My new toy, 54 F100

[gabegt90]

cool what motor is in it are you planning to swap

[Fordman75]

Mid 70's Ford 300 inline 6, 600 cfm Holley 4V carb, Offenhauser 4V DP intake manifold, EFI dual exhaust manifolds(with dual exhaust ), 282/292 adv. duration cam with .498/.514 valve lift. T=10 4spd manual transmission with a Hurst Competition/Plus shifter, 8.8" rear diff with 3.55 gears.

All the drivetrain is staying put except maybe the rear diff. I've got a 97 Explorer 8.8" rear diff with 3.73 gears, trac-loc and disc brakes. The rear diff in the truck is a little too wide. The explorer is a little narrower then stock and will work much better. But the rear end swap will be a while down the road. I want to get the truck on the road and have some fun with it before I tear it down too far.

[Fordman75]

Damn!! I was out running it today. I pulled it off the trailer and the Holley carb staring leaking gas out the accelerator pump & primary fuel bowl. And the gas drips right onto the front exhaust pipe!:nonono: So now I need to rebuild or replace the carb. One more thing to fix before I can drive it!!!

[nitroracer]

Carb rebuilt isn't too hard! Just wait till you have everything in line before you take it out driving. Don't need any more problems creeping up on you at inopportune times.

[Fordman75]

Carb rebuilt isn't too hard! Just wait till you have everything in line before you take it out driving. Don't need any more problems creeping up on you at inopportune times.

Yea I know the carb rebuild is simple. It's just one more thing added to the list of repairs needed. None of it's hard it's just $$ and time.

I just want to find out for sure what the carb is that's on there before I rebuild it. I've been told it's a 350 cfm , a 450cfm and a 600 cfm. If it's a 450 cfm I'll keep it and rebuild it and run it. If it's a 600, I've got a few 1850 Holley 600's. I'll just rebuild one of them and run it so I've got a more common carb on it. Or go with an Edelbrock 500 cfm so I don't have to worry about leaks in the future.


I'm checking the truck over front to back top to bottom before I drive it on the street!

[Dave84]

Nice,, that should be a fun toy...

[Fordman75]

Well I threw the front of the truck up on stands today and crawled under it to give it a good inspection. I missed a lot of stuff when I looked it over before I bought it.:nonono:

The front 3 factory crossmembers have all had a cutting torch taken to them to "clearance" them for stuff.

The transmission crossmember(out of a 70's truck ) has been half assed modified and mounted. The stock mastercylinder the the guy "rebuilt" is leaking past ther piston.

The kingpins are worn bad.

The steering started to hang up when you are turning it.

The "custom" driveshaft is too short.

Most of the exhaust system is made out of that flexible piping.

The engine oilpan is hitting his homemade mount crossmember on the one side.

The leaf spring bushing pins/bolts are worn and sloppy.

The rear diff isn't mounted correctly and also has improper pinion angle.

And the patch work that was done to the cab was done half assed.

I'm an idiot and a !!!! Why didn't I see this stuff before I bought it. It's like I was blind when I bought it!

So there is very little chance that I'll be driving it this summer. I had to borrow money to buy it. Now I'm going to have to wait to fix it until I pay back the money I borrowed.

So once I pay it off I'm going to start at the front and just work my way back and rebuild everything that needs to be done.

[Nathan in MI]

Why didn't I see this stuff before I bought it. It's like I was blind when I bought it!

Seems like that's the way it always goes.

[Dave84]

that sux,,, should have went for the ltd

[Fordman75]

It just means more money flushed down the crapper before it gets on the road.

So instead of cruising in it on my birthday I'll be wrenching on it.

[88Vic]

Sorry to hear about that, but at least it'll keep you busy.

[nitroracer]

Livin and learnin. You still have a truck you like and a fun project a head of you.

[Fordman75]

Now I just need the $$$ to get the parts to fix the truck!

[Fordman75]

Been a while since I posted about my 54. The more I got into the truck the more crappy modifications I found. I finally just said F@#K it! I decided I'm going to tear it down to the bare frame and fix/replace everything that needs to be fixed to make it safe and driveable. Since my last post I've ordered around $1800 in parts ( About a 1/3 of which are back ordered ) .

Here's just some of the stuff I'm going to be doing to the truck.

Completely rebuild all the suspension front and back.
Swap in a PS Steering box (Toyota 4x4 ).
Swapping in a Polished stainless steel aftermarket steering column.
Swapping on front disc brakes.
Swapping in Wilwood hanging pedals.
Going to go thru the 300 and rebuild it ( I'm going to also add headers and swap to an Edelbrock 500 cfm carb and do a lot of detail work ).
Swapping out the T10 4spd for a T-18 4spd( better shifter location ).
Pulling the way too wide 8.8" rear diff and swapping in a 68 F100 9".
Swapping in the 90's Ford truck 40/20/40 bench seat out of my 86 F250.
Adding Autometer gauges.
New Windshield and rear window and all new weatherstriping.
Convert the front clip to a tilt front clip.
Fabricate a subframe for the box and add Diamond plate aluminum to the box floor.
And mount a RCI Fuel cell in the front of the box.


In a couple weeks I'll be pulling the body off the frame and will be stripping the chassis down to repair it and paint it. And I'm hoping the rest of the parts I ordered will be here by then.

[88Vic]

Wow, I wish I had the money and skill to be able to tear down a vehicle to the frame and build it back up again. Good luck with the project mang, and I for one can't wait to see the finished product.