1954 Ford F100/F250 4x4 Tow Vehicle

[marquisman]

i hope you got homie depot with ya, you will need lots of blades lol. anywho, awsome project!

[Fordman75]

Home depot? I don't think so.

I buy my sawzall blades in bulk packages. I usually buy them in either a 50 pack or 100 pack. With what I do if I bought them 1 to 5 at a time I'd be even more broke then I am!

I'm getting sick of winter! I want to start working on my crap again. And I've got a caravan sitting in my driveway waiting to be cut up!

[marquisman]

lol, i agree with the winter part

[Fordman75]

I did a little work on the 54 today. But mainly I spent a lot of time staring at it trying to figure out some of issues I'm having with parts of it. I threw the doors on it( man they are going to need some work! ) . And I started to figure out what I 'm going to need to mount the seats in it.











Since I'm not using the stock heater I'm going to remove the louvered section on the passenger side of the cab.

Here's what I started with.




I got the louvered section of the cab cowl side panel cut out.




And I got a good start on the filler panel. I had some pieces of the original flamed hood ( I cut it up a last year ) and it was close to the right contour. So I'm using it for the filler piece. I got the piece cut out, I just need to do some minor filing/grinding in a couple areas to get a good fit. Then I can weld it in.

[Grand Marquis GT]

Excellent!

I been following this on FTE as well

[Fordman75]

Thanks.

[Grand Marquis GT]

I was tempted the other day by a 65 F100 SWB sitting in a dudes yard. 390, C6, and practically rust free (needs floors, bed floor, but everything else is good)

1000 bucks.

[Fordman75]

I was tempted the other day by a 65 F100 SWB sitting in a dudes yard. 390, C6, and practically rust free (needs floors, bed floor, but everything else is good)

1000 bucks.

That's not a bad price for a short box truck. Replacing the floors isn't too hard as long as you don't try to re-engineer the truck!

[87gtVIC]

Nice work man. I never realized how small the cab looks.

[LTDMan83]

Great Work! I've been following this project for quite awhile. You are really making me wanna go save that $800 mostly rust-free F-1 that is still waiting for someone to pull it outta that god-forsaken storage pod in monroe.

[Fordman75]

Nice work man. I never realized how small the cab looks.

Thanks.

Yea it's not a big cab. The cab is pretty short lengthwise and it's narrow( think just slightly larger then a standard cab Ranger ) . But it is a fairly tall cab. So there is plenty of head room.

It's the big fat fenders that give the truck it's size.

The cab size is part of the reason I sold the 50 F1 truck I had before this one. It was even smaller. It was just too small for me.

Great Work! I've been following this project for quite awhile. You are really making me wanna go save that $800 mostly rust-free F-1 that is still waiting for someone to pull it outta that god-forsaken storage pod in monroe.

Thanks. Yea I'm working slightly faster then a snail.

Go for it! All it takes is plenty of time & money.

[Fordman75]

Well here's a little update. I bought another donor truck!!! Back in April I decided to go back to a 300 inline 6. I sold my 351W shortly after. The 300 is one of my favorite engines and it will give me a little more driver side leg room.

I've been looking for a donor truck to get a good engine for it. I found a few and the deals fell thru. Yesterday I found one and today I went and checked it out. It looked good to me and I bought it and hauled it home.

I think I've got a damn good deal on this. It's a 1978 Ford F150 Ranger XLT Lariat 4x4. It has a 300, NP435 4spd, NP205 transfercase, 9" rear ( 3.50 gears ) and D44 front. It's got some rust, but the chassis is solid and it runs and drives. It does have some minor issues like a low brake pedal, clutch linkage needs adjusting, there are also plenty of oil leaks. It started right up and ran decent. Good power, no smoke or bad noises. But it does need a little carb work and could use a tune up.

The guy I bought it from and his son decided to scuff and black out all the trim. I like the look but it ruined a lot of straight trim that I could have made some cash on selling. Now it's just more scrap. They also removed and tossed the lower body trim and used bedliner on the lower portion of the body.

Anyways here's my newest purchase. Oh yea, I paid $500 for it!









Here's the mighty ( greasy ) 300!





And here's the spiffy Ranger Lariat interior. Yes that is a cb!














Since I've got my diesel for towing I'm seriously thinking about using the entire chassis from this truck for the 54. I'll slide the rear diff forward 23", have the rear driveshaft shortened and call it good.

This truck has everything I want and it's driveable. So instead of having to make a new transmission crossmember, make new rear frame crossmembers, mess with trying to work around the front leaf springs, I can just use this chassis. The coil spring front suspension will make fitting the front clip tons easier.

So I'm starting over again on the chassis! :smirk: My plan on this one is to just leave it together, get plates and insurance on it. I'll drive it around and figure out any issues it might have and fix them as I can. Once I get the 54 cab and front clip buttoned up and done I will pull the body off the 78. Then I can move the rear diff/suspension forward, clean everything up and paint it all. I plan to replace the suspension bushings, shocks, brake pads and shoes and fix any leaks ( plenty of them ) .

Well that is this years plans. At least until I change my mind again.

[packman]

Nice!!! At least you're working on your F-100. I looked at your pics from April. Your driver's side door has rust in a wierd place. I've never seen a door rust in the front like that. All of my doors for my '53 (both the OE and donor doors) are rotted to some degree on the bottom; which I guess is good because they have repair panels for that. Your '54 is gonna become another Midnight Pumpkin.



Packman

[Fordman75]

The rust is from the paint being knocked off when it got hit by something in the past. The cowl panel in front of the door and the front edge of the door both have some previous damage.

Both of my doors are rock solid, no rust thru. Just some damage and surface rust.


Midnight pumpkin? Are you talking about that old black RC 53-55 Ford monster truck? Mine is going to be a crappier version of this. With a lighter blue and Narrower BFG's on steel rims.

[Grand Marquis GT]

If you ever find a 4 speed truck with tilt, I want the column.