Hackster's Autocross Track Day Truck (Garage Build)
 

A few of you guys followed along with my ls swapped f100 build. The builds here are amazing and guys have more money into their wheels than I have into my entire builds.

But you guys do give some awesome feedback and have some builders on here that have some amazing talent and I appreciate your pointers.

Follow along as I try and get this thing done in time for Thunderhill OUSCA

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psnusup6ct.jpg

Truck was found behind a friends shop with some locked up brakes and a little frontend damage but all in all, pretty ok.

Its a start and was extremely cheap.

Wanted to make sure I had a good straight and square frame so once I got it torn down, I sent it off to a local frame shop.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psxbke4j8x.jpg

Donor car.....I am using everything from this car, engine, Transmission, rearend and rear suspension.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psiqy5e4hx.jpg

Stripping down the framerails for some new front suspension

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pshksfm9ov.jpg

Plating in the framerails before setting in the front Crown Vic setup.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psnfsewzeb.jpg

Rear lower control arm mounts

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psin8llhsk.jpg

Bolted in and ready to swap ends. Oh yeah, I am doing every last bit of this myself in my small shop with just a few tools, you could call it an extreme budget build.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pslaqbjn4d.jpg

Starting on the rear, I spent a ton of time on the back of this thing, good to go back and see where I started.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psihenyi52.jpg

Thats a better working surface

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Mocking up the mustang rearend and rear suspension

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psqq1fjwps.jpg

Rear end pretty mocked up and ready to weld it out. 3 link with a panhard bar. QA1 adjustables, double in the front, single in the rear Factory mustang Sway bar. Should handle extremely well.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psdzoxnekh.jpg

Rear suspension all welded out, you can see the frame plate are in on this one and the rear shock towers are in as well. They should fit under the bed....should

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psxg0jqfyr.jpg

Getting close to setting it on the ground again to hold up its own weight, but a whole lot lower this time. I am about 8" lower than stock now.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psrzbyv9to.jpg

I built all of the suspension points from the good stuff that the mustang has. Those are b&r upper and lower control arms, poly on one end and adjustable heim joints on the other for some good adjustability. Also, have some separation height on the upper, lower and Panhard bar adjust-ability to be able to really dial in the rear suspension. The one thing that is poorly engineered on the mustang is the upper 3 link bar. Its rediculously short. So I chopped it up and made it about 5" longer at a total length of 75% of the lower bars much better geometry through the range of travel this way.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psxjlomhga.jpg

Then this happened....

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Let the frame clean up and plating commence. Idont really have the budget for an aftermarket frame so trying to make this one as solid and clean as I can.

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Close to ready to set the body back on.

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Plumbing some brake lines...all Ultra Bend stuff, its amazing.

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1970 mustang fuel tank, fit up to the old truck, hole cut for the Aeromotive Phantom 340 fuel pump. I will have enough pump, filter and delivery to support a supercharged setup in the future.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psll4ltdwq.jpg

Starting to look like something. Coyote has a 6 speed manual attached to it at this point, motor and tranny are in for good, hydraulic pedal assembly is built from scratch and installed.

Wheels are what I could afford, Iforged 18x10 Square setup all around Dunlop Direzza tires in 275/35/18 ( i plan on running bigger but needed to start somewhere)

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psvvgc6y1d.jpg

So cool!

Awesome work!! Love a good garage build.

Ridiculous! You're killing it with these old trucks, nice work! Thunderhill....
:thumbsup:

Amazing!!

I really like the other white truck,followed the entire build.So I will be watching another impressive build:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Nice work so far, I too love a budget garage build.

What year was the donor car? What are your plans for the interior? And you are leaving it patina too right? :D

Thank you!!

Thanks man

I know...working on getting it there. Would be super fun even if I could just show up.

=) Thank you

Thats awesome that you followed the other build, it was a super fun truck, actually it is going back to the paint shop to get a few things fixed on it after the first of the year. Plan is for the wife to drive it to a few car shows and cruise ins this year.

Thanks, donor car was a 2012 with around 20k on the odometer. It was in really good shape except for the front end damage. Once I tore into it I found that the wreck hit the engine harder than just about anything. I see why insurance companies total these cars. Oil pan, engine wire harness, dipstick tube, all 4 cam sensors, throttle body and body harness were all damaged beyond repair. I saw a few of those things when I bought the car, but not all of them. Still I think I got a good deal on it. $8400 for the car, I used a lot from it. Engine, transmission, shifter and shifter boot, rearend and all associated rearend hardware. I am selling off the parts I did not use. Sold the shell of the car for $1500 and should be able to get $750 or so for the wheels putting my total investment for the entire drivetrain at only $6,150. Pretty good for a 430 hp all aluminum engine, 6 speed manual trans and full rearend including brakes.

I am doing my best to leave the patina look but I find it very challenging. I am way too OCD for it.

I think what I am going to do is get it on the road for this season, then likely do a full tear down for revisions and paint next winter.

Interior is going to be nice. I Have some 65 mustang buckets I am using. They will get the TMI Sport Seat overs and dark brown leather cover with a double french stitch all around. Still torn on the door panels to keep them metal or cover with a pattern and matching leather. Dash will get the same leather treatment and stitching as well as the center console.

Thanks for the kind words fellas.

Another great project! I enjoyed your last build so I'll be watching this one for sure. Nice fab work.

Great start man. Thought this was a repeat thread then saw the old build in the background. Two early model trucks with diff brand power plants. Awesome.

Nice job! You've got skills! Garage build here also. Nice find on the donor car. Lots of old trucks around these parts like the one your doing, but they all seem to be long beds. Pretty rare to see the SWB models. Leave the patina!

Seriously, you did a great job on the turbo truck. I have no doubt this one will turn out well, too. Keep up the good work and keep us updated.

Garage builds FTW!

:D


Subscribed. :thumbsup:

A little suprised to see all the comments.....but its pretty awesome!!!! Thank you all.

Fuel tank fits like it was made for the back of these trucks after you cut and flip the rear crossmember and move it back a bit. Aeromotive Phantom pump setup is so much cleaner than the way I did the LS Truck.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psulj6socy.jpg

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Had to get a little creative, shortened the stock MT82 shifter down by almost 5" and built my own mouting for it to keep it a little more beefy.

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To this...much more reasonable

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Mount



http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psofqx7sbu.jpg

So these things dont come with any kind of power steering setup. Luckily Ford racing sells a pump mount, so I got a 2010 power steering pump and the ford racing bracket and voila a pump where the AC used to live. Still needed to figure out lines to get from the 2010 pump to the reservoir and back to the rack on the 2009 Crown Vic frontend. It like building a puzzle without knowing all the pieces when you start :guns:

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psr2nd650e.jpg

Belt and some hoses figured out.

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I spent far too much time agonizing about the battery. I wanted it in the back of the truck but there were lots of drawbacks, the biggest one was getting the wire to the back of the truck, there was just no good way to get it back there and then there was the whole disconnecct issues of having to run the charge wire from the alternator back to the disconnect so it actualy functions.

So after a bunch of research, I found that there are some less common batteries with some newer technology that work really well. Although it will be up front, it will be really low and is half the weight of the Optima I was going to use.

How all garage brackets are build....cardboard

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0fg6wpia.jpg

Duplicate onto metal

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Getting it mounted to the frame

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Pretty happy with how this worked out.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pspnzn3rmg.jpg

Sean

Tank and battery mount looks awesome.

How did you make that box? You have a bender?

Keep up the good work!

This truck is killer! I really like how you went old-school (in hot-rod theory only) with the already-capable donor car and tried to use as much already-engineered stuff as possible. This (approach to building) has been my obsession lately, after so many years playing the bolt-on game.

I'll look forward to seeing the finished product at Thunderhill next year!

Wow .... this is some nice hot rodding!! Question: I see you have a lot of dimple die action, I saw a couple photos of the press and a model, who's dimple dies are you using? What rating is the press! Is most of the bracing 3/16th?

Looks awesome ...

Michael

Great looking build


Marty-MJ
www.garagescene.net

Thanks, I have access to a bender but currently do not have one at home. I doubt if any of the big shops would ever do work this way but I make my template and then score the piece of metal with the thinnest cutoff wheel I have. Then I have a good place to start the brake and can make it bend where I want it. Once it is all formed up, I just weld it all up. It might take me longer but it gets done on my timeline which is something I have learned to respect more and more.

Thank you, the idea was to take something that I know works, and works really well and stuff it all under the 68. I hope it works =)

You and me both look forward to it at T Hill. I have very little road race/autocross skills so it will probably be terrible but its a place to start to say the least.

Harbor Freight press and its a 20 ton unit. Dimple dies are just some off pirate I bought years ago. Most of the plating on the inside of the frame is .120, the thicker suspension brackets are all .250 and a little .188 mixed in there.

Thanks for the props!!

Thanks Marty.

Having a rough day at the office today so I decided to come in and update this a little more today. Making good progress but not 100% or even 80% sure that I will make T Hill.

Built the rest of the fuel system, its all push lock style fittings and hose. I have had great luck in the past on it.

Main run up the frame rail is 3/8" Stainless hard line with -6 ends braized on.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psk9zslcze.jpg

I am running the fuel pressure regulator at the rear for the clean look. Not sure it will be perfect but I like it. Some manufacturers run them back here so should be alright. Running DOT Airline hose for pressure reference to manifold

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pspjmhzfcz.jpg

Got rid of the pesky fuel filler while I was at it.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psjw4wqug5.jpg

I need to do a little touch up with the proper paint method but you will never be able to tell it was there when I am done.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psunvhqjyx.jpg

Then I started ont his project.....I should have just ordered new ones from Dennis Carpenter or something because this has been my major time suck lately well this and wiring, wiring for weeks now.

These had some rust issues and I was going to section up a couple of old inner fenders and make 2 good inners.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psuni2sqjj.jpg

What I missed was that there was rust in other places on these and they looked not that great once they were welded up. So I cut off everything that was crappy and rebuilt.

Remember, paper first :idea:

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3i9osuep.jpg

Metal second

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Welded along the top edge and ground down the weld and metal finished. I was able to do these without filler and they turned out great.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psqjmw0tgf.jpg

Once those were done I did a bunch of metal work on the core support and needed a place to paint.

Oh, here is the mockup...looks good to me

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psdf5chauc.jpg

Getting the radiator mounted up, its a generic one from Northern but fits the opening about perfect. Need to come up with an upper mount for it as well.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1kevsizo.jpg

In mockup

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psiev66yzs.jpg

Final fab on upper mount. Turned out good....I am no sheetmetal fabricator or welder so for this to turn out like this I was pretty happy.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psok9dhpix.jpg

Any Dexter Fans out there????

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Its a matte Pebble Beige, the finish is exactly what I was looking for.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5jrwul5c.jpg

Starting back with some assembly on the frontend.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pswbhctqux.jpg

Power Steering reservoir and lines installed.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psav9vlof6.jpg

Spent a bunch of time on the sheet metal this weekend. Color sanded the passenger fender and got it fairly flat and hit it with the buffer.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psyhykyqjj.jpg

Sean

Sean, nice job on the inner fenders and the radiator cover came out great.

Loved your last build and love the start of this one! Is the wheel base pretty similar between the F100 and Mustang?

Very cool build.....

This thing is awesome! Great work! loved your other truck build as well.

Not sure how I missed this one. Awesome work and project! This will be fun!
Wes

Remind me to ask you about your radiator mount....it looks great, almost like you know what you're doing!

Rooms booked at the Baymont, hope to see you and the truck there!

Really looking forward to seeing this at T hill

Subscribed

It's been ten minutes. Why isn't this thing painted and doing donuts yet?:bump:

Thanks for the kind words everyone. It is definately not on the same level as most of the builds on this forum. I read through a few of these builds and my mind is literally blown.

Been stumbling along the last several weeks with some less than exciting work but its all gotta get done to go together.

Driver side fender was trashed on the truck when I got it along with the core support and a few other bits. So I picked up a parts truck for a few bits and pieces. The fender had trim on it and a couple pretty good dents so it needed a bit of work.

Did a little bit of body work on the fender and welded up all the holes on it, no filler. Primered with the same factory stuff, grey and then red oxide, then the pebble beige on the truck from the factory.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psseym8btt.jpg

Then some rattle can in a little more yellow to match the rest of the truck.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps834hwmq8.jpg

Keep in mind, trying to match the rest of the truck. This is the red stripe going on.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6wcfpzwr.jpg

Now with the brown.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psyltzn8h1.jpg

Here is what a nice and pretty fender with lots of paint would look like =)

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psjis50jfx.jpg

Hit it with some paper and started to get it to match the rest of the truck.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pslhikfhxb.jpg

I have not done any color sanding on the door yet but its damn close and will fit in just fine on this turd.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psbunmmmxs.jpg

So on with some other stuff. I needed a little more clearance for the upper link in the bed floor and I dont have an english wheel or other fancy tools so I got to work with some plate and u bends.

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Giant hole cut in the bed floor and some welding later it was all good.

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I also needed a way to get some fuel into the fuel tank so lets cut more holes in the bed floor.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psdrmeduii.jpg

I snagged a gas door from an explorer and worked on making the gas door from the old bed floor. Worked really well and I have plenty of clearance for everything. Little hammer and dolly work and I have a nice finger recess to open the door.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pseprrwlsy.jpg

Continuing work on the bed, I needed to fill in all the holes on the bedsides from the farm hooks someone put in probably in the 70's. Trying to teach myself bodywork as I get going in life. So in order to keep the filler to a minimum or not at all, I did some lite hammer and dolly work to get the hole flat before I hit it with the welder. Very little welding on these holes but I still had to disturb the bed.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psdhvirvvm.jpg

Again, just metal worked the holes with some abrasive pads to just get them flat, no filler on these holes either. Hit them with some etch and red oxide and then some 600 grit paper to flaten it all out. I ended up going with just a touch of clear over the primer spots to seal everything.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psjdovuh2j.jpg

Lots more color sanding and even more buffing and finally got the bed on the frame somewhat resembling a truck for the first time in months.

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With the bed on, I knew that I needed to wrap up all the wiring to try and get this thing back on the ground and in one piece.

Onto more wiring...

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Extending the wire harness to the headlights and building the main power harness up under the fender well.

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And with that done, I was able to finally finish bolting the passenger fender on and roll the old girl out of the garage for the first time in ages.

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With kind of final assembly going on, I needed more room to maneuver, I pushed it in the garage at an angle, seems like I have lots more room this way.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pstoirixal.jpg

Pulled the radiator, finish worked the upper mount and shot it with some clear installed some foam on the bottom mounts. Finished up the wiring with some weatherpack connectors on the fans as well and got it final bolted in.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0v7poapn.jpg

And here is where I have been living for the past few days. Getting rid of anything I dont need out of the 68 harness and adding in everything I needed for the Coyote stuff. Also started on the install of the VHX gauges. This is pretty buttoned up at this point.

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That my friends brings me up to where I am today, no more secrets and Ill keep the thread up as I do work. Truck is up on jackstands, measuring to try and figure out how I am going to get a driveline under it. I know its going to have to be a 2 piece unit.

Sean

I had some good chats with friends and a couple experts on the driveline situation and was able to finally come up with something that I think should work just fine.

The very front of the stock mustang driveline has a swage to it and it was bent right there so I went back just behind that and cut off the stock front yoke that is friction welded on there. I knew that I was going to be needing to machine the flange at the other end near the carrier bearing. Stock tube was just over 3" tubing so I grabbed a piece of 3" Driveline tube and a 3" 1350 weld yoke and non greasable 1350X spicer u joint. and Wanting to make sure that I got the driveline just right I mocked this up.

This is the mocked up version of my driveline hacked together in my shop for fitup.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...ps03stz7ui.jpg

You can see in this photo the chunk that I had to cut off the driveline. You can also see the bolts and stuff needed to bolt up this to the truck.

My buddy Dustin managed to take my stuff and build me a very factory like driveline that should be perfect. It fits extremely well.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psffmc826g.jpg

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psaaxpjkpw.jpg

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Carrier Bearing mount

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...pskam9hw4v.jpg

And then this happened....

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Fluids. This is where things really get real. I managed to get the power steering fluid in the system and got it kind of bled out, opened up some fitting to make sure I was getting fluid around the system.

Got 7.5....yes 7.5 quarts of oil in the engine.

Then started bleeding the brakes. I did not have the best luck but I did manage to get the system all sealed up I think... and got all the air out after several hours of bleeding.

I am not sure about the pedal feel though, its really soft at the top and then firms right up but there is some pedal travel, quite a bit. I need to get it on the ground and see how it stops, if it sucks, back to the drawing board.

Hope to clean up my mess this morning and see what blows up when I hook up power.

Sean

Bitchin! I dont know how i missed this thread. I love it :)

Excellent Sean, love the creativity and home fab talent. :thumbsup:

Thank you!!

Thanks man, trying to up my build quality with each car or truck. Trying to get some new tools in 2016.


Damn good weekend, if I can say so.

Picked up the filter and it is perfect, just what I wanted. It is nice and clean and fits well in the engine bay, away from the radiator and near the front corner away from as much heat as it could be and protected from any water as well.

Got to building a mount for the air filter, might have gone a bit overboard for just a filter bracket but its cool.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/...psat6e8lyb.jpg

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I think the intake turned out well for modifying the stock crap. Once I can get the truck on the road and find someone that can tune it, I will likely do a JLT intake on it but this should work for now.

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And that is the end of photo taking for the day.

I did a bit of other stuff though. I was having issues with the clutch master cylinder, I could not get it to bleed very well so I tackled that first. Got the wife to help me a little bit more. I tapped on the hose and got it as flat as I could and uphill the entire length of the line. See there is no provisions for bleeding this thing, its just through slowly pressing the pedal and releasing to get all the air out. We got that sorted out and the air bled out of it but I could still not get the clutch to release, I felt like it was just not pushing the pedal far enough or not getting all the travel out of the master.

So i started measuring and looking at the pedal. Turns out my hunch was right. Where I built the double shear on the pedal apparently It hits the heim joint and I could only use the top hole. So out with the air saw, the cutoff wheel, some files and a die grinder and an hour or so later I was able to get the full travel on the master cylinder and got it pretty well adjusted.

One more try, the wife pushed down the pedal in gear and hot damn I could spin the driveline!!!! This was a pretty big relief that the stuff I had was indeed going to work and play well together.

So, I moved onto the gauges to see if I could get all that crap to work together. Read the manual and went through all of their setup and got everything to work with the exception of the oil pressure. Pretty sure that the coyote does not use or is not setup to use the input from the oil pressure sender. I swapped in the sender from the Dakota Digital into the block and hot damn we have a full set of working guages on the truck.

I also cleaned up all the wiring under the engine cover and got the insulation on the fuel rails and got the factory heater hose guides on. Most of the work on the engine is complete. I need to build some exhaust and get the overflow for the radiator.

Garage is a mess, time for a few hours of clean up!!!!

Sean

Looking great Sean. This is one cool build. So glad to see you're getting close.

Thanks man, hope to get it on the road sooner than later, try and do some shakedown before next month.

Looks like I missed a post somewhere on here.

https://youtu.be/jeEpcDkV3eY

Happy Monday

It runs!

Figured you must have started it if you were chasing oil pressure gauge issues.