Slick 60's

Project66 wrote:Not sure yet. I have been looking at the 4.6 engines and a mustang II IFS. Love to get a crown vic and narrow it about 4-6 inches. I was thinking about finding a rack that was 4 inches narrow then cut the crossmember to match the rack. I need to keep in mind the Ankerman angle. Color is the thing too...Some colors just don't go with a full resto IMO.
Right now looking at the two tone greens like Chip Foose has on his ***y sedan.
Here is a F100 with similar colors
PPG Mercedes-Benz Brilliant Silver applied to the bottom half, PPG Honda Galapagos Green to the top half.

4.6 and the crown vic would be a nice OEM match! Why are you looking for a narrower front end? Wanting some deep lip wheels?

I just need to see the front end installed with sheet metal. Not sure how low I can go without rubbing

I love that Honda green with Benz silver!!! Your project looks awesome!

Welcome - also from Charlotte. Truck and progress look great!

Got my Dennis Carpenter Rubber Kit complete windshield, back glass, and door seals. Also a left floor pan, and radiator mounts and cab mounts.




Now I am an easy going guy but when I went down to pick these parts up I told the guy that I heard on the forums that you short change customers with the nuts on the cab mounts. Some get 2, some get three, some get zero. He checked the box and there were none. The "Radiator KIT" has bolts and nuts and the "$100.00 cab kit which is 8 hockey pucks and 4 bolts did not. I asked the sale guy there if this makes sense selling a $100 KIT only to have to buy 4 nuts. I can afford 4 nuts, I just asked them to check the build sheet for this product for the next guy.


But anyway love living in Charlotte. We have more aftermarket parts stores here than I believe anywhere. From brakes to radiators to rubber to engines. No excuse not building a great truck here.

Started on the drivers side floor today. Got a rough idea on how much to cut out and did just that. My zip wheel, spot weld cutter and air chisel made easy work of removing the metal.



The after market pan is like anything else ...just doesn't fit. We used some tech screws and some weight to get the pan sitting where it needed to.



One trick in putting pans in.. You put some sand bags or block in the pan and go under the truck. Drill using an 1/8th in bit up through the cab support to locate the spot welds that you will need to make. This way all you do is remove the pan and drill your 1/4 inch or so holes in the pan. Now they are in position to plug weld. I may cheat and leave about an inch lap on the pan...love to but weld it but

Looking good so far, keep up the good work

Got the axle cleaned with the wire wheel, DA and final step to acid wash with Metal Prep to remove and convert the rust.
Coated with two coats of SPI epoxy primer..Should have bought black!
Final coat will be John Deere Blitz black with hardener giving it a satin black finish.





Really jumping around doing 4 things at once. While I had the protective goggles on I treated the bottom and upper area on the doors with Metal Prep. Rust left from the soda blasting was virtually eliminated with just a couple of applications. This will be washed well before any primer is applied.



Got the floor pan punched out for the spot welds.

Looks like you are having fun. I'd re-consider butt vs lap welds on anything. I was hesitant as well to try the butt weld, but once I tried it, I have not lap welded anything since. The easiest way I've found is to set everything up as if you are going to do a lap weld. Then use a thin cutoff wheel to cut the joint between the two panels a little at a time tack welding every once in a while as you go. This gives you the gap needed as well as assuring proper fit. The gap also gives you the ability to use a putty knife to align the panels as they are tack welded. You can find articles on this on the web.

Nice work and I like the sandbag idea, but I'm with Bruce on the butt welds. Otherwise it seems to me that you've created an overlapped seam that just begs for moisture.
If you do go that way, it might be time to try some of the new panel adhesive that 3M is offering. Basically you end up gluing the floor in and sealing the overlap at the same time.
You could (and I would) even go back along the edges where you drilled your pilot holes before the adhesive dries and put in aluminum pop rivets to secure the patch even more securely.
Keep us posted.

Uncle Skip wrote:Nice work and I like the sandbag idea, but I'm with Bruce on the butt welds. Otherwise it seems to me that you've created an overlapped seam that just begs for moisture.

I may just do that. Turn down the heat and do small stitch welds.

Going to pick up my new IFS..I decided to go with a mid 80's Jaguar front IFS. IMO the crown vic is just too wide for the look I want. I like the low tucked in look so we are going that route. Selling my lowered I Beams here locally. I remounted the I Beams to make sure that we got the axle center line. The bump stop on the 66 is really not the center line of the axle. The axle continues to go away from the front an additional 1/2-3/4 of an inch. I plan on pushing the new center line about 1-1/2 inches forward.
Here shows the bump stop at with the axle at approx. ride height


This shows the bump stop to bump stop center line in yellow and the true center line with the string

Just wondering if anyone out there has a 65-66 with a Jag IFS with a 4.6 engine out there? I plan on documenting that exact thing but would be nice to have some insight.

Got the new Jag crossmember. It is a 1991 XJS 12 cylinder car. Here are some progress pictures.







Cleaned of some unwanted metal and some pressure washing.







This 4 piston calipers will need some love!



Cut the stock crossmember with a sawzall and 4 blades. took about 1 hour. Each side will need cleared of the towers and remaining metal.

Welcome! I am in Charlotte as well. Where exactly are you? I own a shop in Waxhaw which is South of Charlotte. As for SPI, it's great stuff but be careful with soda blasting and that etch and prime stuff you used when using SPI Epoxy primer. Later down the road you can have adhesion issues. I know at one point Barry from SPI said himself not to soda blast and if so then clean very very well.
Great progress! I am in the same boat as you and about to pull and swap cabs tomorrow and pull my engine from my 66 F100. When they are done we should have a local meet and cruise!

Shawn F. wrote:Welcome! I am in Charlotte as well. Where exactly are you? I own a shop in Waxhaw which is South of Charlotte. As for SPI, it's great stuff but be careful with soda blasting and that etch and prime stuff you used when using SPI Epoxy primer. Later down the road you can have adhesion issues. I know at one point Barry from SPI said himself not to soda blast and if so then clean very very well.
Great progress! I am in the same boat as you and about to pull and swap cabs tomorrow and pull my engine from my 66 F100. When they are done we should have a local meet and cruise!

Up near Salisbury. I also spoke with Barry.. great guy. I told him the process that I was doing and he also stated that I was cleaning properly. His literature states not to sodablast under his primer because people do not clean it off enough. He told me some horror stories. Thanks for following this thread.

On with the Jag swap.. I failed to mention that I did tie in the front frame horns before I removed the massive crossmember to keep it from springing.



One thing to note is that the frame rail near the spring towers narrow down to 33 1/2 inches.



Sounds great until you measure the upper control mounts from one to another. 33"



Now we have another variable in the mix and that is frame height. This is something that the 1964 F100 IFS Jag swap never covered because apparently the frame on the 64 is not as tall in this area.

It is a heavy 5 3/4" in height.



The height of the jag crossmember from the flat mounting area to the bushing is a hair over 5"



So we have two options. I plan on going overboard and boxing the front frame anyway so I
can notch the upper frame rail. Then just flip the cutout and reweld.


Or we can just take another inch off the bottom of the frame which will get me lower and get the bushing above the frame rail as is shows in the 1964 F100 Jag build.



One thing to note is the crossmember will not just slide up between the rails for alignment. One upper control arm will have to be removed to slip up the frame in either scenario.
The Jag suspension , especially with the v12 springs will take your head off. The xj series has a hole that goes straight down from the top of the flat mounting area to the spring bottom support.
A 3/4" or larger all thread can be used to remove the springs safely which I plan to do.

I thought about cutting 1 inch off the bottom but opted for notching out the top frame to clear the upper rear bushing ,bolt and alignment bolt .
So the frame mods begin installing the 91 XJS 12 cylinder clip.
I took my original axle center line and followed it down the frame rail.
Measured up 4 5/8 " and drew a line. (FYI, 4 1/4 proved to be a better measurement)

The axle center line on the Jag seemed to be near the upper control arm rear bump stop so we are using that as a close reference. Now I do not plan to hard weld this in until I put some sheet metal back on. I would like to give myself about an 1 inch or so ahead of center for my final axle position. I like the Chip Foose stretched look.
Because of not knowing the exact location I am giving myself some extra space in the notch so I can adjust later.
With the tape measure at 2 1/4 on center I marked the front cut line and rear cut line at 5 1/4


I marked out the cutline. I cut out the notched area. I probably could have taken just the corner out but I have some angle steel that I am using.



Just to keep the frame straight I took the cutout and tacked it in temporarily.


I removed one spring of the Jag IFS to position the cross member. I used a 3/4 all thread but the way I used it proved to be wrong. It ended up bending the all thread. Next time I will remove the spring perch bolts on lower control arm and take the spring straight down. The rod bent with the swing of the arm.


This is the drivers side which shows the interference with the bushing and the alignment bolt. There are no shims on this so You have to leave room for adjustments.


Here is the pass side.


Passenger side and my steel getting ready to be placed.


Just to go back a step matt2491 in his 1964 build posted the following pics that I failed to mention The corners of the IFS need trimmed to clear the rails.




We are in. Now to put the angle in and box the frame..

Started to weld in the angle steel pieces for the Jag IFS.




Cleaned up the left over steel from the cross member and cut the top rail straight getting ready for boxing.

Nice work!! You been busy.

Mike