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KEN'S HOT ROD PROJECT
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My '55 Ford P.U. Project
This truck was someone elses dream that got partially completed and then put up for sale. When I first saw this '55 Ford P.U. it was in need of some T.L.C. with broken glass, a primered body, no interior, and grease and oil drippin' everywhere. However, the upside to this project was a ''72 Ford Torino front clip that gave way to a 302; C-4 tranny; power steering; power brakes; slammed body/frame; 9 inch rear end; I.F.S.; and 2 inches of width added the rear fenders. What I found out later and hidden beneath the body, was a project that was "mickey moused", with only attention paid to those areas that were externally visible. I had in essence, bought a bigger and more expensive project than I had thought.
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Project Plan
I bought the truck in July,2001 and spent the first few weeks trying to decide how far I would strip it down, before I would start to rebuild. Originally I was going to leave the cab on, and remove the rest of the body parts. I found the "302" to be tired, so decided to replace the engine, and with that, decided to go to a "351-W" and the stronger C-6 tranny. Replacing the engine put me in a position of having to remove the cab, since the new tranny was 3 inches longer that the C-4. After removing the engine, I found the engine mounts that had been fabricated and welded in to be poor, putting me in a position of having to weld in new mounts, and move the transmission brace to accommodate the longer tranny. I soon saw that this project was growing, so decided to start at the rear and work forward. The updates below will give you an idea of my progress.
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UPDATE #1: June 2002
I have finally got the new C-6 tranny rebuilt, and have the engine completed. I have reworked the engine mounts and relocated the tranny cross member to accommodate
the engine / tranny. The engine and tranny are in place along with a shortened drive
shaft. Nice to have the drive line completed.
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UPDATE#2: Dec. 2002
It was a slow summer working on the truck. I installed an Eldelbrock dual plane manifold, an Eldelbrock 750cfm performer carb, and a Mallory electronic distributor. I had a problem finding the right pulleys to match the power steering and alternator, but they are now in place.It looks like the headers are going to be a problem, since the front end cross member sits right under the engine and the steering box is real close to the block. With the drive train complete, I am now ready to start to work on the cab of the truck. I have it on rollers, and have stripped it of all parts. The firewall has some 75 holes in oit, so I am looking to replace it with an after market firewall.
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Update #3: December, 2003
It has been a pretty slow year for the truck; I spent many hours on the headers, continued to have problems with trying to get around everything. I finally got them done, and now have to build the exhaust to the back. I have spent a lot of time this year on the CAB; the rust was terrrible in the front corners. I had to fabricate and weld in new pieces in several places. Then had to fill with steel welds and now completing the repairs with small amounts of filler material. The rest of the CAB is in pretty good shape and I will now start on the firewall. I have bought a piece of stainless to weld in and cover the many holes in the firewall. This is what I will start on in January.
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