Little Steps (Flipping a ford 9")

Well got a little bit more done today.  Since I didn't have a space to roll the engine hoist out without blocking all access to my driveway, I got a small extension poured on the driveway.  It has finally cured enough to put the truck on it and I thought I would christen it with some dirt and work.  My plan was to pull the bed off the truck, and flip the rear axle.  So that is what I did.

The flip kit I used was from Performance Online (POL).  The kit was specified for 53-56 F-100's as well as some GM trucks with a 2 1/4" spring width.  I went and researched the measurements of spring width for my 60' and decided it would fit and it does.  It is currently only mocked in, meaning I haven't welded the spring perches in, or measured to center the axle up exactly.  Luckily I was able to reuse my axle center pin.  I just put clamps on either side of the pin to keep the spring pack from coming apart and unbolted and removed them. Since they weren't damaged, I just flipped them over and inserted them from the top of the spring pack and tightened the nut down.  Once I get around to pulling the bed to rebuild the rear suspension, I'll take care of welding the perches in.  I also noticed that I have a broken leaf on the drivers side, so I will most likely end up getting new springs for it.

Right now the engine and transmission are still out because I need to fabricate the brackets to attach the Jaguar front end. I did adjust the the front end to center the front wheel in the wheel well.  Right now I have some tall tires on the rear end (255/65/16) and some small front tires (185/75/14) on it.  Eventually I will need to have the axles drilled for a different bolt pattern which leads to the thought of which brakes do I use on the rear end.  Do I convert to rear disc's, have the stock drums re-drilled (and every time I need to replace a drum), or get a newer drum brake kit that has drums with multiple bolt patterns?  Not sure yet...

I also bought some more parts like a C-Notch kit from Classic Performance Parts CPP.  I'll get this put in next time I have have the bed off and it isn't hot enough that tools left in the sun for five minutes to cause second degree burns.  One of these days I will have build a work shop so that I don't have to bake when working on a vehicle.

I am planning to get a 20 or 22 gallon Mustang tank later this month to put under the bed, so I'll add that to the to-do list when the bed is off.

The after pic is crappy because I took it with my iPod which has endured a hard life.  The screen is cracked and has melted spots from welding spatter.

Before:

After: