hey everyone, im new to the site and i have been loving all the info you guys have here!
im looking to build a 61 unibody, i have found a 61 short bed big window locally and im just collecting all the info i can before i buy the truck and start the project. from what i have seen, i want to do the 03-up crown vic swap. in my searching i haven't seen anyone using the rear axle from the vic, any reason? i also have found a 03 vic for $800 so everything is in place. im just looking for all the info i can get about this project. from what i have read, the wheel base is almost the same so i could use the vic driveshaft. are people using the vic gas tank/ brake booster/steering collum/stock wheels(for now) etc. you guy get my drift. im looking to get all the pieces in place and hammer it out in one shot. thanks in advance for any help.

 

No one really uses the vic rear as it is just as wide as the front. They are a bear to place in tha back of unis due to the sweep in radius of the quarter panels.

If you have the talent, any thing can be swapped in to any thing.

Garbz

 

Hey Norm, there's a guy on another site that built a 62 short uni using a 04 CV front end & a 2000 CV rear end with a T5 trans. He used the late-model Mustang GT torque-thrust style rims w 17" tires on it. It doesn't appear to have any clearance issues. A deeper dish rim on the rear would probably be a problem but I haven't seen it in person so I can't tell you for sure.
The only ones I've seen using the CV gas tank are doing a complete CV frame swap which requires cutting a huge chunk out of the bed to fit the rise of the car frame over the axle. That's where the gas tank is tucked in as well. I think I'd prefer putting the CV components onto the Uni frame instead. There are other gas tanks that can be fitted between the rear frame rails like the 69-70 Mustang tanks. Do a search on the site and you'll find some threads about it.

 

thanks for the help guys, this is the kind of info im looking for. my goal is to get all the info i can so that im not standing over the truck scratching my head for half the build! im going to check out the gas tank info (thank you) and im new to fords so im still learning part numbers so don't hate me if i miss something. my goal is to use the 4.6 and trans out of the CV, make sense? also just for now to keep the cost down, my friend just gave me a set of 16" 98 mustang gt wheels for free and i believe they are the same bolt pattern. would those sneak in for width?

 

One good thing about using the 4.6 with the CV front end is the motor mounts are already built into the cross member.
The 98 GT wheels should fit but the jury is still out on how they'll look...:-) not my favorite rims...but it's not my truck.
Here's a pic of the uni I mentioned above with the CV rear end.
Oh, there's a great thread for the CV install in the 67-72 section also.

 

thats perfect, i just want to be able to tuck the wheels when i bag it in the future. the GT wheels would only be temp, just to get it on the road. thanks again!