SWB Saleen F100

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hackster
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by hackster »

Looking great man. You have a date you are trying to get it done for?

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theletup
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

Thabks guys!

My goal is to have it ready to drive in the car d' alene cruise in late June but I honestly think I can have it done way before then.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

Not sure if I mentioned it or not yet but I own an auto repair shop in Spokane. Right now I have one of my bays taken up by my Saleen truck build and last week one of the old timer parts drivers from the Ford dealership and I go to talking after he dropped off some parts. He has a 68 that he restored about 20 years ago.

I was going over some build plans on my truck with him and told him I was going to locate some mustang bucket seats and build some brackets. His face lit up and he told me a story about some factory f100 buckets with brackets he had sitting in his garage. He found them just after he had finished his interior. Knowing how rare they were he kept them all these years thinking he use them on his truck someday. Then offered to sell them to me for what he paid ($250 for everything. Seats, brackets, carpet that covers the fuel tank and even the chrome trim that going above said caret). I jumped on the offer and he dropped it all of monday! He even had all the original bolts that he had cleaned up and painted. WOW.

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I couldn't wait so I mounted them up. I had never sat in buckets in one of these trucks and I'm stoked these things found me.

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I ordered a TMI upholstery and foam kit from CJponyparts.com and will re-do them before they go back in obviously but I will use them no to locate my steering column and shifter location.

Next on the list was finishing up my fram boxing in the rear. I may also box out the small triangle area on the crossmember right in front of the boxed are to give it more of a finished look but it's just about done.

Image

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The last piece of my rear suspension setup was a sway bar. I hadn't quite figured out how I was going to do this yet. Then I was looking on the welderseries.com site (where I purchased the 4 link setup) and noticed they had a universal sway bar set up. I ordered it wide enough to stretch to the outside of my frame rails and it showed up on Friday. Yesterday I went in to the shop in the morning and got it installed.

I started by drilling 1-3/8" holes all the way through the frame and ran the hollow bar through the frame (with it poking out on each side 1/8". Then I burned it in and installed the supplied poly-urethane bushings in the the ends.
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This picture shows the sway bar inside the hollow bar with the bushings installed.
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From there I took the solid bar and ran it though the hollow bar and built my bar arms.
Image

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Then I installed the end links and mounting tabs and tacked them to the axle tube. Pretty much finished up. Just have to finish welding the mounting tabs on the axle tube and I think I can finally call this rear suspension a wrap.

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Nexy I pulled the engine and transmission. I had some old wiring, fuel lines, and brake lines still mounted to the frame so I got all that pulled. Next I'll be pulling the cab, finishing any welding that's needed on the supension (front and rear) and then I'm going to weld in all the un-needed holes in the frame and smooth them out. Then the frame and suspension is going to the powder coater.

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While the frame is at powder coat I'm going to tear the engine down for a complete reseal and paint. Then I can start putting nice looking stuff back together. I'm starting to get pretty excited.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by EDVSU »

[quote="theletup"]

I was going over some build plans on my truck with him and told him I was going to locate some mustang bucket seats and build some brackets. His face lit up and he told me a story about some factory f100 buckets with brackets he had sitting in his garage. He found them just after he had finished his interior. Knowing how rare they were he kept them all these years thinking he use them on his truck someday. Then offered to sell them to me for what he paid ($250 for everything. Seats, brackets, carpet that covers the fuel tank and even the chrome trim that going above said caret). I jumped on the offer and he dropped it all of monday! He even had all the original bolts that he had cleaned up and painted. WOW.

Image

I couldn't wait so I mounted them up. I had never sat in buckets in one of these trucks and I'm stoked these things found me.

Image

I ordered a TMI upholstery and foam kit from CJponyparts.com and will re-do them before they go back in obviously but I will use them no to locate my steering column and shifter location.

[quote="theletup"]

Oh that's a sweet find. Unbelievable. :thup: :D :hd:
All the custom work keeps looking good, keep it up man. A+
- Martin Gza.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by Monkey-1 »

Really digging that rear suspension! I was contemplating a simple axle over, but that has me thinking.
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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 »

Monkey-1 wrote:Really digging that rear suspension! I was contemplating a simple axle over, but that has me thinking.
Yeah man I'm really happy with it. The only thing I will do different next time is start out with scribing and cutting the frame rails down evenly to make the boxing all on one plane. I like how it looks now and it's definitely strong but it would have been massively easier that way and looked a little cleaner. Honestly if you go this route I highly recommend welderseries.com . It really was a lot less expensive than I originally thought it would be to do a full custom rear suspension, just very time consuming.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

First time having the entire body off the truck! Getting closer to reassembly!
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

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It feels like I worked my butt off on the Saleen truck this week but the pictures don't really show much. I figured I'd post an update anyway.

My coilovers came in on friday. I mounted them up just to make sure everything fit and there wouldn't be any clearance issues. Everything fit great.
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Hopefully I chose the right spring rate and combo but I won't know til the trucks done. Then it was time to strip all the rear suspension back off the frame for the 10th or 29th time.

With that being said I found a flaw in my c-notch last week. With the suspension fully compressed I didn't have enough clearance on the front of the notch. It probably wouldn't be an issue with the coilovers but I decided to fix it now incase I want to switch to airbags later. I made the front of the notches wider by cutting off the front corner and continuing them down at a 45* angle instead of being circular.

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Them I dressed them up.
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Then I filled all the unwanted holes in the side of the frame from the cab back and ground down all the welds.

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I also went to town with the grinder and welder and fixed all the imperfections in my metal work I could find on the rear of the frame. I got the rear of the frame really close to ready for powder coat.

Then I flipped the frame around (my welder wouldn't reach the front) and tore down the front suspension after I welded in a support bar behind the front bumper. Now I'm torn down to bare frame. This week i will finish up all the small details on the front and send her off for some color.
Image

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I should have taken a picture of the dust pile I swept up after working on the truck today. I did a TON of grinding. Progress in session.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by EDVSU »

:lol: hopefully you wore some ear plugs bc that sure looks like some mighty metal work. Nice job man. Keep it comin'! :thup:
- Martin Gza.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by fordguy_78 »

updates?
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by Craigerf100 »

theletup wrote:Not sure if I mentioned it or not yet but I own an auto repair shop in Spokane. Right now I have one of my bays taken up by my Saleen truck build and last week one of the old timer parts drivers from the Ford dealership and I go to talking after he dropped off some parts. He has a 68 that he restored about 20 years ago.

I was going over some build plans on my truck with him and told him I was going to locate some mustang bucket seats and build some brackets. His face lit up and he told me a story about some factory f100 buckets with brackets he had sitting in his garage. He found them just after he had finished his interior. Knowing how rare they were he kept them all these years thinking he use them on his truck someday. Then offered to sell them to me for what he paid ($250 for everything. Seats, brackets, carpet that covers the fuel tank and even the chrome trim that going above said caret). I jumped on the offer and he dropped it all of monday! He even had all the original bolts that he had cleaned up and painted. WOW.

Image

I couldn't wait so I mounted them up. I had never sat in buckets in one of these trucks and I'm stoked these things found me.

Image

I ordered a TMI upholstery and foam kit from CJponyparts.com and will re-do them before they go back in obviously but I will use them no to locate my steering column and shifter location.

Next on the list was finishing up my fram boxing in the rear. I may also box out the small triangle area on the crossmember right in front of the boxed are to give it more of a finished look but it's just about done.

Image

Image

The last piece of my rear suspension setup was a sway bar. I hadn't quite figured out how I was going to do this yet. Then I was looking on the welderseries.com site (where I purchased the 4 link setup) and noticed they had a universal sway bar set up. I ordered it wide enough to stretch to the outside of my frame rails and it showed up on Friday. Yesterday I went in to the shop in the morning and got it installed.

I started by drilling 1-3/8" holes all the way through the frame and ran the hollow bar through the frame (with it poking out on each side 1/8". Then I burned it in and installed the supplied poly-urethane bushings in the the ends.
Image
This picture shows the sway bar inside the hollow bar with the bushings installed.
Image

From there I took the solid bar and ran it though the hollow bar and built my bar arms.
Image

Image

Then I installed the end links and mounting tabs and tacked them to the axle tube. Pretty much finished up. Just have to finish welding the mounting tabs on the axle tube and I think I can finally call this rear suspension a wrap.

Image

Image

Nexy I pulled the engine and transmission. I had some old wiring, fuel lines, and brake lines still mounted to the frame so I got all that pulled. Next I'll be pulling the cab, finishing any welding that's needed on the supension (front and rear) and then I'm going to weld in all the un-needed holes in the frame and smooth them out. Then the frame and suspension is going to the powder coater.

Image

While the frame is at powder coat I'm going to tear the engine down for a complete reseal and paint. Then I can start putting nice looking stuff back together. I'm starting to get pretty excited.
Great decision to go buckets, it was the best decision I made.
Image
1964 F-100 Custom Cab Short Bed
1968 F-100 Short Bed
1967 Fairlane 500 Convertable
1967 Fairlane GT/A 289ci SOLD
1950 F-1 Original 239ci Flat Head V8 SOLD
1995 f-150 4x4 Swb 4.9L 5-speed FORSALE

My Build: :fr: http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... &sk=t&sd=a
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by theletup »

It's been quite a while since I've taken the time to catch you all up with the progress on my 1970 short bed. Things got crazy at work and I had to let it sit idle for a month or so. But, last week I finished all the little details on the frame and sent it off for sand blast and powder coat. I went with a semi-gloss black on the frame:

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I opted to paint all my own suspension parts. This way if I have to replace something I will be able to duplicate the look without sending anything off for P-Coat. I did all the silver first using Kyrlon Dual Silver Metallic and Rustoleum Crystal Clear :

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Then moved on to black parts using Krylon Dual Gloss Black and Rustoleum Crystal Clear:

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Cleaning the parts took the longest. I don't have a sandblaster so I busted on wire wheels, wire brushes, grinders, acid, rust remover, and a pressure washer. Everything came out very clean before I painted and I'm hoping everything holds up well as I took exra care during the prep work.

I went with VHT's Old Ford Blue on the calipers and planned on matching them to the engine/trans color scheme. I may change to a little bit lighter blue. The old ford blue looks almost black unless it's in direct sunlight. I'm going to give it a few days and decide if I like after staring at it a bit. I also have some SALEEN high temp decals coming for the calipers. I will clear coat those in when they show up.

From there it was a pretty time consuming process to get the chassis back together. I was being extremely careful not to scratch anything while going back together.

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I've got new coated rotors and ceramic pads + new brake hoses coming tomorrow but wanted to mock everything up anyway:
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First time I've seen her back on 4 wheels in about 2 months :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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I still have to paint the p/s rack but not sure what color it's going to be yet or if I'll just clear it.
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So yeah...

I'm back on track with the project. Seats are at the upholstery shop. Next I'm going to route brake lines. Then I'm going to get the engine and trans all cleaned up and painted and get those installed with the fuel system as well. Hopefully next week I'll have a complete chassis.

Cory
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by Monkey-1 »

Damn! Color me jealous. That thing is looking great. Can't wait to see more progress pics.
-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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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by fordguy_78 »

Happy to see an update, Going to make it to car da lane? I might think about putting mine in it if there is another bump side there.
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Re: SWB Saleen F100

Post by poke em »

fordguy_78 wrote:Happy to see an update, Going to make it to car da lane? I might think about putting mine in it if there is another bump side there.
Hey man, I will have my 68 in the cruise tomorrow. LWB Camper Special shortened with CV front end, Mark VIII rearend, 4.6 dohc and 4R70W. I wanted to have it ready for last year's Car d lane, but it just wasn't quite there.

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