64 F-100 SWB Retro-Patina Build

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Work has begun on the '64 Ford F-100 SWB Slick.... As you can see by the photos I have the front end off, front axle, engine and tranny pulled. My next step is to start getting the cab ready to come off the frame as well as the bed. I have to get at the frame so I can clean it up and finish the lowering process for the front and rear suspension for a low, balanced look. Once I get her back up and rolling with new disc brakes on the front and on the tires and wheels she will roll on I will start on the engine and tranny to beef them up and create some additional horsepower and sound. After the power train is back in the frame and all that is good then comes the cab and bed. Not much outside work overall minus smoothing things down and putting on a satin clear coat. The inside of the cab will be redone with paint and upholstery with modernizing in some areas like the gauges, steering column and wheel, and sound system. Standby and keep watching.... this should be a real looker and mover when she is done.

[bruceandersson]

That took some force to bend that link. Great looking truck to start with.

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Thanks Bruce... I have two more 64 F-100s standing in-line after this one.....

[foodstick]

Off to a good start ! gonna be fun watching you go thru it...

[SteveCanup]

Watching....this should be really good...

[SteveCanup]

I watched Taken 3 last night....saw your truck....that was pretty cool...

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Steve it is pretty cool to see it there.... When I start the teardown I will document the "as is" status. They had welded 12 inch steel pipe/tubes to raise it to look like a 4x4 along with the white spoked wheels. It is a 289 V8 with a C4 automatic tranny. There was no way it was ever going to roll the way they did it - it was in a static position for the scenes that shot with it. Cool owning it but I am not going to leave that look for the final appearance. The pictures can tell the story. Thanks for the update.

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Finally got a free day for Cab removal..... I am trying to get to the frame so that I can get it worked and back up and rolling with the beefed up motor and tranny and on all fours. Once that occurs I will start on the cab and bed. Got to the actual floor from under the fiberglass patches the last owner had done instead of cutting and welding in new floorpans. I may do that as I work on the frame and in-between things?

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Sid Drapal called me yesterday and said my Dropped Axle is ready to ship to me....

I also received my Disc Brake Conversion Kit from Speedway.....

[TurnAroundTrucks]

I have been looking for a shop to reverse re-arch my leaf springs so I can flip the bushing eyes over to help with additional lowering - as per Sid Drapal (http://droppedaxles.com/index.html) and finally found one here in Atlanta. They come highly recommended so we shall give them a try this week with my '64 Ford F-100 Front Leaf Springs as I prepare to install my 3 inch dropped front axle that Sid is finishing up this week. Pictures to follow....

http://drivelineserviceofnorthatlanta.com/index.html

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Well my front leaf springs have been reverse re-arched and I picked them up today from the Spring Shop. What my "new" reversed and re-arched front leaf springs look like for my '64 F100 is pretty cool. I will install these with a Sid Drapal 3 inch Dropped Axle attached. As you can see by my picture below I removed the number 2 leaf out of the spring stack to give me a little more drop. Based on conversations with Sid I expect to lose a total of 5+ inches with this easy modification and retain my original ride and use factory original parts which is what I wanted to do. I will be doing some similar things to the rear. Stay tuned for install pictures when I get that all completed in the near future. Thanks Sid Drapal!!!

[TurnAroundTrucks]

A great work day today and finished my major component teardown to bare frame. I can now start the prep and rebuild process. My plan is to take the rear leaf springs to the spring shop tomorrow and have them reverse re-arched like I did the front ones last week. I will also have several of the leafs taken out to add more drop effect. I am also going to reverse the front hanger for the rear leafs by flipping it over to gain additional drop. I am also going to prep and get the frame sealed and painted so I can re-install the front and rear improved and modified axles and get it rolling. My next task is to check engine and tranny mount alignment as well as pinion angle with the modified rear axle suspension components. Stay tuned....

[orangeRcode]

Nice progress!

[SteveCanup]

Moving along! Can't wait to see the drop axle in place...it'll be sweet!

[TurnAroundTrucks]

As I talked about in the last '64 Ford F100 Build Post here are some close-ups of the mock-up of flipping the rear front Leaf springs mount to get more drop in the rear to help with the modifications to the leaf springs themselves that is a reverse arch and removal of several of the existing leafs. Expected drop is 5-6 inches in the rear to match the drop that will occur in the front with the Sid Drapal 3 inch dropped axle and the front reverse arched and removed leaf springs he advised me to do.... Stay tuned....

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Got the frame ready to spray tomorrow morning with POR 15 Semi-Gloss Black.... looking forward to getting this done so I can start putting the suspension, rear-end, and disc brake conversion back on.....

[SteveCanup]

Looking great! Did you have to drill a hole through the frame for the bolt to go through the front rear hangers? From the picture it looks like the bolt hole was below the top of the frame. Can't wait to see the progress on your truck.

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Steve I used two of the original rivet holes (diagonal) and had to drill two new ones. I used Grade 8 7/16 bolts to reinstall the mount. I went back and looked at your method of doing the modification and see that you only used three of the existing holes? I think the same effect is achieved just two different paths of getting to the objective... I also saw where you left your rear leaf springs original as to where I am removing springs as well as reverse arching the main spring in order to flip the bushing eyelets over. I did the same on my front leaf springs as well (only one leaf removed) along with a 3 inch dropped axle. How does your front mono leaf spring work? Do you get much frame bump out of it or mushy feel to the ride?

[SteveCanup]

Yes....I wanted to keep my full spring pack in the rear for hauling stuff. My wife and I are 'hobby farmers" so I have to have a truck, but I wanted something that I could also cruise around in. I occasionally haul lumber and gravel and so forth so I needed the full spring pack. I was going to do the same method you did with the front rear hanger and redrill 2 new holes (I knew that 2 of the original holes lined up), but when I flipped the hanger I found that 3 of the holes lined up. So I just used the 3 existing holes and was going to either put a weld on the hanger or drill for the 4th hole. With the shackles I was expecting about 4 inches, or so, of drop, but was surprised when I measured that I ended up with a full 5 inches of drop. The mid-60's Fords came from the factory with about 2 inches of 'rake.' From what I have read the front was always set 2 inches lower than the rear. So with 4 1/2 in the front and 5 in the rear it was 'just right' for me. I would still like to have my axle dropped by Sid. I've communicated with him a few times about my axle. I bought the front mono-springs off of ebay from POL (Performance On Line?) and they are a little bouncy. The sway bar helped a little with that (and I highly recommend the addition of a sway bar.) If I can get the money together, later on I will have my axle dropped and was thinking about adding 2-3 of my original springs to the mono spring to see if that tightens up the ride. I did remove one spring from the front to see what would happen and it was a lot of work (at least for me it was) for the amount of drop. I think that a lot of this is trial and error and seeing what everyone else has done and reading their feedback.

[TurnAroundTrucks]

Got up very early and painted the frame to the '64 Ford F100.... Used POR -15 Rust Preventative Protective Coating Semi-gloss Black. I took these pictures right after I finished spraying it so by the time it is dry it will be a duller black which is the look I an going after for the frame while also applying a protective coating and rust stop on it. It tool one quart of POR-15 to do two coats so not too bad for coverage. Hint - it is messy to spray and handle - gets on everything if you are not careful. Drop cloth/plastic everything around it or else! Wear complete protective clothing with a quality respirator/filter mask. This stuff is toxic to breathe!!! Even in hot temperatures it still takes a good 6-8 hours to dry and overnight for a hard coating. Spray and forget it until the next day.