I've been following along with several builds on this fine forum over the passed couple of years. I finally reached the "Oh I can do that" stage and began a little plan of boost. I suffer from a common ailment of "low budget" with an even greater handicap of being cheap. Something about real life and this responsibility garbage has made me this way concerning my projects. Anywho, with that in mind here's my first attempt at the turbo scene.


So, this is the ride. (Pictured below all my writin' )I got this in a deal for my wife. My father-in-law, whom wrote the book on cheapness, insists on buying his children, two of which are girls, vehicles from the year of their birth. So, along with my lovely bride, I now am prospering by her dowry. Mainly this truck. Wasn't I so lucky. On a side note, the other daughter got a mustang of a later year. And, I know what you are thinking. Why didn't you get the other project.....? Lets just say when it comes to the type and condition of the vehicle that the lady comes with, their own type and condition is quite the opposite of the included vehicle. In other words, I win...

Ok, down to the details: Its really not my first choice as a project. But, I've put some effort into it over the years. I've shortened the wheel base got it running and abandoned it in the weeds at least twice. Finally, after 7 years of prospering me I decided, "hey maybe I can build that ugly truck into something". Honestly our local track reopened and I wanted to show some support. That was last year, but that is when it began. What happened over the next 12ish months is nothing but incredible. And, I also got a little time to work on the Dowry Thing.

The Thing:

1984 F 150
In the lovely shade of candy cane
with matching red interior (It was the 80's. No imagination)
Mostly intact body with a little weight savings in the floor board area.
351W Very bone stock
C6 Very stock as well
8.8 rear end with 3.55's but will be a 9 inch in the future with the same gear
VS Racing Gt 45 69mm
And some of their other stuff (waste gate and BOV)
Fitech 1200pa (I know it is a little presumptuous but maybe one day it'll make the power)
And some other stuff I bought on ebay.....

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Here is the hot side. I believe these are a set of street rod headman hedders. Swapped sides to face forward. The pipe was from an old 2.5" exhaust kit I bought from Jegs years ago. It took me several weeks to fit everything as I am slow. #ad
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Good job keep it up!

 

Keep an eye on that flex, mine started to pull the mesh on the inside, necking down from 2.5" to 1", almost ready to let loose into my turbo! I replaced it with a straight section of pipe, mild steel has enough give to not be an issue (so far at least).

 

Ah yes. I remember seeing that in your build thread. I'm actually about to do a little testing with the truck. (It's up and running now) I'll be sure to check it out soon. May just go ahead and replace it. Thanks

 

Thanks I'm still hacking away. I'll post some more pics as the truck is just about on the road.

 

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Love these trucks, I got a 1985 I just put a 302 in with a MegaSquirt. Been running about a month now. Will be watching cause I've been thinking real hard about slapping a turbo on it.

 

Love that drain idea!

 

It's turning out to be a pretty decent truck. One of the draw backs to the way I built the hot side is that I had to remove the power steering pump. This year model had the option of manual steer so I'll likely convert it.

The fuel pump block off plate came with a 12 AN port so I reduced it to a 10 AN and set it up as a drain. I believe it was meant for running a vacuum pump.

 

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So finding wheels with the right back spacing is difficult in the truck's original 5 on 5.5 so the rotors got red drilled as well as the axles and now it has a 5 on 4.5 so I could fit these jegs wheels. #ad
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X2 on the drain. Bad ass wheels too. Totally changed the truck. I like it!

 

Nice work. The 5.5 BP is a PITA, I drilled mine also.

 

HOLY SHIT, the wheels totally changed the truck. Bad ass!

 

Everything looks great! Those wheels really change the whole look of the truck. Any chance the power steering pump could be relocated to the passenger side of the engine?

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words. Yeah you can't beat $90 a wheel. It's even better when it bolts up.

I'll have to see what I can do about the PS pump. I wonder if the brackets from a later model 351 would raise the pump up some. Need to look into it.
Here is a better side shot of the truck. It's grown on me. With lowering it a little and the wheels it's not half bad.
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This is where the truck is now. Been testing it a bit. It's showing around 8psi. I've got the timing dialed back to around 17 degrees on boost. Gonna take it to the track Saturday and see what she'll do.

 

I like this! Looks like an older version of my truck. Did you have a machine shop drill your rotors and axles, or did you use a template?

 

Thanks! Got to love ford and their two tone paint schemes. I had a machine shop redrill the rotors. Also they machined some material off the bearing housing to match the center bore of the wheel. I redrilled the axles with a jig that I bought.

 

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So made it to the track. And wouldn't you know it was slow. 9.14 at around 79 mph. But for a bone stock everything at 9-10 psi. I couldn't be happier. Least now I can start cruising it and making adjustments to see what I can get out of it.

 

How much is the truck lowered? And how did you go about lowering it?