Finally time to do it. 71 F100 SWB w/ 460/C6

[dablack00]

The 71 SWB:
Before getting married back in 2000 I picked up a rough purple 71 F100 short bed w/ a stock 460/C6 combo. It is one of my daily drivers.

The 72 F250 camper special:
About two years ago I had also picked up a 72 F250 camper special that had 24k miles on it and hadn't moved since 74. Well, I just couldn't get into it. It was a long bed and a F250 so it just didn't apeal to me. In its current state it wasn't worth much so I parted it out, but I kept the perfect cab and front end.

The 68 SWB:
I had also picked up a very rough 68 swb from galveston. It was rusty but was supposed to have an original straight six and three speed. Well, I got it home and the six was from a car! Also the cab was junk. So I stripped it down to the frame and bed.

All this time I have been driving the same 71 SWB purple people eater (PPE). The old 74 460 that was in it blew a couple of years ago, so I rebuilt it and hopped it up a little with a mild 460/wide ratio C6. Well, that 71 SWB is a hell of a truck but the body has about six paint jobs on it, full of bondo, not a straight panel on it, and there is nothing original about the truck. The only good thing about it is the drivetrain.

So to save time and money I'm going to put the perfect 72 F250 cab and front end on the 68 swb frame and then put my nice 460 drivetrain in it. I'm finally doing it right.
I just finished power washing the 68 swb frame last night and I will start wire wheeling it this weekend. Then it will be fully dissassembled, sand blasted, and epoxy painted. Once the frame is 100% done I will start on the 72 F250 cab. It will get fully stripped and repainted. The best thing about all this is I will be able to keep driving my 71 SWB while all this is going on. Then when it is finally time I can swap over the drivetrain. Then I will sell the frame of the 71. The rest will be scrap. So that is the plan and I'm finally doing it.

So that is the plan. I will have pics tomorrow.

thanks
Austin

[70shortwide]

pics pics pics!!! I'll be watching this.

[dablack00]

Ok, lets see if I can post some pics. Please let me know if they are too big or too small.

Here are two shots of the cab in the garage.





Here is a shot of the frame after power washing it. It still needs to be wire wheeled and sand blasted.




Here is a shot of the 460 in the PPE that will eventually go in the LBT (little brown truck).



I'm hoping to get to work on the air lines from the compressor so I can get the water out of it and keep my air dry for painting and sand blasting.

Also, I'm looking for a set of stock looking small diameter (dog dish) hub caps for my steel wheels.

thanks
austin

[truckguy]

Looking good.
Kyle

[basketcase0302]

DaBlack,

Looking real good man!
460 will be my powerplant too, looks like you got a nice one!

Basketcase

[td]

dablack00,

sounds like a great project!! i'll also be watching for progress updates.
do you think wire wheeling it is necessary if you plan on blasting it, seems to me blasting it would be enough.

[dablack00]

DaBlack,

Looking real good man!
460 will be my powerplant too, looks like you got a nice one!

Basketcase

I built that 460 a couple of years ago and it has been top notch. I ported the D3VE heads, stock size valves, about 8.9:1 compression (way better than the stock 7.8:1), mild cam, performer intake, holley 750VS, long tubes and recurved dizzy. For the trans I have a 2200 rpm converter and wide ratio gear set. I'm having a little trouble tuning it because when I bring the timing up to where it should be, it won't start when hot. That is with a high torque starter. Then again, when hot, my big taurus fan also tries to turn on with the engine, so I think it is too much draw on the bat. I'm going to put a delay on the big electric fan start so all the juice can go to the starter when hot. I'm also thinking about a bigger line going to the starter. So for now the timing is pretty far down, but it still runs well and on dog water.

Austin

[ares360]

that is a beautiful 460. I will admit it, it made me drool.

[basketcase0302]

Austin,

How's the "tire-burner" coming man?

Basketcase

[dablack00]

Ok, the PS box is rebuilt but not yet adjusted.

Also, I found a 71 E300 mobil home (big econoline conversion) with a stock 71 302. The crazy thing I think there is a C4 behind it. It runs well right now and only has 70k miles on it so I'm going to check the compression and timing chain slop and then decide if I'm going to pull the heads to check for wear. Hopfully, the compression and timing chain will be in spec and it can all come out.

Not much else to say. I'm hoping to get the ps box installed, adjusted and tested today. Then this weekend, pull the 302/C4 from the econoline. Then I will pull some special econoline bits for ebay and the econoline forum and then scrap the van. I'm hoping to make some money back on the purchase price of the big ol thing.

Austin

[dablack00]

I've got the box adjusted and all is right in the world. It is very nice now. Before it was all over the road and the slop wouldn't adjust out. Now that it is rebuilt with the correct shims in it, it is nice and tight.

Just so everyone is aware, the first time I put the rebuilt box in and filled the pump, I started the truck and of course the pump went dry. Filled the pump again and this time the level stayed. I could turn the wheel from side to side but I was getting a lot of noise from the center to right on the turn. I thought I had the box too tight, so I checked it and it was dead on. So I let it sit for an hour or two and came back to check it again. Same problem and the fluid level hadn't changed. So I let it sit for the night. Next morning I came out and the pump was a little low, so there must have been some trapped air in the box. Filled the pump back up and checked it. No more noise and the box is nice and tight. I should have done this years ago.

NOTE: to do it right you will need some "fixturing" I'm actually thinking of doing this on the side so that is why I went all out and built all the stuff I needed to do it right.

Austin