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PRPVinyl

NorfolkNova (A.K.A. PRPVinyl) 66 F100 build

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So as I had said in the Winter Project thread I picked up a 66 F100. I don't have a garage at my house so the truck is out at a buddies house.

After picking up the truck I hit pick and pull for their Black Friday sale and bought the Crown Vic IFS and a Mark VIII IRS to put into the truck. I also picked up 4 tires that held air so I could have a rolling chassis.

The next weekend I got out to work on the truck.Due to the crappy weather we have been having I also bought a portable carport canopy from Pepbpys to keep the rain off me. I also used some tarps to put walls on it to keep the wind out.

After getting the carport up we got the rear bumper and bed off the truck.

I got out there again this weekend and got all of the front sheet metal off the truck. Started working on the cab mounts, got 1 off then the rain and cold started making it too unbearable to be out there any longer.

I also picked up a pair of lightly rusted (the originals on my truck were rotted) fenders for $70

Hopefully next weekend I can get the cab off the truck and get the chassis pressure washed in preps for pulling the motor, trans and axles.

Here are a few pics.

Here is the bed and rear bumper off of the truck. Quite a bit of surface rust but no rot on the frame. I plan on soda blasting and painting the frame.

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here is a shot of all of the front sheet metal removed. i need to repair the frame where the core support mounts to it, other that that still very solid

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And some of the parts I have picked up for it so far

front IFS

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Rear IFS

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Fenders

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More to come as the project progresses

matt

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No worries Matt! Perfection doesn't happen over night! What's the powerplant looking like it's going to be? My vote goes to a 5.4 lightning or 5.4 n/a turbo with a t56 magnum!

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No worries Matt! Perfection doesn't happen over night! What's the powerplant looking like it's going to be? My vote goes to a 5.4 lightning or 5.4 n/a turbo with a t56 magnum!

Yeah I helped pull the cab off the body ro get painted when i was 10 lol. Good luck with the build!

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No worries Matt! Perfection doesn't happen over night! What's the powerplant looking like it's going to be? My vote goes to a 5.4 lightning or 5.4 n/a turbo with a t56 magnum!

He's using that mark VIII 4V he got a few months back.

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So I got out and worked on the truck some more today. I made good progress. I got the cab off, then pulled the motor and trans. I pressure washed the chassis but it still has some caked on grease and dirt. I soaked it with some more Purple Power and will let that soak in overnight, then I will pressure wash it again tomorrow. If I can get the steel tube and plate I need for the IRS and IFS install I want to start working on that next weekend.

Here are some pics of today's progress.

 

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Tomorrow I am going to do a compression test on the 351W that was in it, see how that goes then decide if it is scrap or if I will try to find a Fox body to slap it into

 

Matt

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I took advantage of the nice weather and the day off. I got the front suspension and cross member off. Next up will be the Grand Marquis cross member and suspension going in.

 

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I can't wait to get the front and rear suspension on, then I can set the motor on the front cross member and see how that 4V will look sitting between the frame rails

 

Matt

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Dateline Jan. 4, 2014.

I made some more god progress. The Crown Vic front sub frame is mounted, I still need to pick up some plate and box the frame where the subframe is mounted. I also need to make a mount for the lower control arm radius arm bracket, plus a few other brackets. But at least it is back on all fours rolling again. Well at least until I start the rear suspension in a couple of weeks

 

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Matt

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Monday I bought the wheels i want to run on the F100, Friday I bought the steel I need to install the Mark VIII rear axle. I decided I wanted to go a little different route with the install. I am going to make it a bolt in installation. I am going to cut a piece of 1/4" plate that matches the side profile of the frame and weld the brackets for the suspension to that. I will then use 2"X3"-3/16 rectangle tubing for cross members where the mounts intersect with the frame. This should be at least make the cut frame equal in strength to the frame before it is cut.

 

Here is the steel. I had to buy a 4X8 sheet of plate and 24' of 2X3

steel_zpsa73b5739.jpg

 

Here are the wheels, American Racing Torque Thrust M

wheels_zps0c63d89b.jpg

 

Matt

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I got out to work on it for a few hours today. I got the rear IRS mounting plates and the side plates for bolting to the frame cut out today. All I can say is , " I need a plasma cutter." Next week end I should be able to get the rear mounting plates tacked in and hopefully cut out and tacked in also. I will have to see how the weather is.

 

Here are the rear mounting plates attached to the IRS

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I also got the frame notched out to accept the IRS

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And here are the side plates that will bolt to the frame

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I will have a total of 8 1/2" bolts bolting each plate to the frame on each side

 

Matt

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16 Feb Update.

 

I got the IRS rear mounts tacked up. I had to pull the springs out to get the rear mount bolts tightened up to get the front mounts lined up where I want them. Got some measurements for the IRS front mount brackets and got them fabbed up, just need to tack the front mounts to the frame piece, then remove everything from chassis to do a metric butt tonne of welding. Yes I know some of my welds look hideous right now, but I am getting good penetration. That is why they make flap wheels I will grind them down and redo them, it was getting late and I was getting tired, that was how I knew it was time to go.

 

Here is the frame sitting in the IFS and IRS with not rear springs

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The IRS rear mount

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and my hideous needs to be rewelded IRS front mount

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You need to chip away all that slag first, it might actually look better than it looks once you get rid of the slag. No worries Matt, flux-core is not a friendly wire to run. Regardless looks like everything is coming along nicely.

Sent from Space

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It has been a while since I have had the welder out, and it takes a while to get back into the swing of it. I have already ground down a few of the welds to redo and I am getting good penetration. I am using a Lincoln 3200HD welder. I just need to remember to slow down. Hopefully next weekend i can get all of the welding done for the rear suspension, I still need to make a new cross member for the where I had to cut one out to fit the IRS subframe, box the front where I mounted the IFS subframe, and mkae mounts for the front LCA radius arm mounts. Then I can move on to the body work.

 

 @Psychorugby The Mark VIII IRS and Crown Vic IFS will fit GEN I to GEN IV F100's

 

The frame was basically the same width up through 79

 

Matt

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MArch 1

I finally have the truck fully sitting on the IRS and IFS with the rear springs in place.

I measured the frame height at the rear axle before I pulled the rear axle out and now I measured it the IRS in. It was a 6 inch drop. Here are some pics

 

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I started to pull the 351W apart, it looked promising when I pulled the intake off. The lifter valley looked brand new. Then I pulled the heads off and found a chunk missing out of one of the pistons. The missing chunk was no where to be found, but all of the bores still look good

 

Matt

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MArch 1

I finally have the truck fully sitting on the IRS and IFS with the rear springs in place.

I measured the frame height at the rear axle before I pulled the rear axle out and now I measured it the IRS in. It was a 6 inch drop. Here are some pics

1505563_10202403004974206_1144205760_n_z

1004973_10202403209099309_1907968759_n_z

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1925001_10202402999374066_2133367439_n_z

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1903008_10202402996133985_1880997959_n_z

1662259_10202402997494019_446565049_n_zp

I started to pull the 351W apart, it looked promising when I pulled the intake off. The lifter valley looked brand new. Then I pulled the heads off and found a chunk missing out of one of the pistons. The missing chunk was no where to be found, but all of the bores still look good

Matt

Hell yah! I can't wait to see this baby get the body on it. It shall be bitchin'

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

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8Mar14

So despite not being able to keep to my original game plan for the day because of yesterdays Monsoon I still went out to work on my 66, I added another larger gusset to the IRS mount and built a cross member for it.

I also picked up some KrudKutter rust inhibitor/converter that was recommended by some one here local to me. It seems to work very well, I will have to pick up some more to finish the frame and get some frame paint from Eastwood.

 

Here are the pics of today progress

 

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I also tore down the lower end of the 351W. After getting the pistons out a couple fo the pistons showed possible signs of detonation. So I will replace all of the pistons just to feel better about the build I gave the cylinders a light hone to see if I could keep the budget intact and they came out decent.

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Matt
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15Mar

So I go t out to work on the truck for a little bit today. I coated the frame again with teh KrudKutter rust inhibitor. Got some 275/45-17 tires mounted to the Troque ThrustM wheels for the rear, now I just need to get the hubs redrilled to the 5X4.5 bolt pattern. I also wanted to get the bed set onto the frame, but to do that I had to move the cab out of the way. So I had to go a little unconventional to move the cab and the bed.

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But hey it worked.

 

So I got the bed set on the chassis here is a few pics of how it is looking so far. Next phase of the project is to find a bed floor I can replace mine with

 

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The bed sides seem to be solid, of course won't know until paint removal starts. The bed floor is a completely different story. The front of the bed floor where it meets the front wall of the bed is rotted away. It sat in the woods for 20 years with a plastic bed liner in it. No one makes a replacement steel floor for the 61-66. So my game plan is to find an 8' bed from a later model truck and graft it into my truck. It will be a lot of work but I think it will be the best mothod to fix it

 

Matt

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ever looked into a wood bed floor? cut the rotted floor out and run a couple bed mount braces across and start slapping wood boards. might be easier but idk if you're wanting to restore it like it would have been. just an idea 

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Yeah, I have thought about that, but it still would need metal replaced on the front bed wall, the rot goes a couple fo inches up on the front wall of the bed. I have not looked at the cost of a wood bed yet, but I checked at pick n pull and I can get the bed floor for about $100-$125, And if I can get one on one of their 1/2 off sale days that would be enven better. Nothing for sure yet on which way i will go, as always keeping my options open

 

Matt

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yea you'd prolly have more than that in a wood floor. especially if you bought an actually vehicle specific kit with the stainless strips and everything. it adds up no doubt lol. you could diy a wood floor allot cheaper but then ya have the bed wall to still fix so sounds like a better idea to go the route you're going. either way i want a fuckin truck project now  :angry: lol

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5Apr14

I got out today and cut most of the floor out of the bed of the truck. I left he cross members intact as they hold up the outer skins of the bed up. I still need to remove the bed floor from the cross members, but that is for next week. I also got the rear suspension upper shock mounts tacked on and installed the shocks. Now I need to get off my duff and get this aluminum and copper scrap over to the salvage yard so I can have a place to put the  new to tme bed floor once I go to pick n pull and cut one out. I also need to get the hubs over to the machine shop and have them drilled for the  5 X 4.5 bolt pattern.

 

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hahaa...so weird seeing an irs under there lol. very cool though. you running a mustang wheel, i forget.

 

I have torquethrustM American Racing wheels for it. 245/45-17 on the front and 275/45-17 rear for it

 

matt

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