63 Short Wrong-Full Crown Vic Swap

[mac]

this makes me want a lowered slick, looks great

i'd keep the vic wheels myself. any vehicle looks freaking sweet with black steel wheels and chrome center caps imo. that's what i run on my DD ranger and probably what will end up on my 64.

[simonscr]

The truck looks great! It is very inspirational watch the nice steady pace you have had in building this truck!

What color are you painting it?

[HawaiiKid]

this makes me want a lowered slick, looks great

i'd keep the vic wheels myself. any vehicle looks freaking sweet with black steel wheels and chrome center caps imo. that's what i run on my DD ranger and probably what will end up on my 64.

I love the way it looks I like the Vic wheels honestly but I think a nice set of 5 spokes would look good too-I'm not going to do Bullitts because I've seen so many trucks with them but thats cause they look sweet haha. With the Mustang bolt pattern I've got a huge selection out there, but with the width of the Vic front and rear I'm limited by offset. I'll see if my idea works this week-I'll know if the Vics are staying or I have a new set as of Thursday!

The truck looks great! It is very inspirational watch the nice steady pace you have had in building this truck!

What color are you painting it?

I appreciate the kind words I was hoping to have it at this point by November but life got in the way-we took about 4 months away from this build doing other projects and the holidays. It is nice being back on it so hard though!!

The interior is going to be matte red and the exterior will be matte white Should be awesome-we are not doing almost any bodywork to the outside, just making it one uniform color over the old work but the interior is at least getting sanded and cleaned up. Speaking of that...

Another long night at the shop!




Interior is getting there, still lots to do on it. Need to get some primer shot on the bare metal and get the seats out to do the back of the cab-everything else is at least scuffed a bit.


Time for bed, I have a feeling I'll be doing this again tomorrow night

[therealjoeshmoe]

how is the crown vic seats mounted? id be interested to see how you did it. i have a set just like yours and would like to put them in my truck...

[HawaiiKid]

how is the crown vic seats mounted? id be interested to see how you did it. i have a set just like yours and would like to put them in my truck...

They are mounted in the stock locations-I have the entire floor and firewall from the Crown Victoria under my F100


My painter got the interior shot with primer Tuesday night after I had sanded everything down...



After that I pulled it out of the booth and stayed late sanding the bed to have a semi-smooth surface for the exterior primer. I know some of you think I am crazy for not at least doing some body work the the exterior but to me thats not what this truck is about. I have wanted a true "shop truck" build and for that finish I am just DAing and shooting the primer over just about everything!




Tonight was a night of no pictures but more and more progress! Got the entire interior resanded/wet sanded to prep it for color tomorrow! Test fit my super secret wheel set up and surprisingly everything looks like it is going to fit!!! Should be a pretty unique set up when I unveil it


Hopefully the next post will have some pictures of color on the interior

[HawaiiKid]

Once the interior was primed and I resanded and prepped it again and it got shot last night...


Ford "Race Red" with a matte clear over the top of it...here is the interior trimmed out and close to ready to roll (still no new seats or carpet but this is how she'll be put on the road!)


After I trimmed out the interior we decided to tackle some of the old bodywork. My friend that has done so much of the project with me was worried about the primer sticking to the old crappy paint and bodywork, and we both hated the holes in the bedsides and cab where the moldings used to be so this is what most of the day turned into...




Cab will be next to get this treatment then the fenders.

Also got the bedsides both pulled to fit a bigger tire/make them look "correct". In stock form the wrong bed wheel wells actually angle back towards the middle of the truck rather than straight down or out which makes it look goofy and screws up how much tire you can fit under it. We pulled the well so it is flush with the rest of the bed now and it looks much much better. While I was there I also rolled the lips on both bed side wheel wells for a few extra millimeters of room-tucking tire shouldn't be an issue now even if I go up a few sizes.

Also figured out a few things on the tail lights and blinkers-still need to get my running lights working but the headlights and brake lights and rear blinkers work now! Need to mesh the two systems together at the brake light its self but the stock system had stopped working-I had cut one or two too many wires haha. Started working on an interior panel for the AC panel to sit in in the glove box and have a great idea for the actual gauge cluster now too...

[foodstick]

Sheesh......... its coming along so nice you probably can't sleep at night because you keep thinking about that truck !

For some reason when I was finally finishing mine, the point when the interior was painted just set me on fire..

[HawaiiKid]

Sheesh......... its coming along so nice you probably can't sleep at night because you keep thinking about that truck !

For some reason when I was finally finishing mine, the point when the interior was painted just set me on fire..

Hahaha-I fall asleep thinking of it, get to work and pull it out of the shop, pull it in after work and work on it three nights a week and for the past few weekends both Saturday and Sunday. To say I am living and breathing this truck is an understatement! I've never had a long term project that I couldn't at least drive in the interum and I'm not sure I'll ever have another after this-not being able to take her out is killing me!!! With that said...




My really good friend (aka cobuilder at this point) spent a couple hours on the bed for me today! Got all the holes welded up and beat out the rear bed caps good enough for now-they were super messed up and buried under literally an inch and a half of drywall mud and pink bondo. They still are messed up but it is what it is for now! He also fully rolled my wheel wells-couldnt do it with the bed on the truck, but once it was on a stand it was doable. So this was how the evening began...

My friend and painter Jorge laying down the white primer on the bed! Laid down 3 heavy coats since this is going to be the final finish on the truck...


This is it after about 10 minutes of drying...already starting to get the matte finish I wanted!



I spent the rest of the evening stripping and sanding the cab. Both doors have rough spots in them at the bottom that we will be smoothing out, there is a dent in the side of the roof (along with a few hail dents) and there is one rough spot in the cowl that need to be attented to. Other than that the cab is just about done-we'll be getting the holes welded up, the remaining spots ground/sanded down and have it prepped to be painted in the next few days hopefully! Depending on how far along we are I may even get the fenders and grille prepped to be shot

As she sat at the end of the night...

[simonscr]

I get excited every time I see that there is a new post on this build! The bed looks nice. I like the matte finish, seriously thinking about going that direction on my truck.

[HawaiiKid]

I get excited every time I see that there is a new post on this build! The bed looks nice. I like the matte finish, seriously thinking about going that direction on my truck.

Thanks, I get excited I have something to share Love the matte red and matte white finishes, I think it makes the truck stand out more!

As of Tuesday night...
Another night at the shop, more sanding done. Not worth posting pictures of the progress because quite frankly you can't see crap but here are a couple shots of the bed outside



You can't see all the little dents and dings we left in her in pictures but they are there! The back of the bed ends are rooooough like I said before but I've got so much stuff to do in the next week I'm not real worried about that.

To get her on the road:
Cab molding holes, gas door hole, and old mirror holes welded
Cab/fenders/grille/tailgate painted
Glass installed (bought the weatherstripping kit from Dennis Carpenter, have a new windshield and the old back glass)
New wheels/tires bought, mounted and balanced and installed with new hardware
Taillights modified to fit the F100 housings (fvck that 60s sh1t)
Blinker housings installed/modified to fit
Interior wiring tucked
And, you know, all the shit to make it actually legal.

Things I'd like to have done:
Front bumper installed/painted
Front wheel tubs
Front wiring harnesses rerouted

So much to do. So little time. Why is it always like this.



As of tonight...
Cab molding holes, gas door hole and most of the mirror holes filled and smoothed. Another night of sanding, sanding, prepping, sanding and more prepping.








Hopefully good enough for paint. We'll see what tomorrow brings....

[HawaiiKid]

Friday was good enough for paint!!!

This was how I left it Friday night...


The grille shell and tailgate, all primer white...


The tailgate-all primer white except the ridges of the "FORD" which we brushed with superfine sandpaper.


The inner steps blacked out

Started to retuck the interior wiring also


Blacked out the gastank and the rear suspension on the Crown Vic as a temporary solution.


Sanded down the FORD on the front grille on all of the edges of the letters to give it a brushed look and trimmed out the grille area.




Got my new wheels and tires on in a big move!!! They are 2013 Lexus RX350 F-Sport 19x7.5 wheels on 1 inch spacers (to make up for the offset difference and the fact that the lugs are 12mm X 1.5 vs the Crown Vic's half inch lugs) and 245/45R18 tires.




Moved on to trimming out the rear end of the truck...



Got the blinkers and taillights adapted to the stock housings-no real pictures but the blinkers and brake/blinkers out back work! I am happy that I am using new bulbs-everything in the old housings was pretty rough.


Got a massive amount done in my fourteen hour work day yesterday! I went back up to the shop today and drove it for the first time since we put the wheels on her and needless to say tucking tire up front causes some rubbing issues with any sort of turning input. The good thing is that we have not done an alignment or rolled the fenders yet so there is some adjustment there, and I may also run a 3/4 inch spacer up front to bring it in a bit more. We'll see what tomorrow brings!


Here is a shot of her outside with the old wheels and tires in her bed!

[sixty8c10]

All I can say is WOW. I just can't wait to get back from Afghanistan and get started on mine.

[foodstick]

Get back soon, and healthy....

[HawaiiKid]

All I can say is WOW. I just can't wait to get back from Afghanistan and get started on mine.

It has been quite the adventure...not done yet but she is getting there!!

Get back soon, and healthy....

Agreed








I am happy to say that rolling the fenders and maxing out the camber (1.5 degrees of camber each side) made the truck driveable!! I wouldn't say it has a great turning radius or that it will go from lock to lock but its enough to daily! No pictures really, spent most of the night doing that...tomorrow evening should be getting the bumper on the front of her and glass either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday afternoon! My friend will be taking his 72 stepside (which is running, driving, and almost 100% road worthy!) to the GoodGuys Texas Spring Nationals this Friday or Saturday and one of those days he'll be taking Lacey out for me (I'll be out of town all weekend). This deadline has been what has really pushed my to get her most of the way done

Also, from that "to do list" I posted on the fourth...



To get her on the road:
Cab molding holes, gas door hole, and old mirror holes welded-DONE
Cab/fenders/grille/tailgate painted -DONE
Glass installed (bought the weatherstripping kit from Dennis Carpenter, have a new windshield and the old back glass)-Tomorrow/Wednesday
New wheels/tires bought, mounted and balanced and installed with new hardware -DONE
Taillights modified to fit the F100 housings -DONE
Blinker housings installed/modified to fit -DONE
Interior wiring tucked-half done
And, you know, all the stuff to make it actually legal.-haven't started the process

Things I'd like to have done:
Front bumper installed/painted-tomorrow
Front wheel tubs-Not happening till after the show
Front wiring harnesses rerouted-need tubs to do that


Pretty thrilled with how its been coming along recently!! Can't wait to drive her

[kstones63]

Lookin good.

[1965fordf100]

Looking sweet!

[HawaiiKid]

Lookin good.

Looking sweet!

Thanks guys!! About a weeks worth of an update here-I went out of town the day after she got semi-finished.

Quick shot the day before we got the bumper taken care of.



We got the bumper mounted the next morning, shes not going anywhere!




New front end painted a little differently! If this truck wasn't polarizing enough as it was...





I love her

Also got a few shots of her next to our 1972 F100 Stepside on a 03 Crown Vic

[simonscr]

The red grill looks sweet on the front of her, really ties everything together on the truck! IMO

You know,... A little bit of red pin stripping might look really good on her...

[foodstick]

Way to go Hawaii !

That finish stage took me about 5 years of grumbling, a big spot in Kids storage area for about 3 years... SORRY AGAIN Kid !
Cutting and grinding them is so dirty, messy and so easy compared to finish work ! And after my firt truck having a flawless finish I was terrified to drive around. I sleep easy with my flat white over flat grey...

You should see the the look on the face of a Dupont tech man when you take the 10,000 dollar color match camera. Pull the color grey of a model airplane, the color white of off a fuse box lid in the shop.. and then tell him you are going to use their new waterborne paint and add the hardener to the paint... and just SKIP their clear coat !

Then when we asked him how it would work ..he paused and said
"I don't know? I am not sure its been tried"

Ah memories...

[Shadow]

Great Work, You Must Be Excited And Overjoyed With The Results.. .....