The '87 Colony Park Build

[pantera77]

I told myself that when I got the body and frame together I'd make a thread on this build, so here we are.

I've owned this wagon for 11 years now, and I've had lots of plans for it that have come and gone. It's been sitting in the barn for a decade now, it was finally time to do something with it. I finally decided on a nice coyote/6r80 swap. It would be a nice combo that was powerful and reliable. Well, things quickly spiraled out of control...

First off, the wagon at STAP 2011, pretty much the last time I ever drove it.



The wagon sat peacefully in the barn for about a decade, parts were robbed off it, mice destroyed the interior, it became a large table; the usual stuff that happens when you let something sit for awhile.
Finally, it was time to make a plan and do something with it. I decided a coyote swap with a 6r80 was the way to go. My buddy has a dealer's license, so I like buying things off IAAI. I wanted a second gen coyote for the good internals, just incase I decided to add boost in the future. 2wd Coyote F150's proved semi hard to find, but I found; and won one in WV for way cheaper than turn key pallets were going for. Took down the old eco chooch and did a 1000 mile non-stop round trip.



Literally the only thing I did with it once I got it home, was make sure it started, dragged it to work, backed it off the trailer under it's own power, than ripped the drivetrain out. The rest of the shell is still sitting in my woods lol.

https://youtu.be/O6Nq0FSPoQ4

At this point a certain someone offered me a nice 2.3 TVS blower, and I couldn't resist...



It's where plans started changing.

[pantera77]

At this point, I decided that if I wanted to do my "dream build" I'd have to 03+ frame swap it. I'm sure some of you will remember when I wanted to 03+ frame swap the old HPP Box. That ended with me losing all interest and selling the car to a demo derby friend. Wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. It just so happened that my buddy at this time had just finished parting out an 03 Marauder that had a mint frame. I went down and dragged it home, and took the body off.

The wheels, sway bars, exhaust, etc... ended up on my Daily Beater 05 Grand Marq, but all I was after was the frame.







At this point, while I was stripping the Marauder after hours at work, I pulled the frame out of the wagon at home.





After that I rolled the frames next to each other. Obviously 03+ frame swaps have been done on boxes before, but wagon frames are totally different from sedan/tudor frames after the axle hump's. After a lot of measuring, I found there's a ~2" spot in the axle humps where all the dimensions matchup perfect. After that it was just a case of some careful cutting, careful grinding, and careful welding. I then added a 1/8" thick "hump reinforcement" plate, and tied the rear of the frame rails together with the factory 03/92+ piece

[pantera77]

Then a full strip of the frame, cleaned and painted.







Acid washed all the aluminum.



Front end rebuilt with all new components.
ADTR Ridetech front coil over kit, Eibach sway bar, all new upper and lower control arm's.

[pantera77]

At this point I started assembling the rear end.

ADTR's Ridetech shocks, and spring kit. Eibach sway bar, Metco Watt's links w/ an ARP watt's link stud, the donor Marauder chassis had Metco control arm's out back already. I cleaned them up and installed new bushings. Brand new Ford 31 spline axles, a Cobra trac-lok, and a Ford Racing Girdle wrap it up.

[sly]

[GM_Guy]

That is just plain awesome.

[Grand1]

Hear, hear

[87gtVIC]

Yay. An update!

[Tiggie]

Excellent Work. How were the nerves when you sat the body on the new frame for the first time? That would definitely be a fingers crossed moment for me.

[pantera77]

That is just plain awesome.

Hear, hear

Yay. An update!

Excellent Work. How were the nerves when you sat the body on the new frame for the first time? That would definitely be a fingers crossed moment for me.

I spent A LOT of time measuring, so I "knew" it would fit, there's always that uncertainty though. I don't want to say these cars were built sloppy, but the factory frame welds on the 87 were pretty damn bad. There's a lot of wiggle room from the factory on these things.

[pantera77]

Next up was the exhaust. I was told by a few fellow coyote swap panther guys that you can cut the flanges off a set of 2v 4.6 Stainless Works longtubes and weld coyote flanges on (exhaust port spacing never changed from modular -> coyote) So I bought a used set and did just that. (The only part of this project so far I didn't do myself was the header flanges. Our 80+year old welder at work did them, I'm just not good enough at heliarc to trust myself and he thought this whole thing was cool as hell). A full 03+ Stainless Works exhaust was also bought to complete the package.

The 4r70 in these pics was just attached for mock up purposes. The headers are also in there mock up phase in these pics.













At this point, I was satisfied enough to bring the frame home. (I'd also traded in the old eco chooch on a new 7.3 Super Duty by this time)

[pantera77]

Next up was brakes. 15" Willwoods front and back! Everything is from Todd @ TCE, great guy to deal with. I was the very first kit with the new one piece radial mount caliper mounts for the rear. Took a few tries to get a bracket with the correct offset, but in the end they came out perfect!

Fronts:









Rears:







At this point I had picked up a built t56 rated for 1000hp, McLeod clutch, etc...
Also was pretty much ready to roll the chassis under the wagon!

[pantera77]

Finally, it was time!





In all these pics the body is just "sitting" on the frame with a few bolts started. The rear coils need to be adjusted (have plenty of room to adjust, might still need to swap to stiffer springs though) and the the trans tunnel is siting on the t56 hence why the front is "high". Still decent pics that give you a vague idea of the final goal. Wheels are 20x9 Shelby's. Not sure if I'm going to run them or not, but they clear the brakes at least! I like their kind of old school magnum 500 vibe.

[Mainemantom]

Incredible build. You have some good talent and a few bucks.

[pantera77]

Next up was permanently marrying the frame and body.
Put it back up in the air, pulled out the t56, and got all the body mounts fully installed. They are the ENS poly bushing's out of the old HPP box (another small part lives on!) with Scott's old spacer's/centering rings.
I knew from all my measurements that all but 2 should line up (minus the core support), but this was the real test.





The only body mounts that weren't a direct line up, were the rear "shelf" mounts (the shelf being the solid section over the axle humps). I knew from my measurement's they'd be close, and without the spacer ring they actually fit fine. I'd like to make an eccentric centering ring for them, but if anyone does a swap like this in the future, hopefully it's helpful info.

(you can see how offset they are in this picture)


The only other small body mount issue I ran into (if you run the ENS bushings) is at the crush box. The 03+ frame is filled with structural foam with these plastic "plugs". If you pull them out, then the ENS bushing's just fit.






The rest of the body mounts fit just fine, nothing exciting here, but I took a few pics just for reference.