'58 F100 drag truck, or: thumbing your nose at aerodynamics!

now we have to blast it, clean, finish body work, weld in motor/trans/radiator mounts, and we can see about putting some color on it...

 

Keep up the good work!

 

alright then...
we got back on the horse a little bit this weekend.

first, my trans. dapt. motor mounts ( specifically for this motor this year truck ) did not fit in btwn. the frame rails, without having new holes drilled.
but, after looking at things for a few moments, it DID however appear that they would work on the outside of the frame rails, with just a small notch for clearance for the bottom rubber pad for the mount.

this puts the motor a few inches higher, which I wanted anyway, and, additionally, it allows for the mounts to really rest on the frame, rather than on ears protruding from it.
The bolt on, but, were tacked in place once we measured the distance from the cab forward.
this is as far back as the motor can sit, without a lot of surgery. it should leave just enough clearance for the water pump/ radiator, however it IS tight.
we have the ability to obtain more radiator room, if needed, but it looks o.k., given the dimensions of the one I am going to use.
the fans will be pushers, mounted in front.
they are not too traditional, but...I like being able to run them btwn. rounds, and make more than three passes a day, so F-it.
once we are sure that the mounts are here for good, they will be welded further, and on the bottom, where they most need it, due to the weight being exerted on the top.

 

Here we are now using the actual trans. I am going to be using.
you can see that the original crossmember is in the way of a decent driveline angle, and we want to be able to drop the pan, anyway, without a bath.
so, this is gonna go, and in will go a new one with Th400 mount provisions.

 

This is how it all sits in the truck now.

 

Its beginning to look business oriented.

 

The floor, and front of the bed removed...
saving weight, and making the bed easily removed, and negotiated around the rear kickers of the bar.
The bed rests on jack stands in front, while struts are constructed for each mounting point ( L and R ) on the front, toward the cab.
The rear will mount using the original cross brace, and corresponding holes in frame.

 

Lots of work on the bed to get it even close to straight.
the only spot we have to replace, though, is under the one tail light ( the pic shows the bed upside down ) where moisture had been able to run down the inside wall and pool.

 

Next, we are gonna hafta get to work on that removable front clip!

 

Gonna have to subscribe to this one!

Looks like you mean business!

 

SOOOOOO.......

Its been a while since I posted on this, but work, and my Galaxie distracted me for a while!

We are hammering away again on this with fury, in an attempt to make the Showdown Drags with it...wish us luck...

Some of the plans have changed, and the entire front end has been dumped in favor of a glass clip ( well, sorta...its really just two, one-off fenders and the grill, tied with tubing...)

Anyway, it hasn't made too much progress in these pics, but big things are about to happen quickly as the Showdown approaches...the motor and trans. should be in next week!

Heres where we are now...

Update!!! The "Agony Wagon" goes tupperware...

<HR style="COLOR: #333333" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Well, its been a while, but we are REALLY hoping to make the Jalopy Showdown with this thing, and show 'em that the East Coast Devils can play hard too...its gonna be close, and there is going to be CERTAINLY no time for tuning, but...we might just make it at least...

Heres what happened this weekend, back in the garage...

We removed those old heavy-ass metal fenders that we were going to use, and, thanks to Adam, I now have these nice, delightful "fake" ones...
The 'glass fenders, are, in reality the only ones I've ever seen for these style trucks, and you can see that they were not made en-mass...there home-jobber, one-offs, and I'm glad to have 'em, because the front just got a LOT lighter!




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Not much to it...A little bit of 1" DOM tubing, and some hood pins...its strong, and light.
This enabled us to completely ditch the radiator support ( holy FUCK!!! was that heavy...) and valance, and...well, everything else, reall...and only retain that which is necessary to continue at least being recognizable as a truck!

Aero-dynamics should be positively horrible, but, we'll cross that bridge later on...if I can ever find/make a glass hood, that would help, but for now, a light front end, and weight reduction/transfer is the name of the game.

The whole clip will be pinned on by three sets of pins...one at the frame, where the tubing runs across, one set at the bottom of the fenders, in front of the door, and a final set in front of the cowl/cab, to help set the depth, so to speak, of the front end in relation to the doors, so that the gap stays correct. These will have bushings/shims behind them to retain the proper spacing.





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And, finally, a better place to put my ass than a crate or a 4"x 4"...
More 1" DOM tubing, four legs, and two cross-straps...its solid!
heavier than it could have been, by a pound or two, but I'm real funny about where, and how safe, the place where I put my ass is!

The back of the seat will have an adjustable support from the bar...

 

i like this deal, keep us posted it is coming together nicely

 

Maybe lower the rear end with a spun round tank up front??

 

Dammit, we are building the exact same truck in almost ever aspect. although i am shortening my bed and frame 6 inches behind and in front of the wheelwell

 

I keep going back and forth on the tank up front, or a fuel cell in the bed...for a number of reasons, but it certainly does look the part.

As far as the rear goes, it is scheduled to come down some, but it may have to wait until next year, as the intention is to set it up with ladder bars...the timeline this year mandates sticking with some type of leaves, and slapper bars...

 

I THOUGHT about that!
When I had the bed off, and we removed the floor, I looked at the wheelbase, and all the overhang, and my mind started whirling...
When you can, post some pics, or direct me to the thread with yours on it, if you have one already, because I'd like to see how that looks in the flesh!

I joked with people when I got this thing about three years ago, that I just liked building things that you'll never see at the track...

I may have to check that thought in a few years coming up!
It seems like a few or more of these are leaking out...

I thought it was a great platform because, for a truck, its fairly lightweight, it has plenty of room in the engine bay, its a reasonable wheelbase, it has plenty of room in back for a decent size tire, and, best of all: most people hate 'em, so you could pick one up for $ 500.00 and not feel guilty about carving the hell outta it.

 

Thanks for the good words...
I hope it will be done in time to at least make some passes at the Showdown drags...though that might be optimistic...

It won't be pretty yet, if it makes it, but at least it should run!

 

Mmmm, stubby...

 

Wow...thats crazy looking...

 

Here's a little encouragement for ya. This is a '63 belonging to a guy on another forum I am on.....The truck has been prettied up a bit since then (all one color of primer now), has the hood, etc., and now has a 2x3 box frame rather than a back-half, but he still uses the original straight axle. Power is a 557 BBF with A460 heads & a Ron's Toilet injector...he's had a blower on it along with an Enderle injector but overpowered the chassis, which after all is a simple homebuilt deal. Yeah, they are bricks, but they can run pretty well.

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e218/DaveMcLain/?action=view&current=2ndPassFromBurnoutBox.flv

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e218/DaveMcLain/?action=view&current=EndofTrack-1.flv

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6429766974019051858

 

That last one, of it leaving the line actually made me say "yeah!" out loud...

Cool.

The next step after all this is tuned, and prettied up a bit is heads.
The motor, as it sits, has nothing left to give, without better heads...
( The D0ve's are as ported as they are going to get!)

The motor we are using was built by a good friend, who runs a 9 second AMC. It has only had a few passes on it, and a little street duty, but it went 10.90 in a friends Maverick, with a VERY conservative, hydraulic cam, we've since installed a fairly aggressive solid...VERY light, Maverick, though...

We'll see...

A lot of folks using those A460's...gonna have to save my pennies!

 

It was shortened by the original owner a long time ago. I don't know why but it was done pretty well.
He also put in a 390 "Super Marauder" from a 63 Mercury with a 4 speed.

The back is coming down a inch or two, with 15x8 steel wheels wth cheater slicks. The front is going up a bit and I have 2 cragar chrome spokes for the front.

 

A little more progress this past week...

Got a little more done on getting the new cam in the motor, and back together.

Installed, degreed the cam, and started re-assembly...

Its a solid lift, long duration piece.
A few issues came up, but it should be sitting in the frame rails Monday evening!


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