My new toy, 54 F100

[Fordman75]

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.

The 50's trucks are so simple it doesn't take much for skills to work on them. That's why they make great projects.

The money is what's eventually going to slow this project to a crawl. I'm running out of stuff to sell and am in debt up to my eyeballs. I ordered as many parts as I could afford to get. Once I receive them all I'll have just about everything to finish the chassis and get it close to driveable. I'm still shooting to have it driveable but JUne of next year for the big local Back to the 50's car show.

[GoodSamaritan]

I don't know what sort of shape the bed is in on that thing, but I have one that is from a southern truck that is very solid. I want to say the tailgate is good too.

[GoodSamaritan]

P.S. the bed already has a diamond tread steel floor in it.

[Fordman75]

If you were closer I might consider your's.

My Bed has some rust but nothing that isn't fixable. And one of the parts I bought was a decent used tailgate. I think mine's workable.

[GoodSamaritan]

let me know if you change your mind.
Mine has the old school side mounted spare tire kit. I am thinking about making a trailer out of the back half of the frame it is sitting on. That way if I do find someone interested, they can just tow it away. Otherwise it will get many years of use hauling my junk around.

[Fordman75]

Well I decided to pull a switcharoo... I decided I'm going to yank the 460 out of my 86 F250 and put it in the 54 F100. I need to pull the 460 anyways to replace the rear main seal. I really like the 300 inline 6 but it just doesn't have the sweet V8 exhaust tone to it. My 460 sounds wicked and the 54 is my hotrod so I decided going to go with the 460 in it. I'm going to swap the 300 into the 86.

So After I pull it remove the rest of the crap that's not needed this motor with these parts will be dropped in the 54!

[88Vic]

That's gonna be one badass F100. Maybe it'll have enough torque to lift the front tires when everything's said and done.

[Fordman75]

Torque won't be an issue but wheel hop probably will be. I'd need some good traction bars and some big slicks to even think about lifting the front wheels

[87DeuceVic]

that truck screams American old-skool and bad ass!! I FLIPPIN LOVE IT!! I agree with the other guy that said you should keep those flames....they look retro and awesome!!

[Fordman75]

Sorry guys those flames have to go. The front clip needs massive amounts of body work. But I will be painting on new flames (Hopefully much better looking ) after I get the body work done.

Here's a pic of the look I'm shooting for with my truck except without the flames on the doors. The truck is going to be a satin black with Ford blue flames and wheels.




Oh yea and I finally found a good used 54 grill and front valance that I could actually afford. So my truck will soon look like a 54 again!!

[GoodSamaritan]

There is one major mod you need to do when putting that 460 in the truck. DISK BRAKES! I can tell you from experience that the stock 4 wheel drums have a hard time stopping you from any kind of high speed run. They work great for what they were designed for, but they were designed in an era when trucks rarely saw 70mph and tires had a lot less traction than what is commonly available today.
I am sure there is something affordable that can be modified to fit up front. Who knows, you might even be able to get vic brakes to work.

[Fordman75]

There is one major mod you need to do when putting that 460 in the truck. DISK BRAKES! I can tell you from experience that the stock 4 wheel drums have a hard time stopping you from any kind of high speed run. They work great for what they were designed for, but they were designed in an era when trucks rarely saw 70mph and tires had a lot less traction than what is commonly available today.
I am sure there is something affordable that can be modified to fit up front. Who knows, you might even be able to get vic brakes to work.

I've already got the disc brake kit sitting on a shelf! I'm using F150 front rotors/hubs and I'm going to adapt the kit to work with 99-2001 Mustang PBR dual piston calipers.

And I'm going with a Wilwood dual mastercylinder pedal set up ( like they run in Nascar ). I found it's the best setup without going to a powerbrake system.

I can't wait to get this done and start destroying rear tires!!

[Fordman75]

Well I changed my mind again ( big surprise!! ) I'm going to run the 300 but I picked up a little something for the 300. It's an Eaton M112 supercharger off a lightning. I think a supercharged 300 should accomplish what I want!:evil:



And I started tearing down the 54. Here's what I started with.



And here's what it looks like now.

[88Vic]

That supercharger fits a 300? That's pretty damn cool. Are you gonna have to change some of the engine internals so that it doesn't grenade, or is it tough enough as is? I'm thinkin' tough enough, but I could be wrong. I know some parts will have to be changed to accomodate the blower, like the cam.

[Fordman75]

That supercharger fits a 300? That's pretty damn cool. Are you gonna have to change some of the engine internals so that it doesn't grenade, or is it tough enough as is? I'm thinkin' tough enough, but I could be wrong. I know some parts will have to be changed to accomodate the blower, like the cam.

It's not a bolt on swap. But it's nothing I can't handle. I've got plenty of aluminum plate to fabricate the mounting brackets and intake plenum, belt tensioners, etc. Right now I'm trying to decide on what kind of fuel system I'm going to run. I really want to run E85 ( 105 octane ) but that means I'll have to go with EFI. My other choices I'm considering are pump gas with a water injection system. Third choice is propane.

The 300 has a very strong bottom end. It has forged rods, 7 main bearings and is nearly indestructable. The weak point is the head gasket and the cast pistons ( when running boost or nitrous ).

I'm going to swap in a stock cam and add some 1.7:1 roller rockers to gain some valve lift (stock rockers are 1.6:1 ). Otherwise I'm going to basically run this motor as is. I've got a spare 300 in my garage I'm going to rebuild and go with ARP head and main studs and rod bolts, forged 351W dished pistons and an aftermarket aluminum head. A guy I know is having a performance aluminum head made the 300's. With the aftermarket head I'll be shooting for 450-500HP of supercharged six cylinder thunder!!.