1956 F100 Explorer Chassis Swap

[56explorer]

Yeah Ben! Those grinding disks, usually a buck a piece, are great! I bought 3 last spring with a $12 grinder and haven't needed to change out a disk yet.

My wife laughed when I told her about the heater/family jewels conversation, lol. I have an extra barrel, maybe I'll look into that for heating, I've got plenty of wood. Only thing is that all I've got is pine trees that I've cut down, and they are usually not recommended to use for stoves.

My wife says that her family wants to get me the abrasive blaster for Christmas. I'm excited.... I'm just not excited about the wait. 24 days.... Please Christmas don't be late!

 

[Dave 1955]

Pine is fine to burn. I have burned wood for over 30 years and burn pine now and then. Like any other wood it needs to be seasoned for a year.
Pine will give off it's heat faster then hard woods so the fire will get hotter faster. The pitch found in pine just adds to the heat. Cheers!

 

[fordkid88]

Gotta love harbor freight, just picked up a 14" cutoff saw and a bunch of other fab stuff for upcoming project all for under 160.

 

[BenMar]

For a whole lot of things , H.F. is fine. I also have made great buys on wrench sets , sockets , etc. via Ebay. I try to pick up Craftsman , or Snap- On that way.

So , what's this secret project you are planning ?

 

[fordkid88]

For a whole lot of things , H.F. is fine. I also have made great buys on wrench sets , sockets , etc. via Ebay. I try to pick up Craftsman , or Snap- On that way.

So , what's this secret project you are planning ?

Yeah Harbor Freight for the minimal use stuff, but for hand tools its craftsmen, gear wrench, and titan. I try to pick it up only when its on sale. I have a nice set of Titan ratchet wrenches in metric and standard and sears had a sale on gear wrench ratchet wrenches so I picked them up. The girlfriend asked me what do I need them for If I already have a set. She likes to bake, so I asked her what do you have 10 mixing bowls for, because more than one helps.

 

[56explorer]

Yeah Harbor Freight for the minimal use stuff, but for hand tools its craftsmen, gear wrench, and titan. I try to pick it up only when its on sale. I have a nice set of Titan ratchet wrenches in metric and standard and sears had a sale on gear wrench ratchet wrenches so I picked them up. The girlfriend asked me what do I need them for If I already have a set. She likes to bake, so I asked her what do you have 10 mixing bowls for, because more than one helps.

LOL, or how about 20 brands and colors of makeup. I think I might try to tell my wife that I use certain tools with matching outfits, HA! ...... on a side note, if there is no post from me more than 3 days, alert authorities... my wife has been watching a lot of shows on Investigation Discovery and I am probably one comment away from being a victim on the show "Snapped".

 

[56explorer]

My friend Bobby came over last night to work on the truck some more. We drilled about 100 welds and still have SOOO much more to go. After doing a little more measuring, it looks like I'll be doing a little more trimming than originally expected. We did get the side panels removed and then THIS booger.

It's probably the most-difficult part I've conquered removing from this project. The top of the Explorer wasn't even this much of a challenge.

The hood spring mounts on the 56 measure 54" across the firewall. that's what I have to work with. The recessed parts of the Explorer after removal of the above plates, measure approx. 55".

Look at all those welds on such a small piece of metal. There's even nice little hidden ones to make you want to pull your hair out


New subject:

I thought I took more pics of this, will find and post later...... I used a piece of cardboard to measure and create a visual aid to see how close things were going to be with the firewall. I laid it across the windshield seam and pressed down to create an indention into the cardboard. Once that was complete, I took a cutting knife and cut along that line. Things look just a bit off, but I believe that it will look good.

That is all for tonight, next time, more drilling, cutting, and more planning, as usual

 

[BenMar]

Has your wife turned your name & project in to OverHaulin' yet ? I'll bet Chip Foose could learn a trick or two from you !! Ben

 

[56explorer]

I don't know about that, lol! I'm not as much of an artist, more of a tracer, but thanks!!! But he is more than welcome to come take it off my hands, lol!

 

[BenMar]

Well , it's good to see that you haven't lost the ability to dream !!! I too often wished that Chip would walk in to my shop sometimes. Wouldn't it be nice to have all that help , all that shop space , and all those tools ? I'll bet his shop is heated , too.

We are in for a cold snap in a day or two - they say minus 5 Saturday morning ! Dang !

 

[56explorer]

Well , it's good to see that you haven't lost the ability to dream !!! I too often wished that Chip would walk in to my shop sometimes. Wouldn't it be nice to have all that help , all that shop space , and all those tools ? I'll bet his shop is heated , too.

We are in for a cold snap in a day or two - they say minus 5 Saturday morning ! Dang !

Yes, it sure would be nice to have those resources and HEAT!!! It will get down to 20 here, although it will get up to 70 tomorrow right before the Arctic Blast! That should make most people around here sick!

That being said, I told my wife that it may be a while before I get to do much out there after tomorrow, so I am going to go do as much as I can tonight. I have a lot of cab prep to do, scraping, sanding, and I'll a little cutting.

It would be nice to just trade straight across for Chip's 56

But I almost thought that I should go with a paint scheme that might resemble my Mustang

My wife likes the flat black look

But I think that flat black looks kinda like faded spray paint, primer, or something that I might get tired of after a while.

I really like red right now

 

[Rick]

My wife got Chip's autograph at the SEMA show this year. She was in 7th heaven

Believe it or not AZ is getting the arctic blast too, but a lot more subdued than most. Our temps will be highs in the 50s lows in the 30s. Much colder in the high country.

 

[56explorer]

Wow, I would be in heaven myself! That's cool!

I've got some pics to post tonight, found some Bondo in an unsuspected place that I wasn't counting on. Plus a couple other challenges. Boo...

 

[EVIL06]

Evil Steve

Hey guys,
I am looking for an original 56 f1 chassis, and judging by the number of people sticking other chassis under them , I thought this is a good place to start. anyone got one spare?

 

[4pullingGM]

I'm digging the lime green I rattle canned my old 92 Ranger with Duplicolor Grabber Green engine enamal. It help up remarkably well for how hard my truck was beat on off road

 

[56explorer]

Hey guys,
I am looking for an original 56 f1 chassis, and judging by the number of people sticking other chassis under them , I thought this is a good place to start. anyone got one spare?

Are you in Sydney... as in Australia?

 

[56explorer]

Last night I started to clean up the windshield caulking using a razor blade then a wire wheel brush on my drill.

After that I started playing with 120 grit sandpaper on various areas of the cab leading up to the roof. That is where I ran into this interesting sliver of what I couldn't figure out at first.

I thought it could be a small tear in the metal that could be welded at first, but then I got light on it and a screwdriver.

Friggin Bondo on the roof....

More than a quarter of the roof on the driver side and on the passenger side, THIS

It kind of looked like this cab used to be a dance floor for football players wearing cleats. They attempted to repair it and then simply gave up, it's gonna take a lot more work than I was anticipating. Just a slight set back, but it needs to be done right.

I need to consider the drip rail. I considered shaving it off and making it smooth until I was frightened after finding out that the drip rail is what holds the top on. Although it could all be welded up and smoothed out, that may be even more work. Here's what the drip rails look like right now.

(staring up from the driver side door area)

I don't mean to complain, it's just a disappointment that it seemed like I was able to get so much done within two weeks and things have gone into slow motion, as there is way more detail work as opposed to just throwing parts out the shop door and hacking away at whatever was in my way. I'm now in the thick of it. Anything else that is added just seems to slow progress down just that much more. I just need to remember that any work I do IS progress!!!

 

[56explorer]

I'm digging the lime green I rattle canned my old 92 Ranger with Duplicolor Grabber Green engine enamal. It help up remarkably well for how hard my truck was beat on off road

I think the green would be pretty awesome too, it seems to be a hot color right now. I just keep thinking about a more traditional/classic color. I'm sure I will change my mind 100 times before I actually have to pick the color I go with, can't wait to see what color it ends up being, lol.

 

[56explorer]

Oh, one last thing tonight. I never would have guess that the Weather Channel would have this kind of forecast, but this is what my neck of the woods will be facing. I'm just a few minutes outside of Little Rock..... yeah, right in the middle, yuck!

 

[woodco100]

You think you got bad weather, it got so cold here I had to put the top on my car up! The hardships I endure just to live in Fl!