66 Ford F100 & 2004 Crown Vic body swap

[Zanie]

This got out of hand quickly!


This is my buddies latest project. (I should be updating my build thread on my LS1 T56 Vega)

He bought a 66 Ford F100 longbed (a derailed project). October 2014
Plan was simple:

1. Keep the patina.
2. Cut the bed from longbed to shortbed, grind the welds and let them rust.
3. Buy a crown vic, and install the front crossmember and drivetrain into the pickup.....using the F100 frame

We started with shortening the bed, then Ron cut the frame to match.After the bed was done, Ron replaced the floors in the cab.
Then it was time for the donor car. Found a clean 2004 Crown Vic for Cheap (ex K9 unit) with 144K.
We put the car up on the lift checked out how clean the car was along with the Watt’s link rear end and that’s when things got out of hand.A little investigating showed that the Shortbed F100 and Crown Vic had nearly the same wheelbase.Off by only 0.30 inches.



Here's how it looked when it arrived:

[cactuss4]

that tow vehicle is sweet!

[Zanie]

shortening the bed.

[Zanie]

shortened the frame. and put the bed on.

[Zanie]

Then, an incredible amount of time was spent fixing the floor of the cab ( which was later completely cut out when the crown vic came along)

[Zanie]

Then we picked up a 2004 crown vic with 144K miles. former K9 unit car, lots of dog hair, but a cream puff otherwise.

[Zanie]

24 hours later

[Zanie]

its got good tires!


There's my Vega rear end on the bench!!

had to get rid of some un-needed wires

cut out the center of the bed for fuel tank clearance and checked the fit.

[cactuss4]

I giggled, can't wait for the rest of the pictures!!

[ArtosDracon]

I feel your pain on the wiring, I've got the better part of 50 hours into my wiring, and that's just cutting and old truck back from TBI to carb. I'm sure that Vic is a whole ball of fun.

[bovey]

A mind boggling project. And wait for the final result. Awesome.

[Zanie]

repositioned the bed lower. It looks low, has a great ride with lots of ground clearance.



Cut the newly repaired floor out of the cab.

[Zanie]

After the bumper came off, Ron had to move the radiator back 2 inches, otherwise the AC condenser would be in front of the grill. Luckily Ford left a little extra room between the engine and the radiator.



Started connecting at the rockers. Centered everything up. Set the floor of the crown vic at zero and set the rocker of the F100 at zero.




You can see the bare steel panel welded in that connecting the top of the truck cowl to the crown vic firewall.




Connected the floor of the crown vic to the back of the cab. Made some filler panels, put some ribs in them to stiffen them up, welded them in, seam sealed and POR 15.

[Decurion]

Thats a new way to do it! Ive heard of putting the CV front suspension on a stock f150 frame, but this takes it up a notch! What are you doing for gauges? Ive often thought a uni-body with CV front suspension, Windsor, and 4r70w would make for a cool functional truck.

[brawls43]

Looks awesome! Thought about trying this and totally chickened out. Glad to see someone making it happen!

[Zanie]

We needed to see how it looked together so we put the hood on and rolled it back where we could get a look at it. The cab is securely on, but the fenders are not supported in the front. The bed is mostly secure, but most everything will come back off.


The A/C condenser is pretty much the limiting factor for where the f100 lands on the vic. Even with the radiator condenser moved back 2 inches, its right up next to the grill as shown below.





Took the bed off and did some mods to get additional tire clearance: A little lip rolling and widened the front of the bed 1 inch, which actually improved the way the front of the bed lined up with the cab.

[srh3trinity]

That fits better than I would have thought. Love that body style.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

That looks really good!

[rustomatic]

Awesome!

[Tincup]

Nice job..