1976 F100 street machine

rattle_snake said:
but that is a bump not a dent :grinpimp:

I guess some more info of what 'street' is where I live, Chandler AZ, aka phx area. The streets are on a 1 mile grid. Posted limit is 45, 2 or 3 lanes each way. So stoplight to stoplight, straight line. My cobra can do 0-45 within the intersection, just 1st gear. Any tire spin is a fail. get smoked by a tesla, lezbaru, or anything AWD. Have to hook.

The pickup frame is perfect for a 4 link. It is essentially what a backhalf is for a car. Cut out the floor and install parallel frame rails to mount brackets.

I followed that build back in 2016 when I started my 72 F250.
but that is a bump.
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Yes, but the frame rails should be the same, no?

Glad you've seen it, he did some cool stuff, especially the Volvos.
 
rattle_snake said:
I wouldn't except any less here.

Wifemobile is a 4 banger turbo expo. Not my style, wrong noises. Can't do burnouts and wheelies with AWD.
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My daily right now is a 2011 Expedition, 5.4 6R80 and some odd transfer case that is 2wd/awd/4wd/4low capable. IFS/IRS. Engine sits way back. I've thought it would be a cool platform to bodyswap. 7.3 Godzilla would bolt in, 5.4 works well enough for me.
 
Keith said:
Yes, but the frame rails should be the same, no?

Glad you've seen it, he did some cool stuff, especially the Volvos.
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The frame rails are similar. Dent widens under the bed, longer.
My comment is more about the body. Everyone does a bump with smaller wheel wells.
posford said:
My daily right now is a 2011 Expedition, 5.4 6R80 and some odd transfer case that is 2wd/awd/4wd/4low capable. IFS/IRS. Engine sits way back. I've thought it would be a cool platform to bodyswap. 7.3 Godzilla would bolt in, 5.4 works well enough for me.
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Cool idea but that chassis is heavy. Weight is the ultimate killer of performance. Would need a lot of power to be competitive with modern muscle cars.
Definitely swap out the IRS for a solid axle. 5.4 can handle lots of boost. Can get DOHC 5.4 cheap. Would be cool for a rally type vehicle, pikes peak.

The newer RWD/AWD exploder chassis is probably a better fit as mentioned earlier. Swap out the IRS for a solid axle. swap out the motor/trans.

Drag radial tire on a light RWD chassis is hard to beat. Simple and cheap.
 
Farting around cleaning old car parts.
Car hit a curb or something hard enough to guillotine the bushing shell and push the arm off.
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The rear LCA mount is specific to the CV chassis and looks stupid, out of place when mounted (correctly or not) on the F100 frame. Can't have that, would be too easy to replace as it is a wear item.
Instead make something custom out of the old junk. Cut off the bracket and slicked out the bushing shell. The slot is intended to be horizontal for alignment purposes. Slot is not ideal, but going to use it. Maybe go with a bushed DOM sleeve at a later time.
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Completed round one of K member cleaning. had to brush it to get the grime off. Test fit the ride tech struts, which are baby sized Fox shocks.
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The upper strut mount adapter is SS. But the HW is not. In an effort to waste time and money, have to get SS fasteners and TIG them captive for minimal loose HW.
Tempted to just weld the two pieces together, but loose the ability to rotate. Probably should get the entire suspension assembled before committing to a specific clocking position.
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Damaged UCA. What to do?
0b00 - Put bushing with damaged shell back in, center both sides, tack weld
0b01 - Replace the one damaged bushing, center, weld
0b10 - (0 | 1) & wrap the ears to box the whole thing both sides
0b11 - Replace both sides with new arm assemblies

 
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I would replace both, but I know that's not your style. I would definitely replace the bushing, if the UCA is easily fixed, fix it. After all this is a budget build, and you have the skill set to fix it right and make it look good.
 
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I too had to do this to cut/reweld to rotate the slot to horizontal on my build. You re-using the OEM mounting plate on the left or going fully one-off annoying to replace when it wears out?

Again, me being an amateur I just clocked it and re-welded. I can make a new pair in an hour if I ever needed to. I agree the end result is kind of ugly compared to other ways people with more skill could make it work
 
budget76 said:
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I too had to do this to cut/reweld to rotate the slot to horizontal on my build. You re-using the OEM mounting plate on the left or going fully one-off annoying to replace when it wears out?

Again, me being an amateur I just clocked it and re-welded. I can make a new pair in an hour if I ever needed to. I agree the end result is kind of ugly compared to other ways people with more skill could make it work.
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71PA_Highboy said:
You didn't add pricing so that comparison is out.

I would replace the one damaged arm as it will give you a stable platform for the next time the bushings need to be replaced.
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New Moog arms are $100. Gotta match. Some cars and new sets are stamped one side solid on the other. Can't have that.
budget76 said:
I too had to do this to cut/reweld to rotate the slot to horizontal on my build. You re-using the OEM mounting plate on the left or going fully one-off annoying to replace when it wears out?

Again, me being an amateur I just clocked it and re-welded. I can make a new pair in an hour if I ever needed to. I agree the end result is kind of ugly compared to other ways people with more skill could make it work
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I have to do it the hard, dumb way, custom just because.
but I doubt I'll ever wear the bushing out. With several vehicles and motorcycles I don't put a lot of miles on anything. And project vehicles aren't drivable when blown apart.
 
Contemplating just using the K-member for reverse engineering, to make my own control arm mounts on the frame.
There are only a few items
2 bolts for LCA
2 bolts for rack
4 bolts for UCA

Other option is to do a better job at the integration. Same CV IFS as everyone else, just cleaner, stronger and better looking version of the swap.

The more I look at CV swaps, the sadder I get. So many really ****ty jobs. drill holes and stack washers. Cut out the strength of crossmember, and send it.

'It stiffens the factory frame where the crossmember mounts and ties the Crown Victoria suspension securely to your frame. ' WTF? Zero bracing or triangulation.
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Slowly cleaning up all the old dirty parts. Turd polished the calipers and broke sharp edges. Brakes are ready for new caliper seals and pads.
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Cleaned up the knuckles. They had been painted, poorly. I can't help myself and was forced to grind down the casting flash seam, break all sharp edges, media blast, and slick the flats. I think the plan is to paint them black so the brakes have some contrast.
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rattle_snake said:
Contemplating just using the K-member for reverse engineering, to make my own control arm mounts on the frame.
There are only a few items
2 bolts for LCA
2 bolts for rack
4 bolts for UCA

Other option is to do a better job at the integration. Same CV IFS as everyone else, just cleaner, stronger and better looking version of the swap.

The more I look at CV swaps, the sadder I get. So many really ****ty jobs. drill holes and stack washers. Cut out the strength of crossmember, and send it.

'It stiffens the factory frame where the crossmember mounts and ties the Crown Victoria suspension securely to your frame. ' WTF? Zero bracing or triangulation.
installed2.jpg
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Is that bracket kit good or bad in your opinion?
 
My vote is reverse engineer the out-of-place-alloy parts holder. No matter what you do, it’ll always look like all the other stacked washer driveway builds.
 
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CarterKraft said:
Is that bracket kit good or bad in your opinion?
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I would not trade $750 for it. I don't think it does much. Frame is still a noodle.
WiscoF100 said:
My vote is reverse engineer the out-of-place-alloy parts holder. No matter what you do, it’ll always look like all the other stacked washer driveway builds.
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I'm good at making my life harder than it needs to be.
 
Made it through cleaning and inspecting all the parts. The rack had one bad inner tie rod.
Wasted some time on the k member. Ground the seams, broke edges.
Slicked out the spider webs on the towers.
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Ground the strut bosses flat.
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Still not decided on how to proceed exactly. I think mounting the k member below the fame won't be low enough. It needs to be channeled into the frame.
Ready to just cut out the beams and start hacking the frame, figure it out as I go. But I know I should have a plan for success first.
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Fought with spray cans but got the LCA painted. Installed one lower BJ, went fine. The 2nd side the BJ is loose in the hole. The hole is clean and not distorted. The ball joint that came out of that side is 1.770 instead of 1.750, 0.020 larger. well ****.

Looks like both LCA have been replaced at some point. The left side has the larger BJ OD. Not sure why this is done other than to make it not serviceable, have to buy another.
 
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Extracted all the hole locations from the k member and made a crude drawing. The oil pan hangs down below the bottom of the frame rail so the cross member needs to dip. A lot of work for not a lot of value added.

The factory front/engine crossmember could be made to work with all the CV parts. Cut out beam stuff and weld LCA tabs to frame/crossmember. UCA tabs are similar either way. A lot of work for not a lot of value added.

The CV has more room for headers and steering.
 
acid etch primer
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and then it was black. I have bad luck with spray paint. Now that Krylon is the same as the rest it's a guess if any can will dispense for more than a few seconds even brand new. Tried a new color, nickel satin that is close to raw aluminum without the sparkle or gloss sheen of the aluminum or silver paints. I liked it so naturally the can clogged 5 seconds in.
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Started mock-up of the right side. The brakes are painted with VHT, although I used engine paint I already had instead of caliper paint.
Cleaned up most of the HW but it is not perfect. It seems almost every fastener is different left to right. Nothing matches, no pair of anything. And it is metric, although prohibited there are things that cannot be converted (BJ for example) so going to have to go with it. Where to stop with OEM fasteners vs getting new HW.
Bought a 6AN adapter set for the rack hydraulic lines. One fitting didn't fit but was able to pop it in the lathe and make it work.
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Received the replacement left LCA for the CV IFS. Even though it has a new ball joint, it doesn't match the other new one, and I have one that does. I figured I could possible ruin the new assembly pressing the BJ out and seeing if it is standard size or not, and put in the MOOG joint. But before that, waste time slicking out the casting.
The arm BJ surface isn't flat and the machined cup is too small for any pipe I have, so somewhat delicate to get in and out in the press or BJ C-clamp. I managed to have the lower sleeve partially on the BJ lip when pressing out and it tore part of the lip off. Cut the **** out of my thumb on it, electrical tape to the rescue. Fortunately the bore was standard size and I was able to press the MOOG BJ in.
I wanted to get all the parts off my table so I modified a dolly to hold the entire assembly. It is not balanced so used some uni-strut to secure the front side. Put all the part loosely together. Last thing to do is order the remaining fasteners.
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I cut all the ears off the knuckles for the splash shields. I think it looks more better.
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Dreaming of rear suspension ideas and configurations. Trying to pick a shanked rebuildable joint. No hiems. I don't need length adjustability in-place so can be just on one end and a welded bushing sleeve on the other.

It would seem that if I have to cut up the frame for a step to clear rear axle, might as well just back half the chassis. Would have to cut the bed all up.

I have this twisted vison of a LARGE sub box with 15s or 18s in the forward part of the bed vented into the cabin. Between that and the axle step leaves the rear part of the bed for a fuel tank and 'storage' under some type of tonneau cover.
 
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