'95 F-150 track ready street beast

[Sbeck09]

The 79 f100 I am building is offset to the passenger side as well. Fwiw

Thanks for verifying that! Any idea how much?

[Nadornati]

Here is a pic I can take some measurements

[Sbeck09]

That would be awesome. My motor mounts measured about 3.5 inches difference between the two. Wonder if yours are in that ballpark. Read online today that even the 50's F100s were offset. Wish I could find some kind of technical thing about it from Ford on why exactly they've been doing that for so long. I get the whole weight distribution thing, but they weren't designing cheap farm trucks for balanced performance. haha

[67King]

Not dumb at all! I literally had the same question when I posted the photo. Unfortunately everything has already been removed. I never thought to measure each point before I took it out.

As long as teh pinion and output shaft are parallel, it doesn't matter. The front and rear U-Joints will be at the same angle, they don't care if it is "sideways" or vertical (which they all are to some degree).

Also, if you haven't procured teh parts, yet, you might look at the U152 Explorer rear setup. It is IRS, as well, but I think the U152 was still on a frame, whereas the MN12 was a subframe. Might make it easier to to install on your truck.

[SSLance]

Remember, some trucks they built were four wheel drive and they probably moved the engine over to make room for front differential and drive shaft.

[Project Bike Truck]

So much YES! to this thread. Subscribed from the title without even reading.

[Sbeck09]

As long as teh pinion and output shaft are parallel, it doesn't matter. The front and rear U-Joints will be at the same angle, they don't care if it is "sideways" or vertical (which they all are to some degree).

Also, if you haven't procured teh parts, yet, you might look at the U152 Explorer rear setup. It is IRS, as well, but I think the U152 was still on a frame, whereas the MN12 was a subframe. Might make it easier to to install on your truck.

Excellent suggestion! I'll do some digging into this. I'm currently hunting for yards to pull parts from so this was well timed!

Remember, some trucks they built were four wheel drive and they probably moved the engine over to make room for front differential and drive shaft.

OMG....I bet that's why! I know the gigantic steering box was right by the oil filter so that's one small reason, but this TTB front suspension was super massive on the 4WD version. I never saw all the stuff routed since my truck was a factory 2WD. Also, the transfer case hung toward the driver side, if I'm not mistaken so the large offset makes sense there too. I'm calling this mystery solved.

So let's say I shoot for 1.5 inches of offset to the passenger side and move on? You guys are awesome!

[frink84]

excited to see what you do with the truck, love that generation.

[Nadornati]

It's 1.5" over to the passenger side

[Sbeck09]

It's 1.5" over to the passenger side

Damn I had a solid guess! Thanks for checking that.

[Sbeck09]

It's update time!!!

Still boring teardown stuff. Sorry. I've been assured I'll have welding power no later than the 23rd. That's a huge hold up right now. Also on the hunt for a tube bender. Anyone know of a good deal?



Killed that strengthening panel under the rear window. Bought back right at 1 inch for the harness bar. I'll need it for the leg room with the seats. Sad part is that I'm not even that tall!



Got my first real look inside the B-pillar. Plan is to hide the sides of the main roll bar hoop so it's less obvious and not so close to my head. TONS of room in there. I'll use gussets to tie the body back in so it stays nice and rigid. Sometimes I think of everything. (that's a lie)



Got tired of taking a metal dust shower so I turned my focus on the dash. There was definitely a reason I was putting this task off. Blind screws on blind bolts on blind clips. I won't lie....I broke a ton of plastic tabs of to rip this out. I highly doubt I could do this procedure without breaking stuff. Glad that's over.



Now I'm down the last big chunk of insulation and the A/C+heater system. I'll probably conjure up the energy to knock those out over the next couple evenings.

I can't wait to get my welder going out here so I can get all the bracing done and cut out all the stock suspension! I'll tell you what...we are damn close to putting fun parts on. Still stressing about what I'm doing for a fuel tank. Gotta pick that out soon too. Also, settled on what wheels and the wrap colors. You have to stay tuned for that one. It's gonna be pretty wild and it looks like I will have a sponsor for it!

-Sean

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Can’t wait!

[Sbeck09]

Time for a quickie.

Been a TON of discussion on my end and limited work, but that's where we are. Good thing is that final parts decisions are happening and this gonna be good!

As far as work, here you have it:



So it's all out. I mean ALL. Kind of a relief in many ways. This wasn't my hardest teardown, but I think being solo and doing it all after hours just wore me out. Don't worry though. I'm sticking with it. Gotta keep the pace up. I can already hear that cam thump.



I get to do some sheetmetal patches there in the firewall. Fun! Not..

And for parts. I know, I know. Less talky more worky.

I caved. I'm ordering a Fuel Safe Enduro 22 gallon cell with all Aeromotive goodies internally. The point was made to me that I shouldn't skimp on fuel safety when I'm putting all this effort into safety everywhere else. I listen...sometimes.

I'm also working on ordering my tube bender and material so I can start on the cage work. Yup. It's that time. I'm nervous and excited all at once. Have to just jump into it though. The rest should be pretty easy.

Also need to drop some hardware at the engine builder so maybe and update on that progress if I can.

Might be a little lull here while I wait on parts and tools, but it will be worth it!

-Sean

[Sbeck09]

As promised I stopped by the engine builder on Friday.

Didn't even bother taking a pic though. The block is fresh out of the cleaner and is completely stripped. He is waiting for the last couple parts to show up before it all goes together. Should be ready for me within a month. ****. I'm behind. Haha.

I tried to take a pic of the bores. Didn't show anything. As expected, this truck was used so lightly that a quick ball hone would put everything in spec if it was a stock rebuild. But come on...I can't have stock anything. Going .020 over and forged 408 kit for sure. We agreed that the main caps will work loose over a couple seasons of hammering tracks and when that happens I should be able to justify the aluminum Dart racing block. Can't stomach adding another $7k for it right now.

Handyman is at the house right now working out my electrical for welders. FINALLY! All these tools and no way to use it....

I began prepping the holes in the firewall for patches. I want to start fresh when I install all the new stuff. I even got some small sheets of steel for free so that will work perfect for this procedure.

And finally, I have decided to install the Gen IV magnum Vintage Air unit for my Air con/heating at the urging of a couple people on here. I love this forum!

More to come soon.

-Sean

[WallaceMFG]

Cool progress so far! Thought I would stop by since you checked mine out.

I've got a 1979 C10 (My Fiance has claimed it already) that will get done up in the future. I'm wanting to do a pro touring build like you are, but the catch is she wants a Duramax/Allison powertrain in it. Not sure how well it will auto x with a 1000lb diesel hanging over the front, but that torque though...

[Sbeck09]

Thanks for sharing the love!

I think a Duramax C10 would be pretty freakin cool! Mark Allen was telling me about a diesel car he built and he is here in the valley.

I say do it! Seems like everyone is jumping on the truck bandwagon. Hell, Ken Block now has the Hoonitruck as of today. The more the merrier.

Btw...if you ever need more engine support, the guy I'm using by me has been awesome so far. I know it's a drive, but good engine guys are hard to find.

[Sbeck09]

Thought you guys might want to laugh with me.

I have been measuring seat position among a few other things so I can make sure everything accounted for when I'm laying out the cage tubes. I know I'll forget something, but it is what it is. Well...the other night I needed to try on my fire suit for something totally unrelated. Somehow I ended up with this gem:



We've all been here before. Engine noises with your mouth, seeing the cones in front of you. JK. It was pretty cool to sit there like this and kinda feel it all. Now I just need stuff to show up to make it real!

So far I'm striking out at the local salvage yards finding parts. Might just have to take the hit and start playing the Ebay game. Power will be in and ready Saturday. The handyman talked me into helping him by crawling around the attic to run power. FML.

-Sean

[Sbeck09]

Wow time flies! The last few weeks have been a blur, but I've been slowly pushing forward on the truck.

First...I got to go to SEMA!!! I've wanted to go for years, but this was the first time I ever made it. It was awesome. Here is some proof:



Full carbon/Kevlar GT350. I need a full carbon car in my life.



What a stance! The fit and finish was next level. Definitely not what I'm building here, but I'd totally daily this.



Of course I went by to visit PCHRods. Unfortunately they had a little unplanned medical visit so I missed them, but man this is a great car. Stole a couple pics for ideas to use myself.



Had to see the Hoonitruck. I am kinda biased. It makes me want to just build a full tube chassis. But I'm not trying to go that far this time.

Spoke with TONS of vendors and got some killer deals and ideas. Couldn't have been better timed. I got a fantastic hookup from CVF on my front serpentine/accessories set and placed a full custom order with Vintage Air. Big thanks to both companies for letting me ask silly questions and touch everything. I really hope I can get my truck invited in next year to show off some of these products!

Something that I was going to hide and surprise everyone with, but has now kinda fallen apart was that I tried to work with QA1. They unveiled a complete F100 front suspension system that I was thinking I could lightly modify to work.



Looks great right? Well a 30 minute call with Chuck after the show brought to light some roadblocks on my end. My truck has crazy curved contours on the frame rails that makes a bolt-in solution tough even with me modifying the brackets.



It's hard to catch in pics, but I hope you can see there. I may still try their crossmember, but I'm already drawing up my own design for this chassis. Not something I planned for, but a crown vic swap won't be quite up to what I have in mind here. More to come on that in the next couple weeks.

On the other hand, QA1's new MOD shocks are pretty stinking awesome! I remember all the times I've pulled shocks to work on them and being able to change valving on the car without pulling springs or anything is impressive. I'm strongly considering these for my suspension regardless.

Spoke to the engine builder today. Scat has my crank on backorder (yay) so we have to wait. Probably doesn't help having SEMA and PRI so close together. Kinda works out though since I'm on the hunt for a complete Mark VIII rear suspension now. If I can get that done I might feel less stressed about the front suspension for a minute.

I also got the first permanent part installed this evening...



We are officially manual tranny bound now! Haha. It's a small win, but it shows that we've turned the corner toward building from tearing down.

Tube bender shipped today. Ordered a hardline bend/flare kit that should be here any day. Wiring connectors have been trickling in as I prep for the big push to fire after the engine arrives. We're moving along. It's painfully slow feeling on my end, but that's what we love about project cars, right?

-Sean

[DrFraZZy]

Jump over to www.nloc.net, plenty of information on 1993-1995 lightning f150. There is a guy over there working on a crown vic swap into his 1994 f150. Here is the url to partial of his truck build. http://www.nloc.net/vbforum/showthre...n-Vic-IFS-Swap

[Sbeck09]

Jump over to www.nloc.net, plenty of information on 1993-1995 lightning f150. There is a guy over there working on a crown vic swap into his 1994 f150. Here is the url to partial of his truck build. http://www.nloc.net/vbforum/showthre...n-Vic-IFS-Swap

Thanks so much for finding this! I'll have to follow along so I can see what he does for the final install. I know from a bronco build I found that it will fit, but not as well as the older trucks. He appears to have pretty high attention to detail so I'm curious what he does in the end.

At the same time, reading through his issues with the crazy track width and trying to overcome it is exactly why I'm starting to question if that setup will work for me. He can get away with it because of drag skinnies, but I'll be needing to fit at at least a 315 up front. He also pointed out that there isn't much wheel travel and adjustable coil overs don't fit well. These are 2 areas that make or break lap times for me.

I hate to seem so negative towards this swap. I'm really not. For most it's a killer setup that's pretty straight forward to install at home. I'm pushing much further than the average cruiser. This is exactly why I've been stressing this part so much lately. My front suspension setup will make or break the entire truck when I get it rolling.