1956 F100 Gets New Rear.

Pictures are hard to read but rest assured, there is plenty of room in there for my wheel. This is a 16" CV rim with a huge sidewall. A 17-18" rim with some low profile tires will fit just fine.

Now I am not saying this will work on a slammed truck. That was not my intention with my project.

I don't have many.

Nothing new to really report back. I got my motor mounts today (kinda ruined the other ones when removing engine from the CV).

This weekend I want to get the trailing arm brackets fabbed up. Looking at two options.

1. weld bracket to the frame for the trailer arm brackets to bolt to. Should be fairly sturdy but once they are in place they are done.

2. Fab bracket that can be bolted and unbolted from the frame. I would weld a support plate on the top side of the frame with the nuts welded onto the backside of the bracket. Then bolt the bracket through the frame underneath.

tannerc91gt said:

You're not driving this damn thing yet???

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Now you are just being mean. What are you going to do with that old worn out ls2 when you get your new one? If you set it outside on the curb I'll take care of it for you.

Had a few set backs in this project. I bought 1/4" steel for the trailing arm brackets and I must have been in la-la land when I bought them because it is way too over kill for what I am doing. Also, I originally wanted to set the engine in there to see if the trailing arms would move at all with weight. I don't know if they will or not, but I have decided to build the trailing arm brackets and install them without the motor in there. When I removed the engine from the crown vic the trailing arms were in just fine. When I took the trailing arm brackets out I didn't notice and kick back from the arms or a whole lot of movement.

Now the major change. I plan on having this thing running on the road this year and I hope it doesn't come down to December 31st. I don't see that happening with this 4.6 from the CV. I like the idea of have the modern engine and MPG but it just isn't feasible for me to get this done. I see a lot of wiring (not hard, just time consuming), additional parts for fuel system, fuel pump etc. There is probably a really expensive stand alone wiring system for this engine and trans but I am not wanting or willing to pay a ton of money for it. Additionally, the motor is kinda obsolete. I know there will be others who think my rationale is crazy but this is the way I see it. Parts for this motor are insanely expensive. The motor mounts I believe were close to $75 from autozone alone. Not a huge aftermarket for these motors either. At least not as seen with the LS motors or the 5.0 of years past. So I am wanting to simplify all this and go a little more old school.

I had a 289 when I was a teenage so I would love to find one. Same 302 parts will fit and it is more of a nostalgia thing for me. The issue is, every 289 I have found seems to be expensive as they came from a K code mustang that must be the only one of its kind due to the price. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I found a 351W from a 1996 Bronco. It had hydro locked and bent two rods. One of the piston skirts might have kissed the crank but I don't see much damage. For a complete engine intake to oil pan, minus accessories drives, I paid $50. Now I know I will have some shop time into this motor but I feel I can have it up and running in a shorter time span and a lot easier as well.




This is a pretty light truck and I don't plan to haul anything of any significance in the bed so I plan on a C4 or a OD trans along with this motor. Thanks for looking.

lord_cobra said:

Great plan. I got a complete 5.0 out of a 95 mustang that had hydrolocked for $100. Just wanted the block and crank mostly. Can't wait to see more updates.

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Thanks, What is the 5.0 going into?


Assessing the motor:
Bent rods


broken piston skirt


Cylinder and crank where piston skirt kissed the crank and broke. Crank looks fine.




These will all go to the machine shop to get checked out and I will freshen it all up. I plan on setting it in the bay at least so I can build the motor mounts.

95BlueStallion said:

Do yourself a favor and stroke it while you are building it from scratch. Even if you dont want to spend money on great heads initially, at least the foundation will be there. I doubt there is a single one of us that doesnt want more after we drive our cars for a bit. At least all you would have to do twice is the small parts that open up the potential as you go.

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You are an evil man and a bad influence.

I still have to take it to the machine shop to see if there was any major damage to the block then go from there. I am still going to mock it up in the engine bay and fab up some motor mounts. If, for some reason, I need to swop it t a 302 it won't take much.

A5literMan said:

If it's just going to be a cruiser I wouldn't bother spending a bunch of money on a stroker. Now if performance is a consideration I definetly would.

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It is a cruiser for sure. But, it never hurts to have a little extra powa'. Cost will be the main factor in this. One of the reasons I went with the 351W on this is because it will be easier to get on the road faster. At least thats the idea. I am currently looking for a 4r70w to put behind it.

95BlueStallion said:

Well if you go with the 351W and a 4r70w, consult my "Madmike, you are a bad influence and an Alabama crazy @$$" thread. I went through most of the issues twice, so you can learn from my mistakes and get all the right parts the first time. All I meant by the stroker kit is if you are going to be buying a new crank, pistons and rods anyway, why not plan ahead and build it to its full potential. for not much more cost. If you are salvaging a stock crank to save money, obviously my idea becomes less useful.

If you dont already know this, be sure you get a 4R70W with a two bolt starter. The bell housing is not removable, and there is a more common variation with a three bolt starter...

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Thanks for the advice. I will probably not stroke just based on the cost and how I really want to get this thing on the road this year.

I picked this up over the weekend.

Came with torque converter and a yoke out of a wrecked '02 vert with front end damage. I took the engine plate and it matched all the bolt holes and it is a two bolt starter (thanks 95bluestallion.) They have to drain all the fluids from the cars so, unfortunately, their method for doing this is to just drill a hole in the pan and let drain that way. I am letting it all drain out now (as seen in the photo) but I will pull the pan and see if I can plug weld it. I need to get the motor mounts for the motor and tranny before I start to make the mounting brackets. I want to use the stock rubber mounts and build from that to the frame and cradle.

95BlueStallion said:

How are you going to control the trans? Manually or with a controller?

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Controller. Unfortunately there is no cheap way to do this. I am looking at a baumann system but i am still a little ways from that decision.