Calling all f100/f250 Prerunners

[Tycho]

- Ordered full bushing kit for the truck from Summit.
- Ordered correct Hooker headers
- Picked up some NGK Iridiums for the 351W since the Champions in there are trashed
- Ordered steering wheel




Still haven't figured out what to do with coils and leafs. Damn old truck.

[Tycho]

That's what i'm doing with the rearend of my '71. Chevy 64" leaf packs, arched 12", additional thin leaves added, longer shackle and shocks up to my bedcage should be very nice
I actually plan on doing this in a few weeks, ill be sure to do a detailed how-to on the whole swap.
Run 15" aluminum wheels (or 16 like me, but it's a little harder to find tires. 17's are very popular and easy to find tires, they're really used for either 35's or 37's) , 8 or 8.25" wide. Steel is just bogus weight.
Those 31's will be fine for now until you get fiberglass/liftage, then they will be too small.

I'm waiting on you for this. Any suspension work I do now will be pointless. I'm just going to leave the rear leafs as is, if not get them fixed up a bit by someone more knowledgeable than me. Screw buying new ones.

I still need some recommendations on a fab shop in phoenix so I can start figuring out how much the cage is going to be. If you have any detail shots of your interior I'd appreciate it. I want to do the whole Art Carr shifter
in the center type thing as well.

Im thinking with a cage (and no AC now...) that the entire front dash is just gonna go.

[1971ford]

That's what it looks like right now. I plan on tearing the interior apart and making it look a million times better and a little safer (safer as in making a hose clamp mount for the GPS. Without the gps in the truck, those mount tabs are waiting to go through your head in a crash. Although as long as you have all 5 points of the harness on, you should be fine)


I'm not sure when i will be picking up the Chevy leaf springs and building them. I planned on doing it two weekends from now but I will most likely be putting all my money into a 390 build for my other truck. We shall see.
Art carr shifter is a great thing to have, nothing like picking your gear. I bought the shifter off ebay, and got the c6 hook up kit from art-carr's site.
You can tear the dash out if you want and build a new one but you don't need to. However you want it.
I kept the original dash because I'm trying to keep the truck "old school" for the most part.

[Tycho]

I kept the original dash because I'm trying to keep the truck "old school" for the most part.

Good call. It looks sick. I think ill keep mine and get the dakota digital dash set instead of autometer gauges.

Your cage also looks (maybe deceptively so..) simple. How much do you think somethin like that would cost to get fabbed? I'm new to this

I also need my 9 inch rebuilt. Need to find a place that can do that. What gearing do you use out back? I have 3.25s Gotta get 4:10s for the 33s.

[1971ford]

Yep i was going to run that dash bar countersunk into the top edge of the dash, and weld it all up so the tube is a part of the dash and it would look almost original. But i kept even more simple than that.
It isn't too deceiving, it really is a very simple cage. I have had other racers, and the tech inspectors, tell me "wow, that is one hell of a strong cage!". Plus we even added more than needed, such as the windshield /\ bars and the vertical piece on the main hoop. It totally depends on what shop you go to as far as a price quote, and what quality work they put out. And what material you use. I used 2" .120 DOM. You can use mild and still be strong but DOM is a little more re-assuring. Total cost of material for my cab cage/bed cage was about $600. Figure someone wants $1500 to cut/bend/fit/weld. maybe figure $2500ish for the job? It's hard to say.

For rebuilding the 9 inch, you might want to do a few extra things to it so you don't break it. I was told by a few others that if i ran my spare 9in. in my truck i would snap the axles in a minute because of my 429's torque. I shouldn't have a problem with my dana 60 though.
I would truss it (tubes/plate across top and back for strength so you don't bend the axle), disk brakes if you want, and new gears. I run 3.75's with my 35's. But that's because those are what came in the truck. I don't have a reason to swap them out, they seem OK.

You can see my truck go together piece by piece with pictures of everything from cage construction to center console building in my project thread on here. I have one on RDC too, and one on dezertrangers.
The one on dezertrangers is the smallest so it will give you the basics of the build. See my project thread on here for every detail.
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=92899
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=92899

[Tycho]

Figure someone wants $1500 to cut/bend/fit/weld. maybe figure $2500ish for the job? It's hard to say.

for both cab and bed? That's tough to swallow. Getting a little disheartened. I've yet to even find a shop in Phoenix that can do good work or is recommended by people.
I guess this just sucks because I'm getting into it by myself. My mechanically inclined friends are all used to slammed trucks or muscle cars. Not prerunners. It's that little
going-fast-on-dirt thing that makes it cost so much.

For rebuilding the 9 inch, you might want to do a few extra things to it so you don't break it. I was told by a few others that if i ran my spare 9in. in my truck i would snap the axles in a minute because of my 429's torque. I shouldn't have a problem with my dana 60 though.
I would truss it (tubes/plate across top and back for strength so you don't bend the axle), disk brakes if you want, and new gears. I run 3.75's with my 35's. But that's because those are what came in the truck. I don't have a reason to swap them out, they seem OK.

That'd be good If I knew someone who could weld.

Local shop (ballistic fab) makes this
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Per ... _1691.html

How much were you projecting your chevy spring swap thing to cost you total?
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Che ... _1700.html
Could I use donor springs off a Chevy 1/2 ton or do I have to buy super duper race packs for 1000+ a shot?

bah

[1971ford]

They key thing to it all is getting to know people. Friends with lowered trucks can actually be a great place to start. Ask them all if they know of any buddies with a bender, and there you go! You can do it yourself like i did , as long as you can find someone with a bender, and a welder. you can do the notching with a grinder if you need to, or get a harbor freight notcher like i did.
I wish we lived by each other, we would have your cage half way done by now

Ballistic fab is a great place for parts. I didn't realize they made a kit for the 63" chevy packs. But i wouldn't get it.
Our stock springs are the same width as the chevy springs. Grab a set from the junkyard (i just checked my local craigslist and there are a 2 listings for these packs, both for $90) and then get them arched for maybe $80, and you're good to go for under $200.
Then this is how you adjust things for them to fit.
(quote from dezertrangers chevy spring swap thread)

you need to measure center pin to front eye on your stock springs and the same on the chevy springs. the difference you move the front hanger foreward.



As for the the shackle: your springs are 64" when flat so with that in mind the length of the shackle added to the distance between the front hanger eye and shackle pivot eye must be 64" or more to avoid bind. Move the shackle pivot accordingly to get it to work. If it were me Id cycle it a few times and try a few positions for the rear shackle pivot you may find there to be a better place since im not sure on the exact dimensions of your hangers and shackles.



Theres a little trial and error involved to say the least, just mess with it a bit. i cycled mine like 50 times it seemed

And that is really all there is to it. I wish i had the couple hundred right now and i would do a detailed write up on it for you but that will have to wait a little bit.

[Tycho]

They key thing to it all is getting to know people. Friends with lowered trucks can actually be a great place to start. Ask them all if they know of any buddies with a bender, and there you go! You can do it yourself like i did , as long as you can find someone with a bender, and a welder. you can do the notching with a grinder if you need to, or get a harbor freight notcher like i did.
I wish we lived by each other, we would have your cage half way done by now

Ballistic fab is a great place for parts. I didn't realize they made a kit for the 63" chevy packs. But i wouldn't get it.
Our stock springs are the same width as the chevy springs. Grab a set from the junkyard (i just checked my local craigslist and there are a 2 listings for these packs, both for $90) and then get them arched for maybe $80, and you're good to go for under $200.

Where exactly does one get leafs arched/repaired? Google fails me. From the pics you can tell mine are sagging and need a little help.
I'll be content with that and either new coils up front or a spacer. Until you get around to diving into the advanced stuff

Mechanically the truck is in perfect running order. Cooling system is brand new, and the intake, fuel pump and electronic ignition have really brought it alive. Needs paint!

[1971ford]

They key thing to it all is getting to know people. Friends with lowered trucks can actually be a great place to start. Ask them all if they know of any buddies with a bender, and there you go! You can do it yourself like i did , as long as you can find someone with a bender, and a welder. you can do the notching with a grinder if you need to, or get a harbor freight notcher like i did.
I wish we lived by each other, we would have your cage half way done by now

Ballistic fab is a great place for parts. I didn't realize they made a kit for the 63" chevy packs. But i wouldn't get it.
Our stock springs are the same width as the chevy springs. Grab a set from the junkyard (i just checked my local craigslist and there are a 2 listings for these packs, both for $90) and then get them arched for maybe $80, and you're good to go for under $200.

Where exactly does one get leafs arched/repaired? Google fails me. From the pics you can tell mine are sagging and need a little help.
I'll be content with that and either new coils up front or a spacer. Until you get around to diving into the advanced stuff

Mechanically the truck is in perfect running order. Cooling system is brand new, and the intake, fuel pump and electronic ignition have really brought it alive. Needs paint!

I'm not too sure where to get leaf springs re-arched actually, i havent come across that challenge yet and haven't worried about it yet. Hmm i guess i would start by calling any suspension shop or could even start with an alignment shop to see if they can point you in the right direction. But basically you take the fairly flat chevy springs and give them a hefty arch, something like 12", and throw some longer hangers on the rear. You can set ride height by how much you arch them, how long of a shackle is used, and how many leafs are in the pack.

You're doing great with the build, It should be a nice toy before too long

[Tycho]

Small progress update:

Ranchos went on the back

Headers went "in" but on the passenger side they hit on the frame so we are notching/grinding it to fit. It's close and doesn't require too much modification.
They're supposedly for a 302 but the increased deck height of the 351W I guess makes an already tight fitment tighter. Cleared like a glove on the driver side
which we were ironically most worried about because of the power steering box.

I'm going to pick up a better grinder wheel, and hopefully tonight I'll have a little open header goodness for you guys to listen to.

Should sound like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5NPAUPtHH8 same setup
If the cutting wheel does its job we will also do the fenders tonight and I'll have pictures of all 4 wheels on.

We might just leave the fenders and hood off as is, and run around town scaring all the bro kids.

[1971ford]

nice. can't wait to see pictures

I bent my beams today

[1971ford]

bent beams son!
pie cut, end rasied 5", welded by my boss, with 4"x1.5" 3/8 plate across pie cut on the backside.

I drove it around the court, but it was a hell of a job steering it
And here is why. Notice the passenger wheel is pointing in, it is WAY toed in.

If you think about it, when you bend your beams, you are bringing the top of the knuckles much closer to each other. I have already just about maxed my toe out, so tomorrow i will be shortening my tie rod. The camber should be nearly perfect after i shorten it, the toe in is making it a little off right now.
I will post up completion pictures of it sitting level on the street tomorrow after i do some aligning.

Later this week i plan on extending my radius arms, and adding caster to them. Caster is the other thing affected by bending your beams.

[Tycho]

How much for a copy of your bumper? I love it

We ran into some problems doing the electric fuel pump and finding a good live wire. I heard the truck start up with the mech pump and it was amazing.

Neighborhood isn't too fond of it though, I'm sure.



color ill be painting it. Hot Rod Flatz metallic black. Just have to figure out a safe place/way to shoot it. Heard urethane paint is nasty.

[1971ford]

shipping a bumper that size would be costly, and i don't have a bender so i would have to use someone elses, otherwise i would make you a bolt on one.
I like the flat black, should look pretty sweet. But if you are really going to paint it now before all the work and possible cage, plan on doing alot of repainting.
There isn't a square inch on my truck that hasn't been scratched from working on the cage, engine, anything and everything else.

[Tycho]

I think I will keep using other people's I have access to about 4 benders luckily

That's what I meant

Yeah i would do a few more things before a cage but i wouldn't hold out on it too long. You will catch a rock eventually and find yourself on your roof.

Hey now, I know it's AZ and all but we have paved roads here. Otherwise my Camry would've been eaten alive. I'll just keep it on asphalt and graded roads for now.

If i were you and didn't want to spend much money right now i would just fix the leaf packs, pull maybe 2 leaves depending on how many you have, and run it like you have it. Racing seats and a steering wheel, and a shifter make all the difference in the race truck feel.

Leaf packs are fine apart from maybe needing to be re-arched. It's a 5 pack.

I'm not sure about a quite muffler. Might want to post that in the engine section, my flowmaster 40's arn't quite

I think I'm going with hushpower mufflers since they flow but are fairly quiet.