1993 F-150 Build

L

lightningcow

Member
I'm hoping that sharing my progress thus far will help give me motivation to pursue a speedy completion. This truck has been down and out for many years, since I've been married, built a home, and had a child. Time to get it done.

Base truck was a 1993 F-150 XLT 4.9 inline 6 m5od trans. Picture from 2002, the year I acquired the truck.

Truck in 2002.jpg

After painting the truck in 2003 in Autobody my Senior year and graduating, I was able to get my hands on a 351w from a '73 Torino. After a rebuild it was dropped in along with a WC T5 from a foxbody. I drove this truck daily for a few years - along the way swapping in some 3:73s and Eaton LS from the oem 2:73 open diff, shattering 2nd and then 3rd after 2 trans rebuilds and then stepping up to a used TKO600 with lakewood scattershield and spec clutch and flywheel, ruining a driveshaft or so, and dropping a valve from a broken retainer in the original d00e heads and throwing on some AFR185s. Finally, after many years I was able to get some 02 lightning wheels with tires off ebay as well.

DSC00018Large.jpg

...and then I said, "I want to paint it some awful shade of satin red." Yea, I hated it after painting it and started sanding away again. Many years later and I chose a classic Ford color: Dark Highland Green.

IMG_20130618_190708_701.jpg
 
Since it was already down anyway I decided to freshen up the suspension as well. So I broke out the plasma cutter:

IMG_20140206_145319_667.jpg
IMG_20140206_150323_704.jpg
IMG_20140303_171336_448.jpg

Then I broke out the welder and an ifs from a 2004 Crown Vic interceptor:

IMG_20140221_161330_036.jpg

Along with the new wheels and tires:

20140322_175647.jpg

Of course it's unweighted and will be lower when the engine is in place. The panther platform used actual coilovers that can be fairly easily converted to adjustables, but I'll save that for later. More to come...
 
Awesome build. I was going to say truck was begging to be dropped but you took care of that with the panther clip. Seems you may be the only one to complete the swap and actually drive the truck that I know of on an 80 and newer ford. What is your plans for the back?
 
Of course, with the Panther ifs you get the 5x4.5 bolt pattern. These wheels are a mid-range knock off of a Forgeline wheel :gl: . They are XXR 535 in 18x10.25 all around. Here is a link to some XXR wheels: nlmotoring. I'm giving some Nitto NT05s a try in 295/35 all around.

IMG_20140222_151043_896.jpg

In the rear, I've already cut (read center punch and drill rivets) all factory perches off and need to clean up the shock and leaf mounts on the diff. I am fabbing in an adjustable parallel 3 link with Panhard and coilovers. I have a couple more mounts and Heim links to buy, but I'm not far from starting to weld this up. I chose a Panhard over a Watts link because of the simplicity and the negligible difference in handling between the two. A more experienced driver may be able to discern between the two, but I won't - at least not any time soon.

I also wanted to convert to discs and change the bolt pattern to match the front. The axles were removed and machined in two places to allow the smaller 5x4.5 hub and bolt pattern. In addition, I took a trip to the junk yard and took the rear disc assy. from a newer Explorer. You cannot use the Explorer axles because they are too short, but I did take the brakes off Explorer to ensure they would clear and fit the mount on the larger axle tubes that F-150 and Explorer share - although I'm positive any Ford 5x4.5 rear disc can be made to fit.

Turn down the hub.
20140326_170507.jpg

Flatten the back.
20140326_170528.jpg

Drill new pattern.
20140326_170152.jpg

To do list: Fab in 3 link and Panhard, stiffen and box frame with the goal to make the chassis as solid as I can without fabbing a new frame, connect steering shaft to Panther rack, come up with a rear swaybar (there are kits, but i also took the rear swaybar and links from the Explorer), fab engine and trans mounts that locate the engine as low and as far back as I can, shorten driveshaft, freshen up my 351 and convert to efi, finish up paintwork and dye interior black, new seats, and more....

Bonus bed with wheel shot.
2014-02-22(1).jpg

If you can't tell, my ultimate goal is handling with the intent to have a viable street/autocross truck. I may plan to increase power, but if anything it would include a simple single turbo setup later on. There will be more coming as I get time this month to continue work.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your comments. :tu
 
Looks like an AWESOME project. Pretty similar to what I'd like to do to mine. Do you have any more pics of the Crown Vic IFS install that you could share?
 
I've started working on this again. More updates soon, but I now have the Explorer rear discs installed, rear wheels mounted, and engine bay painted. Next is painting the cab and various other parts and fabbing the 3-link. My hope is to drive it by late November.

Also, for simplicity I'll be staying carbed. The engine made good power, but if I decide I need more I probably won't use the old 351w.
 
Update?? I am looking into getting into crown victoria IFS or if there is something better to swap into coyote into my truck. How did you box up the frame to make the CV IFS work? A lot of cutting and inserting new metals? I have seen some people just box it up and add spacers to make it fit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top