1966 Ford F100 ALH build

The Ford truck forum guys would think I'm crazy, hotrod people just don't understand. So I'm here with my F100 build. I drive a 01' ALH Jetta as my DD 330k on the clock and it works just fine. I bought the F100 in September 2016 with plans to put a TDI in it right from the start. The truck was as close as I could afford to perfect, it has no rust, nice interior, and it passed the safety check no problem. On the bad side it drove like crap, manual steering and 4 wheel manual drum brakes. Fords first version of independent front suspension the "Twin I Beam". The engine was the original 352FE big block (172hp net) and a 3 speed auto. The truck weights 3800 lbs as it was from Ford.



My plan was to pull the engine and sell it, then change out the complete front suspension and replace it with one from a Crown Vic. Then instal a VW ALH & Toyota 5 speed I picked up from a friend.

The suspension is in, sway bar, brakes, engine mounts, clutch pedal, power steering lines. Are all done. The front clip is back on and I'm about ready to start into the wiring and cooling system.

The engine is out of a 2003 Jetta auto that was well maintained and had 430k. Here is a list of the modifications & performance parts: 11mm pump, .216, GTB1756vk (vacuum converted), AFN manifold, darkside adapter, 3" mandrel bent exhaust, front mount intercooler, 2.25" plumbing, 3 bar map, Malone custom stage 5 tune. I'd like to see close to 200hp and 300 lbft.
My goal for the truck is a seasonal daily driver that I can drive to work 180km round trip 7-8L/100km. I want modern handling, efficient and reasonably powered truck that looks cool. It should handle and stop well with the 11.5" rotors twin piston calipers and suspension from the 2010 police car. I'm guessing it should drive out of my car garage at about 3500lbs and its now 5" lower then stock.






I know the questions are going to come up so I'll answer them now.
Why not keep the V8? Answer 25L/100km
Why not a 4bt? Answer 900lbs and 110hp not efficient.
Coyote/LS? That may be in the future if I'm not happy with the TDI.
It's too heavy for a TDI. Answer maybe so, but my Jetta TDI (stage 1.5) does fine with 4 guys in it and I'll have 50% more power for the same weight.

You'll have a shipton of room in the engine bay to put it wherever fits best.
Did you rebuild the engine,a stage 5 tune on an engine with 430K seems
like asking for trouble.
Edit: Aha,there's the photos,looks good.

I like this alot!

ditto

You could learn ballet and dance in the bay as you work on that thing. Kudos! Welcome! I might suggest a compound setup in your future for low end torque.

it'll do fine, my toyota is around the same weight and it's pretty quick ... nice swap

Impressive. Very classy old Ford. Love it!

awesome swap!!

Wow, that brings back memories. I learned to drive in Dad's '65 F100 with the TWIN I Beam fender plaque. Straight 6, three-on-the-tree. It was my "dragster" when he and Mom weren't home.
The ALH should handle it fine with your mods.

I bet a warmed up tdi would be fun in my 2400lb 62 falcon.....

Excellent swap, looks great! I love the plane even more

When I had some 1.4 PD and 1.6 CR complete TDI's kicking around I was in very very early talks with Ariel on throwing them in some Atoms for a limited diesel production run. Never materialized but I thought it would be super cool nonetheless!

-BB

Very cool!! Hard not to get nostalgic over the classic pickups.

Love your build. Guess I better start my thread on my 59 f100.
Good luck with your build. I love these old F100's and think your alh is a great engine choice.. more torque than original engine in the truck.

Looking forward to this build!

Did you decide to stick with the 5 speed or go with an AW4?

Nice plane Send me the coordinates of your strip and I'll "drop" in to check out your truck in the spring!

Looks like a lawnmower engine tucked away in that huge engine bay

Uberhare said:

Nice plane Send me the coordinates of your strip and I'll "drop" in to check out your truck in the spring!

Click to expand...

I keep the airplane at CNY4 Alliston, 2200' of grass. The planes is my mistress, I spend money and time with her and have lots of fun.

It's a 1947 Luscombe 8E, 85hp seats 2 and cruises at 108mph on 20L/hr.

Progress report.
I have the air filter and intake sorted out. This is a paper filter from a Polaris RZR 800 with a K&N prefilter bag. I think this will filter more dirt then just a K&N.

I welded up the exhaust from the GTB Flange its 3" mandrel bent alumanized steel a 4" long flex, no muffler and it exits just ahead of the passengers side rear tire. I'll put some exhaust wrap around the first few feet to keep the underhood temps down.
The fuel system is also done, a 4psi lift pump is mounted on the frame. A new stock type filter mounted on the inner fender and a return line to the tank.
Next I have to make the boost pipes.

A preview of what it will look like under the hood when it all done. I borrowed the engine cover from my DD in the driveway.




I've managed to get a few things finished this week. The cooling system is complete and took 8L of water/coolant so far. I haven't turned the engine over so I'm sure it will take another 4-8L when the engine is full. The only suitable hose could find locally that would fit on the engine barbs was 1.25 marine exhaust hose. It's quite stiff and has a wire in it to help keep the shape. I made some adapters 1.25" -2" with steel hose barb fittings I cut and welded. It has been holding 10psi in the system for a couple hours it should be good to go.

I cut the and tacked 2.25" stainless pipes for using the intercooler plumbing. I was given a few odd bits with mandrel bends on each end. A lot of cutting and test fitting I'm happy with the way they will run. But I discovered I really suck a tig welding. I'll have to wait for a friend to come over and show me how to do it.

My next big task is the engine wiring, it really shouldn't be that bad with the help of the wiring sticky on this forum. My computer should be back in a few days from Malone. Stage 5 with everything deleted.

Looking good. Hey if you want a 7 hr drive this fall come to our gtg in Rockford MI in late Sept or early October. Bring that beautiful truck and we will have two old f100's there to see.

A nice blend of old and new!

Looking good!

I like the looks of the radiator hose. It may just be the engine cover in place blocking the view but it looks like the "cold" side is running to the top of the rad (or rather, opposite the stock direction). Is there any issue with running it like this?

When I first plumbed mine I didn't realize it is a reverse flow,so I switched
the hoses and it actually runs a few degrees hotter now.

Hey thats a great Idea using that marine hose.

Making progress, I've started the engine in the truck the wiring to make it run is complete. I still need to figure out where the alternator wires go (other then the big wire). I'm not planning to use the VW glow plug relay at this point, I'll just wire up a big relay and a push button under the dash for the few times I'll need to use the glow plugs to start it. I'll probably make a small hidden switch panel under the dash to turn a few circuits on/off because I can't really drill any holes in the 50 year old dash to instal a switch.

The cooling hose may be on wrong but I don't think so. The top rad hose goes to the port on the back (trans) side of the engine and the bottom rad hose goes to the port under the injection pomp. Is that correct? Where should I place a temp sensor for my cooling fan circuit again not using the VW system? I'll drill and tap a hole in the steel hose adapter I made. I assume the hot water goes in the bottom and out the top so I would think that if the temp on the cool side of the rad gets to 90C or so I'll have the fans turn on. I really don't think I'll need the fans that often, it has a rad about twice the size of the Jetta and should get lots of air flow. I don't think the engine could keep all that water above 100C without a significant load demand, and certainly not at idle when not moving. My daily driver ALH will never kick the fans on at idle.

Feel free to let me know where to locate a simple cooling fan trigger signal in the harness and I'll set up a the fan relay there instead.

I dropped off the trans yoke at the drive shaft shop to have them make a brand new driveshaft. It's a Toyota yoke with an adapter U-joint (Toyota-1310) 61" joint to joint of 3" shaft he says should be good for 600hp+ to a 1310 U-joint for the Ford 9" rear end. About $400?.

Yep,the hose coming out the back of engine goes to the top of radiator.
Some day I will make this look better,not sure if this is the best place to put it but I put the temp sensor here and it works fine and WAY more accurate than the stock gauge.

I love the old Fords, grew up on a stable of them. Find that 352 a loving home, they were supposed to be one of the best running Ford engines of that era and a good while after. The mid to late '70s was my mainstay. Messed around with a few older ones some. I think the FEs were around 800 lbs, so a bt 4 wouldn't be far off. The FEs are super rare around my neck of the woods nowadays.

I removed a perfectly good 352FE with a 3 speed auto and sold it. $700 for everything, it was only rated at 175hp and burned 25L/100km. 800 pounds of steel I didn't want. The idea of a 4bt is ok but the rpm range is really small and they are super heavy for the amount of power they make. I'll see how the ALH works out if I'm not happy the truck will get a Chev LS or 5.0 Coyote.

Great build and you'll be fine with that engine, the truck weigh's what a Jetta weighs.

The thermostat hose goes to the bottom of the rad. Not sure I'd use that hose, that plastic thermostat housing isn't very strong and over time, I can see the hose weight and lack of flex causing it to snap off.

Flex a Lite makes a thermocouple fan kit for turning on electric fans. Used them many times and they work great.


https://www.flex-a-lite.com/accesso...a-lite-adjustable-temperature-controller.html

^
That's what I'm using,have it dialed in at 185º,just before the
T-stat opens.I put the probe inside the top radiator hose at the
inlet.