63 Short Wrong-Full Crown Vic Swap

[kstones63]

Lookin good.

Looking sweet!

Thanks guys!! About a weeks worth of an update here-I went out of town the day after she got semi-finished.

Quick shot the day before we got the bumper taken care of.



We got the bumper mounted the next morning, shes not going anywhere!




New front end painted a little differently! If this truck wasn't polarizing enough as it was...





I love her

Also got a few shots of her next to our 1972 F100 Stepside on a 03 Crown Vic

What those trucks need are a pair of forward tilt hood kits. What a shameless plug.
I do have these kits almost ready for the 67-72 Ford trucks.

Kevin

[HawaiiKid]

The red grill looks sweet on the front of her, really ties everything together on the truck! IMO

You know,... A little bit of red pin stripping might look really good on her...

Thank you! I may end up doing some down the road

Way to go Hawaii !

That finish stage took me about 5 years of grumbling, a big spot in Kids storage area for about 3 years... SORRY AGAIN Kid !
Cutting and grinding them is so dirty, messy and so easy compared to finish work ! And after my firt truck having a flawless finish I was terrified to drive around. I sleep easy with my flat white over flat grey...

You should see the the look on the face of a Dupont tech man when you take the 10,000 dollar color match camera. Pull the color grey of a model airplane, the color white of off a fuse box lid in the shop.. and then tell him you are going to use their new waterborne paint and add the hardener to the paint... and just SKIP their clear coat !

Then when we asked him how it would work ..he paused and said
"I don't know? I am not sure its been tried"

Ah memories...

Gotta love it man! I've been questioned so many times about just primering her but I am so happy with it

Great Work, You Must Be Excited And Overjoyed With The Results.. .....

Very very happy! She's not done yet but I'm excited to see so much progress

What those trucks need are a pair of forward tilt hood kits. What a shameless plug.
I do have these kits almost ready for the 67-72 Ford trucks.

Kevin

I think the 63 actually needs a hood first!

[Shiloh100]

How many man hours you think you have in this project?

[HawaiiKid]

How many man hours you think you have in this project?

Too many to sell it cheap


Been spending a lot of time with my other projects...Procharged my 2014 F150, built another metal building for a friend and have done a few small things to the Lightning. The F100 has been neglected for a while but that ended tonight! Well, not really...but I bought a bunch of stuff she needs! Bought:

Stock mirrors (they just look right on these trucks I think)
Crown Vic carpet (dark gray)
A Custom Cab guage cluster to modify for my Crown Vic gauges
A wiper motor (they tell me it wont pass inspection without one! )
New blades for that shiny new wiper motor and a few other small peices of the puzzle.

So to be legal, rolling down the road fully inspected, I need...
Wipers working-blades and wiper motor ordered
Running lights working-need to jump a wire somewhere in my harness
I think thats really it!

Things she'll still need
Install the weatherstrips I have sitting in the cab
Probably should put some seatbelts in her
Figure out how to fix the right window regulator/get a new one/I think it really needs a new window assembly...
Get all of the lettering on the outside done-Farm Truck Racing on the doors and figure out what to put on the bed
Build a cover for the gas tank/rear end hole we cut
make a plate for the A/C controls to sit in in the glove box (and fix the glove box door)
Modify the Custom Cab guage cluster to accept the Vic guages
Buy some better Vic seats


She'll be ready to show season soon-I just need to get my butt back to work on her!!

[6ftdwn57]

Looks mean!! How is the turning radius with that offset on the wheels? Any rubbing issues with real world driving?

[HawaiiKid]

Turning radius is sort of an issue...maxed out the camber, rolled the hell out of the fenders and its still pretty easy to get it to rub. No real world driving yet, still need to get her legal.

[HawaiiKid]

Wipers are working! Can't get more than one of my running lights working though-anyone know if you need both to pass an inspection in a 63??? Literally the only thing stopping me from getting it on the road!!

[HawaiiKid]

Frustrated with the taillights so I decided to work on some other stuff.



Started working on the guage fitment behind my shiny new Custom Cab surround! Took the front of the Crown Vic surround off and ground down the edges to end up with a flat surface. You can see that there are gaps side to side in the custom cab surround when mated with the Vic cluster so I've created filler panels that attach to either side of the cluster-no pictures yet, it was setting up as I left the shop this evening. I will need to create a bracket to hold the cluster in place behind the surround but that should not be too hard, then attach the surround to the stock location and my guage cluster will be finished!




Also attached one of the mirrors to the truck. I think they may be too tall...any chance I could get a mirror that just bolts to the bottom mounting point?

[390fastback]

haven't seen what you're going to do, but I used a spacer made out of 3/4" MDF as a spacer between my cluster and bezel. And what year cluster is that? Its differnent from my 06, mine has the tach in it.

[HawaiiKid]

haven't seen what you're going to do, but I used a spacer made out of 3/4" MDF as a spacer between my cluster and bezel. And what year cluster is that? Its differnent from my 06, mine has the tach in it.

Your gauge cluster was what inspired me to go the custom cab route! I am just doing block off panels that come off the cluster then turn towards the surround at a 90 degree angle so you cant see behind it. Ill cut a peice of plexiglass out to put in the surround itself.

Everything I have is out of my original 2001 Vic.

Back to it tomorrow-gotta get it on the road!

[HawaiiKid]

Got the gauge cluster block offs in, got the cluster sitting in it and ready to mount as soon as my second coat f panel bond drys! Also put both mirrors on and adjusted them way out-really don't mind them now which is nice Started making a mounting plate for the A/C controls in the glove box but ran out of time-need to get that done soon, this Texas heat is back with a vengance and I don't want to drive far without it!







Need to get the running lights working since that is now my last get it legal issue!

[HawaiiKid]

Picture of her with both mirrors on...


They are kinda growing on me...


Decided to stop dicking around and just deal with the one problem I have keeping her from getting inspected-the running lights. Up to this point I have had two issues with them: I hadn't had any luck jumping the running lights wire to a switched power/headlights on wire and the other was that when I did put power to the lights only one came on. Problem one was solved when I figured out the Crown Vic P71/Police Interceptors had different switches than the regular Vics and that the Chilton's manual wiring diagram/wire colors did not apply to my switch! Thanks to CrownVic.net (awesome site-I'm just a lurker but a huge amount of info to be found there!) I got the right diagram and found my switched power wire and hooked it up-boom, one light working! Once I actually had one running light working I moved to the back of the truck and started working my way through the wiring trying to find a break in something I ran. After working through all of it and jumping from the one working running light and still not having it work I started thinking about the bulbs and the fact that they came out of a 100,000 mile cop car.............and one part of the dual filliment bulb was burnt out! Swapped the bulb for a good one and this happened-


She has running lights!! Next step is to get her inspected, registered and all legal!

[simonscr]

Sometimes, it is the simplest things that we over look...

Dash looks good and clean!

[HawaiiKid]

Sometimes, it is the simplest things that we over look...

Dash looks good and clean!

It really was!

Got a few things done today.


Guage cluster is in, semi-permanently. I need to get some plexiglass to finish the bezel but it'll done for now.

I shimmed it up a bit on the right after this picture so it would sit level



Got the glove box A/C panel made too. I was hoping to mount the controls a little lower in the panel but the wiring and the AC box it mounts in front of made it sit higher. The nice thing is that I now have a great auxiliary switch panel for anything I add in the future!




A few quick shots of her outside



The AC panel took a lot more time than I had planned but I also got a few small projects done. The windsheild wiper switch is now mounted in the dash, some of the wiring that was loose behind the dash has been tucked, the bed is secured to both cross members and I cleaned out the cab. Next up on the small projects list is getting the weatherstripping on the doors, re-urethaning the vent windows shut (I have no use for them and dont want them rattling), pluging the unused holes in the firewall, and insulating the open spots in the floor that are left. Just bought new seats for her so once they are in I'll install the new carpet, cut it to fit the cab, install the new seats and be pretty good to go!

[HawaiiKid]

Spent the night filling the gaps in my floor and cab and rerouting the wiring to the back of the truck. In both footwells there were 3x5 squares left from where we cut access holes to mount the cab to the frame. Now that it is welded and never going anywhere it was time to close em up! Since they are going to be covered by carpet I really wasn't worried about asthetics as much as airflow, dirt and debris getting into the cab so I went with some expanding foam insulation to get the seal that I desired.


The only other holes in the cab were the new cab corners we put on so I went ahead and filled them too

This should give me a nice seal and cut down on my wind noise (not much in the parking lot but I'm sure I'd have noticed on the highway hahaha).

While I was waiting for the foam to finish expanding and harden I went ahead and redid all of my after cab wire routing. It has been bothering me for a long time (I had never loomed it and had just ziptied it in a few spots) but hadn't bothered to fix it since there was the chance I'd have to redo it all due to the running light issue. With that solved I went ahead and undid all of the tiedown points, tucked some of it inside the rear frame rail and loomed everything that wasn't tucked. No pictures really but it was something that was bugging the crap outta me and I'm happy its done!

One thing I really hadn't thought much about is the fact that I don't have tubs in my front fenders anymore. For most people that wouldn't be much of an issue, as far as being able to drive the truck goes, but its kind of a big deal when you don't have a hood on it and are running wide (for this truck) tires! I'm worried about a rock coming up and breaking my windshield-really don't want to deal with that. I may try to address that issue tomorrow...

[HawaiiKid]

No pictures but more progress. Got insurance on it finally so I didn't have to worry about that anymore. Picked up some materials to make my fender liners with but after looking at it I don't think rocks should be that big of a deal. Trimmed up the excess insulation and painted it black even though it'll be covered by the carpet once that is in. Repainted the inner rocker steps, will really need to paint the jambs again because of the foam on the drivers side growing more than I had expected over night. Big project of the night was doing my weatherstrips on both doors. Not hard to do but time consuming and generally a pain in the ass but what a difference they make! I will need to adjust the right door up some to compensate for the added rubbber but the lack of door rattle in the cab makes a HUGE difference! I just had to test it out on the street...so I drove around the corner to grab a burger since I figured I had insurance and it was literally a minute on public roads. I can not WAIT to drive it on the street for real now-it is SO nice to drive! Even with the exhaust still dumped under the cab and a bunch of random crap scattered around the bed and cab floors it is relativly quiet and is VERY comfortable to drive!

[HawaiiKid]

No real work was done on her this weekend but we did spend all day Saturday doing a massive photoshoot of a few of our trucks. Here are a couple teaser shots of the F100...
\



Drove her for maybe 30 minutes and I think it is going to be an awesome driver! Very comfortable and easy to drive-cab will be much quieter once I install the carpet and finish the exhaust do it isnt just dumped under the bed

[HawaiiKid]

Major milestones today!!!!! Picked her up from the shop, drove her out to an inspection station and got my truck inspected for the first time-passed with flying colors! Loved the looks I got on the street and the comments I got at the inspection station from the techs. After getting it inspected we went out and cruised around in the country with the 72 and my 63, just enjoying one of the last days we could drive without AC. This was also the first time I have driven it for any real distance and I've got to say it-I LOVE THIS TRUCK. It drives great-tracks straight, ride quality is good and general drivability is wonderful. I love the fact that it corners very well; little body roll and the rear end stays planted thanks to the Vic's four link and the wide track width. Put over a hundred miles on her today-loved every one!

Now that it has a fresh inspection and will have new tags soon so here is the next step for her...

[HawaiiKid]

No pictures but a couple big steps today. I got my paperwork in the mail to get her registered finally-we had to wait until now because in order to get a vehicle that was last titled out of the state of Texas retitled you need to have a VI-30 (Green Sheet Inspection) done on it. This is no big deal if the vehicle, you know, runs drives and stops! It did none of the above very well when I picked her up and we knew it was going to be off the road for a while so we waited until after she was built. I should get it back in a couple weeks and be rolling with new tags, inspection and insurance!

We had a big order of LMC Truck and Summit Racing stuff come in also. I've got new everything for my windows other than regulators so that should eliminate most of my rattles and allow me to roll my right one all the way up (hopefully). Once the right window is able to be closed I'll start on redoing the interior and installing my gorgeous Corbeau LG1s. The Summit Racing order was a big box of exhaust tubing so I'll be able to build the custom exhaust I've been wanting as soon as my mufflers are here tomorrow.

We also charged my AC system this evening and MAN is that going to be nice in this Texas heat! Having a large four door car's AC system cool my regular cab pick up is going to be great


I love all of the small projects I have to do-being able to drive it in between them and enjoy the truck after a year and a half is awesome.

[foodstick]

Its great to see you enjoying it... I am amazed how well the full Crown Vic chassis works and drives.. Especially when it can be done so cheaply ....