Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

Hi, this is my project. 61 unibody on 2008 crown vic police interceptor frame.

Goal is a daily driver capable unibody with modern conveniences like ABS, power brakes, power steering, and AC.

Here's the truck I bought. No drivetrain, painted several colors numerous times. Very little visible rust. Two giant holes cut into the roof, almost as if someone had installed 10" subwoofers into the body at some point. The frame is nearly ruined. Someone tried to weld in a CV front end. They measured nothing and didn't have much in the way of welding skill.

Strangely, for all the posts about the CV front width, the truck actually had OEM ford 15" wheels on adapters on the CV front end. yes, it was a bit too wide.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

OK, so here's the donor CVPI. It's a 2008. What I didn't know then, is that it has CANBUS. I think that started in 2005 for CV, or around there. CANBUS is kind of a hassle, but luckily my dad is an engineer and lives for wiring. It was a Glendale, AZ PD car, had about 93k miles on it. Drives like it should. No shakes or shudders, brakes and steering all seem solid. AC works, but too bad it's about 300% too big to fit into the truck cab as is.

As CVs go, I think a police interceptor is the one to get. You don't have to deal with the key, which makes everything else worth it. They're also really cheap, and you're going to throw 75% of it away anyhow. As to how they've been used or maintained, who knows. Taxis seem to run several hundred k, so I'm not too worried about it.

Mine has a replacement trans, I noticed after removing the body. 3.27 rear gears, and has the fuel tank fire bottle system. I left it in, thinking I may try to make it functional. Maybe not, something to decide later.

Ok, back to CVs and what to buy. First off, they're plentiful. Don't get excited and wait for what you want. I wanted low miles and new as possible. Ended up with an 08, less than 100k, for $1800. I sold nearly everything I didn't need and got half my money back. Imagine buying an entire V8 drivetrain, frame, brakes, suspension, and steering, for under $1000. That is insane. As CVs got newer, they got wider, and wider, and wider. If you want OEM type negative offset wheels, buy an old one. I was willing to trade the looks of OEM wheels for more modern stuff.

If I got to pick, I'd rather have a narrower car with OEM looking wheels. But, I'll gladly trade and have high pos offset wheels for a frame that's only a few years old, and really really cheap.

I'll try to post the measurements I came up with at some point for the wheels, offset, track width, etc. I know it's all over the internet, with a thousand questions, and 1-2 actual answers.
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CV for sale.jpeg
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

OK, got everything trailered home. Paid $2800 for the truck. That seller won the lottery, finding someone to buy his failed project for good money. still, it was just what I wanted. A 61 with a relatively good body, and no extra money spent on the drivetrain I didn't want anyway.

I read all I could find about these projects online. Seemed most used at least some portion of the CV floor and firewall. My truck floor is good, so I'll plan to use it. I plan to remove the entire CV body shell and hope someone will haul it away.

In the end, I'd like it to look as much as possible like a 61 ford truck. I don't want CV dash or gauges or steering wheel. I'd rather keep the truck interior as much as possible.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

1961 AZ plate. AZ has a cool program where you can find an old plate, and provided its numbers aren't used, you can register your car with the year of manufacturer plates. They charge extra, but since registration for a 61 Ford is nearly zero anyway, it wasn't much. I found the plate on Ebay, and used the AZ DMV checker to make sure its numbers weren't being used. I think it was $20 or so.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

one of my favorite parts of the truck is the interior. I really like the dash. Hoping I can get a system to use the stock 61 gauges and an old looking column. I really don't want the square CV column.

I found replacement doors for the ash tray and glove box on eBay for cheap. Mine were chrome..awesome. I also bought a couple different gauges in order to try and piece a good one together. They were almost free on Ebay. Nobody must want them at all.

Once I had the gauge parts, I found this place online: http://www.classychassisrestoration.com/products/. He makes parts for old bronco gauges, which are really similar to our trucks. I considered having him just redo my gauge, but he sold me all the parts instead and I did it. I found online how to test all the gauges, to make sure they'll all working properly. I even made a simulated speedo cable using a cordless drill and made sure the speedo worked. I also opened the odometer and rolled it back to zero. Seems ok for its new life.

Sorry, can't find a photo of the new gauge. I'll take one. it's awesome, I plan to use this Dakota Digtal ECD 100 to make it work. It's crazy expensive, but seems worth it. I'd hate myself if this truck ended up with an electronic odometer. I don't know why, but I'm totally ok with having all these modern parts, but an electronic odometer just isn't acceptable to me.

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/ ... prd886.htm
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viper driver
Posts: 102
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Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

OK, so I found a solution for the column. My column was a manual column shift, so that was a no go. I looked around for a while for a 67 up auto column, but found something better. My brother has a 56 F-100, and told me two pieces of advice. 1) replace the door hinge pins, and 2) get a tilt column. While I hate how tile columns look, my first focus is drivability. So, I went after a tile column. After reading about how scary Chinese columns are, I found the perfect solution. A 57 Chevy Ididit retrofit column that someone had given up on before even installing it. It was new, but painted an awful red. I paid almost nothing for it, a total steal.

So, now I've got an ididit column. yes, it's real...for sure. while it's made for a Cheby, pretty sure I we can make it fit. Plus, now I've got the cheby wheel pattern so I can use just about any aftermarket wheel. The OEM truck wheel is ok, but not my favorite.

The 55-56 Chevy wheel is beautiful, so I got a cheap one. Dang, they're so expensive. and huge, 17" I think. With power steering, I can probably go 15" and be fine. after I got it, and it seemed like a ton of work to redo it, I got another wheel too. A 15" 40 Ford repro. the 40 ford wheel looks so good. And, this one has a chevy pattern and is already smaller at 15".

now that I have both, the chevy wheel is way better looking. I'm thinking I'll start with the 15" ford wheel, since it's done, and then maybe move up to the chevy wheel when I have time to fix it up.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

removing body from cv frame

Post by viper driver »

My dad is primarily building this. I lived across the country when it started, now in the same state as him, but 2 hours away. He’s retired and volunteered. I try to get there when I can to help. This project is a ton of work. Somehow it doesn’t sound all that difficult, using all the CV parts, but it is. We’ve built several cars, including some from the ground up. While this one isn’t the most difficult, it’s certainly a lot of work. If you’re wondering if a CV swap is for you, probably not.

It’s amazing how there are about 100 CV swap starts online for every one that’s driving. Maybe all the rest are done and the owners just never updated the status..??

Anyway, back to CV tear down. We used a lift to raise the body off. Removed most everything from the inside, then raised the body a bit at a time. I was able to sell all the interior to someone online who was changing the color of his interior. He even took a bunch of it apart, what a win.

After the body was off, what to do with it? We’ve done this donor car thing before, and had a junk yard come get the hulk. But, why not try CL. Sure enough, someone bought it. The guy said he had an old crown vic with a bad floor and planned to cut the floor from this one, then graft it into the floor of his car. I cannot even imagine what an epic project that would be.

Over the next couple months we managed to sell 2 of the doors, and the hood. Still have the trunk and rear doors. Seems like they may end up scrapped.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

truck body off frame

Post by viper driver »

While the truck body was less work, since most everything was already gone, lifting it off wasn’t quite as easy. The lift wouldn’t work, just not enough clearance. So, we used an engine chain hoist to lift the body from its frame.

Again, who would want this frame? While the rear end might be worth having, the rest seemed like scrap. Even the CV front end that had been really poorly welded in was a mess. Many of its fasteners were missing. I can’t even imagine the sequence of events that led to that front end being installed in that condition. CL to the rescue, someone bought the junk frame, and came to get it. Win.

apologies the one picture is sideways. who does that!
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

cutting the body

Post by viper driver »

My 4 year old named it 'Sheriff truck'. He's totally into police. recycling a police car into a truck is just about the best thing he could imagine so he's pretty charged up over the whole thing.

So the truck body needs to be cut in 3 places to fit onto the frame. First, the frame is too wide at the cab. So, the cab steps have to be cut out larger. Next, underneat the front edge of the cab there’s a support piece that hits the frame. Cut a notch from it til it fits. Finally, the biggest job is the bed. The CV rear suspension, frame, and fuel tank weren’t designed for a bed. They come several inches up into the bed where the rear axle sits. I wanted to keep the CV stuff stock, so I was fine with cutting the bed. But, I also wanted to cut as little as possible, to make the bed functional if I could. Once we cut a giant hole in the bed, the bed floor was pretty flimsy. So, we strengthened it with some square tubing.

At the bed, we made a cover piece from sheet steel. Using a brake, we bent it to fit nicely over the fuel tank. The filler neck is shortened, but still uses the stock cap and vent system. There’s a 05-06 mustang filler that looks much better, may use it in the future. Or, might just paint this one black and go with that.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

fuel filler and tank hump photos.
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filler done.jpeg
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

before removing the truck body, we took careful measurements for the front end. turns out there are two holes in the frame, near the front corner, where everything attaches. seems like if we can replicate these holes on the CV frame, all the front body panels will fit properly.

this is using a plumb bob to get these measurements exactly.

you can also see the sweet work which had been done on the front end previously. it was absolutely unsafe at any speed. appeared to be about half an inch further forward on one side, and offset to the left by about an inch as well.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
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Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

ok, now that we had these dimensions, we could start working on the CV frame. while the wheelbase is near identical, the CV is way longer than the F-100. The frame was too long at both the front and the back.

at the back, we cut the frame shorter. then, I pie cut the steel and bent the frame rail down to horizontal. While I thought this was required to clear the bed, I think it could have been left as is and would have fit. Doesn't really matter as it can't be seen behind the roll pan, but probably unnecessary.

I also cut the exhaust pipes and shortened them. I didn't think they'd work over the rear axle with the truck bed. They do, it fits just fine. I left the entire exhaust as stock, just removed about six inches of it aft of the rear axle. Then I welded the turn down tips back on. it's nearly invisible from behind the truck, and should work fine. the only negative is the exhaust is totally silent. you can hear the motor from the front end more than the exhaust. while I don't want it loud, maybe some exhaust sound would be nice. seems like something to do later when it's done.

At the front, we had to move the radiator back. I'm not totally sure how much, maybe 6-8". it's about as much as you could move it and not interfere with the accessories. It certainly won't be easy to replace the belt now.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

this is the end of the front frame rail, where the bumper attaches. we took the 61 bumper mounts off the old frame and reused them. the 61 bumper was bent, so aligning these was difficult.

you can really see how different the level of the frames is looking at this photo. The top of the 61 frame rail is even with the bottom of the CV frame rail. making this work was a bit of a challenge. we cleaned it up after this photo. it looks a bit better now.
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viper driver
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Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

the plan from the beginning was to media blast the entire truck. my last project car was a Ferrari 308, which I repainted, and then found rust as it ate through my new paint. I wanted to start right this time, and make sure the metal is good. also, we had the body torn down to nothing so it didn't seem like much extra work. I think it was $800 or so for the entire body and all associated parts.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

hole in roof

Post by viper driver »

going back in time a bit, the hole in the roof. this was probably the worst part of the truck I bought. No explanation could explain what would drive someone to cut two giant round holes in the roof. Of course the metal was rusted around the holes, and then someone had danced on it just to make sure it was a huge mess.

we cut a larger hole out, then got an english wheel to make a patch. my dad had never used an english wheel before, I suppose now he has. it worked as advertised, and took two tries to get it right.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

the fuel tank won't be in the cab anymore, so we welded that hole up. The stake pockets in the bed were just a mess, so I covered them with steel. I didn't mind having them, but fixing them would have been much more work than just covering them up.

someone had already welded up the door mirror holes. I'm not sure what to do there, pretty sure I want some type of mirrors and the stockers look pretty good to me. any ideas?
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filled fuel hole.jpg
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viper driver
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media blast dash

Post by viper driver »

heres a look at the dash pre and post media blast. the welded up holes are those not needed and have been filled since with Rage.

you can also see the floor patch where the steering column hole was. I moved the column up a lot, so this hole wasn't needed at all.

the notch into the dash is for the steering column. I have seen a couple trucks that way, and liked it. I also wanted as much room as possible underneath for possibly a 17" steering wheel. I'm not a big guy, but I don't want to be cramped in there like what seems to have been acceptable in 1961.
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dash.jpg
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

while the body was off the frame, seems like the time to add a hitch. hidden hitches on trucks are cool, right? it's a truck, so makes sense I'll use it to tow at some point. I plan to use the CV to tow as heavy of a trailer as I want, and not even worry about it. if I break something, I'll post it here.

the plate you see at the back of the frame is the rear most body mount. my dad welded up this hitch. we spent quite a while thinking about how to make it not drive a hole through the fuel tank if it got rear ended. in the end we couldn't figure out a way, so we made it strong enough to handle just about anything. I think the bed floor could also penetrate the tank, so I'm not sure you can totally eliminate that issue.

the receiver sit centered on the license plate, about 1/2" forward of the plate. I'm not sure if I'll use a hinged plate or just remove it when I use this.

this photo also gives a good look at where I shortened the exhaust pipes. I've since added a hanger at the back as well. it was a hanger that we had cut off my brother's mustang, so it was the best kind of hanger--free.
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hitch done.jpg
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

body on frame

Post by viper driver »

again, a bit out of order. we put the truck body onto the frame before media blast, to make sure everything would work. we set the ride height with the body mounts, intending to run stock springs, shocks, and tire size for the CV.

i've read that the CVPI springs are too heavy for truck use, but based on how few of these are actually driving, I think I'll wait and see for myself. if they are, I'll replace them with LX springs. I've also read the LX springs make the car set a bit lower, which would work fine.

the side view shows the ride height I plan to run. this gives enough clearance for lock to lock front wheel turning without hitting the fender, and a bit of clearance left for bumps at the same time.
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viper driver
Posts: 102
Joined: February 2, 2015, 11:51 pm

Re: Sheriff Truck--61 Uni on 08 CVPI

Post by viper driver »

this shows the clearance for the front wheel. while the rear wheel actually has less clearance to the fender, the front is the biggest issue since it turns.

with a high neg offset wheel, like used in the 60s, when the wheel is turned it moves away from the fender. with a high pos offset, like the CV, the wheel stays in its spot, so its more of a factor to the wheel well as it turns. it's hard to explain, but easy to demonstrate with a small model or see looking at old vs new cars.

sorry the second photo is sideways, but it's of the front wheel showing how much clnc there is.

we actually lowered the truck until the CV trans became an issue to the cab floor. sure, we could have easily cut a hole in the floor or raised it a bit. But, this also looked good to my eye for ride height and seemed to have enough cnlc for the front wheels. so, we called that just right.

if i want it lower later, I'll lower the suspension. so far, it was just lowering the body over the 100% stock suspension.
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full lock tire.jpeg
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