1956 F100 Explorer Chassis Swap

[56explorer]

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!

Lol, I wish I had it that bad, ha! I know my area isn't the worst, but I'd only be completely satisfied with 70°+ year round.

 

[BenMar]

I had a good laugh from this - you Florida folks sure do put up with a lot of tough stuff !

 

[woodco100]

1949 Checvy on an Explorer Chassis

This is my shop truck for my custom MC seat company.
www.pillowtopseatcompany.com

1949 Chevy 3100 panel on a 1997 frame.

sohc v6, all wheel drive, ABS, full power, w/ Automatic.
Still working out some bugs and the interior. I bought it this way.
Fortunately there is an entire industry dedicated to restoring old trucks. You can get almost every single part on this truck.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...BOyhkDbAQyQlsCqaUk5aKJ2F_YF_RZIiJwiphaDSsLKoH

I went the easy route and bought a driver from a body man.

 

[56explorer]

Woodco100, I sure like your ride, got any other pics? I'm interested in seeing what Explorer parts were used and how it was all made to work. I found a 56 panel recently on Craigslist and thought how cool it would be to do one after this one is done, that way I can have a "family hauler" to accompany my "fun hauler"!!! I love the looks of panels. They are like exaggerated trucks. Someone took a 56 panel and turned it into a crew cab panel I found on the web.

While going through some of my saved pics on my PC tonight, I ran into a couple of other conversions. One was using a Lincoln Continental chassis, dash, and interior parts.

Then I found a few pics out there of Mustang, F-150, Crown Vic, and other dashes being used in Rangers, Explorers AND mid-fifty F100's!!! Here's a Crown Vic Dash as well as the link for even more pics.

http://www.modbee.com/2013/09/20/2930820/my-favorite-ride-this-f-100s-got.html

Here's a link to a site where a 66 F100 is on a 2000 F150 Lightning... pretty darn sweet, if you ask me.

http://www.mustangandfords.com/featuredvehicles/f_series_trucks/mufp_0511_george_bickel_1966_truck_svt_lightning/

A Mustang dash in a 56 Ford car

If you haven't already seen the new 2015 Mustang, be sure to Google it. It was officially revealed earlier today. There's a million pics, vids, and stories out there already. I have mixed feelings about it, especially with the 4-cylinder engine, but hey... it's turbocharged! It's also got a big booty, junk in the trunk, if you will. No green color available (per ford.com's website) yet. It's got a Euro-twist to it.

I am not home tonight due to the ice and not able to get up and down my mountain in my Mustang. So, no progress to speak of for tonight, and most of the weekend I'm sure. I hope you were entertained with the pics, stories, and other stuff to make time go by.

I don't always talk about cars and trucks, but when I do, it's usually Ford-related. Stay warm my friends! (Dos equis XX)

 

[BenMar]

Great looking panel truck ! Glad it was saved and you are using it. Hope you don't mind a comment tho ; in my opinion , old trucks look best when they have the ride height , or stance , about the same as when it was new. A little lower is fine , but the trend to slam a truck down looks silly. Your truck looks lowered a bit , and I hope you don't get the bug to lower it anymore. You have it just about " right " I think. Wish I could see it in person! Congrats ! Ben

 

[EVIL06]

'56 f100

Are you in Sydney... as in Australia?

Yes Sydney, Australia. doing a '56 but someone hacked up the chassis!

 

[56explorer]

Yes Sydney, Australia. doing a '56 but someone hacked up the chassis!

I would check craigslist, but I think it would be tough finding someone capable and willing to ship one from the US.

If anyone sees this and has one or knows a place that can ship, please let evil06 know. Thanks!!!

 

[56explorer]

I'm back home tonight, braved the ice and idiots on the road to be able to sleep in my own bed. Tomorrow I've got some plans in the shop with making templates for measurements. I'll take lots of good pics. I've also got some plans to assist with my welding/heating dilemma thanks to the advice from some good friends.

 

[EVIL06]

I would check craigslist, but I think it would be tough finding someone capable and willing to ship one from the US.

If anyone sees this and has one or knows a place that can ship, please let evil06 know. Thanks!!!

We have a freight guy in California. All we have to do is get a chassis to him. i appreciate your help.


Steve

 

[56explorer]

I'm still alive!!! It's been so cold that when I have been out to the shop I can barely think! I am finding that I will need it to be +40 degrees out there or else I am miserable and not getting much done but hovering over the heater.

Speaking of heater and going back to the power issue I have, thanks to months of trying to convince me I needed to get a generator for my home by my brother and the advice of my good friend BenMar, I realize that once I get a generator, I will have plenty of power to run some of the big stuff I will need in the future like a 220v welder, compressor, and heating system.

For the amount of time those items will need to run, a generator makes logical sense. Plus I will have backup emergency power during outages. Last Christmas, we were without power for 5 days and inside my house dropped down to 42 degrees.... Brrrr. That was no fun for me or my family. We had to evacuate pretty quickly, and was stuck in my wife's car for an hour until help arrived. Not going through that again!

Another idea I got with wood heating is to build an outdoor room that will blow heated are into the shop, this one came from my dad. I don't have the space to do anything with a stove inside my shop, so outdoor heating may be a better fit for my situation.

I have been doing a little with drilling out welds, measuring, and building templates for viewing cutting areas etc. Here's what I have in pics. Again, I was a bit cold, so none of the pictures were taken steady.

That's all I've got to share for the moment..... don't think for one moment I have given up!!! I'm still doing little stuff and planning. Just a little too frozen and lack funds to get the stuff I need to move a lot right now. Just subscribe and sip on some hot chocolate (or whatever you might drink) and I'll be posting more very soon!

Oh wait, I wanted to share this last thing, found a Mustang dash in a Ranger that I thought was cool. Another idea for those wanting to update their Ranger or Explorer dash. Not sure on the specifics, but have seen at least three conversions online so far. Pretty cool!

Here's the front end even converted

The Dash mid-install

A completed dash (different truck with different color dash)

Good night to all, I'll be back to post within the next week!

 

[56explorer]

Just wanted to give an update, brought home my (early) Christmas gift - new 110lb abrasive blaster!!! I'll be posting pics and story about it in the next day or so. I'll be driving tomorrow 8 hrs to pick up my son for the week. He'll be helping me on the project and he's excited about it!

I'm nearly at a stand-still with the truck until I get a couple of big things. I need a welder, bigger compressor, and a generator. These may not be available to me until mid-February, so I will be taking a little break on major changes until then. I will, however, still be doing my normal planning, measuring, cutting, and drilling in the meantime.

I will definitely be playing with my new toys in the meantime, which I will share on here too! There are some other stories and pics to catch up on as well. See ya soon!

 

[BenMar]

New tools = Good times ! Endure the Winter .

 

[56explorer]

ABSOLUTELY BENMAR!!! I guess I have to consider what I do inside my home. Some things don't hide in the pantry so well!!!

I brought the abrasive blaster inside.... much too cold to leave it outside in the cold all by itself, all lonely! So, everyone was asleep, all snug in their beds, while visions of shop tools danced in my head. I got out the box knife and made my way in.

This is the one I had a coupon for $89.99. In the store they are $134.99. The coupons save lots of $$$!!!

So, first thing I had to attach were the wheels, of course I noticed the handles were not intended to point "in". I also attached the front leg to hold it upright.

I needed to reverse the handles and I knew how to do it, but just for "fun", I decided to actually look at the owner's manual. Nothing describing how to do any of the assembly, other than the basic wheels, hose, and gauge.

So, I laid it down like this...

It was a tight fit to get the nuts back on after reversing the handles.

But I got them on and ready to sit back up.

This thing is pretty decent size. As you can see in the picture, it is nearly as tall as a standard-height counter. I haven't installed the hose quite yet. I don't want to damage it on the way to the shop.

And.... this is the point that I thought I could just put the box under the Christmas tree and hide the blaster in the pantry. Haven't heard the last about this idea yet

 

[BenMar]

MAN- - You're gonna have a Blast with that machine ! sorry- I couldn't help myself. I just had to say that .

 

[Rick]

A tip... Make sure the air, and media going into the blaster are as dry as possible. I have the same model and if the media gets the least bit moist it clogs.

 

[BenMar]

I'll second that comment on the dry air & product. My indoor cabinet is very tricky about dry media also. I found that buying the special hose ends, with the larger diameter helped a great deal. TP Tools has the hose ends I'm talking about. I forget the actual amount , but the larger hose connections allow about 20% more air to pass thru the hose. I run my cabinet at 100 PSI , and found the aluminum oxide to last the longest.

I see that H.F. has a deal on their one car size fabric garage. I wonder how well one of those would work to try to capture , and reuse some of the media ? I know you'd have to filter it before use , but that media is not cheap stuff . I have a friend that does his blasting inside a fridge box !! It contains the media , and he reuses it a couple times before tossing it.

Be eager to see this working on your project - - if better weather ever gets here - eh ?

 

[56explorer]

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Thanks for the advice! I do have a DA sander that I'm going to get the broad areas with first to reduce the amount of blasting required, then I'll blast. More great advice came from my dad to drain the compressor MONTHLY! It had been a year or more since it had been drained, I think it was nearly half full of water. Not so good.

I'd love to have something like a carwash stall with a catch pan area in the middle, and fully enclosed. That way I could blast, paint, wash, etc in it away from everything else. But there again, need money to do that. Once the strain on my wallet from the holidays is over, and this frigid cold weather goes by, I'll be zipping through more work on this again.

My next big steps require welding supports in the cab so I can cut out the floor board without the structure twisting. There may be some delay before I get the funds to get the items I need for this part, so please be patient with me.

Today, for Christmas, I got a few more things for my project, some tools, a 56 model, and a reprint of the actual 1956 F100 Shop Manual. It has so much information that I haven't found anywhere else. I will have to post some excerpts from it to share.

Have a good night and again, Merry Christmas!!!

 

[grayse]

Very impressed with your work!

 

[fordkid88]

Hows it coming, don't leave us in the dark.

 

[56explorer]

Hows it coming, don't leave us in the dark.

I know right?!?!?! It's been since last year (literally) that I've posted progress. To be honest, there just hasn't been a lot of 56 progress in the last couple of weeks due to weather, family stuff, and an injured rotator cuff - from playing too rough with the kids. My 2-yr old wants to "swing to the sky" and my old "sway bar bushings" don't move like they did before.

I have been busy with a few new items I've been working on; radiator repair, F250 truck for my brother (that I'll get to use when I need.... yay!) a car to flip, and a boat that I just don't know exactly what I am going to do with yet. All of this to round up funds to get a welder, generator, and perhaps get a pad poured for my shop addition this spring/summer. Also just posted all the spare Explorer parts BACK on Craigslist to find a potential new owner. Today I was able to arrange the parts to clean up the driveway a little.

With the weather keeping me indoors more often right now, I've been learning from "Youtube University" methods for welding, blasting, bodywork, etc. Although I'm not a pro by any means, perhaps I will not have to learn by mistakes too badly when I get out there and get to it.

It was 61 degrees here today, but 61mph winds. It was a decent day though. I spent 8 hours outside completing only 3 items on my list of 11..... Tomorrow it's oil change day for 3 vehicles and then I'm going to stare at this boat I picked up for $175. Somehow I ended up with this when I went to look at a Trans Am for my father-in-law. Would be neat to have a matching 50's boat to pull behind the 56! Similar paint scheme, wheels, etc. But not this one. It's a 1976 Chaparral with nearly no style to it at all. I'll keep my eyes out for one though.

I promise to each and every one of you who read this, this project is ONLY waiting on money and weather to allow continuation. It will never be a forgotten dream. Please be patient with me for a bit longer.