64 project "Money Pit"

[Reds Rod Shop]

Well, what started out as a frame rebuild for Ole Red has turned into a complete truck build from extra parts. I purchased a truck for the frame and after disassembly found that the rear of the frame was badly damaged. Well a friend of mine had another 64 frame that had been hit in the front. A little elbow grease and a lot of measuring and welding and 2 bad frames made 1 good frame. We channeled the front end to lower the suspension by 2 inches, installed a mustang II crossmember, a 460 with a C6 will power it. Willwood brakes on all 4 shoes, a custom triangulated 4 link is in the works (should finish before the end of the year) and QA1 coil overs on both ends. I got the Boss 338 and BFG- G-Force KDW last week. 20x10's for the rear and 20x8.5's up front. I've made a lot of progress over the past 9 months but not as much as I'd like. Below are some pictures of my Frankenstein.



Checking out some different rims to see what they look like.



Finally got the motor and tranny test fitted



Additional cross member clearance required due to raising the motor up 2"


Got the new tires and rims



Mustang II front end installed


2 frames make one.

[Thunderboy]

Raising the engine two inches sure makes it bulge out of the engine compartment. I'm looking forward to seeing this come together!

[Reds Rod Shop]

A friend of mine has a Rod shop. He specializes in this. It does fill up the engine compartment but I never likes having to look down into it to see the an engine anyway.

[Greg D]

Great looking!
I am liking the little yellow project next it in the first pic.

[Reds Rod Shop]

Its a 29 international truck. It has a ways to go.

[f100cowboy]

Very nice! I really like the stance it has, and those new rims look perfect on it. Keep the pictures coming. I look forward to seeing your progress.

[Truckfarmer2]

Very nice work on that.

[Reds Rod Shop]

I've gotten a little done this week. The coil overs are installed and adjusted on the front. Ride height gives me 5" of clearance at the cross member. The triangluated 4 link for the rear axle is fabbed and installed with the adjustable coil overs and I modified the pass side inner fender well to gain clearance for the 20's. All in all, a pretty good week.

[Anthony]

NICE Lookin' good Red.. Keep up the good work...

[ezernut9mm]

jeebus, i've got to stop looking at all these build threads. while people are actually doing creative and constructive mods and upgrades i am sitting in a corner and eating paste.

[kstones63]

I like the way you did the passenger side inner fender well. I wish I would have thought about doing that on mine. I am putting the battery in the bed so I don't need the drop down in it. I did add to the bottom back drivers side fender well to make it match the bottom on the passenger side.

Kevin

[Santi]

Looks Great!! What kind of wheels are those? Those are pretty much the same type of wheels I planned on putting on my truck when complete. Again Great work and can't wait to see it done.

[Reds Rod Shop]

Boss 338's. 20x8.5 on front and 20x10 on the rear. $700 for all 4. Can't beat the price.

[brent460]

Flipin awsome! Hows the wheel/tire clear with the front suspension set up? Look like its going to turn ok? Whats the tire size? BTW thats a sweet ace truck!

[Reds Rod Shop]

245/35/20 on the front and 265/35/20 on the rear. She's gonna be close on turning. I'm looking at a few subtle mods to help out. I testing a spare fender and cutting the lip out which is 3/4" and replacing it with a 1/4" piece of round stock to gain clearance. I'm also contemplating modifying the body line on the fender. it has a turn in about 4" above the opening. Thinking about taking that out and making it smooth. This would gain another 1/2". It turns fine now but not as sharp as I'd like. We'll see what the mod's on the spare fender look like and then make a decision whether to be happy with the current set up. Thanks for the comments, they keep me going. Red

[Robert]

man your doing a good job

[jakdad]

Hey, That welder looks just like mine!

[Reds Rod Shop]

I've has a few people ask me about the triangulated 4 link. So I thought that I'd post a few detail pics and tell some details. I purchased the eyes, bungs for the eyes and axle collars from Speedway Motors. The rest is fabbed up. I ordered a stick of round tubing for the upper arms. cut it to length and tig welded the bungs to the end. I used a piect of 1 1/2" round stock 4" long and drilled a 3/4" hole in it for the frame mounts for the upper arms. The hangers on the housing are just made from 1 1/2" x 1/4" flat bar with the holes drilled in them. For the bottom, i used 1 1/2" tubing and welded some pipe on the ends that would hold the original leaf spring bushings. I reused the front spring hanger and the axles collars for the rear. All of the round tubing that I used is a special type that does not have the weld on the inside of it. I got it from McMaster Carr. I also took a piece of 1/4 by 2" flat bar and welded it to the bottom of the 1 1/2" tubing for strength. The holes in it are just for looks. The coil spring hangers were fabbed up to be adjustable. There are 4 holes in each so that coarse ride height can be adjusted. Fine ride height adjustment is obtained by the adjustable coil overs. The cool part about this is the pinion angle stays the same at all heights and the drive shaft length stays constand. Minimal movement in and out of the trans. Hope that this helped. Red

[Anthony]

Man them stacks of quarters look good!!! I wish my welds looked like that.. I can't wait to see it finished...

[Brian Taylor]

How about the Mustang II set up in front. Whos set up is that?
That truck will ride low and comfortable.