SWB Saleen F100

[theletup]

I have been searching for years for the right deal on a short bed around my home town in North Idaho and they are damn near impossible to find. I've owned 6 long bed bumpsides now and still have 2 of them. This is my daily driver:



The few short beds that I have seen for sale have had major rust issues and due to the growing popularity of our bumpsides people think they are worth a fortune even when they're in terrible shape. I saw one the other day that had a nice looking cheap paint job and okay interior but underneath all the normal spot were completed rotted and the cab was sitting sideways on the frame. I texted the guy and offered him $3,000. He said he wouldn't take less than $12,000...



But then it happened.!! I have driven by this shortbed for about a year and always meant to stop and peak at it but honestly it looked all beat up the way it sat. One day I got a call from my brother in law saying he knew where there was a SWB an the owner might let it go. I told him I was interested and had him look at it for me. He said there was no rust to speak of and the body was straight. When he made an offer to the owner the owner came back with "I will take $1500.00 if he brings me all 1 dollar bills. I went straight to the bank and waited 45 minutes for them to bring me out a bag full of 1 dollar bills. I felt like a boss walking out of the bank with a bag full of money and all the funny looks I was getting (little did they know it was singles haha! I headed over the spot where the truck was parked, inspected it for myself and sure enough. I was filthy and full of junk with no motor or trans but it was CLEAN. Not a spot of rust to speak of. Shocking... I pulled out the bag of money and the guy busted up laughing and handed me the title. It was a great night.

As it sat when I bought it:



I started my own auto repair shop last year so I know I'm going to seem very spoiled and I know that I have more available to me than most but I have done all of this same work in my driveway and single car garage on previous bumpsides.

Step one: Get truck to my shop and get it cleaned up:


Step two: Crown Vic Swap


My original plan was to buy a complete crown vic and swap the front suspension, engine and rear axle but I got impatient when I couldn't find a good deal on one and found this front suspension for $400 on CL.


If you use Eagle One (i think is the brand I used) aluminum wheel cleaner acid you can get this cast aluminum part really nice and clean with a town of elbow grease and soft wire brushes:


Then the front clip came off to start the CV swap:


I used a sawzall with long blades to cut the majority of the cross member out and then various size cutting wheels and a hammer to remove the rest from the inside of the frame rail. When remove the rivets from the strut towers and other suspension parts it's easiest to cut and X in the rivet and use and air hammer/chisel to chisel it off and push it through.

Okay I found these CV swap brackets on Ebay about a year ago and snagged them up because there was only one set on there. I can't seem to find them online anywhere else but I highly recommend them if you can find them. I love how they are designed and it made my install SO much faster. i also like that they are taller so there is not frame spacer needed. Looks clean!








Measure, measure, measure, measure, tack:


RE-MEASURE and then I burned it in and dressed the welds:



I am going to add some support to the lower control arm rear mounts when I tear it all back down to prep the frame and get it ready for powder coat.

Here's a CV sidenote/tip:
On crown vic the rear mounts for the lower control arms side at a 45* angle so on your truck frame when you mount it horizontal the slotted hole with be sitting at a 45* angle. This may be okay but I like to cut the bushing from the bracket and reclock it so that the slotted hole sits parallel to the frame. This way when you align the truck it slides side to side and not up and down at all. This will also maximize the amount of adjustment available:



Next step: Wyatt (my son) and I installed the front suspension assembly for mock up:














You may have noticed the wheels... Those are Saleen Mustang wheels. A few weeks ago a buddy of my brother in law couldn't get his mustang started and decided to sell it. It's a 2002 Mustang GT that somebody did a really nice job faking a Saleen car with.. in fact the guy that owned it bought if for $18,000 thinking it was a real Saleen. He sold it to me for $2500. I bought it sight unseen not know why it wouldn't run. I took a risk thinking even if the motor was bad it was still worth the tremec 5speed, LSD rear axle and Saleen super charger kit and interior.







Well the motor was in fact junk.... I found a used engine out of a 2002 Crown Vic with 67,000 miles on it and got it set down in the truck:

And then pulled the super charger off the mustang and set it down temporarily on the good motor and then did this for hours!









Wyatt driving and making motor noises for me ha ha






I also got the Tremec 5-Speed bolted up to see how it would fit. I noticed that the motor sits a little crooked in the frame and I'm thinking it's because of the cheap motor mounts I ordered from Amazon (couldn't find any local quickly). I may grab some from the junkyard or just modify the mounting holes of the aftermarket mounts. Either way it has to be fixed before I can build a trans mount crossmember because it's about 3" off at the tailshaft. That's my project for today.

[poke em]

Nice work. I looked for months before i settled on a rust free camper special. I did a crown vic front with mark viii rear and 4v engine. I cut the bed and frame down too. Theres a red 67 or 68 in really nice original condition that i see in Post Falls every so often.

[IN2FORD]

Definitely going to be a cool ride

Barry

[flyboy2610]

That is a great story and you have done a very nice job with the build so far. But you have made one MAJOR mistake.
You let your son know you have that truck. Now he'll be scheming as to how to get it away from you!

[theletup]

HAHA Yep... That's what the baby blue truck is for. I told him when I bought it he could have it someday.

Today we mocked up the radiator, cooling fan and coolant bottles. The Mustang had a new full aluminum radiator in it already SCORE!











I cut the lower rad supports/mounts off the mustang core support and tacked them to the lower core support on the truck for now. The only spot I had to modify on the truck core support was where the drain comes off the lower pass. side of the radiator so I just had to notch that out a little. Other than that the radiator tucked right up inbetween the the core support very nicely. I will finish welding it all in when I tear it back apart to finish the rest of the frame.

[Coupe5oh]

That's gonna be a cool ride. Nice job!

[devindastrup]

Very cool! There is a lot of great talent out there! So glad you're all building at the same time as me so I can just copy!

[motzingg]

What a fun project!

I've wondered how much power a stock 4.6 would make with nothing but a supercharger and tuning accordingly. There are a lot of them in junkyards and they seem to be relatively stout engines that are outliving the vehicles they came in.

Are you using stock ECU? Do you have the Saleen one? If the guy was running a supercharger on the stock ECU that would certainly explain the engine being smoked. The saleen ECU would expect a 5.4 L DOHC wouldn't it? Probably would have different cams as well.

I'll be interested to see how you hook up the EFI and what the results are.

[theletup]

What a fun project!

I've wondered how much power a stock 4.6 would make with nothing but a supercharger and tuning accordingly. There are a lot of them in junkyards and they seem to be relatively stout engines that are outliving the vehicles they came in.

Are you using stock ECU? Do you have the Saleen one? If the guy was running a supercharger on the stock ECU that would certainly explain the engine being smoked. The saleen ECU would expect a 5.4 L DOHC wouldn't it? Probably would have different cams as well.

I'll be interested to see how you hook up the EFI and what the results are.

So the 2002 Saleen Mustang with the SuperCharger is also referred to as the S-281 S/C (simply Saleen 281 (4.6L) Super/Charger
It came with the stock VIN W 4.6L SOHC engine as any other Mustang GT but the supercharger kit upped the HP to 365hp. I'm honestly not sure how different the tune was from the factory but it was definitely set up for a 4.6L. It won't matter on my build though. I will have the truck dyno tuned when I have it up and running and I plan on running a tuner with different tunes available for different situations i.e. (the turn WAY down for the kid to drive someday tune LOL)

As far as the EFI goes. I found an EFI modified fuel tank for a 1970 Mustang (which a lot of people use on these trucks) and I will mount in between the rear frame rails. I ordered it with a fuel pump capable of handling the S/C 4.6 fuel needs. The Saleen fuel rail is set up for a returnless system. On a returnless system the PCM uses variable voltage to control fuel pressure rather than a mechanical regulator. My junk yard crown vic motor came with a return style fuel rail which I am going to swap over the Saleen intake and use a return style system (much more simple to layout for the wiring harness).

Wiring harness I ordered from RonFrancis.com and it uses all factory style connectors for the 4.6L and each connector comes with a 20' lead so you can route the harness however you'd like it. I plan to hide my PCM and fuse/relay panel under the dash. The PCM will be reflashed to eliminate the PATS (security/anti-theft) system and remove all unnecessary emissions systems from the engine. RonFrancis.com will also be doing the reflash for me. The whole harness will be a standalone harness with an OBD II connector that I can plug into any time to check for any factory codes/faults. I'm also going to add a check engine LED light into my gauge cluster. The only connections the harness shares with the rest of the truck are B+ (power), Ground, and Key-on power. It was a spendy set up ($900 for the wiring harness, and $350 for the custom reflash). The fuel tank set up was also pretty spendy ($650 for the tank, pump and sender).

You could absolutely use your factory harness and likely find a way to use a Crown Vic or Mustang fuel tank under the truck. My truck will sit very low and I love the way the 1970 mustang tanks fit in these trucks (and the 20 gallons!). I decided to spend the extra money on the wiring rather than cutting mine up. I'm good at wiring but I don't enjoy it so...

Here's a link to the fuel tank set up I'm running (would work great for any EFI swap:
http://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ ... prd489.htm

And here the link to the wiring harness I will be using:
http://www.ronfrancis.com/products.asp?dept=292

[theletup]

I spent a few hours working on the truck last night getting ready to install the 4 link rear suspension

I dropped the Mustang rear axle and got all the brackets cut off and ground smooth:


Took about ten minutes to get the rear axle on the ground but 2 hours to cut and grind the brackets
I have to admit I didn't have the cutting/grinding technique down very well at all at first but by the end of the little project I had it down to a science. I highly recommend a respirator and some headphones with Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighter, or The Beatles. This will make your life much easier and you'll have much less black snot than I did at midnight.



I also got the rear axle and suspension removed from the truck. I also cut all the brackets off and removed the wiring and brake lines. One tip when removing frame rivets (you may already know but I learned about a year ago after struggling with many before). Use a cut off wheel to cut an X shape all the way through the head of the rivet. Then use an air hammer with a chisel on it and it with cut through the rivet like butter.

Pressure wash first. I'd love to have the money to have the frame sandblasted before working on it but I'm impatient and the pressure washer will have to do for now:


Going for that super raked look... or maybe just trying to save my back and knees:




Ride Height (maybe)...


Very rough layout of the triangulated 4-Link:

This 4 link comes ready to weld and utilizes the stock ears on the Ford 8.8 rear axle. This is basically the same suspension set up as the Mustang uses. I got it here: http://www.welderseries.com/blog/#!/Rea ... y=12959482
It came out of Canada and I was worried about shipping time but it was the only 8.8 specific 4 link I could find and I got it in less than a week from ordering. His product is very nice quality and he has a ton of other frame, chassis, motor mount, trans mount parts available. Very happy with it.

I ran in to a bit of a snag.... I love the ride height where it sits... however the 265/35R18 tires that are currently mounted on the front wheels are a little smaller than I want to run (a little to short/thin for my taste). I plan to stick with a low profile sport tire but I want to step up to a 275/40R18 in the front and I decided to order tires before welding in the 4 link. The 265 tires only have about an inch of clear from the front fender. After further inspection I found that my front coil spring were cut down by the previous owner but 2.5 or 3 coils. I order some Eaton Detriot 1.5" drop springs for the crown vic front end. This will greatly improve the ride quality of cut springs. I'm going to install the drop spings and get my desired tires on before I do any more suspension work. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot (remember I'm impatient so this is driving me crazy!!)

If the drop springs are too high I may have to cut a coil or two but they will still be better than my drastically modified stock spring that are there now. I love how low it is though so we'll see!








I was also going to try setting the bed back on the frame with the rear axle ratchet strapped in place but the tires don't clear so a mini-tub will be in order... . .. ... good thing winter is coming so I will have time to get some work without being tempted to drive it!

[hfdco4]

Nice project. I did find those brackets online here is the link if anyone is interested.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/1518236608 ... ps&lpid=82

[motzingg]

WOW, that four link setup is really slick. So the 8.8 center section has cast-in eyes for the triangulated tie rods?

For the $340/pr i'm going to have to pay to replace my leaf springs, a 300 dollar 4-link kit and junkyard coil springs would be roughly the same price.

Is the mustang rear end close to the same width as the stock bumpside, or is it wider? Do you know if the F150 8.8's have the same eyelets cast into them or just the mustang ones? Either way the mustang axle isn't too hard to come by.

[motzingg]

Hmm speaking of... any way we could figure out how to get those leaf spings down to texas? UPS freight would be pretty expensive, unless you have a commercial shipping address. I have a dock at work but they won't let me use the account...

I'd be more than happy to help you fund your project.

[theletup]

Nice project. I did find those brackets online here is the link if anyone is interested.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/1518236608 ... ps&lpid=82

Nice find! Yeah I bought those brackets over a year ago before I even had the truck so I couldn't remember how I found them or what search term I used.

WOW, that four link setup is really slick. So the 8.8 center section has cast-in eyes for the triangulated tie rods?

For the $340/pr i'm going to have to pay to replace my leaf springs, a 300 dollar 4-link kit and junkyard coil springs would be roughly the same price.

Is the mustang rear end close to the same width as the stock bumpside, or is it wider? Do you know if the F150 8.8's have the same eyelets cast into them or just the mustang ones? Either way the mustang axle isn't too hard to come by.

The Mustang rear is quite a bit wider than the 9". I'm not sure of the exact measurement off hand. I would have stuck with the 9" but it was too narrow for the Saleen wheels. However you could easily just 4 link your 9". You could run a parallel 4 link with a panhard bar or a triangulated 4 link. The only reason I went triangulated is because the mounts were already cast into the 8.8 and it made the most sense to run that style 4 link. For you it would probably be best to just 4 link your 9" if that's the route you're thinkin about going. If you're serious about the leaf springs shoot me a PM. I bet you could find some good ones for almost nothing in your area on CL or at a junk yard if you looked hard enough

[theletup]

I don't have much of an update because the shop has been slammed and I've been waiting on parts before I could go any further in the chassis work. However my tires came in this week and I mounted them on the wheels. I also ordered a set of Eaton Detroit 1.5" lowering springs for the CV front end (the springs that came with my front end had 4 coils cut from them). The lowering springs were still about 2.5" too tall once I got my tires mounted so I cut 2 coils from them and I love the ride height in the front with the bigger tires.

The rear tires are 295/45ZR18s and fronts are 275/40ZR18s. They are the Nitto N555 Extreme

I also got the transmission crossmember bolted in and tacked but didn't get a pic of it yet.

Now that I finally have a final front ride height and transmission output shaft angle I can get the 4 link installed tomorrow.

PS the bed isn't sitting all the way down on the frame due to some straps holding the rear axle in place (that's why the body lines look all hellish).







This is pretty close to the final ride height that I'm going for.