1963 F-100

Before - Dakota IFS Swap - Cab Repair & Mods - 4-Link Build - Grill Mod

Engine & Trans

The Truck

This is the first vehicle I ever owned. It is a 1963 For F-100 LWB. It came stock with a 223cid I-6 and a 3.03 Ford 3 speed with the shifter on the column. I drove it for a few years in high school until I wrecked it. It has a lot of small rusty areas that need fixed but I have bigger plans than that for it!

Please check out my plans and the progression of the project. As well as some technical articles I will be writing about the whole thing.

The Plan

I want this to be a fairly nice show truck. Don't get me wrong I WILL take this truck to the track and drive it often! I want it to LOOK like it is stock, but with a few custom modifications. In actuality there will be very few stock parts, I just want them to look stock.

Body:

This will be a frame off rebuild. I plan to keep it looking stock, but have a few trick modifications worked in as well. The floor pans, cab corners, step wells, cab mounts as well as some other small spots will have to be repaired. I also plan to fill in the seams along the cab roof. The gas tank will be moved under the bed for safety reasons as well as it will give me some room in the cab for electronics. I am going to make it into a Short Wheel Base (SWB). I got a SWB bed that is not in real great shape, but I will try and make it work. I am going to remove a the emblems and trim, except for the FORD letters above the grill.

As for the color I want to go with a little bit brighter Red than the stock Rangoon Red. The Grill gloss black with silver highlights and the bumpers will be silver too.

I also want to put a third brake light on the back, but not one that sticks out. I want to try something I saw in a magazine. You install the lens flush and fill the gaps with putty (Bondo) and sand it smooth to match the contour of the body. You then tape off the area and paint like you normally would. Before the last coat of paint, you take off the tape and wet-sand the area a bit to get rid of the "lip" in the paint. Then you put on the last coat of paint over the entire lens. The apply the clear coat. When you are done you can't see the lens but when you step on the brake it will shine through the paint! I am thinking I might try this on the fenders for marker lights. (That should look pretty cool, don't you think?)

Drive train:

The truck came with a 223 I-6 and a 3 speed on-the-tree trans. I will be running a Ford 460cid V8. This will NOT be a stock motor, it will only look like one. I plan to use almost the entire Edelbrock Performer Package (Idle - 5500) on it. I want to run about 500hp and over 500lb-ft of torque, so I might need to step it up to the RPM. Not sure what trans I am going to run. I like the T5 in the 67, but that would never hold up, so I will be going with a TKO-600. No slush box in this ride.

As for what parts I have now; I have a '73 460/C-6 combo and a lot of greasy stock parts.

Frame and Suspension:

This is going to to be one of the write ups I am talking about. I am going to get a Dodge Dakota cross member from Industrial Chassis Inc. A 87-97 Dodge Dakota is about the same GVW and front and rear axle weights as my truck, so it should handle and perform well with stock components. This will give me a place to mount the 460, IFS, Power Steering, a 2" drop (without affecting the alignment), and Power Disk Brakes. All of which I need to keep this thing on the road! (and not buried into the back of a UPS truck which is how this all got started in the first place!)

(Not sure on this next part...may be leaning more towards a Fat Bar 4-Link from No Limmit)

The rear will be a Ford 9" with either 3.25:1 or 3.50:1 gears. (More on this latter). I think I am going to flip the Axle and do some traction bars. I know I want to drop the rear 2" + the front drop, to kind of level it out a bit. I think the flip should do that. It all depends on how low the front goes. But lately I am thinking I might just do my own 4-link rear!

I am going to keep the drums in the rear for now, but might end up putting Disks on the rear before it is all said and done. (since when is a project ever "Done" ??) But I do know it IS getting a Detroit Locker/Track-Lock/Posi-Track in the 9". I am not set on this ratio, that depends on the final gear of the trans.

Interior:

Well lets start with the colors. I am going to have black carpet, red dash (Same as the body). the headliner will be black, I am not sure what material though. The bench will be a 60/40 unit, but I don't know from what year (it will be Ford though). I plan to do the majority of the bench in black with red stitching and/or cord on the edge. The gas tank will be out so I will have room for a sub and amp in a custom box behind the bench. The doors will have 6 1/2" 3-way speakers in them. There will also be 2 small speakers in the headliner and one in the stock location so that it will work with the 5.1 surround sound from the DVD head unit. The dash will get Autometer Phantom Gages. I plan to use a 5" Tachometer & Speedometer, 2 5/8" Water Temperature, Oil Pressure and 2 1/8" Volt Meter, Fuel Level. For the turn signals, High Beams and Idiot lights in the dash, I plan to use small LEDs. I am going to use a stock 65-66 steering column with a stock steering wheel.

That is all a long ways off...so nothing is set in stone yet.