1969 Ford F100 / 2002 Ford Lightning "Thunder's Truck"

[Boss 5.0]

Great work, coming out really nice!

[anotheroldguy]

Will you be finishing the back of the cab cuts where they were opened up for the added frame width? No one will see them, but with your attention to detail, I was wondering how you would finish that body work. Nice project. I vote for stock wheels with dog dish caps and sticky tires. IMO.

[V8TV]

Originally Posted by anotheroldguy

Will you be finishing the back of the cab cuts where they were opened up for the added frame width? No one will see them, but with your attention to detail, I was wondering how you would finish that body work. Nice project. I vote for stock wheels with dog dish caps and sticky tires. IMO.

Yes, these will be metal finshed closed to appear like O.E.

Wheels are still up in the air... not much fits the Lightning that doesn't look like it was made before 2000...

[cpd004]

Love this build!

[bonecrrusher]

Somehow I forgot about this thread - Love the frame work/moving and detailed pics!

Then you go and fab up your own intake and exhaust - badass work everyone!

[tones2SS]

Great work guys!
Keep the updates coming.

[V8TV]

Thanks guys, we're fortunate to have a crew that knows their stuff and really enjoys the work!

[V8TV]

Using the Lightning fuel tank was easier for the fuel system, pump, and fitment, but we needed to make the connection between the new tank and the ‘69 fuel filler location. The ‘69 had the tank in the cab, and the ‘02 uses a fuel filler in the bedside. This connection allows us to run a filler hose from the stock location down to the Lightning tank under the bed.







This truck will be a driver, so the owner wanted a tilt steering column and air conditioning, along with a good audio system. Here, you can see the Vintage Air A/C system coming together.

Stock “gutted” interior:



Original heater box opening closed off:



Vintage Air Gen IV unit installed under dash:



The hoses were run through the passenger side fender well for a clean underhood appearance.



Receiver unit mounted out-of-the-way…



Condenser mounted in nose.

[V8TV]

Hose connection to condenser core through the inner fender, protected with grommets.



The unit will be controlled with the stock heater controller:



The Gen IV system uses electronic sliders to convert the cable controls to electronic signals to operate the servo motors in the evaporator unit.





A/C vents installed in the dash:



Here, Adam fabricates a vent that surrounds the steering column to provide a cool breeze to the driver.







We think it turned out pretty slick.

[V8TV]

As you can imagine, there is a lot of wiring to do on a project like this.

One challenge was to figure out gauges for this truck. However, we got lucky with this one. Dakota Digital makes a VHX series dash for the 1969 Ford F100, and with their CAN bus and OBDII Interface module, it actually plugs into the OBDII port from the Lightning to receive engine data from the ford EEC-V ECM.

Here you can see the Dakota Digital VHX controller and the OBD-II interface and the custom harness we made that uses weatherpak connectors. The VHX system is very flexible in that it allows you to use various engine sensors and connect them to the controller, which then drives the gauges.





The dash cluster:



And at night…



Of course, you can install this unit in a stock truck, but we were happy to have a way to read what the 2002 ECM was saying.

We mounted the controllers in the glove box.



The real estate was running thin in the dash, so we created a relay and power center that will live under the seat.



This bank of relays handle the electric fuel pump, the A/C power, the ECM power, and others.



We added an OBDII connector to the harness, and used a Diablosport InTune hand-held device to communicate with the ECM. This will allow us to scan and clear codes, and perform minor tuning and calibration changes. It will also allow us to upload a complete performance tune later.