1970 F100 CV/Thunderbird

[elgemcdlf]

I think my truck sits a little higher, I'm also 5'11 and the roof is a tick higher but its because of the 20" wheels. They are about 27.5" and 28.5" tall, your 17's are bit shorter. What size wheel and tire you going with? And do you know the track width of the IRS? When I had the bed off and standing straight up I drew up my bed's dimensions on the computer using Visio just to make sure my wheels would be centered and wouldnt rub.

I don't go by track width as it is measured from the center of the tread to the center of the tread. Offset and wheel width can alter that dimension. The hub to hub on the IRS is 63 1/4". I am wanting wheels with the smallest D. I can get. If I can get 16" wheels that will clear the brakes in the style I want they will be 16's. If not I will move into 17's. I have not found anyone that offers the style I want larger than 17. Tires will be dependant on the wheels. I will be going for street rod big and little look. By going with the smallest D I am hoping to look older.

http://www.wheelvintiques.com/index.php/products/ Page 9 is the style I am looking for. Don't have to be exactly that wheel but similiar. The rears will be as wide as I can get under the tail inside the wheel wells. Fronts I want wide but narrower than the rear. Clear as mud yet?

http://www.thewheelsmith.net/CustomWhee ... ories.html Here are some more of similiar style.

[JG F100]

I think my truck sits a little higher, I'm also 5'11 and the roof is a tick higher but its because of the 20" wheels. They are about 27.5" and 28.5" tall, your 17's are bit shorter. What size wheel and tire you going with? And do you know the track width of the IRS? When I had the bed off and standing straight up I drew up my bed's dimensions on the computer using Visio just to make sure my wheels would be centered and wouldnt rub.

I don't go by track width as it is measured from the center of the tread to the center of the tread. Offset and wheel width can alter that dimension. The hub to hub on the IRS is 63 1/4". I am wantnig wheels with the smallest D. I can get. If I can get 16" wheels that will clear the brakes in the style I want they will be 16's. If not I will move into 17's. I have not found anyone that offers the style I want larger than 17. Tires will be dependant on the wheels. I will be going for street rod big and little look. By going with the smallest D I am hoping to look older.

http://www.wheelvintiques.com/index.php/products/ Page 9 is the style I am looking for. Don't have to be exactly that wheel but similiar. The rears will be as wide as I can get under the tail inside the wheel wells. Fronts I want wide but narrower than the rear. Clear as mud yet?

http://www.thewheelsmith.net/CustomWhee ... ories.html Here are some more of similiar style.

Hub to hub is what I meant vs track width. Assuming a 10" wide wheel, something with 5.5" of backspacing should put the rear wheel similar to where mine is, (actual measurement was 5.47") You could probably get 10.5 in there if you roll the fender lips. 16's will fit over the front it just depends on the rim, I had 16x7 mustang rims on there when I was working on the CV swap and it rolled around just fine. I'm actually having a hard time finding a compact spare that will work on my truck, I need something tall and narrow that will work on the front and the back.

[elgemcdlf]

WheelSmith has a good display of what dimensions they need to be able to either build or not build wheels. They go up to 16". Wheels Vintique go up to 17" but they get proud of them over 16's. Almost $300 per wheel not including the hub cap and trim ring. The hub to hub of the CV IFS is wider than the MN12 IRS. Now with a full set of the same wheels the rear looks narrower than the front (it is). I also want the wheels to be at least even on the outside side front to rear. If not the front needs to be farther inside the fender than the rear. I will be answering all the wheel builders questions and let them tell me what I want. They are the wheel experts, hopefully I will get exactly what I want that way.

Gotta be sure as with custom built wheels they are mine right or wrong if they are built to spec.

[elgemcdlf]

Aren't these just about the prettiest things you have seen in years?





460 mounts for my truck.

[BobbyFord]

Nice score

[elgemcdlf]

A couple night pics.


My wife and a friend of ours Brandy.

[71fordkid]

Needs MOAR LOWAR!! I think Im gonna have to go ahead and notch the frame so the CV IFS sits higher and I get a few more inches closer to the ground. you can never go to low.

In all honesty, that truck looks great. I just cant wait untill my stepside gets to look like that.

[BlueOvalDave]

I can appreciate your dillema about the 16 in rim limitation. I running the CV swap as well and dont like being forced to run the 16's with the deep backspacing in the front. I have been doing some research trying to determine if there is a different control arm or brake set up that will be adaptable to get back to 15's with a smaller backspacing.

I'm running the mustang rims up front and it looks just O.K.

Nice build by the way!

[elgemcdlf]

I can appreciate your dillema about the 16 in rim limitation. I running the CV swap as well and dont like being forced to run the 16's with the deep backspacing in the front. I have been doing some research trying to determine if there is a different control arm or brake set up that will be adaptable to get back to 15's with a smaller backspacing.

I'm running the mustang rims up front and it looks just O.K.

Nice build by the way!

The "problem" to me is I like the old deep dish look. The only way to get that back is to narrow the hub to hub dimension. Not an easy task without major modifications. I am going with solid steel wheels, old street rod style. I have been tempted by truspoke style wheels though. Chrome rim, spokes painted to match the body. The only issue I have with the 16's is can I actually get 16's in the style I want for the front. If not I will have to move up to 17's and they get expensive then. The rear is narrower so I will be able to have the deep dish look back there with no problem.

[elgemcdlf]

Needs MOAR LOWAR!! I think Im gonna have to go ahead and notch the frame so the CV IFS sits higher and I get a few more inches closer to the ground. you can never go to low.

In all honesty, that truck looks great. I just cant wait untill my stepside gets to look like that.

I would like it lower but not slammed. I do not like that look at all. I have very little invested in the suspension when you compare to other options. I have full suspension travel. I too have thought about kicking up the section of frame the crossmember is mounted to. I don't think I would do much more than a couple inches that way though. Still want to be able to steer. It's funny, friends of mine around here with pickups think it sits so low. I tell them "It must just be me. Maybe I am so used to looking at it I don't think it sits low." I get funny looks to that one. My original thoughts were a MII type IFS with a Jag XKE rear. After doing some homework I found the two swaps I did which gave me what I wanted for quite a bit less money.

If you do notch remember the rear mount for the lower control arm lines up right under the rail right where the cab mount is. It will be a wee bit more than just notching where it mounts with the main bolts. You might be able to spin the mount bolting it in horizontally (more like the CV) instead of vertically but you still have that cab mount to deal with. I am thinking a clip or using the complete CV frame (wheelbase is 1/4" difference) might be a better choice.

[BlueOvalDave]

I've got disc spindles from my 70 Torino that I might use to see if it's remotely do-able. Perhaps late model mustang spindles and control arms might be the ticket.

[71fordkid]

Yeah they really dont look that low. i mean its definately an improvement over stock, but when you daily drive something thats front bumper is less than the hight of a credit card off the ground, its not really that low.

my neighbor has a mustang II front end sitting in his garage. motor, trans, frame/suspension, and firewall - nothing else. its been sitting for a while. i may just see if i can pick it up from him for a couple bills.

i have thought about using the whole crown vic frame. my buddys dad is a sherriff out on the coast of oregon, and they have 3 crowns ready to be retired. he says they sell for 500-1200 when the auction em.

[elgemcdlf]

Yeah they really dont look that low. i mean its definately an improvement over stock, but when you daily drive something thats front bumper is less than the hight of a credit card off the ground, its not really that low.

my neighbor has a mustang II front end sitting in his garage. motor, trans, frame/suspension, and firewall - nothing else. its been sitting for a while. i may just see if i can pick it up from him for a couple bills.

i have thought about using the whole crown vic frame. my buddys dad is a sherriff out on the coast of oregon, and they have 3 crowns ready to be retired. he says they sell for 500-1200 when the auction em.

Whenever I get to thinking lower I just remember how much I have invested in relation to what I have. Don't use the MII suspension under your truck. You need to buy one designed for a pickup. Same basic design just heavier to deal with the extra weight. I also am not a fan of the little brakes on the MII suspensions. I think if I were going to do MII I would probably just build it all from scratch utilizing perhaps the CV spindles which would give 12" rotors. Other issues I have to watch is I do not want to alter the floors for suspension. I will modify the firewall/floor for the 460/C6 if need be. I really do not like the look in the beds of the slammed pickups. I think it should look like a pickup when you are finished with it. IMHO it doesn't look like a truck with a huge hump in the bed floor.

[elgemcdlf]

Ok my thoughts on the dash have changed 3 times now. My original thought was using a dash out of a '65/'66 Custom Cab with cluster. The next that really caught my eye was the '56 Ford pickup dash with cluster. The one I am seriously leaning towards is this one.



Using this cluster



This is from a '57 Fairlane. What do you guys think? A bump with this dash. Now the dash will be shaved. Glovebox door welded shut along with the ashtray. No radio or anything else you see in the pic. The dash will have the ignition switch, headlight switch, hazard light switch and heat/ac controls. I plan on building a very thin slit all along the bottom of the dash that will be the output for the ac. Something else about this dash it has long slim defroster vents instead of the small square ones in the bump dash.

[Swegner99]

That 57 Fairlane cluster is super clean, I would love to see pics of that in your truck