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Topic: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside (Read 12545 times) previous topic - next topic

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #30
Yeah, completely aware of my disc brake choice with regards to wheel selection. Most likely running 20’s but may run 18’s up front but will definitely be 20’s in the rear.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #31
Quote from: Aerocoupe;466872
I loaded it up this morning and am going to run it over to the powder coater after work.  The aluminum is really porous and it is going to stain again with just general road grim let alone any kind of fluid leak so the more I thought about it over the last week the more I was leaning towards a clear powder coat.

Probably the best bet, especially if you want the bare aluminum look. It'll be impossible to keep it looking that nice without the clear overcoat.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #32
So the next step was to either order spacer tubes new or see if I could salvage the ones I had in the chunks of frame rail they left with the IFS.  I looked on line and the tubes new were $28 each plus shipping so for $112+ I figured it was worth a shot to salvage them.  The spacers/tubes I am talking about are P/N 3W1Z-5D096-AA and look like this:



When in stalled in the F100 frame they look like this (screen shot from TexasKnowhow's YouTube channel):



I have seen some use tubing which does work I like the idea of using of the factory spacer (description on Ford packaging and again from TexasKnowhow's channel).  Here is a picture of the packaging as I had no idea if it was a sleeve, tube, spacer or what.



So after laying the CV frame rail piece on the garage floor I decided to build a jig of some sort to hold it so I could use both hands to cut the spacers out.  Knocked that out in about 30 min (most of the time was looking for s wood and screws).  Next was locating the box of hole saws and charging the batteries up on the cordless.  Ended up using a 1-3/4" hole saw, cordless drill, and some cutting fluid.  I removed the pilot bit so not to damage the threads in the spacer which was no issue as the hole saw just fits over the spacer.  Here are some pics of the work and it took about 30 minutes.  The "jig" I built out of s wood I had laying around the garage.  This held the CV frame rail so I could use both hands to cut the spacers out with the hole saw and cordless drill. I just put a bit of cutting fluid on the frame rail and after it had cut a groove in the frame rail I just used that to hold the cutting fluid from there on out. I took four more rounds of cutting fluid after the initial one to get them out.  I went slow and let the hole saw work.

CV Frame Rail in "Jig" with One Spacer Already Removed (was alot easier than I thought)


Cordless and Hole Saw


Cutting Spacer from CV Frame Rail


Spacer Removed from CV Frame Rail


CV Frame Rail with Both Spacers Removed


All Four Spacers after Removal


So all that is left to do is remove the remaining frame rail material from the spacer.  It was welded to the frame rail with two 1/2" long welds on oppsote sides of the spacer so I am going to concentrate on grinding off the welds first to see of the rest just falls off after that.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

 

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #33
So I have been chipping away at this front end and buying a part here and there over the last five months.  I was able to get the remaining frame rail material off the spacers by using a cold steel chisel and hammer to remove the chunks that were not spot welded and then used the grinder to get the rest.

So I was looking to see if there was an option for tubular control arms for the IFS and also looking at options with regards to doing a OEM style rebuild on the UCA's and LCA's.  I rattled the cages of a few guys that tend to make custom parts for these Panther platform cars and to date only one is making tubular control arms which is Fatman Fabrications.  He wants a stupid amount of money for them but they do narrow the hub face to face which allows a person to run a deeper dish wheel up front if that is important.  The other two fabricators have not moved off center so my guess is if they ever make them they will also be expensive due to low production numbers.

Next I moved on to looking a doing the OEM rebuild on the stock control arms.  The UCA is available as a complete unit for a very reasonable price from RockAuto.  They also have the FoMoCo lower ball joints and the rear control arm bushing that mounts to the frame of the car (odd setup).  What I could not find was the LCA forward bushing.  I got to the point where I just could not believe that a person could not find the LCA forward bushing so that the LCA you got with your swap CV IFS could be rebuilt.  I noodled around for about a year and finally found a replacement bushing.  The brand is MevoTech which is a Canadian company with P/N MS40401.

Obviously I decided to go the OEM route once the missing bushing was found.  I ended up buying the UCA, lower ball joint, and the rear LCA bushing off RockAuto.  I then bought the LCA forward bushing set off of EBay for $28 plus shipping as that was the only place I could find them.  I went ahead and used the c-clamp style ball joint / bushing removal and installation tool you can get as a loaner tool from the parts houses to pop the old bushings and ball joints out of the LCA's.  Ball joints popped out super easy (they have a spring retainer as well) but the forward bushings took a little more force but once they moved they just completely popped out.  I compared the old bushings to the new ones and dimensionally (used a caliper) they are equal.  I also took some side by side pics and have attached those.  I dropped one of the new bushings into the LCA and it went down to the same point the old one did which left it with about 1/2" that would need to press into the LCA which will work nicely for the needed interference fit.

What got me going on all this was:
1) I have the time to wait
2) I wanted to powder coat the LCA's
3) New LCA's are just stupid expensive

Basically a new LCA comes with a new forward bushing and new ball joint.  The cheaper ones are aluminum LCA's (MevoTech, Moog, etc.) and run about $150 each for non-fleet/police and about $175 each for fleet/police.  The more expensive ones are stamped steel (FoMoCo) and run about $225 each for non-fleet/police and $250 each for fleet/police.  None of these come with the rear frame mount bushing but they are about $45 each for standard or fleet/police.

To compare costs the FoMoCo ball joints are about $100 for a pair and the MevoTech forward bushings are $28 a pair.  Toss in around $15 for shipping costs and all the parts to rebuild two LCA's is $143.  I am going to get the LCA's powder coated for $50 so I will be at $193 total.  So for the price of a new aluminum LCA with shipping I can rebuild both of the LCA's that came with my CV IFS.  It could be done for less it you do not want to mess with any kind of coating on your LCA's or just a few bucks on some rattle can paint and elbow grease to clean them up and prep for paint.

Here are the pics of the forward bushings:

Pictures of the bag the bushings came in. Only showing this as there were two stickers on the bag with different part numbers slash bar code stuff:




Bushing comparison side by side:





83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #34
When I tore the front suspension down I tossed the UCA's, springs, struts, wheel hub/bearing assemblies, rotors, and calipers.  I kept the hardware from the factory coil over assemblies (reused on new coil over setup), knuckles, lower control arms, engine cradle, and bolting. So this is basically what I had left over:



I had a few of the parts on the front suspension powder coated over the last few months:

Engine Cross Member - satin clear
Engine Cross Member Upper Brackets - satin black
Wheel Knuckles (what the wheel hub/bearing assembly bolts to) - satin black
Lower Control Arms - satin black
Upper Mount for Coil Overs - satin black

Here is all the stuff that will go back on the engine cradle minus stuff not pictures but have stashed back like new wheel hubs, reman'd rack and pinion (minus the EVO solenoid), C5 corvette calipers, caliper adapters, GT500 rotors, ADTR front sway bar, SS braided front brake lines for the C5 calipers, lower ball joints, ADTR camber kit, and the LCA rear bushings.


83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #35
So right now I am waiting on the original bolting I removed from the IFS to get cleaned up and zinc plated at a local coater for $50.  All new bolting was four times that from Ford and its just too  cold here to try and clean them up in the garage with a wire wheel and then clear coat them.  I think the zinc plating will work better anyhow.  The reason I am reworking these is some of them are specialty bolts i.e. only available from Ford and the others have the integral washer on them which is nice when working on the vehicle not having to keep track of the washers.  As soon as I get the bolting back I can start putting this all together and then its a waiting game for warmer weather to start modifying the frame to get this bolted up.  From there it will be rear four link time.

Was debating the rear suspension a little more and even though the Fatman Fab four link comes with a Z bar (basically a panhard bar) I still want a sway/anti-roll bar on the rear.  I found a kit that will work between the frame rails but its high dollar so I am going to see if we can make one or find a similar one for less dough.  The one I like is about 3/4's the way down this page and is P/N PA-RSB-P4B:

https://www.progressiveautomotive.com/installations-kits-parts/rear-suspensions/parallel-4-bar-rear-suspension.html

You can click on the picture and it will enlarge...these guys do some nice work.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #36
We need more pics of the truck!

BTW, have you seen THIS
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo

'70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #37
The body has not changed since the bed was rebuilt and tubed.  Chassis, suspension, and power train will be done and then I will move to the body work which means my buddy that owns a body shop.  This is a multi multi year project.  I will be super lucky to get the Coyote and 6R80 in it this year just due to the shear cost and having one in college which is the priority.

Never knew about that guy building a SRT Daytona...dude has skills.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #38
So the zinc plating hit a snag.  They do not have media blasting and depend on a chemical process to remove any rust and it did not get it all but I only found this out when I went to pick up my parts.  We had a talk about customer service in that they need to let potential customers know their limitations and even suggest when part look like they may need to be media blasted and even possibly partner with a company that can do this so that they can be a one stop shop.

Anyhow, parts were coated and some looked great while others not so much.  They did not charge me and said that if I would get them media blasted they would get them coated quickly.  Took them to my powder coater and they blasted them back to bare metal for $20.  After that I figured why not run the threads with dies and make sure that all the threads were good to go.  This lead to finding 16mm x 2.0 and 14mm x 2.0 dies which Wholesale Tool had in stock.  Got all the threads run only to find that the corrosion was into the threads on one of the 16mm bolts which just happen to hold the entire engine cross member to the frame.  Bolt it on order and should be here tomorrow so I will take the bolts to the platers on Friday as by the time I get by the Ford dealership to pick up the bolt the platers will be closed.

In the middle of all this I got sick, ran a fever, and called some dinosaurs so that started Thursday evening and I got over it this Tuesday.  py cold weekend so probably would not have done anything in the garage anyhow.

It will be done right or not at all...at least that is what I am shooting for.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #39
What method did you use to get that crossmember looking so nice?
1985 Mercury Cougar XR-7 - 5-speed 
One of 1,246 built

Re: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #40
I started by just scrubbing it with a brush and Dawn then hit it with Eagle 1 mag wheel cleaner and scrubbed it with a stiff brush after letting the wheel cleaner sit for about 15 minutes.  Took a couple of rounds of the wheel cleaner but it worked really well.  After that it was powder coated clear so I can simply power wash it now and then for maintenance later down the road.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #41
Interesting.....I would have guess it was media blasted.
Good to know. Thanks!
 
1985 Mercury Cougar XR-7 - 5-speed 
One of 1,246 built

Re: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #42
Finally got all the bolting back from the platers. They did not let me know that they did not have the ability to media blast on site. They tried to chemically remove the rust and the coating job did not turn out good. They asked if I could get them media blasted and they would recoat them. So I took them to my powder coat guy and $20 later they were cleaned up. Took them back to the coaters on Monday and got them back today and they look great. Inbetween all this I also got the flu or some bad ass virus so that took me out over a weekend for a total of five days.

Anyhow, here is a picture of the bolting after the clear zinc plating:



Hoping to get the front suspension assembled and the 14” brakes mocked up. I’ll post up some pictures of that when I do.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #43
Got time to work on the truck this weekend.  Demo'd out the stock suspension and all the bracketry on Saturday as well as the rear most frame cross brace as it needs to move all the way back for the fuel tank (taking the one out behind the seat). I also removed the frame cross brace just behind the cab that also holds the emergency brake cable system where it goes from the foot pedal cable to the two cables to the now gone backing plates on the rear end.  The four link has a bracket that goes right where this is/was located. Brackets weld to it for the front connection points of the links and it has a drive shaft loop so that’s a plus. I thought I got a shot of all this before I started but I cannot find it so if I do I will edit this and add it.

So these three pics are an hour into it.  Springs, shocks, and rear end are out but the rusted bolts didn't go with out a fight.  Actually had to get a breaker bar and cheater pipe out.  Used a wire wheel and some PB Blaster but sometimes it just takes brute force.







A little clean up of the clutter and we have a clean surface to cover with dirt, grinder dust, and metal shavings:







These pics are after I removed the front and rear spring hangers, upper shock mounts, the axle to frame snubber mounts, and a brake line bracket that I am still amazed was riveted to the frame like all this other .  I also swept up after this round and the last pic is a pile of the carnage.









These shots were after I removed the rear most frame cross brace and the one up by the cab that held the e-brake cable assembly.







So all in that was 44 rivets that I had to remove to get all that work completed.  After all that and cleaning up several times I ran out to a buddy's house for some cold beer and BBQ.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: '70 F100 Short Bed Styleside

Reply #44
Woke up early Sunday and got back after it and finished demo'ing out the front suspension with the exception of the engine cross member as it is welded in and the wind was blowing so bad I couldn't weld in the cross braces.  The cross braces will be welded to the top and bottom of the frame so that when I cut the cross member out the frame doesn't move.  In the long run I didn't have time to cut the engine cross member out so there was no loss, my day ended at 10:15 PM.  I was tired from the day before and just forgot to take any progress pics but these are what I ended up with on the front of the truck:







So the front end was 26 rivets to get the spring horns and I-Beam brackets removed.  These were in a lot tighter spaces especially the rear I-Beam mounts.  I ended up having to remove the transmission cross member as two of the six rivets on each of the I-Beam rear brackets I could not get access to until that cross member was removed. Fortunately the cross member was bolted on the top side and only had two rivets on each side at the bottom (which were also two of the six rivets on the rear I-Beam mounts) that were not bad on access.  I will reinstall that cross member with some bolts we had in the shop as the factory ones took me about a half an hour to get out due to all the rust and grime.  I am here to say that the front end was a jig-saw puzzle which finally required me to just crawl under the truck and lay there for a few minutes to figure out the approach.

When I started to look into this project I did a lot of searches and watched as many videos as I could but the one thing that kept coming up was the rivet removal issue.  Several folks had shared the way they removed these rivets and it varied from grinding the heads off and punching them out to using a torch.  I tried grinding the heads off and that was an exercise in futility due to the amount of dust and the time it took.  I ended up using what I call a tiger disc in a 4" grinder (really thin cutting blade) and cutting an X in each head and then air chiseling the heads off.  Once this was done I used whatever means necessary to remove the bracket which was usually a BFH or pry bar or both.  If the rivet didn't come out with the bracket then I would have to switch to a grinding disc in the 4" grinder and grind down the rivet body to the frame and then use same BFH and a large punch to completely remove the rivet from the frame.  It was impossible to try and punch a rivet out that was passing through two layers of metal.  This is due to when the rivet was installed none of the holes lined up perfectly to they are offset which caused the rivet to offset thus making it impossible to remove with a punch and hammer.  Might have been able to do it with an air punch but I did not have one.

Last was to tear down the 9" as the housing needs different bearing ends for the Explorer 8.8 brakes and the four link brackets will be slid on the tubes.  I cut the spring perches off as well as the lower shock mounts (no pic) and hauled it to my buddy's house as he has a rear end jig. He is going to tack weld the ends on for mock up. Once we get the four link brackets tack welded into place I’ll take the rear end back to his shop and he will weld the brackets and ends up with the jig in place so everything is lines up straight.



Don't think it was ever serviced in its life, scooped this  out with a glove on:



Going to get back after it this weekend and finish the demo so we can get started on the front IFS and rear four link.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp