My new toy, 54 F100

[Fordman75]

Today I started out by pulling the second crossmember back out. Then I used my 4 1/2" grinder with a hard disc, and a flap wheel and some sand paper to clean up the inside of the frame rails in the area where the crossmember goes. I also welded up two small cracks on the crossmember and cleaned it up.

After it was all cleaned up I sprayed the inside frame and the ends of the crossmember with some weld thru primer.





Once the primer was dry I installed the crossmember ( for the last time! ) in the frame, Installed all the nuts and bolts ( put some antisieze on the bolts ) . Then I welded all the nuts to the crossmember. I welded the nuts to the crossmember because once I box the frame I won't be able to get to any of the nuts. I also welded the crossmember to the frame in a few spots. The crossmember is now installed for good!!









Next I'm going to install the steering box again so I can can start making the front boxing plate templates. Then I need to start working on the back of the frame so I can get the other crossmember I removed installed. I'm making progress but man is it going slow! Next years BTT50's show isn't looking good. I'm hoping for a really mild winter!!

[Nathan in MI]

Looks like she's coming along nicely, mang! Just bundle up and keep going!

[Fordman75]

I've got no problem working in the cold. The problem is I can't paint anything when It's too cold. And I've got a LOT of painting to do!! So that's what I need the mild weather for. But I'll keep plugging away at it.

[Archangel]

well if you stop welding up every damn tiny hole you see then you may get to painting before snow starts flying :p

[packman]

Are you going to keep the straight axle and upgrade it to disc brakes or are you going to get something like a Mustang II front end? I decided a year ago that I am going to retain the straight axle and the heavy duty F-500 drum brakes. Somehow my father scored brakes, trans, and a clutch from a F-500 dumptruck. I figure that should work with a built 390 FE. The cab corners and the bottom of your doors look like they're in good shape. This will save you time and money in having to repair those commonly rotted out areas. I was going to put the 56' grille on my 53' like your truck (except yours is a 54'), but I came to like the 52' grille better because it looks like the Merc grilles for the cars. That truck is looking good so far, or at least what is left of it.


Packman

[Fordman75]

well if you stop welding up every damn tiny hole you see then you may get to painting before snow starts flying :p

I need to do something until I can come up with more cash for parts!

Are you going to keep the straight axle and upgrade it to disc brakes or are you going to get something like a Mustang II front end? I decided a year ago that I am going to retain the straight axle and the heavy duty F-500 drum brakes. Somehow my father scored brakes, trans, and a clutch from a F-500 dumptruck. I figure that should work with a built 390 FE. The cab corners and the bottom of your doors look like they're in good shape. This will save you time and money in having to repair those commonly rotted out areas. I was going to put the 56' grille on my 53' like your truck (except yours is a 54'), but I came to like the 52' grille better because it looks like the Merc grilles for the cars. That truck is looking good so far, or at least what is left of it.


Packman

I'm sticking with the straight axle. I'm converting it to power steering and manual disc brakes. I sold that 56 grille and picked up a nice 54 grille. I like the grille fangs the 54 has!

[nitroracer]

Do what you can elsewhere on the project when the weather goes south, don't let yourself compromise just because you want it done sooner. Do it right.

[Fordman75]

Do what you can elsewhere on the project when the weather goes south, don't let yourself compromise just because you want it done sooner. Do it right.

I'm going to do what I can. I'm going to keep at it and eventually it will get done. But my goal for having it driveable by next June is looking like it won't happen. So it'll get done when it gets done.

[Fordman75]

9-24-07: Well I didn't get much done before the weather got nasty. I decided to start on the next crossmember. This one was crudely cut out for driveshaft clearance. I was going to replace it with the good one I pulled from the other frame. But I decided that since I don't know how the motor and transmission will be mounted yet I might need the driveshaft clearance.

So I made a piece to reinforce the area that was cut out. I dug thru my collection of steel and found a strip of steel plate that was just about the perfect width. It's a little thicker then I really needed but it'll work. So I cut it to the length I needed, eye balled it and made some marks where to bend. I then hand formed the rounded bends by bending the plate around my engine hoist. :lol: Next I used a C-clamp to hold the plate on the front bar of my trailer and hammered the plate to get the bends on the ends. It's not perfect but it'll work!

Here's the piece I made.



And it fits pretty good.



Once I get this welded in I'm going to box the entire crossmember and I want to eventually add a driveshaft safety loop to it. But that needs to wait until the drivetrain is installed.

I put the other crossmember back in to see what I'll need to do to get it mounted.



After I did that I started to make the template for the boxing plate for the crossmember that's notched for the driveshaft. I just finished the template when it started to rain. :x So the welding will have to wait.

9-25-07: Well not much done today either. Off and on annoying rain showers kept me from getting any welding done. Between showers I mounted the steering box back on the frame and got done all the boxing plate templates to the third crossmember done. I can do the rest after I get the 4th crossmember in. They were pretty easy to do except around the steering box was a little more complicated.

No pics, no need to take pics of a few pieces of carbboard.

[Fordman75]

9-26-07: Well the weather was decent today so I was able to get a little more done. Believe it or not I welded up some more holes! :roll: There were a bunch of holes on the rear half of the frame. I wasn't sure which ones were for mounting the box and rear bumper brackets so I was going to leave them. But today I decided to fill them in and worry about the mounting holes when I get that far.

After those holes were welded up and ground smooth I welded up the rust holes that were behind the rear spring front hangers. So now the last crossmember that needs to be installed is ready to go in. I just need to clean up that area on the inside of the frame rails and spray it with the weld thru primer. That's what I'm going to work on tomorrow.

The next thing I did was clean up the inside of the crossmember that was notched for the driveshaft and cleaned up the reinforcement bracket I made for it. The I sprayed both with weld thru primer.





Next I decided to weld that crossmember where it meets the frame rails. My welds aren't perfect but I'm slowly getting better.



Then once the primer was dry I placed the bracket in the crossmember and clamped it in place with some wide jaw vice grips. I then did a few tack welds to hold it in place. I removed the vice grips and finished the welding.

Here's what it looks like from the bottom.



And here's what the top looks like. I still need to cut out and weld in the boxing plate for the crossmember.



My progress is going slow but I'm trying to get something done on it almost everyday. I think I'm going to have to celebrate when I get the frame finished!

[Archangel]

Yer welds look fine, I'd grind down the welds on the bottom of that crossmeber just to make it look nicer. Keep up the good work man.

[Fordman75]

I did grind down the welds on the bottom of that crossmember. I just didn't take a picture of it after I did.