SWB Saleen F100

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hackster
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by hackster »

Cool build so far....been watching along.

Two questions. Why not just do coilovers in the front?

Are you planning on doing any boxing on the framerails?

Keep up the progress pics.

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theletup
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

I may switch to coilovers but I didn't really want to spend another 500-600 on coilovers.... however it may end up being that way.

I will be boxing quite a bit in the rear but I dont plan on boxing much else.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

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Okay so I really did plan on taking step by step pictures and doing a full write up on the 4 link install but... well honestly... I'm just not good at taking a ton of pictures during work and doing write ups haha...

So I tried to take a bunch of pics...

I got the 4 link all tacked in and welded in about 1/2 of it but then ran out of shielding gas so I wasn't able to finish it completely.. I did however put the bed and front clip back on and I think I'm in love:

Step one: remove bed

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Actually the first step was making sure I liked where the front end was sitting. I got that taken care of yesterday with some 1.5" lowering springs for the crown vic front end and removing 2 full coils after installing the tires I decided on (front are Nitto NT555 275/40ZR18 and rear are 295/45ZR18 also Nitto NT555). Once I had the front sitting how I liked it I set the rear down on the tires and set my frame to have a 1* rake (back to front). Then I set my engine and trans at 3* tilted back and welded my tranmission crossmember in place. Now with the front sitting how I liked it and engine sitting how I liked it I could locate the rear end.

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I used the bumpstop mounting hole as my axle center line (checked this with the bed on first to make I liked where the wheel was sitting in the wheel well). I determined that my axle was going to sit 1" below the lowest point of the bump stop bracket so I removed the rubber stop and tacked a 1" square tubing to the bottom of the bracket. Then I centered the axle front to back and side to side in the frame (this took about 20 times of measuring). After that I rolled the pinion up to 3* (to match the transmission output shaft angle). Re-checked all the measurements a few times and tacked the axle to the 1x1 tubing. Then I rechecked for front to back, side to side and pinion angle. Took a couple tries but got it perfect.

(Side note I used jackstands to hold the axle in place and welded them to the proper height with the axle touching the 1x1 tubing. I had a second set of jack stand under the rear of the frame also welded to the exact height to keep the frame level side to side and 1* raked back to front)



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(trick: notice in the picture above I used hose clamps to hold the lower bracket to the axle housing. It makes it easy to move around and holds it place until it's tacked in)

Okay, now we're ready to start building some suspenion: aka stopped taking pics and just started working all day lol.. Sorry guys but here it is all tacked in:

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The bought the kit from welderseries.com

Everything was high quality. I did have to make a couple small modifications. Nothing comes welded in the kit. You weld all your bushing housings press all your own bushings in. You cut the top bars to length and weld them to the supplied brackets that bolt to the factory ears on the 8.8" rear axle. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Next I will install coilovers (when I can afford them) and then will notch the frame with 4" round tubing cut in half (which will give me 4" total compression travel). It may be awhile before I get around to that because my build fund is running low.

Also... the original 9" with the leaf springs shackles, shocks, and wheels was stolen last night (left it outside when I shouldn't have). I planned on selling it to recoup some build money. I hate when people help themselves to things that aren't their's :nono:
Last edited by theletup on Tue Feb 09, 2016 12:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Monkey-1
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by Monkey-1 »

Love the direction of this build. Any updates?
-Monkey-1
1985 F-150 Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1519 ... 4-6-a.html
1977 F-100 Flareside Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1545 ... hread.html
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theletup
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

Work and holidays really held up progress on the truck these past couple months but I was finally able to get back on it this weekend. Not much to show but I decided to relocate my lower bars for the 4 link directly under the frame. I built some boxed in 2.5" drop brackets to bring the lower bars down level to the ground at ride height.

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I also relocated the upper bars to sit slightly angled down.

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Note to self: Don't get overly excited and fully weld stuff up until you're 110% sure you like it! Cutting everything back off and waiting for shipping of new parts REALLY SUCKS. I like this new set up a lot better now though :)

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Next I worked on getting my 1970 EFI mustang tank from tanks inc. Mpunted between the rear frame rails. I but a frame out of 1x1 square tubing. It will sit under the tank. Tank with bolt to the tank frame. Tank frame will bolt to the truck frame. I will take more pics as I finish this up.
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Monkey-1
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by Monkey-1 »

Looks nice.
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1985 F-150 Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1519 ... 4-6-a.html
1977 F-100 Flareside Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1545 ... hread.html
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hackster
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by hackster »

Question for you. Have you run any of your link geometry through a link calculator? I only ask this because I know how frustrating it is to have to redo things, let alone twice.

Your upper links are really short and have a lot of angle to them and your lowers are pretty long. Have you cycled the suspension through its travel and gotten any idea of change of pinion angle and see if anything binds? I would be curious to see what your anti squat and instant center is with the way they are setup now.

Fuel tank looks great in there, I like the frame under the tank to lift it up. How are you planning on putting the rearend back together? My fear of doing it this way is that in order to get to the fuel pump you have to pull the bed off and if you ever needed to get the tank out you would have to pull the bed, pull the bumper and the rear crossmember......I worry a lot.

Looks cool though, going to be low from what I can see.

Sean
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theletup
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

Sean, I am by no means a suspension expert. I haven't run the numbers through a calculator I did take the measurments from the mustang and they are almost identical to what I've got tacked in. I also had a long talk with ridetech on the phone and they basically gave me the "if it's a street truck and not a race truck quit stressing about it answer" I worry a lot too! Haha. My plan this weekend is to add the notches to the frame so I can cycle the suspension and get more answers at that point. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Everything is still tacked at this point.

As far as the fuel tank goes: yes I will have to pull the bed if I need to pull the tank but I'm okay with that. I'm wiring the tail lights to easily disconnect and I own a shop so I always have access to lifts which makes it super easy to remove beds when necessary.
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Installing the Fuel Tank

Post by theletup »

So I don't have a very exciting update today buy my wife did let me spend a few hours on Valentine's Day working on the Saleen truck. Wyatt (my 6 year old) was there to help too. It feels like we did SO much work but the truck looks about the same HAHAHA.. Slow and steady baby....

I used an idea from Hackster's first build and relocated the rear most crossmember behind the fuel tank. It was too wide to fit with the tank so I had to trim off about 1 and 1/2 inches. Then I enlarged a couple of the rivet holes to match up with the rear-most bed mount holes on the frame. I'm going to weld in nuts to the inside the cross member on the top and bottom for the lower bolts and the rear-most bed bolts. I can't reach those spots with the tank in place:

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Here's a pic of the crossmember sitting in place. It is flipped upside down from it's original location (doesn't fit the other way and won't interfere with anything this way).
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Rivet holes line of perfectly with the bed bolt holes on the frame. You just have to drill them out to the same size:
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In this pic you can see how far forward the tank frame sits (about 1/8" back from the crossmember in front of it. I also decided to drill holes all the way through the frame rails, tank frame and tank flange at all four corners. They are all accessible from top and bottom with the bed removed and since I have to remove the bed to pull the tank anyway I decided not to go through a bunch of wasted effort by welding nuts inside the 1x1 tubing before building the frame. Seemed easier and just as efficient this way.
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I'm also going to run a couple bolts through the tank flange and tank frame along the front and back to keep the tank nice and tight to it's frame.

I didn't really take a good picture of it but I had to clearance my frame rails about 1/2" on each side (top and bottom) for the tank to fit between them. I went with the 69-70 Mustang 22 gallon tank and it sits flush with the top of the frame rails (except in a couple spots that needed to be trimmed).
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Well that's pretty much how she turned out minus hardware. Also I plan on having to notch the bed support rail that will be sitting directly above the tank for fuel line/hose and wiring clearance. I will post a write up on that when I do it.


NOTE: I found this entire fuel tank kit complete with the same 600hp rating pump and sending unit for $200.00 less than I paid for it here:
http://www.cjponyparts.com/fuel-tank-ki ... p/FTKEFI2/
Mine took about 3 months to get from Tanks Inc and CJ Pony Parts doesn't list it as in stock so plan on waiting a while if you order one.


I ordered a ton of parts this weekend and made a VERY LONG to do/goals list to get the ball rolling again: coming up next is the notch for the rear axle clearance, rear coil overs/mounting set up, rear sway bar, box in the frame in some spots, mount the front sway bar, final weld on all steering/suspension, fill all unnecessary holes in the frame and then it's time for sandblast and powdercoating! I'm pretty excited to start making things look nice!
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48prerunner
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by 48prerunner »

One thing on your rear cross-member the bolt heads on the top will hit the rear cross-member of the bed at least mine do. I have two not sure which bolt hits but its -8* so might not be a work in the garage day might be an order parts day lol. Build looks great. If you go with a cable clutch linkage saturn 5 and I have pics. If I did the cable clutch again I think I would run the linkage off the driverside so the cable would hide better.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by Monkey-1 »

Great progress.

In the need to have extra mounts in the tank bracket but not wanting to weld in nuts, use a Rivnut. These re great where you have to mount a nut in a place where the backside is not accessible. I use them all the time and if they are installed correctly are the perfect solution.
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1985 F-150 Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1519 ... 4-6-a.html
1977 F-100 Flareside Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1545 ... hread.html
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theletup
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

48prerunner wrote:One thing on your rear cross-member the bolt heads on the top will hit the rear cross-member of the bed at least mine do. I have two not sure which bolt hits but its -8* so might not be a work in the garage day might be an order parts day lol. Build looks great. If you go with a cable clutch linkage saturn 5 and I have pics. If I did the cable clutch again I think I would run the linkage off the driverside so the cable would hide better.
My rear crossmember is going to share the rear bolt with the bed mount. I'm weld the nut inside the frame and will run the bolt through the bed.

Thanks for the heads up on the clutch cable. I'm upgrading to a hydraulic setup though :)
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

Monkey-1 wrote:Great progress.

In the need to have extra mounts in the tank bracket but not wanting to weld in nuts, use a Rivnut. These re great where you have to mount a nut in a place where the backside is not accessible. I use them all the time and if they are installed correctly are the perfect solution.
Hmm.. sounds interesting. I will definitely have to look into that solution. Thanks!!
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

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I had a productive week on the truck. Made a decision this week that I will be heading into work at 5:00am from now on to make some headway on this project from 5am to 8am. One day I spent getting the inside of the cab all cleaned out and stripped all the wiring, dash pad, cluster, fuel tank, seat belts, trans hump, heater box, etc.

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Then this weekend I built my rear coilover cross member and mounts. The crossmember kit came from ride tech which included the lower billet shock mounts, upper shock mounts, crossmember tubing, and crossmember mounting brackets. It gets cut to length and welded in place. I ran the tubing all the way out to the outer frame rail wall and welded it solid all the way through the frame.

The coilovers I chose are coming from ridetech as well and after a little math I cut and drilled some 1"x1" square tubing to 12.96" (eye to eye) which will be my ride height for the coilovers. Then I bolted them to the lower mounts and used them to locate my upper mounts. Then the upper mounts got tacked in place.

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Next I took some 4" o.d. round tubing cut to 2.5" and cut it in half for some frame notches. I welded them in place and then cut out the material under the notches.

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To cut the material out of the notch I sliced the bottom section off first with a cutoff wheel. Then i used a 3 5/8" hole saw to cut inside the notch. Then i used a carbide bit on a die grinder to file it all flush. I think it turned out very nice if I do say so myself.

Next came frame boxing... lots and lots of frame boxing.

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It was done in sections because there are different angles. It's hard to tell by the pictures but I think it looks pretty slick.

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I got both sides boxed but only dressed the welds on one side before the wife made me come home lol.

The final piece for my rear suspension will be here next week. A sway bar kit from WelderSeries (same company I got the 4 link kit from).
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Monkey-1
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by Monkey-1 »

Progress looks great. Keep it coming.
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1985 F-150 Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1519 ... 4-6-a.html
1977 F-100 Flareside Build Thread (CV Swap, 4.6, Frame-Off) https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1545 ... hread.html
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