1971 f250 DESERT truck- 10/24 race prep

[1971ford]

looks good from here
whens the first race for ya?

thanks!

before were race-ready , we still have to...
-add full cage
-buy leaf packs,shocks/do suspension work
-all interior work (seats, shifter, dash, race radio, helmets (with intercom and fresh-air supply)...
-other neccesities like fuel cell, jack, fans, spare parts, spare wheels...
-and sadly, find out whats wrong with the tranny

and when summer starts i can no longer put all my money towards this build like ive been doing, ill have to put 90% of it to the 69 to get that back together. im really hoping to have the 69 done at the end of this summer/starting of next winter.

a wild estimation of when we will start racing is one year from now, maybe even alittle more because of the tranny and putting money to the 69, or maybe a little less because im chugging along in the build faster than i was thinking. i cant wait until were out, doing 300 mile races in the middle of the nevada desert... breaking down on the opposite side of the loop calling for the chase rig (dad's Tahoe, brothers bronco or the 69) to come save it

and when summer starts i can no longer put all my money towards this build like ive been doing, ill have to put 90% of it to the 69 to get that back together. im really hoping to have the 69 done at the end of this summer/starting of next winter.

[rjewkes]

I'm gussing the fans are for cooling? Just a thought bujt the serious rice burner racers install scoops in the roof for cooling.

[1971ford]

I'm gussing the fans are for cooling? Just a thought bujt the serious rice burner racers install scoops in the roof for cooling.

yep, cooling. the plan is to mount the tranny cooler to the rear cage right behind the cab and have 1 or 2 fans ontop of it. dont want that tranny hot! a gauge will monitor the tranny temp as well.
for the radiator, the more fans you can possibly fit the better. theres always heating problems with offroad trucks it seems. im going to be keeping an eye out at junkyards for Ford Taurus's. they supposively have adjustable speed electric fans, good for a budget build like mine.

[dablack00]

I run a taurus fan and they are great, but they pull lots of juice to run them. I have a 200 amp alt running all my stuff. You don't have to go that big but I would at least do 130 amp. Also, I have it on a thermostat to turn it on at 200F. The problem is, after I turn off the truck, it gets hot, and then when I try to start it, the battery is trying to turn the starter on a hot 460, plus turn on the taurus fan. I (an you) need to put in a delay switch to start the truck, then allow the fan to turn on. Or in your case, since it will be a race truck, just have the fans on a toggle switch (no thermostat needed).

Austin

[1971ford]

not only will the fans draw power but all the offroad lights will too. 2 lights on the bumper, 4 on the removable roof "rack".
i hear what you mean on the hot 460 starting. or NOT starting in my case
when we got to the shop to finish the bumper we stopped at the gate and shut the truck off. then we drained the battery trying to start it. luckily we were by his shop and he brought over a huge battery to jump it.

im looking to get one of those mini-starters. should be smaller, easier to get on through the headers, less weight and more power. I want to upgrade the battery and cables too because i hate not being able to trust the truck to start , drives me crazy.

[aramil]

hey 1971ford, have you thought about dovetailing the front and rear of the truck... you would have more clearance and visability around the truck and save some wieght... less wieght=higher jumping

[1971ford]

dovetailing is more for rockcrawlers, i wont be doing it to the 71.

while im writing i might as well do a tiny little update.

today i retightened the oil/tranny pan bolts, drained the torque converter/tranny and replaced it with DEX3 fluid, then i discovered a fun little gas leak so after being soaked in gas i got that fixed. well i thought i had it fixed until i started it and showered the engine in gas then i re-fixed it. all is well
then i drove it around the court zoooommmmmmmmmmmmmmm. i havent mastered drifting around the court's tree yet

also im in the process of making a skid-plate at the welding shop right now.
and tomorrow we might take it to the offroad track for a good beating.

[TheEskimo]

Gas leaks, always fun. Spilled some down my leg last month filling up and made the hour drive home with my leg soaked in gas(I know better) and got a nice burn

Don't forget the camera if you go out there.

[aramil]

dovetailing is more for rockcrawlers, i wont be doing it to the 71.

while im writing i might as well do a tiny little update.

today i retightened the oil/tranny pan bolts, drained the torque converter/tranny and replaced it with DEX3 fluid, then i discovered a fun little gas leak so after being soaked in gas i got that fixed. well i thought i had it fixed until i started it and showered the engine in gas then i re-fixed it. all is well
then i drove it around the court zoooommmmmmmmmmmmmmm. i havent mastered drifting around the court's tree yet

also im in the process of making a skid-plate at the welding shop right now.
and tomorrow we might take it to the offroad track for a good beating.

dovetailing could be used for any off road sport, i was just thinking it would drop some wieght off the front so you dont nose dive with that big block.

[1971ford]

to deal with the big-block up front im going to get a fiberglass hood and fenders when the truck is race-ready. plus with the heavy fuel cell and spare tires at the very rear of the bed is shouldnt be too bad. i also want an aluminum intake

[METALMASTER]

check this out prerunner fans
http://www.off-road.com/dirtsports/Feat ... ail/563539

[1971ford]

there has been a thread/video posted on that allready

[aramil]

what are you going to do with the bed? i see alot of prerunners using fiberglass skins to lighten up the wieght more.

also there is some company that makes a fiberglass cab.. with a roll cage it wouldnt be so deadly in a roll over and you can use that fiberfill stuff they use to fix boat hulls if you mess it up

[1971ford]

i am going to cut off the bedsides and hang those off the cage. it will just be like fiberglass bedsides but metal. that way they will be alot tougher, and they will weigh more to help balance out the big block.

the only fiberglass i plan to have on the truck is a hood and possibly front fenders because of the heavy engine up there.

[1971ford]

well i dont really have a project update. i havent worked on the truck too much this week, instead we decided to work the truck

splish splash sploooooshhh

pshh i can go bigger.



there we go
never got stuck, never stalled.







of course washing the engine will make it grow some turbo's or something


20 years ago my dad and his buddies would go out to this dirt road at night. so we decided to google-earth the area and try to find it again. found it and its still open . Its a huge dirt road that goes for miles. it just branches off a street road and turns into this. TONS of rockcrawling trails and there are people shooting guns. im surprised there is a place like this without it being shutdown.

We decided to beat the heck out of the truck on it, with old bald tires, no spare, no strap, no other vehicle to tow us out, oh and every time you shut it off you have to let it cool down and grab the battery out of the bed and jump it and hope it starts. it drives me crazy

the only thing that was broken/lost was the drivers front turn signal light. ive got a spare though.

ive got some video but its coming up really small so i dont know if its going to work.
next weekend i plan on building a sub-frame and start the cage or we can come back to this trail with the truck and my brothers bronco.

oh and i got a Winters gate shifter, linkage kit, a water temp gauge and a voltmeter.