1961 Rust-O-Mod Pickup Build thread

So...  I don't have a Facebook page and will never have a Facebook page.  I'll save you the rant but suffice to say I'm not a fan.

I drop in on this forum from time to time looking for parts or looking for pics of how others have done something.

Been building my P'up for a few months now and have a bunch of photos stashed away.  Hopefully I can post some periodically and get up to where it's at today.

This project began as something to keep me sane during the COVID drama.  My wife went through a bunch of chemo and radiation last winter so her immune system was really touchy.  Then she got a 6 month round of an immuno booster drug that the docs said would not play well with the COVID.  Something about the super immune system overreacting to the virus.  We've been frickin hermits since February.  

Being bored, I was cruising Craigslist too much and dreaming of building a car.  We had just sold a VW campervan (which we loved) and I was thinking of a slammed VW pickup.  OK - wow! - rusty old VW pickups must be solid gold under the rotten panels.  Then I ran across some early Econoline pickups which look equally (more?) cool without the stratospheric price tag.

This truck came from Arkansas.  Transported to Utah by B&K Haulers through Uship.  Purchase and shipping was great.  When it arrived I had an "oh shit" moment because my bunch of internet cruising and dreaming suddenly became real.
 




More to follow.

My drawing skills are not like a Chip Foose.  You know how every build on the TV shows start with an awesome inspiration drawing....  Here's mine thanks to Photoshop.

looks pretty damn solid to me,just some patina.dont know what drive train your thinking,but with a 240 six crossmember a 302 drops right in. im on a a100 pu,with a whole lot more rot than that.
yea those drawings are about as much of the show as the build.

Yeah, I was psyched when it arrived with no major rust in the body,  It had quite a bit in the floor where the battery used to be.  There were also some bad spots in the "frame".  One big crack in the area above the front axle and some big holes in the rear where someone attempted to patch it up with angle iron and roofing screws.

At one point someone attempted to swap in a 300 straight 6 and a C4 from an 80's pickup.  The mounts for everything were awful.  Lots of hacking.  I ended up selling the motor and transmission.

I thought I had some pics of the mounting job but I guess not.  It was a little bit of a Chinese finger puzzle getting the motor and trans out through the door!

That's not 300, it's a smog era 200. The mounts look correct for 61-64 from what can be seen in the last pick. They are sheetmetal hangers. The Auto trans ones drop down, the manual ones are straight. You've got your work cut out for you fixing the "frame" and floor.

Huh.  Could have sworn it was a smogger 300.  At any rate I was thinking LS swap and sent it along to a guy in Denver.  

While waiting on parts, I kind of went around and bumped out some dents and straightened out the tailgate.  The tailgate was impossibly frozen in place and I had to torch off the bolts and remake the hinge pins.  Got it pretty straight using big clamps and a hydraulic jack on a flat bench.  Gotta just keep telling myself, "It's just a rat rod, it's just a rat rod..."

I'm going to try to preserve all the patina and blend any patching so it looks old.

I spent a few days hosing things down.  Funny.  The doors were both about 1/3 full of packed mud.  The first time I slammed the door I thought "wow that's good and solid!"  It was like dried adobe bricks.  I suppose it was from decades of driving on dirt roads.  I had to run a hose and a stick down the window for a long, long time to get it all rinsed out.

The first parts to come were the step notches for the rear end.  I got them from Paul Hortons.
 



May need to brush up on my welding skills a bit.

Starting on installing the frame notches. Cut away some clearance and lined up with the sheet metal frame rails.





I decided to do away with all the original sheet metal frame rail.  Thinking it's just too much scabbing stuff onto the unibody with the notches, 4 link bracketry, air bag bracketry new motor & trans mounts and the IFS front crossmember.  I like the idea of a solid and substantial frame rail to hold it all together.



This is mostly just getting the notch located high enough so that there's enough room for full drop on the rear axle.

So, are you welding your new "frame" where the old one was or are you going to build a frame and mount the body with rubber mounts? Just trying to get my head around it.

"...smog era 200..."
too bad you can't slow down and ID. It could even B a
end of the line (~'83) 250/4.1 that would be about the best
available for this application (show car). They had some real stop
light to stop light tq w a y dwn in the low revs/off the line.

Glad ya went w/this rather than the vedub as it's the exact answ (falcon
invented to stop the Bug invasion & it won: gota frame, tq/HP, room, tire size,
roll down/not slide windows, etc, etc).

(from da pic I C the kick dwn for the C4 (us of a's least parasitic auto) and an end of
era carb too.) Throw nuttin away, ya got stuff that might fund the project...
Don't forget the 165# counter weight. U put inan off brand bent8 & U will want to go up 50,
75# on that.
8^ 0

What I ended up doing was to simply build a beefier unibody frame.  

My 1st thought was to lay some 3/16 all the way along and under those sheet metal rails so there'd be thickness to weld and bolt to.  But, the trapezoidal shape of the rails was making me crazy.  

My next, better, thought was to cut away the tapered/trapezoid shape and lay in some rectangular tubing.  That way I get long, straight and square sections to work with.  I didn't think I could build a square and true frame on the ground here myself so using the factory "frame" as the anchor was the best bet for my skill set.

chrlsful wrote:"...smog era 200..."
too bad you can't slow down and ID. It could even B a
end of the line (~'83) 250/4.1 that would be about the best
available for this application (show car). They had some real stop
light to stop light tq  w a y  dwn in the low revs/off the line.

Glad ya went w/this rather than the vedub as it's the exact answ (falcon
invented to stop the Bug invasion & it won: gota frame, tq/HP, room, tire size,
roll down/not slide windows, etc, etc).

(from da pic I C the kick dwn for the C4 (us of a's least parasitic auto) and an end of
era carb too.) Throw nuttin away, ya got stuff that might fund the project...
Don't forget the 165# counter weight. U put inan off brand bent8 & U will want to go up 50,
75# on that.
8^ 0

Upon further examination you maybe right Chad, it's either a low mount 200 or a 250.

Progress is looking good!

I see the frame cracked where it has cracked on a van I got here. The van was parked in 1978 and used as a storage shed til I got it.
That crack is a weak point on these trucks and vans. They crack at that bellypan bolt hole. It is also where a front frame is welded to the back half of the frame. These cracks seem to happen when a person bottoms the the springs too hard like going in a ditch at a high rate of speed. Springs bottom and the frame flexes crauses a crack and it then keeps growing.
solution is to peel the floor open above the frame and make another U shape channel to fit inside the existing one. Drill 4 holes on the frame to weld new channel in place. Also weld new channel in the inside . Then reweld the floor back down. Where the crack is grind a V into it and weld it up also. Grind down flush and paint. You now fixed that area and strengthen. it
I will see if I can post my crack. I have not repaired it. I'm currently trying to sell it.


Oh this seems to happen on the 61-64 Vans. 65 have the extra crossbrace under the motor. Previous years did not . They only had cross barcing by the grill and where the tranny hanger ws. Thus making them twist and crack easier.

I've been told the 61-63 framework was the thinnest. They beefed it up in 64 added an auto option as well as the first "Heavy Duty" versions. Then redesigned the motor area for the 240 with it's weight, torque and big bellhousing and added *maybe slightly more thickness in 65. I assume the 170's just went along for the ride and needed their own crossmember to bolt back in as before. Ironically, Ford was still putting solid lifter 170's in Econolines as late as 1970.

Out with the old....



So many acorns.  Every time I open something up it's full of 1) packed, hardened clay 2) Acorns - so, soooooo many acorns 3) rat's nests - and associated rat biological waste products.



And the other side...



Frickin stinky acorns.

as we usta say:
"rat shit, cat shit, bat shit & U, ya shit".
Not sure Y, other than young, silly and frustrated...

Good Luck, bro. Gettin there~

Some other pics of laying in the frame rails.



Made them a little long so I can trim to fit the IFS frame stubs when they come.



Yeah, I can't get this pic to rotate right.  0 degrees - 90 degrees pretty much the same thing.

Kouwell.

"...laying in the frame rails..."
what stock is used (dimensions, wall, steel call out, etc).
It looks like I could rebuild my frame horns (hacked off by PO in 1982)
w/ 4 6 inche pieces~

I used 3/16 wall rectangle tubing.  There's a 1x3 up against the floorboards.  It fit nice and tight in there and I spot welded it to where I left some of the old sheetmetal haning down.  It's nice and tight and as straight long ways as Ford made it.

Here's a cross section drawing.

And shortly after this pallet arrived.....



...it exploded all over the shop!

I love it after the bomb (unboxing) goes off~

"...3/16 wall rectangle tubing. There's a 1x3 ..."
so "...1x3, 3/16th wall rectangle" P'nO. I think that's something
I can order, plasma cut for 'horns'. Hafta go measure but think
a 2 ft pice can do.
Thank you, continued success w/ur build !
Heresa '4 Sale" page but they have a site like our own here (chat, tech support, history, etc):
http://www.fordeconolinepickup.com

Getting the crossmember in was a long exercise.  Probably went through 20 mock ups to see where it goes front to back and up and down.



I originally imagined a much taller tire/wheel but seeing how high it pushes the wheel wells and seats up soon dashed my hopes.  Ended up planning on a front wheel diameter around 25 inches.  About the same size as the stock 14 inchers.  Still need to move the wheel tubs up a bunch to get it to lay on the ground.



Finally stopped playing mind games and welded it up!

A few more pics of the front end install.



Mocking up the control arms.



Checking overall travel and ride height.

I couldn't find an "eating popcorn" emoticon, so if you could just imagine one here that would be great!