Mild 1971 prerunner (quite a few pictures)

[mybros71]

Took the rear end apart to fit the fuel tank. I ran into some trouble where it comes to fasteners and future service. I have to bolt the rear cross member, rear spring hanger, fuel tank and bed in approximately the same place, and be able to remove it later without a plasma cutter.

Due to the fact that I had to trim the bottom flange of the frame, I have to section the spring hangers so they don't run into the tank. (And no, I am not the one responsible for the bed mounting mod' on the upper flange.) BobbyFord wrote up his fuel tank swap and it was excellent. I am changing it up a little bit to meet my needs. I am going to mount the tank to the bottom flange of the frame with J-nuts and bolts from the bottom.

I drilled the cross member ahead of the fuel tank so I can bolt directly to it.

I will fab up some tabs for the rear and weld them to the rear cross member, then bolt to them in the same manner.
I'm pretty happy with how its coming along. I think I may even have enough room to run a 90* bend and a filler in the bedside.

[basshound71]

We got the shock tabs located and welded to the beams:
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Going to pull the cab off in the morning and mock uo the exhaust, at least back to the mufflers.

By the way, here is the hoopty my wife drug home:

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Possible paint scheme:
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The old Merc would make a cool ass altered wheelbase dragster. Looks like it is begging for it.

[mybros71]

We got the shock tabs located and welded to the beams:
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Going to pull the cab off in the morning and mock uo the exhaust, at least back to the mufflers.

By the way, here is the hoopty my wife drug home:

[ Image ]
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Possible paint scheme:
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The old Merc would make a cool ass altered wheelbase dragster. Looks like it is begging for it.

I think It would be hard to post pictures of it from inside a coffin as my wife would end me if I disripted the body lines in any way. I agree though. Like a prequel to the Thunderbolt line.

[mybros71]

My daughter assembled the brakes we purchased and we finished and installed the H pipe. We made the cross-over out of a 90* mandrel bend I bought at a header shop for 20 bucks. I cut it and coped it for 2-1/2 pipe and added the center section. We didn't have a hole saw large enough so I used the ol' drill-break-gring method.






Then we mounted the fuel tank using some shock tabs I bought from PolyPerformance. I bent them to a 45 and welded them to the bottom flange of the rear cross member. I bolted the tank in and that's that. I will likely use some smooth headed allen or Torx bolts to festen the bed down. I'll likely have to weld nuts under the top leg of the rear cross member for those two locations. The rest will use a regular nut.





Turned out to be a pretty perductive day, I even had time to pull off a brake hose bracket for another member and put it in some solvent to clean up a little.

[CrypticRacer13]

Tank install look like it went great. Cant wait to start on mine

[FordTruck]

I sold this:
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That is one sexy scout!!!

[tnab1970]

Any updates on this build? My son and I are doing the same thing for his first truck. Would like to see more pics and finished products. What did that gas tank originally fit? and how do you fill it?

[tnab1970]

OK, I read the tank install , we found one of the original camper special side tanks at a local yard. we are going to run this set up.

[mybros71]

Here's the truck now. My wife and I bought a house on a couple acres last year so I've been busy with dirt work and building a barn. We've done some work on the body and I'm finishing up the rear suspension.

I built a crossmember and a tower to handle the increased suspension travel. The tower is welded to the top of an existing crossmember and the limit strap crossmember is welded to the top of the frame.


I bought the limit strap kits and shock mounts from PolyPerformance. the L/S kits came with brackets and clevises but I had to buy the tabs. To strengthen the shock tower, my son layed out these gussets and I had my buddy cut them out on his plasma table. Rather than use a thick one piece gusset we put them together with two thinner pieces.



More to follow.

Tony

[mybros71]

Here is the completed rear suspension. Need to cycle and adjust limit straps, build drive line and hook the parking brake up (probably going to need to modify it a little).






Tony

[460 crew]

Nice build, awaiting further pics and progress reports....

[popeyes71]

We want more! We want more! Cool build, keep us up to date.

[mybros71]

Sorry it's been so long. A good friend got hurt and he needed my help meeting contract deadlines and keeping the cash flow positive.

I just bought a 1985 F250 for 350 bucks. Running and driving 460/C-6. Plus new wheels and tires for the 71 high-boy.

I stripped off 'bout 100 pounds of smog gear. Still runs great....weird. I'm gonna gasket it, swap out the Holly for an Edelbrock 600 cfm and put it in the prerunner next weekend.

[Zasusmc]

Would you happen to have the product numbers or specs of your shocks, im having a tough time finding some

[Wilfred of Ivanhoe]

Any progress on your and your daughter's build?