Other stuff I'm working on, PROJECT RUSTY REBEL

[Trike_crazy]

I've been want to build myself a street truck for awhile now and I figured now that trikefest is over I'd start a new project.

Back story on the truck is I bought it about 10 years ago as a 79 F150 4x4 for $850. I drove it daily for about 2 years with part of that being gone for basic training. In 07 After basic it became a play toy and I ended locking the engine up after a good day of mudding with it. The truck sat because I didn't have the money and I was getting deployed at the end of the year. After getting back from my deployment in 08 I attempted to swap the engine but ran out of time because the house I was doing the work at got sold. So I took the truck out to some property that my family owned till about 3 years ago when i bought my house. Still not having the money it sat on the back yard till this past Saturday (the 4th) and I finally started my project.

So what I am doing to the truck is a crown vic front suspension swap from an 03 police interceptor that i paid $575 for. Also, I'm going to swap in the engine and transmission along with the computer harness. I have the whole car to pull parts from so that shouldn't be too big of an issue. The hardest part is going to be wiring up the truck . But it will be a fun and reward project to see the truck back on the road after so many years.

So far I have taken out the entire front suspension and the rear axle. I haven't decided what I'm doing for the rear suspension yet. I'm thinking of an axle flip with the 8.8 from the crown vic or an irs suspension from a Lincoln mark 8 or thunderbird. Here's some pictures of the progress so far
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This is the truck before i pulled it in the the garage from the back yard.
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This is after pulling the axles. I had them sold before even starting the project so that was nice
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Mock up of the wheel. Yes, you see that right. This truck is going to continue life as a 2wd lol.
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Another picture of the wheel for general ride height. The headliner my uncle and I did it back when I first got the truck. He was an upholster by trade and a damn good one at that. But thats where I'm at with it at the moment. The wife is supposed to help me pull the engine this evening so there may be some updates soon.

[83ATC185]

Awesome project i love these trucks, as well as the 80-86 bullnose. Any idea how you would mount the IRS up and still get the height right? Maybe cut the towers out of the car, brace em up and weld them where you want them? I'm not sure if that would be strong enough...

[Trike_crazy]

Team321 makes a kit to weld in to get the rear irs to bolt in or you can make your own brackets to get the desired ride height. Im really leaning towards the irs but lack of money and parts is keeping me from going that direction lol.

[83ATC185]

Are the cab corners and floorboards still there? A solid axle would mean less maintenance in the long run and probably more gearing options as well...a PI crown vic is a good choice for this swap, cheap, and all the drivetrain parts are beefed up. What engine transmission does it have?

[coolpool]

I commend you on tackling this as the truck looks eaten away. Man do I hate bodywork! I'd have to say I'd rather it stay a 4x4 but your scheme is intriging. I'll be watching your progress. Good luck!

[Trike_crazy]

I don't plan on doing a whole lot of bodywork to the truck other than floorpans. The cab mounts are still sound so I have that going for me lol. This to me is what a REAL rat rod should be, not a slick flat black paint job and nice wheels.... The good part for you guys that say it could have stayed a 4x4 is that I have another one. Its a 78 F150 and thats my play toy.
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Thats one of the other reasons for the swap. I already have another 4x4 and this truck needed too much to get going plus the parts I can save can be used for parts on the 78.

I did make some more progress last night. The wife helped pull the entire engine/trans/transfer assembly and cleaned the frame rails of all of the gunked on dirt and mud. I don't have any pictures yet because my phone was dead but my wife has some and when she sends them to me I'll update you guys.

Once I get the trailer axles from my buddy to set this on and move it out of the garage I can bring the crown vic in and begin taking it apart. Not too bad for $575 without a title. The wheels came from my brother's mustang I did the camshaft swap on this past winter. Those wheels are going on the truck too.
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[Trike_crazy]

Also on the gearing. The lincoln/thunderbird irs shares the same 8.8 housing as the other 8.8's so gearing isn't a problem at all. Its just money and time putting it in that will decide what I end up doing. Im going to use as much of this crown vic as I can to keep cost down.

[Trike_crazy]

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Pictures of the progress from last night. Never mind the F250 4x4 in the background lol. It needs the transmission put back together and the entire brake system rebuilt/replaced. I was also in the process of a cab swap, replacing the front cab mounts and all of the bushings, a 460 swap with L&L mounts and swapping the output shaft on the transmission but lost steam on that project. As you can tell I really like this body style of ford.

[Trike_crazy]

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One clean engine bay lol. Now for the crown vic disassembly!

[83ATC185]

Plenty of room to work with for sure much much easier to work on. You're making some serious headway on this. Those core support mounts are pooched. I think LMC sells urethane replacements pretty cheap, but i will say i bought some urethane bushings and sway bar mounts for an old taurus i had because i wanted them to last, and all they did was squeak constantly...

[Trike_crazy]

So like a total redneck I pulled the truck out of the garage lol. I used a rear axle from a FWD car under the front of the truck then jacked the back of the truck up and chained it to my 78. Pulled it out just like a trailer!
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Worked out pretty well lol. After cleaning up the mess from the truck disassembly my dad and I pulled the crown vic in and started pulling the front end off to sell the fenders. What a pain in the azz! 15 bolts at least per fender.
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I can't get too far into the car yet because I have a buddy bringing over an 06 f150 4wd this weekend to swap out a transmission so the garage has to be open for that. But next week its on!

[Caminofeld]

Im really leaning towards the irs but lack of money and parts is keeping me from going that direction lol.

I hope they don't audit you.

[Trike_crazy]

I hope they don't audit you.
Haha, yeah me too. In all honesty I hope my wife doesn't audit me on it and find what I'll really plan to spend on it!

[Trike_crazy]

So I haven't made any more progress on the car to get it apart. I didn't get a chance to do the transmission in my buddy's F150 till yesterday. So hopefully this weekend I'll have the crown vic engine/trans and suspension out and ready to go in my truck. I hope to have the front of the truck sitting on the suspension Sunday with the engine/trans sitting in it.

[atc300r]

Sweet .I had a 79 F150 4x4 with a 351 Windsor motor in it with dual exhaust and Holley 4 barrel and 32 inch radial all weather tires.Loved that truck . I traded it when gas prices started going up

[Trike_crazy]

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Made some headway on the project last night. I finished taking the front clip off the crown vic and I'm almost ready to pull the engine and trans. I should have the engine out today and possibly the front suspension.

[Trike_crazy]

So it looks like a crown vic exploded in my garage lol. Engine, trans, front suspension and rear axle are out. Now for the computer and harness to it inside the car.
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And I also have to figure out how to get this car out of the garage without wheels on it lol

[Trike_crazy]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07/29/f5cfdaa0b944b2a843a893a37fa83cc8.jpg
More progress on project RUSTY REBEL. I got all of the brackets and linkages cut off of the crown vic rear axle and got it and the front suspension mocked up under the truck. I have to buy some new axle perches, u bolts and u bolt plates but those won't be hard to find. I started drilling the mounting holes for the front cross member last night and hope to finish the top ones and put the spacers in tonight.

[Trike_crazy]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/17/f72bf62a125afe2110c14e91595f0a0f.jpg
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Made more progress on the truck. Its looking good!

[Trike_crazy]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/17/68b522b875541b17fdbd10db8c003096.jpg
And this is the parting shot for the day

[ironchop]

I bought my son a 78 SB F150 4X4 for his 18th birthday two years ago. He wants to do exactly the same thing with his truck including swapping to a 2wd frontend and slammin the whole truck... probably airbag it. I was giving him a hard time because its a factory SB 4X dentside which is worth a lot of money around these parts and his friends have been even tougher on him about it but I gave him the truck as a gift and he's free to build his vision as he sees fit so I'm going to show him this thread tonight so he knows he's not the only guy out there with this vision....and a fellow trike lover no less.

Love the progress

Sent from my Z998 using Tapatalk

[Trike_crazy]

Hopefully he will want to do something like this. If hes wanting to convert it to 2wd with stock style beams he should start looking for another frame. I think it l would be too much work to try to make a 4x4 frame 2wd unless you do something like this or cut the frame and graft in an older crown vic or Dodge Dakota suspension. It sounds like a cool project ironchop.

[Trike_crazy]

Got the truck out of the garage today to make room for some other projects. In the mean time I'm going to order some parts and get them ready for when the truck comes back in...

I really like the stance
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/23/b97fcbffe60dbaa395a483b14a56fd02.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/23/5ce157de4cace1f271b97a1f33132483.jpg
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[Trike_crazy]

Well, after going on 4 years of not being worked on and a few unsuccessful attempts to sell it over that time I'm hoping to use some of the money I'm making on my deployment to buy the stuff I need to get this truck back on the road. Hopefully everything works out and I can drive it once again after I get home Lol.

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