1950 Ford F1 rustomod

Purchased as a molested pile of parts in 2016 including a 1986 5.0 and AOD transmission, it sat around for a number of years and then quickly snowballed into a complete tear down, design, and rebuild all by me in an average garage. Other than some help from a few friends, all the work is mine. Goals for the build were to have something to use as a daily with modern amenities but it to also to be fun with more spirited street driving, autocross, and drag racing. Most of the factory F1 is gone. All that remains is the sheet metal, the frame rails, and crossmember under the radiator. Extensive framework was done to fit a 2012 5.0 Mustang Coyote, T-56 6 speed, and Ford 8.8. To meet the intent of my goals the firewall was pushed back 3.5” and motor mounted all the way back. The frame was completely stripped, and all unused holes were welded. Stainless hard fuel lines, brake lines, air lines, and conduit were all placed inside of the frame rails prior to welding in boxing plates. The C notch in the rear was fabricated by utilizing the material removed from the frame. The frame was then completely metal finished, slick sanded, and painted with Hotrod Flatz in saddle brown firemist metallic. Suspension upgrades for the front include a Heidts mustang II with ridetech upper/lower controls arms and shockwaves. In the rear is a parallel 4 link and shockwaves all from ridetech. Air management is done with the ridetech height sensors and RidePro E5 controller. Dual air compressors are used to fill the storage tank. Front sway bar is a universal mustang II setup installed backwards to clear. Rear sway bar is WelderSeries unit. Steering is accomplished by a factory foxbody steering rack, flaming river steering column, and Forever Sharp steering wheel. Wheels are Detroit steel wheel D-Town smoothies. 20”x11” rears and 20”x9” front. Tires are Nitto NT05s, 305/30 rear, 255/35 front. Brakes up front are stock disk Granada and rear stock Ford Explorer disk all with powerstop crossdrilled and slotted rotors. Brakes are power with the 8” vacuum booster and CPP master cylinder mounted under the cab. The GEN 1 coyote engine low miles, 26k, was purchased used out of a wrecked 2012 mustang from the Parts Farm in Lyons, GA. It was fitted with a mildon oil pan, remote mount oil filter, UPR catch can, and boundary oil pump gears. UPR solid motor mounts attached the motor to the custom provisions in the frame. Added onto the motor was the Vintage Air front runner kit for powersteering and the A/C compressor. Champion radiator and SPAL fan keep it all cool. A procharger P-1SC-1 supercharger was added with a custom designed bracket and intercooler piping. 3.7” Griptec pulley installed. Dual Tial Q 50mm blow off valves reside under the fenders. Intercooler is a stage II procharger unit. Fuel system uses 2 walboro 455lph fuel pumps on a Tanks INC fuel hat, inside a 67 mustang gas tank. Fuel injectors are Injector Dynamics ID1050x. I’m using the FRPP control pack and copperhead ECU and Lund Racing has done my tuning. No clue on the numbers yet. The factory mustang headers were used but were cut from the flanges and tucked a bit to fit between the frame rails. V-bands were installed to connect to 2.5” exhaust, H-pipe, and borla S-type mufflers. They currently dump in front of the axles now with some plans to change everything in the future. Transmission is a T-56 close ratio magnum with a Tilton hydraulic throwout bearing and McLeod clutch. Rear end is from a 2001 Ford explorer with the 3 ¼ axle tubes and 31 spline axles. A Detroit TrueTrac is installed with FRPP 3.73 gears and covered by Moser engineering aluminum. The cab and doors required a lot of work to get in usable shape. After the firewall was completely replaced, the floor was completely fabricated and reworked, along with the transmission tunnel. The windshield frame was rotted and several pieces had to be fabricated and replaced. The entire bottom section of both doors was gone and these pieces were all fabricated and replaced. The vent windows were deleted and one piece glass installed with the factory window cranks. Dynamat was used in the entire interior and also covered with dynaliner. Interior is still under construction. The goals are to keep a relatively factory looking dash but have all the amenities nearby. I fabricated a lower dash panel that matches the upper dash to house the ride controller, some switches, air vents and controls. Overhead other gauges are mounted to monitor water temp, oil pressure, fuel pressure and boost. Seats are a 60/40 split bucket from a ford ranger. The headrests have been removed and I hope to reupholster them myself in the near future. A Memphis hide away Bluetooth stereo, Rockford Fosgate amps and 4 6.5”speakers provide the tunes for now with subs to be installed later. Heat works, A/C will soon, and is all parts from Vintage Air. The engine wiring was all factory and from the FRPP control pack. Other chassis wiring started with a kit from Painless. An optima battery is mounted in the rear and uses XXX cable to get power to front. Lots of other wiring was done to supplement the build including roll control, fuel pump relays, trailer wiring including a trailer brake controller. A lot of time was spent on the wiring to keep a neat appearance. Appearance wise there is still work to be done. If it didn’t get painted with the Hotrod Flatz, it got painted black. This included the entire engine and transmission. Exterior mirrors have turn signals installed. Headlights are from Rigid industries. The front turn signals are wired up to operate as day time running lights. The bed floor will need some fabrication done. Plenty of the original rot still exists along with some botched repair jobs. One section of the bed has a metal patch panel that is held in with fiberglass. It’s quite interesting. The truck minus the procharger and supporting mods hit the streets in March of 2021. First stop was Morrisville cars and coffee. I put over 7k miles on the truck including a trip to the Tail of the Dragon(video on youtube!!). For the most part it did well. It never completely broke down. I had a water separator fail in my airlines, that caused the compressors to run excessively, and tax my battery. Upon a restart, the alternator fuse popped. I also had poorly designed my panhard bracket and broke the bolts, needing some roadside rigging before I could fix it right. The truck came down for the addition of the procharger and some other stuff in November. A few more things to do, and it will be back on the road for 2022. I hope to see 10k miles this year. Overall I’m pleased with the work I’ve put into this truck. So far its meeting my goals. The total weight is 3340# and weight distribution is 52/48. I have no clue how much time and money I have in it. I’m very lucky to have the family and friends I do that have supported me in this continuing dream. There’s things I’d do different. Easy to say, I’ve learned a lot since starting this project. So many people say, “I could never,” or “I wish,” or “I don’t know how.” But its not hard. Its just a slow steady uphill climb of saving money, research, planning, teaching yourself, doing things over and over. The other part is being around people who are doing the same. That’s why I’m here, so if you have questions, or need help, just ask!! More can be found on Instagram, follow me!! @Coyotefifty.