1951 f16

[wfo guy]

This week, I received some different springs for the rear. I had used the ridetech calculator to arrive at the spring rate for the rear. They were too soft. I called and got George. I explained where I was at. he asked for a few simple measurements which I provided him with. In a couple of days I had new springs. I installed them and now have what I expected on both ends of the truck. This drives like an oversize go kart. I'm using mid-level suspension components but it is really good how everything works. The combination of the crown vic and the Lincoln IRS are proving to be the next step up from the previous 51's suspension. The ridetech coilovers make this possible. A couple of years ago I did a 1972 F100 with a crown vic front and a T-Bird Irs using stock springs in the front and shortened crown coil overs in the rear. It's a Cadillac. I hated it. It's not a sports truck. Now I can see that with some money and a little time, it could be completely changed.

[Dodge383fi]

I used a 2000 explorer power steering pump for compatibility with a hydroboost.

Just out of curiosity, is that enough belt wrap on the crank pulley?
I think the truck is awesome!

[wfo guy]

^^^
It seems to be fine. No squeaking belt with power steering or ac operation. Thank you.

[wfo guy]

I was unhappy with the location of the relays on the firewall. I spent the better part of the last 2 days relocating and shortening wiring under the dash. In hindsight, I could have done some things differently. This was done for cosmetic reasons. There are 7 relays in the system. The plastic block I used was only available in one orientation or the wiring would be hidden. The relays I used have a fuse mounted in the power feed. Unless they prove to be of poor quality, that looks like a way to simplify things to me. I was very satisfied with the operation of all the components. If you have looked at what I do, I struggle with cosmetics.

[TANKMASTERJ]

First I have seen this thread but I'm very impressed. Reminded me of a 49 i did with a buddy whereby w used a 79 trans frame in front and a c5 independent rear in his 49 Chevy. It handles VERY well.
Very cool project and you sourced what you needed very budget conscious and wise.
Awesome build
Jason

[wfo guy]

^^^^
Thank you for the kind words.

[c91x]

Very nice. What gauge setup is that?

[wfo guy]

Dakota Digital VHX universal.

[drummerdad]

Beautiful truck. I love it. How do you like the crown vic front suspension? I am thinking about doing one on the F100, but with a narrowed cross member.

[wfo guy]

The crown vic takes the mustang 2 to a whole different level. The geometry is very good. It has big rotors and calipers. The rack is on the front so there are less clearance problems. In about 2013, I had a discussion with "Elpolacko" who was Steve at Industrial Chassis. They made Dakota crossmembers for a better front than the mustang 2. He was a very talented guy. We discussed the popularity of the crown vic and the down sides of it. The one point he made was that aluminum crossmembers weren't designed to be used on flexible frames. If you noticed, my rear cab mounts are solid on the chassis. The 48 through 56 all have the pivots on the rear to compensate for chassis flex. I can jack up one side of the chassis and depending on where the jack is, either the rear of front comes up with it. It isn't as good as new vehicles that have no flex but it's very strong. I think I have provided the crossmember with a strong foundation so as to not cause problems. Time will tell on that. So my thought is that if you stiffen your chassis, you will be very satisfied with that front end. These will get rare so if you really want to do that, I would suggest you get a front purchased. 2003-2011 is the correct years. Thank you for the kind words.

[drummerdad]

Thank you for the information. I would probably use a narrowed steel cross member on the F100. The biggest reason I didnt use the CV IFS on the Dodge was the track width, it would have made the front tire track wider than the rear. Most people fix this with wheel backspacing in the rear, so its no big deal. The narrowed crossmember uses all the other CV components, except the steering rack and it welds right in place. As for getting the parts, Im working on that. I have the engine and trans for the F100 already. Most of my efforts are going to the Dodge right now though.

[wfo guy]

O&S accomplished 2 things today. No.1: I now have back up lights. When backing out of the shed, I had a fair amount of light shining from the led tag light. These are about 1/2" in diameter. I mounted 2 in the roll pan. When this get's taken apart for paint, I'm going to french them so the lens is flush with the face of the roll pan. No. 2: I'm going to add this to possibly save someone some grief. I had a problem with some fuel coming out of the rollover valve after it was parked with a full tank of fuel. I thought the valve might be too low for it to work so I mounted it under the top of the rear fender. I filled it with fuel and drove home. It did it again. I removed the cap to make sure there was no residual pressure. 2 days later there is a damp spot on the floor. ???? Today I ran it in the shop and turned on the heat. I came back an hour later and there's a damp spot on the floor. Now I'm thinking the hot rod god is messing with me. I decided to relocate the roll over valve as it wasn't working any better being 12" up in the air. I pulled the line off the vent on the tank and fuel came out. I plugged it and removed the cap. No pressure. Un cap the line and a little fuel came out. Then the light comes on. Both the mounts for the fuel gauge and the pump are around 3/4" lower than the top of the tank. I'm sure that was done so you could flush mount the tank and not have obstacles. When I fill the tank, I fill to the bottom of the neck. That means it's over full. Most tanks have the filler neck lowered into the tank a ways to prevent this from happening. I always fill up as much as I can for consistent fuel mileage measurements. I won't be doing that anymore on this one. All of the others I have installed have the gauge and pump attachments level with the top of the tank so this doesn't happen. So color me a slow learner. I have not hesitated to tell when I make mistakes and this is just one more. I hope that this info might be helpful at some point for someone.

[wfo guy]

The weather god has let it warm up some the last 2 days so I decided I would shoot the bed floor prior to putting it back in. Bare in mind that there will be a bed mat over this so I spent no time with bondo on the welds. I shot epoxy on both sides and then 2 coats of black urethane on the top side. The bed mat I ordered is black so it seems to make sense to have a black floor.

[wfo guy]

O&S had a pretty good day. I finally received the check from the freight company for the claim on the rear fenders that was filed July 1, 2021. LOL. I have the bed floor bolted back in. Some how, I scratched it. At least I think I did. There is a chance one of the grandkids did last night when they came over. It's nice that it's a bed floor and I have a mat ordered to cover it. I was unhappy with all of my connections on the battery posts. I made some brackets to move some of the connections. The maxi fuses on the positive side are still ugly but I haven't decided if I will do something about that or not. I tend to be concerned with function rather than appearance on some items. When I had the batteries under the bed floor, it sure made this easier. I have the center outlets for the ac temp. mounted. I was going to make sure I'm satisfied with their functionality before making a more permanent mount. I installed throttle pedal setup number 3. The f150 pedal had a catch in it. I had changed the geometry on it and it didn't help at all. I bought a 96 mustang pedal on ebay and mounted it. I had to miter it some to change the height of the pedal. I'm not 100% satisfied with it but the catch is gone so that was a good step forward. The 2 colors for the hood arrived this morning. I looked in the cans and have mixed feelings. I may spray 2 panels and lay them out side to see how they look before doing the hood. Decisions! LOL.

[Vimes]

Can I suggest rethinking that gas cap? It won't take much of an accident to shear that cap off even if it doesn't get into the tank, and an accident like that will be making a lot of sparks.

[wfo guy]

^^^^
That's an interesting thought. It's very common to have the fuel tank at the rear in pickup trucks. I think I'm safe in saying that the 2 to 4 inch riser is what's used most of the time. Are you suggesting that I have a flush mounted cap?

[Vimes]

Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess) I have an eye for potential problems that might cause future pain. Comes from being in too many accidents, with only one or two being my fault, I guess. I don't know what to suggest on the cap though, other than lowering the tank (or raising the bed) so the fill cap sits below the opening enough that a straight push won't slice it off. Or, maybe a larger, reinforced opening in the bed floor so that if something does hit it won't be able to slice the top off. From the picture it just looks like it would be an easy open in a rear-ending. Theoretically I'm also doing a truck (STILL waiting on a contractor to start) and the fuel tank is going in the same place, but mine will sit low enough under the bed that I can use a sidewall filler. Either that or if the area under there won't fit a tank, I'll have to do an in-bed tank up against the front of the bed.

[wfo guy]

O&S went to the shop to make some progress today. I have the frame for the bed cover welded up. I have to attach the hinge, latch and gas spring mounts before shooting some primer on it. The 1/8" strap on top was to give it some arch so water shouldn't puddle on it. We'll see if that is enough.

[wfo guy]

O&S tried to set a record for least accomplished today. Somedays, not much goes right. I started off by bolting the hinge to the frame. I doubled the frame where the gas springs attach and welded the ball mounts on. I fabbed a pin for the bear claw latch and have it mounted. When I put it in the bed, I found out that how I planned to mount the hinge wouldn't work. I removed the hinge and flipped it 180 degrees. I mounted the bear claw latch and started on the gas springs. This cover will have 1/4" plywood and Haartz convertible cloth material on it. It will be way less weight than the steel unit on the white 51. I had ordered 2 gas springs of the same capacity as the white 51. They were way too strong for this. I had some that were less than 1/2 the capacity of those. I installed them and used them for mock ups in reality. The frame works well now but there will be around 30 lbs. added with the cover so I will possibly be buying more gas springs. My plan was to get the frame mounted and in primer by the end of the day. I'm just one day short of my goal. LOL.

[wfo guy]

O&S ended the day at where I wanted to be yesterday. I have the latch operational. I welded nuts on the frame to run the elevator bolts through. The elevator bolts are spaced a foot a part on the perimeter to hold the bed cover on to the frame. I had thought about machining some spacers to fasten the bolts to and decided that I had spent enough time on this until I'm sure all my design works as intended. I shot black epoxy on the bed frame for time being. After I did the latch, I had a couple of thoughts. The 1st being that I could machine a rod to align the 2 rod ends to where they are parallel while operating. I didn't have any 3/16" rod to do that with. That will be rectified. The next was that if the latch handle was flush mounted in the tail gate, It sure would look nice. This would involve making a wood buck in the shape of the handle. Then forming a panel and welding it into the tailgate. I would have to cut a an access panel on the inside to be able to planish the weld on the outside skin. This would be something I could do later on in the year. I need to make a gasket to go behind the handle also. When I ordered the handle, they didn't have a gasket listed for it. I should have done some more research to see if one was available.