WhitsEnd Transformation

[cdnwillyg]

Nice truck and clean good luck on your build.
I see your rad is something I could use, will need to check that out!
Also awesome getting the daughter to help, that time will be special for both of you now and later in life for sure.

[Lone Ranger]

Good work, I thought the vise grips were holding her hair back- that would have been epic. Your making some serious progress keep it up.

[WhitsEnd]

Next objective is to start marking out the rails for the mounting bolts. Most guys choose to just drill a hole for the assembly locating pins and then drill holes after lining up the crossmember. I'm not drilling extra holes for the assembly pins and I'm concerned about absolute square so the bolt heads seat firmly and have no point loads once torqued.
To find true parallel references, I first clamped the rails so the radiator support holes were exactly 32" apart. Next, clamped 3/4" furniture grade plywood to the flat outside surface where the spring perches formerly were and measured to verify they were parallel. Next, I marked a 32" centerline on the top surface of each rail, centered between the plywood. 3 of the four holes will reside on these lines, the rear driver's side hole will be 3/8" inside of this.
Axle centerline was marked on the rails prior to disassembly, and that mark aligns with the center hole that was previously hidden behind the spring perches. So, those holes were then used to reference the forward and aft location of the bolt holes. I used the dimensions posted by a forum member here that everyone else has used, but I'm not yet convinced because of conflicting measurements. Since those dimensions were originally posted, the Photobucket policy change took place, so I'm not sure what dimensions are legit. Some suggest the assembly locating pins are the axle centerline, but they are not.
I've drilled the top holes, but will verify these against centerline before proceding. If they end up being different, I'll weld up the holes and start over. For the record, the front holes are 6" forward and the rear are 4" aft of centerline. Also for the record, the pins are not located at this centerline.

Here you can see the hole aligned with axle centerline and the silver paint pen marks on the upper and lower rails.


Used a woodworking pipe clamp to bring the rails back to 32" as measured from the center of the radiator support bolt holes. The rails had sprung outward abot 1/2" when the crossmember was cut out.

[WhitsEnd]

After the four holes were drilled, I applied a rule from my friend Pythagoras using the three holes on the centerlines. They are square within less than 1/32" diagonally.

[WhitsEnd]

After top holes were drilled and the other holes on the flat portions of the rails were welded up...

[WhitsEnd]

As stated early in this build, I'm not seeking a super low truck. I'll be placing the 5/8" difference between the Crown Vic and F100 frame under the truck frame, not above it. Once I have the bolt locations sorted out and the tubes and spacers in hand, I'll be mocking up this rig.

In the meantime, I'm giving my daughter the task of cleaning up the CV unit. It's well oiled, I can say that.

I'll also need to get some tires ordered, since this thing should be sitting on all four again soon.

[WhitsEnd]

Mid week progress has to be done in small bites.

I cut and drilled two pieces of 5/8" cold rolled plate for the spacers that will go under the frame.

[WhitsEnd]

Ordered new tubes. They came in yesterday. This just makes it easier instead of having to cut them out of the CV frame rails. Once in hand, I realized they're not really that special, just a threaded insert pressed into a tube. But, still easier and faster to order new. I don't have a lot of time and that's the driver for me.

[WhitsEnd]

I cut the tubes down to fit inside the rails. This is different than most guys are doing it, but I have several reasons. I believe mounting the tubes completely inside the rails will result in a little stronger rail, after welding on the inside top and bottom. Probably not much difference, but I think it's cleaner too.
Also, this allows me to move the 5/8" spacer from under the rails to over the rails if I ever want to in the future (or, if I sell the truck and the next guy wants to).
I think this is a clean package overall.

[WhitsEnd]

The next stage is tacking the tubes in their currentl location and pulling it back apart to fully weld them.

While it's out, my daughter will be cleaning it. The CV it came out of apparently had a really bad oil leak

[WhitsEnd]

It's almost a shame that most of this is going in the trash.
Crossmember, spindle, calipers and sway bar will remain. Everything else is being replaced with new.

[hfdco4]

I like how you are doing the "bottom" plate to get the frame height to work. Looking great!!!!!!!!

[WhitsEnd]

I got the tubes welded in and stripped the crossmember.

My daughter Ellen added the elbow grease to get the actual grease off of it.

I'll have new stuff arriving after Thanksgiving to bolt it all up.

Can anyone comment on comparing the regular spring and shock package vs. the P71 with an FE and C6?

[Manny]

Looks good certain you feel good to have it mocked into place. Keep it going keep us posted!!

[WhitsEnd]

Got a few goodies from RockAuto.com