No E30 Project '95 F-150 - Extra Credit

[roguetoaster]

While this truck isn't exactly mint, I didn't think it was a clunker until it started making that exact sound.

And, survey says...rusted out leaf spring mount twisting under load. Didn't get any before pics since it just looked like a spring mount, but the cup at the bottom holds everything, and that rusting weakened the component over the years.



So that took something like three hours, three cutting discs, and all of my sawzall blades. It was so unexpectedly bad. At least the parts were something like $30. The fatal flaw is that the lower cup holds all sorts of crap and rusts out. Great design, 10/10, and now I know why most people with old trucks have a torch rig in the corner.



There, all better, and just ignore that massively suspect wiring in the frame.

Now let's slow down some of this rust. So I pressure washed the entire undercarriage, got horribly filthy, found all of the places dirt likes to hide, and sprayed most of the rusty bits down with Fluid Film/lanolin oil. After five months it looks something like this. Very nice, a real improvement, and just ignore that other spring mount, it's fine!



Now, just for fun, this truck was assembled at a Ford plant that opened in 1925 and closed in 2007. The statements on the sticker are debatable.



Coming up next, hunting for DINOSAURS!

[roguetoaster]

Let's look underneath!



Hmm, what's that odd thing? ENHANCE!



Great...looks like someone bypassed the ABS pump. At least it has new brake lines, shocks and front springs...

OKAY, that's enough of that, the more we know, the more we'll have to fix. Lowers lift.



But at least it doesn't matter if I flat spot the tires, and maybe they already were since they drove like they were a rendered in a video game from the late 90s.

Let's tackle the easy thing first and reseal the differential cover! Anything safety related can wait!




That looks really good for 222k, and the fluid didn't really need to be changed either, suspicious...

Setting attention mode to ignore...complete.

[roguetoaster]

find yourself a high output 5.0 from a Mercury Mountaineer. could be neat. i always liked these body styles, a lot.

I could, but there isn't really enough gain to add the HO since the 300 already moves it along pretty well and has some neat features, like purely gear driven timing.

A nice vintage. What's the brown two tone? Actual paint or like an installed side skirt piece?

It's oxford white over either Sonora or Santa Fe tan paint, and it's part of the Eddie Bauer package, but XLT trims also typically had two tone. The EB package added AC, power windows/locks, 4 speaker sound, a leather wheel, the aluminum wheels, side rub strips, chrome trim, tailgate applique, maybe gauges, and normally bucket seats with a console, although this one has a bench seat today.

[Reichart12]

A nice vintage. What's the brown two tone? Actual paint or like an installed side skirt piece?

[e30austin]

find yourself a high output 5.0 from a Mercury Mountaineer. could be neat. i always liked these body styles, a lot.

[roguetoaster]

I didn't realize, but it would make sense that the two Ford operations would share emissions tech. I'll have to look in to what the actual figures are for emissions, and on the back of that there is the possibility of getting a letter of equivalency from Ford, which could make importation legal.

[lukeADE335i]

Interesting - just looked up a bit more about it, and didn't realise there would be those sorts of restrictions on importation to the US. Emissions systems etc. were lifted more or less straight from the US Ford engines by Ford Australia, so I didn't think the EPA there would bat an eyelid at them.

[roguetoaster]

Nice one!

You know you just want to jump on Australian ebay and grab one of these: for a stock, reliable 260hp. With our dollar being pretty low at the moment, it would be pretty cheap, but might take a while to get to the US. They are dime a dozen over here & the cars are now worth peanuts since Ford stopped manufacturing them.

Or you could go next level with the turbo motor for a stock 360hp (with mods the sky is the limit) providing you don't mind the horrific fuel economy that you'd get from it in an F150

Yep, the slight issue is that they aren't yet technically legal to import with the intention to use in a car registered on US roads. Clearly the taxi engines are fine, and they generally seem fine to take a turbo, but factory turbo is always good, especially for something dumb like a truck. There are several US "importers" who are already working in Barras, but they seem to not want to get turbo engines. In any case, it's the route I'd like to go, legal or otherwise.

[lukeADE335i]

Nice one!

You know you just want to jump on Australian ebay and grab one of these: Falcon 4.0 Barra engine for a stock, reliable 260hp. With our dollar being pretty low at the moment, it would be pretty cheap, but might take a while to get to the US. They are dime a dozen over here & the cars are now worth peanuts since Ford stopped manufacturing them.

Or you could go next level with the turbo motor for a stock 360hp (with mods the sky is the limit) providing you don't mind the horrific fuel economy that you'd get from it in an F150

[roguetoaster]

M30 swap would definitely make it happen...

Hmm, I was just thinking about my old Hartge H5S the other day, and that M30 was awesome.

Even so, this is not a car, so COTM seems like an impossibility.

[2mAn]

I absolutely love where this is going. Future COTM right here.

M30 swap would definitely make it happen...

[mike.bmw]

I absolutely love where this is going. Future COTM right here.

[roguetoaster]

OH HELL YA! ... from the Contour SVT?

Post it on YouTube K-Swap F150 and get all the views... Stanceworks is k-swapping a Ferrari 308 so why not one-up him

In reality the Ford 300 makes 150/245 from 4.9L, the SVTC makes 198/165 from 2.5L, so there's really no point there, but there is a marque appropriate DOHC 4.0L straight 6 that I would want to put in there. Should I be able to get a fairly complete unit of course.

[2mAn]

Right ballpark, but think more Mazda K.

OH HELL YA! ... from the Contour SVT?

Post it on YouTube K-Swap F150 and get all the views... Stanceworks is k-swapping a Ferrari 308 so why not one-up him

[roguetoaster]

So time for a K-swap?

Right ballpark, but think more Mazda K.