Crown Vic IFS - Installation Complete (For Real)

Suspension, steering, brakes, wheels & tires

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cdeal28078
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by cdeal28078 »

That sure looks nice. Other than the drop and smaller lug nut circle I like it. I don't like a dropped truck but that is just me. I am surprised at how easy a swap that looks like. What do you do about engine perches? I know you have to fab them up but do you have plans for that yet?
I already have power disc brakes, power steering and a sway bar on my 71F100 so I don't need it for that. WOnder if this could be used on a 72 Maverick with as much ease? That is what I need to work on
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460 C6. Disc Brake/Power-steering/automatic Swap. 3.00
1986 Bronco 5.0 AOD
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flyboy71
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by flyboy71 »

The engineer in me came out and I broke out the measuring tools last evening and started trying to figure out where to put holes in the frame and exactly where it should go in the install. I already marked the frame before I removed the original. I took some measurements of the hole spacings in the CV crossmember and noted the hole diameters. The left side holes are slots which are 1/2 inch center to center on the same diameter. I also figured out the offset from those holes to the axle centerline. Then I located the truck centerline from the dimensioned drawings Keith has put on here from the bodybuilders layout book. Im almost certain this is correct, plus/minus 1/8 inch or so, or at least it is on the 2003 CV that I have. I will measure a half dozen more times before I cut holes of course. :thup:

UPDATE: I measured again and revised the drawing.

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Last edited by flyboy71 on Fri Apr 09, 2010 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
-Jeff

1971 F-100 240 straight six, 3 on the tree (parted out)
1972 F-100 302 auto trans, pwr steering, pwr brakes (under construction)
"Things are more like they are now than they ever were before" Dwight Eisenhower
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flyboy71
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by flyboy71 »

JG F100 wrote:damn, you used a sawzall to get the old crossmember out? I used a torch and it was still a PITA. I see you bolted some angle iron onto the frame make sure your frame stays straight. I did the same and it still moved a little and had to force it back to be perfectly square again. I'd add some tack welds if you can.
Right you are JG! I am gonna be really anal about checking and double checking before I put holes in the frame. I measured the distance between the rad support holes and they werent quite 32" so I grabed the front bumper and sure enough those didnt quite line up either so I loosened the pieces I put on a bit and aligned the front bumper until everything is now correct then bolted the steel back down. I will check the frame sides for square also. Its not rocket science but ya know.....
-Jeff

1971 F-100 240 straight six, 3 on the tree (parted out)
1972 F-100 302 auto trans, pwr steering, pwr brakes (under construction)
"Things are more like they are now than they ever were before" Dwight Eisenhower
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by powerman »

Do the front ends need to be rebuilt before you install them? I bet some have been treated pretty hard. I am building a 67 for my son and have been reading this with great interest. I was going to buy a fatman mustang II front end but I may go this way and save some bucks. It also got me to thinking about buying the entire car with lower mileage and maybe installing the motor and transmission at same time. Has anyone tried this? Thanks for the read.
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by 72-F100-4V »

flyboy71, you are a mad man, LOL! Excellent work, I am now completly doubting the squarness of my install. I eye balled and measured my holes, but im going to have to recheck them now.

Once I had my Panther bolted in I noticed my radiator support holes were off by nearly a 1/4 inch. Its probably from the heat of welding up the lower arm mounts and the box plates. My plan is to measure the frame width and install a support beam between the rails.

The attention to detail your putting into this will certainly pay off, keep it up!
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by ChrisB »

Nice, confirm the frame rail separation and dimensions are the same on F100,250-350s? My understanding is they are the same but 250-350s have more wall thickness.

What is the origin of your frame. I have another front end project which might snowball into something like attempting this swap on the donor vehicle.
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flyboy71
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by flyboy71 »

My frame is a 71 F100 LWB. I cant answer details on other years or sizes. The only point of reference in my drawing from the rad support hole is calculated from the 1970 body builders layout book for the LWB frame.

Also, Im still tweaking the 2003 CV dimensions which are darn close but everytime I measure again I discover something I didnt before. I intend to get it pretty close and before I cut holes Ill put the IFS on the frame and double check that everything aligns. What I have on here is reference only so it would behoove everyone to take what I have provided and check thiers to see if its different. It sure saves a lot of head scratching.

Any other measurements or cross-checks to what I have is greatly appreciated :thup:
-Jeff

1971 F-100 240 straight six, 3 on the tree (parted out)
1972 F-100 302 auto trans, pwr steering, pwr brakes (under construction)
"Things are more like they are now than they ever were before" Dwight Eisenhower
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by powerman »

I have found a 2007 crown vic Police Int that is in a salvage yard, they said I had to pull front suspension myself.. What size sockets and end wrench do I need to make sure I have when I do it. I would hate to get started to find out I need a special wrench that I don't have. Best thing he said I could have it for $200!
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by 72-F100-4V »

powerman wrote:I have found a 2007 crown vic Police Int that is in a salvage yard, they said I had to pull front suspension myself.. What size sockets and end wrench do I need to make sure I have when I do it. I would hate to get started to find out I need a special wrench that I don't have. Best thing he said I could have it for $200!
Its early in the morning so I cant run outside and try my sockets for you. But you dont need any special tools. Everything you will unbolt can be found in a basic Craftsmen tool box. The bolts and nuts for the frame are large but nothing special.
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - Brought it home!

Post by powerman »

Thanks for the info. I'm going to go get it this weekend if does not rain. I'm ready to get started on project and teach my 12 year old a little something about working on trucks.
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - The saga continues!

Post by flyboy71 »

I took the layout I created from the measurements I took on the crossmember and laid them out on some MDF shelving I had. I screwed the two panels together in a few places and drilled 1/8" pilot holes at each hole centerline and four holes for the threaded rods through the panels. Now I have two matched panels with alignment rods. I taped the frame where the holes would be before I assembled the jig. This way I could see the pilot points from the bit and I could draw some 5/8" circles around them to see if everything lined up. When I raised the IFS into place and jogged it around, all of the 5/8" hole circles were aligned dead nuts in the crossmember and the upper brackets. :thup: Even though I drew a centerline down the jig and shot a laser line down the center of the frame there was still some alignment needed on both sides to square the jig and Im only offset to one side by maybe 1/8" or so. Yeah yeah, overkill I know, but thats what 4 yrs of Engineering in college does to your brain.

Next steps are to drill the holes and get busy on the rough install.

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-Jeff

1971 F-100 240 straight six, 3 on the tree (parted out)
1972 F-100 302 auto trans, pwr steering, pwr brakes (under construction)
"Things are more like they are now than they ever were before" Dwight Eisenhower
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - The saga continues!

Post by 72-F100-4V »

Making progress! I am interested in what measurement you have for the trailing arm rear mount. The distance between the two bolts that have the frame bracket on it.
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - The saga continues!

Post by flyboy71 »

I got excited and punched some holes finally. It went pretty smooth. Im happy with the fit so far. Now I need to sleeve the bolts and box the frame and Ill be all set. I wont get back to this for at least a week or so but here are the latest greatest pics.

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-Jeff

1971 F-100 240 straight six, 3 on the tree (parted out)
1972 F-100 302 auto trans, pwr steering, pwr brakes (under construction)
"Things are more like they are now than they ever were before" Dwight Eisenhower
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - The saga continues!

Post by fordman »

so what is this about the 97's i saw one today and it didnt look doable to me. the 2003 will never be around here to get the front off of. i think i read that you have to cut the frame off to use the 97 -02 is that right?
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Re: Crown Vic IFS - The saga continues!

Post by 72-F100-4V »

fordman wrote:so what is this about the 97's i saw one today and it didnt look doable to me. the 2003 will never be around here to get the front off of. i think i read that you have to cut the frame off to use the 97 -02 is that right?
There have been a few that have just put a cab and bed on the 2002 and earlier Vic frame. If you were to use the 2002 and earlier you would have to cut your existing frame off and graft on the new Vic frame.
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