Calling all f100/f250 Prerunners

[Tycho]

actually, now that i think about it, do a mustang tank swap! that would be perfect!

http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... &sk=t&sd=a

That? Super slick, but a lot of fab work involved. Don't think I could pull that off, sadly. It might interfere with a bumper setup too.

I'll leave it as is, and go forward with the tank in the cab and the mechanical pump. Cage and shocks are for sometime in January. For now, I have to sort out the body/paint and interior.

What did you guys do for seat brackets? F100 has an odd shaped floor.

[1971ford]

yep definately a odd shape! It took me a while to think of my design but here it is
Every seat is different though, so this exact design won't necessarily work for you. Notice how one side of the structure has two cross tubes and the other doesnt, it takes some creativity to mount these things.
The side with the two cross tubes is the drivers side seat (mastercraft), and it had mounting plates on the botttom so we made little tabs off of the tubes that we slipped bolts through the seat and the tab. The other side's seat just had little tabs on the bottom pointing down, so we made some big tabs coming off the tubes going to the seat tabs. It's hard to explain


It's a headache mounting race seats but there is nothing better than being held into a comfy racing seat in your ride

[Tycho]

It's a headache mounting race seats but there is nothing better than being held into a comfy racing seat in your ride

So I can't buy any prefabbed brackets for the f100?

[1971ford]

It's a headache mounting race seats but there is nothing better than being held into a comfy racing seat in your ride

So I can't buy any prefabbed brackets for the f100?

You will have to either have a fab shop making a mounting system or make one yourself, there arn't any prefabbed kits because of all hte different kinds of seat mounts and such.

[Tycho]

It's a headache mounting race seats but there is nothing better than being held into a comfy racing seat in your ride

So I can't buy any prefabbed brackets for the f100?

You will have to either have a fab shop making a mounting system or make one yourself, there arn't any prefabbed kits because of all hte different kinds of seat mounts and such.

Blah. What crap. Why does it say any bench up to a 96 will swap into a bump side, and seat manufacturers offer brackets for those trucks but not the bump side?

So, for the rear, what do you think is a good way to mount a light rack? Towards the rear of the cab to avoid glare? I like that, because you can rotate it down on long trips to protect the lights and get rid of drag.

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Pol ... 20183.html
Just going to use that simple kit.

http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=104567
Also want to do a light wing since the stock lights are a little lacking.

Im taking detailed pictures tomorrow so you can draw in paint where I need to cutout the bed (where the shocks will go) so I can start mocking up the bedcage!

[1971ford]

yeah, things would be a lot easier if the seat manufacturers made mounting brackets for all their seats
Bumps are very common prerunners, i don't know why they don't.

Both those kits look nice. Behind the cab is where im going to put mine as well, so it can be tucked away and to prevent glare (if you put it on the front of the cab you have to do something along the lines of taping the bottom of the light). This can be a pretty simple contraption, justh ave the light rack pivot and have a arm extending down the cage down tubes, with two tabs for a up and down position. If that makes any sense..

For the bedcage, just remember to have little to no dead tubes (tubes that end at no intersection), triangles are gooooood, also think about how it may be tied into a cab cage in the furture, shock mounting, spare mounting, all that good stuff

[Tycho]

Bed Shots;

[1971ford]

Looks good, those tires look nice on there. I can't wait to see this thing morph into a offroad beast

[Tycho]

Looks good, those tires look nice on there. I can't wait to see this thing morph into a offroad beast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7ERAP8hHrU[/video]



Its getting there.

[1971ford]

Nice!
What took so long to start though? Fuel problems? Or lack of a choke?

[Tycho]

Nice!
What took so long to start though? Fuel problems? Or lack of a choke?

Just really cold out, and it had rained hard all day yesterday while the hood was off so things got a bit wet. Not sure what the deal was but it doesn't like cold starts with the mechanical pump. Once it is warmed up though... wow. I took it for a spin with the new steering wheel, tires and shocks. Felt like a completely different truck!

Next up is paint. Think we are just going to do quick and dirty, no primer. Probably Blitz Black since it's tough and it comes in rattle cans. Ill do nice paint when we have access to a proper booth.

Then I want to get the 63 chevys swapped in. Waiting on you for that

Still have to figure out the seat situation. What a pain in the ass.

[Tycho]

Inspirations: (so you know what im shooting for)




^ notice how that truck has tubes flat on the bed. You can still easily load something while not violating any airspace in the bed itself, and still have a strong tie-in for the cage.

Bedcage Mockup:



I suck at drawing in 3D

Green are the "shocks"
Red is the cage
Yellow is optional cage. Think I can get away with not including it?

The triangles at the head of the bed might be plated over or covered somehow for a cleaner look and some extra storage/protection for any tools or batteries I put there.

Fire away

[1971ford]

Those are great shock hoops posted, I would simply pick one and copy it.
Notice how the downtubes go inbetween the wheel wells however, unlike your drawing. Move them inside the wells, then you can move the downtube where the shock mounts back more to fix the shock angle, because your drawing's shock angle is a little bit too much.

I would replicate the last one, the black truck. It is the most simple and easy to make and will still work great. It only requires two simple bends as well.

But remember that you plan on having a spare or two, be thinking of ways to mount those

[1971ford]

I saw this and thought of your bedcage ideas. I love the spare setup going on here.

[Tycho]

Those are great shock hoops posted, I would simply pick one and copy it.

I don't want the bedcage to break the plane/top of the bed, if at all possible.

Notice how the downtubes go inbetween the wheel wells however, unlike your drawing. Move them inside the wells, then you can move the downtube where the shock mounts back more to fix the shock angle, because your drawing's shock angle is a little bit too much.

Oh I know. It was a 30 second thing in paint. IIRC you mentioned mounting the shocks directly to the plates, which means they will be a little more outboard than usual. Also, reading the chevy swap thread, all those guys run them spring under. Can't use tabs on the plates that way, can I? Thoughts?

I would replicate the last one, the black truck. It is the most simple and easy to make and will still work great. It only requires two simple bends as well.

That's true, but I think it's ugly and it goes against my goals of going higher than the bed of the truck. Also, it takes up too much space considering it has to tie into the frame somehow, and If I aped that I'd have nadda for usable space. Well, some, but not a whole lot. This is confusing without knowing where EXACTLY I need the shocks to mount.

But remember that you plan on having a spare or two, be thinking of ways to mount those

Love what you posted! good idea. I didn't plan on 2 spares but that looks easy. Can those holders be removed completely for some flat bed action?