1971 f250 DESERT truck- 10/24 race prep

[aramil]

some of these should strengthen up your cage and fuel cell cage pretty good and also add some charecter

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/90- ... _1188.html

[Ranchero50]

I wonder what that tank is going to do to the CG full vs empty? 32x8=256lb.

Why 2" too? Most cages are made out of 1 5/8" to keep the weight down.

Jamie

[1971ford]

I wonder what that tank is going to do to the CG full vs empty? 32x8=256lb.

Why 2" too? Most cages are made out of 1 5/8" to keep the weight down.

Jamie

because we are running a 429 up front (decided on this because i get a free fully built race tranny with 54miles) i need as much weight as possible in the far rear so thats why the cell is where it is.

2" because thats the rules for over 4000 pounds

[aramil]

what are your plans for the suspension in the long run? some long travel coil-overs would be cool on there.

[1971ford]

The front will be 14" or 16" long coilovers, so hopefully 18" travel up front. As well as bent beams, and extended radius arms.
The rear will be (still undecided) either Deaver leaf springs with smoothbody 14" shocks on top, or it will be 4 linked with coilovers and bypasses.

[1971ford]

still needs some little tubes to go between the bottom of the frame rail to the bottom of the fuel cell crossmembers, needs a skid plate across the bottom that will bend up to the factory remaining cross member for protection, and still needs bolts/mounting tubes to keep it from flying out.
And still needs fuel pump and plumbing.

[aramil]

that looks cool in there, gives it more of a racer look, the 4link in back would be awsome to see.

[TheEskimo]

Nice work, as always Ryan

[1971ford]

Its official... Cage work has begun!

heres what has been done
-got the main hoop and main side tubes bent with the help of someone with a worthy bender
-installed a 5" filter... Thanks to Roger Grey for donating it!!!
-cut fuel cell straps and notched bed for them to have room
-installed new tach, water temp, oil pressure and volts (thanks to Steve S. for some more gauges!)





Ill be adding in 5 more tubes, heres two of them.


After installing 5" filter, but before cleaning

after cleaning a little bit. still looks like a mess but the engine wont be in there for very long.


My new tach. Sold the messed up one on ebay (yes i did mention its faulty button) and got $80 for it, so i looked on craigslist and got this one for $100. Its super nice.


Heres my list to do this week and weekend:
-Get fuel pump, completely install fuel cell with all hose, fittings, vent, etc.
-trash the factory tank and cut front of bed off
-finish wiring gauges and mount them in the actual gauge mounts
-cut, fit, and tack all cross bracing for main hoop. have it welded solid.
-cut all holes in cab for tubes
-cut/fit/tack main side tubes to subframes/mainhoop
-tear apart, clean, re-assemble left rear hub

lets see if i can get that done... I should be able to.
Then in a couple weeks i will have the halo tubes bent, halo cross-bracing bent, and whatever else. And i am going to sand down the current paintjob and repaint it the same except with rollers, it will be glossy unlike this rattlecan job.

This project is really moving along now

[1971ford]

lets see.... heres what i did:

-got poison oak all over my body, did a front flip on my bike on cement, and then crashed it again as soon as i started healing, putting me on cruches.
therefore i really didnt do much because im a mess and feal like poopoo.

But i did get a Holley Red fuel pump for $40, and i got two stinkin' Earl fittings for $55
I have blue fuel line on its way and we should have the cell plumbed this week, and the stock tank will be ditched.
I also tore my left rear hub apart again. Such a mess. replaced the seal, bearings, and replaced my replacement seal after failing the first time to install it. wheel is still off though, i didnt even try putting it on because i use my feet to lift it up as i push. I did find that the vent tube was once again jambed solid with mud.

Oh, and gauges are hooked up! volts are all over the place (alternator is going bad, headlights flicker too) but im happy to see the oil pressure at 60... thats alot

during the next couple days after school i will
-put the wheel back on
-hook up the electric choke finally
-top off fluids
-find way to keep mud out of rearend's vent hose (filter maybe)
-plumb fuel cell to pump, filter and engine
-weld on some bolts and tabs to hold down the fuel cell hold-down straps
-ditch the stock tank thats bolted in the bed
-gear up the truck with tools, jack etc. for this weekends trip to offroad race in Nevada
-adjust headlights (left is way up and right is too far down)

[1971ford]

The truck did great on the drive out to the desert race, there and back! The only problem was when we were there, there was one little dirt road with a slight incline that the truck would always start to misfire and it didnt like the altitude but as a result it only lost alittle power. And we lost some oil pressure on the way back because it was really low on oil. It blew through the valve cover vent deal so my dad and i hooked it up finally.

Dad and I spent a full day working on the truck.
We welded some tabs onto the fuel cell cage and welded bolts to the straps and got it all bolted down.
My dad plumbed the fuel cell, we are now sucking fuel out of the cell! dad mounted the fuel pump as well, and wired a switch to the cab. I finally got to ditch that stock tank that was bolted into the front of the bed.
We also welded in some little tubes that go between the bottom of the frame rail and the fuel cell crossmembers for alot of extra support.
Then we installed a MSD box under the hood, now i need the coil and distributor to go with it
We also hooked up the valve cover pvc oil thing to the carb
I also have been crossbracing the cage's main hoop. It has 3 cross braces done, two more to go. Ill get a picture when its tacked together.

probably a temporary location. and no, the rearend wont hit it. Its a picture illusion. The filter is definately temporary.




we MIIIGGHTT race the truck in 2.5 months..... the last desert race of the season, 300 miles. It would be on stock suspension and we wont be "racing", we will be "finishing" because its the points that matter
Some of the things we will have to do if we want to race it then, is we will need to finish the whole cab cage of course, all seat mounting, mount the seats, seat belt mounts, new seat belts, fire suits, helmets, starts of a bedcage so we can mount spare tires, dust light, fix the bumpstop that we broke, new tires, window nets, center console with gauges and shifter, swap tranny for new one and we would go old school.. without a radio, fresh air supply, or a intercom.

[1971ford]

UPDATE!

spot the update

BEFORE:

AFTER:



maybe this will help.


tires +mounting came to a total of a whopping $120
Those tires and the 256lb fuel cell in the rear should give lots of traction... but one way to know for sure. tomorrow we head out to a dirt road to have some fun

[FordTruck]

tires +mounting came to a total of a whopping $120

How's that work? I can't even find one tire for under $180.

[1971ford]

tires +mounting came to a total of a whopping $120

How's That Work?

found them on craigslist listed from a tire shop. went down today and they swapped them on for a total of $120. they are used tires of course, but still have decent tread and was a hell of a deal!
Im just kinda mad i didn't remember to keep the two tires that were OK so i could use them as spares, but i dont have spare 16" rims anyways.

[FordTruck]

tires +mounting came to a total of a whopping $120

How's That Work?

found them on craigslist listed from a tire shop. went down today and they swapped them on for a total of $120. they are used tires of course, but still have decent tread and was a hell of a deal!
Im just kinda mad i didn't remember to keep the two tires that were OK so i could use them as spares, but i dont have spare 16" rims anyways.

Aaah there 16's I thought they were 16.5 But yeah you can't beat that.