76 F-100 project truck

[RIF RAF]

I picked up a 76 F-100 back in October for $500 (solid TX truck) and finally bit the bullet and got this build going to get it road worthy.
It had been sitting for a few years, didn't run, 2 shades of primer on it, junk interior, 400M with a 3 on the tree and 9in out back.



First thing I did was pull the engine and rebuild it. Its a stockish rebuild of the 400M, bumped the compression up, bowl ported the heads, converted to roller cam/stud-guideplates/roller rockers, performer intake, and 770 Holley. It made 360HP and 457ftlbs on the dyno thru the factory exh manifolds.


After deciding to make a big push to get it on the road the 3spd was ditched in favor of a 5spd. I picked up a Tremec 3550 with low miles out of a late model mustang. I'll go into detail on this because it was shocked about how easy the swap was. The ONLY modifications needed were:
1. Narrow and generously chamfer the pilot bearing (a solid bronze one) because the input shaft is longer on the Tremec than the 3spd. 2. Remove the front seal housing and machine .450 off the snout length (again it is longer needs to clear the pressure plate fingers)
3. Cut hole in floor.
4. Use trans mount off of the 3spd and slide crossmember back to the other set of holes.
5. Shorter drive shaft and T5 trans yoke.

The speedo cable fits and is the same gear count, bolts up to bell housing no problem (locating ring is the same size), and still used the mechanical clutch.

Installed a Yukon Gear posi in the 9in also and kept the 3.00 gear ratio. The Tremec has a .64 firth gear and should make for some low rpm cruising.

A lot of effort has gone into making the truck nice to drive and comfortable. I used Dynamat for sound deadening and a big LMC truck order brought me new interior panels and carpet. I refurbished the dash pad and painted the interior which is 60% steel anyway. I'm mounting some bucket seats in the cab that came from a Datsun 280Z.
For exterior styling the back will have a roll pan and the front bumper has been narrowed 4" and paint matched to the truck. Drip rails have been shaved and changed from the big mirror to some smaller ones. Truck has been painted silver and blue. It came out decent for my first paint job ever. The new front grille bezel made a huge difference in the look of the fronted along with the blacked out grilles. Still waiting on the HID projector head lights to show up but they'll be here this week. The Dakota Digital dash will be here this week too. Then all thats needed is the glass and ext system.

Here are some pics of the project. I'll have more soon, paint is drying on the roll pan and front bumper right now. I'll get those installed and take a few more pics.


Still kicking around the idea of drop I beams, Mustang II swap, or fab a front suspension for this thing. I would like to drop it but the I beams seem to be an issue with quality product and good suspension upgrade. Not to mention they're 1/3 of the price of a mustang II kit. The rear will be easy enough to switch over to 4 link and mini tube for some big tires.

[1truckguy78]

Sweet truck! Totally diggin the paint too. My two cents, id go for the mustang II.

Looking forward to more updates.

[Kcrain]

Seen some people using the crown vic cross member and front suspension. I think the width is right and almost like a bolt in. Than you can put the rear axle on top of the leaf springs with new pads sould be a cheap way of lowering it with pretty decent handling. Keith

[RIF RAF]

Kcrain,
I'll have to look into the Crown Vic swap some more…from the way some pics look its might be too easy….

1truckguy78……it looks even better with if nearly completed at this stage.

Here are a few more pics of what I got accomplished this weekend.
Getting the front end put on:


Interior going in including the Highliner kit from LMC. I decided on this for the simplicity of not needing to run wires to the doors and get speakers. Plus it has a place to mount the CD player.






Took it outside for a few pictures in the sun.




Put the roll pan on the back.
Mockup

Finished


Front bumper is narrowed 4" and paint matched to truck.

[chet]

nice! I have a crown vic suspension on the floor for my '79. Looks to be a not too bad swap by doing a little measuring. Need to make up motor mounts, make loser a arm mounts and match the bolt patterns as its 5x4.5. I got an explorer 8.8 with a posi for the back. that is going in right now. then the crown vic.

I really like the bumper narrowing

[RIF RAF]

I drove it to town today to get exhaust put on. I should have checked the steering before going but made it ok. Had to change the rubber and tighten up the gear box to fix the slop. I just love being able to pump it twice and hit the key to get it running. Starts better than my 04 power stroke. I put some quiet mufflers on, true dual exiting just in front of the rear wheels at a 45. Its sneaky quiet until you get on it. It moves pretty good for a 3.00 rear gear. 5th gear is idle or lower at 50mph but it'll cruise with 10-20% throttle in 4th at that speed no problem.
Now I just need the glass….should be next week then I can see what kind of milage it gets.

Chet,
I like how the bumper came out too. If I was more motivated I would have taken another 3/4-1" per side and cut the frame to move it back 1-1/2" so that it fit the grille better. But its not a "perfect" body truck and I don't want it to be, so I didn't get that involved.

[RIF RAF]

Had a chance to get the HID kit installed the other day and the difference is amazing. These are a Tru Projector housing with a hard cutoff line for the low beams. 10K bulbs give it the blue tint. I think it just looks sweet with the grille blacked out its just evil looking with the lights on. I got the Kit from GTR Lighting, they are a great company based out of Bemidji, MN.

Comparison of the stock headlight to the HID on low beam.


Lights Off


Lights ON

[RIF RAF]

Here's a few more pics now that I've been out and about driving the truck for a few months now. There are still little things here and there to fix but nothing major. It drives nice but with the 3.00 rear ratio I really only need 3 gears but it still will get up and go when you get in it. Probably going to go with a 4.11 out back soon…heck it will still under 2000rpm going 55.





I'm also getting very motivated to build a custom front suspension for this thing utilizing AFCO upper and lower control arms for an Asphalt late model/or anything really. The Crown Vic swap is tempting but in reality its just more stock ****. Yes a huge upgrade for the truck…but still not meant for any real racing. I'm still sorting this out but for what I could save building a suspension with circle track parts could be put towards other vital parts such as really nice coilovers, brakes, manual rack and pinion, and new tires. Doing the front suspension will be coupled with a parallel 4 link rear with adjustability built into it. Whole thing should drop 5-6inches or more and be a completely different truck. My goal is to dive it and go road racing.