edition which used Mustang bucket seats, and a vinyl cover over the gas tank. Wish I hadn't sold my shortbox uni with big back window. Good looking project.

 

I really need to dig my truck out of the back yard and get my butt in gear. This build might be very motivating for me.

 

day 5
left the camera in the shop and im beat, so no pics tonight
its been hotter then shit out there, about 110 in the shop today!

got the link bars fabbed up, new hangers fabbed and welded to the frame, pan hard bars mocked up, need some more tubing and an insert in the am to finish it up tomorrow, teh front end should be in tomorrow as well.

 

Love seeing the progress!!!!!

 

Holy cow yer movin rite along! Mines been sittin a month cuz of stupid little things, yer 4 days into yours annd you are where i hope to be with mine a year from now! Seriously love 61-66 ford trucks...especially the unibodies.

 

Cool truck. I bought mine for the same reason.

 

Cool build....subscribed.

 

Can't wait to see as it progresses