BlackTruck Build 65

[JeffinMooresville]

Man, gotta love this weather, picked up the wheels after having lunch with grandkids, and got em mounted up. So, have the chassis on 4 wheels.







Tempted to put the body back on and see what the stance is going to look like, but i think i will pull everything apart, drill all final holes required for the kit, and take the frame in to get blasted so i can start build for real.

[My wife's nightmare]

Don't waste time drilling all them holes. Put the cab back on it and let's go for a ride!!

[SteveCanup]

Don't waste time drilling all them holes. Put the cab back on it and let's go for a ride!!

Agreed! I would have a hard time not wanting to start putting it back together. It looks great by the way!

[JeffinMooresville]

Ok, time to disassemble and send the frame out for blast and powdercoat. As always, comes apart a lot faster than it goes together.



I didn't get a good pic on initial assemble. The new crossmember has a top and bottom piece that get sandwiched together.



I also had some additional holes to drill, so took this opportunity to do that now.
Bottom crossmember section only.



Ok, pop this off and front is done, move on to rear next. Leaving the threaded rod to keep the front end stable

[SteveCanup]

Any new updates?

[JeffinMooresville]

Got the frame back from local powdercoat guy and they did a great job, I picked a gunmetal gray, just to have a little contrast, and when the lady said color was Hombre Grey, well that locked it.

Before


After


Sure makes it nice to re-assemble, don't even get your hands dirty.Much easier the second time.








I still have to paint a couple of spots on the spindles, want to get it all together on the ground to make sure i dont need any more grinding.

Rear end next

[SteveCanup]

Jeff! Man that frame looks good! I had to wipe my computer screen off.....from the drool, lol. Great progress! Keep the pics coming....I'll keep paper towels handy.

[JeffinMooresville]

Ok, frame and suspension reassembled and sitting on tires.





Going to rebuild the diff, so will clean up and pain then. Want to set cab and bed on to determine clearance for wheels and tires.













Ok, ready to set the cab and bed on and check the stance. My motor guy has threatened to actually finish up soon, so will be able to start the fitment on oil pan, headers steering.

[grump]

I really like that gray frame, never would have thought of gray instead of black for a frame. You're coming along nicely. I'll be following. oh yeah, I like your drag slicks on the back.

[SteveCanup]

Jeff...that is NICE! Almost too nice to cover it with a cab and bed, lol.

[JeffinMooresville]

Doug gave me a hand this weekend to get the cab on.









Try and get the bed on next to figure out rear tire size. So much to do.

[SteveCanup]

Looking good! Great to see progress!

[JeffinMooresville]

Dismantled the front clip so i can test fit fenders for stance and tire clearance. Not so worried about front even tho new tires will be wider and taller. But will need to verify rear fit.

The radiator mount cleaned up pretty good, a little surface rust on the bottom, but no rot.













Check out my S10 wheels, the suspension kit used Camaro front spindles, so had to find some wheels to use during build. Going to try to get bed on tomorrow.

[SteveCanup]

That thing makes those S10 wheels look good....lol. Great progress!

[JeffinMooresville]

Went over and watched panthers game with grandkids today, throwing the football around in the backyard on a sunny November day in Carolina. nothing much better than that.

Was able to get a little mock-up work on the truck done.

Made up some bed pads.





And rigged up my bed hoist



And she dropped right into place.







Not certain where the top of the bed should align, but looks like the body bump lines up and the bottom lines up. On my flare-side, the bed lines up to the top body line and this aligns to the lower body line.

A



Blue truck has a bit of rake in the stance, we rebuilt it at stock suspension height, no drop, but might pull a couple of leafs in the back to even out a little bit. Black truck has much flatter stance.


Measured for rear tires, and looks to be close. Was hoping to put 18r50/315 (about 12.5” wide and 30.5” tall, but it appears that might be a little snug on width. Maybe back off to 305s. I am thinking 18 x 9.5 wheels with 315 or 305. Anybody running something in this range?

I could tub it, but with location of coil overs, there is only about 1.5” available to widen tubs. Seems like a lot of effort for an inch.

[JeffinMooresville]

Worked some on placement of mechanicals with the cab in place. Putting a new brake master on and also have to install hydraulic clutch to use with tremec 5 speed. On the brake master, i found a Wilwood model for disc/disc and attached proportional valve. I called Wilwood, and they pointed me to a specific model for early mustangs that has an attachment arm that will work with 65 f100’s. And it it did actually bolt right up with no mods and attached to brake petal. I used 15/16” bore





I picked a spot to mount the clutch hydraulic master , went thru the left hand square knockout used for the stock wiring harness. I am going to run wiring thru new location that i ain't determined yet.

The clutch in the 65 is different config than the 63 and it has like a 30degree bend to get the proper foot placement, but at the top it is right beside the brake pedal, so the location i found for the hydraulic clutch is about 4” left of the top of the lever.

I mocked up a bracket to test the theory and seems to work. I think i will make 1 out of thicker material and bring the left hand leg down to the clutch pedal, so will be like a upside down triangle. Pretty sure that will work. Brass rod end not connected in pics.





I still have room for the stock ebrake. I think i am going to modify existing steering column to use , but shorten and move closer to dash.

[JeffinMooresville]

Have not been able to work on truck as much as I would like. Seems like between Work and other things going on, hard to find time. I am trying to get as much of the placement for mechanicals, wiring , brakes etc. roughed in so I can send the cab to get paint so I can do final install, but a lot of things to consider. I have placement for brake master and hydraulic clutch, and I need to make decision on steering. The location of steering wheel in my 63 with bench seat does not leave much room for a fat boy. But on the 65, With the buckets in, and moving tank out of the cab, it seems like there is a lot more room. So I decided to modify Stock steering column to hook up to the power rack and pinion, and slide it toward the dash to get a little room.

So I started by cutting the bottom 4” off the steering column about 1/2 above the gear linkage slots.



I also cut the 3/4 solid steering column right above the rag joint. Doug hooked me up a steering bearing from Mustang Steve’s, that fits into the end of the steering column and a lip to keep it in place. Also comes with a shaft lock ring to keep in place. I removed the inside sleeve that Was used to engage the gear linkage, and reassembled the steering column. With new lower bearing.

This is the new bearing from MustangSteve web site



I had to remove the little horseshoe bracket from the column , by drilling the 4 spotvwelds, so I could reposition the column and push it I a bit... this is about 4” in . You can see original placement, where hotshot bracket held column, not painted.







This is the BEFORE stock position of steering wheel.



I will need to put the driver seat back in and check the fit.

I left the column and solid steering shaft long , I think I can shorten this up a bit for final and still have plenty to clear firewall.



Now just get a couple of knuckles and shaft and I should be ready to go.

[JeffinMooresville]

OK, got seat back in and the wheel position was too far in. Hit your legs when braking or clutching. unless, I want to ride like a go cart, with my legs splayed out, I figured I would pull out a little.



This is a little better, only about 2” in from stock position. I think this and perhaps use a smaller 15” galaxy wheel will do the trick. Stock wheel is 17”, and new suspension has power rack and pinion.



I also put the firewall bracket back on and allowed for some downward movement in mounting to tweak the angle a little raising wheel a little.

[SteveCanup]

That looks great! It does take quite a bit of 'tweaking' to get the steering wheel in just the right place in these old trucks. I like the look of the original steering column...and a 15" steering wheel will give you more room too.

[JeffinMooresville]

Did a little work on Clutch pedal. I am using a hydraulic Clutch and i found a spot on the firewall about right height where the 2 square electrical connectors come thru. But the clutch pedal position was few inches off, so i added a triangular bracket out of 1/4 flat bar and welded her up. Getting a little more confidence in my welding, been trying to practice a little, and a lot easier on thick stuff vs sheet metal.



Worked out perfectly, now I just have to make a little plate to block of the hole. And weld it in.



Have also Been trying to finalize wheels and tire size. The wheels I picked will be staggered 18” x 8” in front and 20” x 10” in back. I like more sidewall, so tire height becomes tall and I am concerned with clearance.

So I put the 17” wheels from Blue Truck on, they are 30.5” tall, but not as wide, but will give me idea of clearance.



Was worried about front edge of fender, but looks like that is not going to be an issue.



Little hard to see, inner fender well clearance, but I think I am definitely going to need a little room there.



So, I plan in tubing out a few inches to provide clearance. My fender wells are a little beat up, Someone suggested that I can use Bronco Tubs from Dennis Carpenters, so I picked a couple of those up. Will probably have my body man do those, don’t have quite that much confidence in my finish welding skills.