Alright, let’s talk about this V12 Ford truck project I got myself into. It started, like most things, with a bit of a wild thought. Saw an old V12 engine sitting dusty in a corner of a buddy’s shop, think it was from some old luxury car someone gave up on. And I had this Ford pickup, solid frame, but the original engine was tired, real tired.
Getting Started – The Teardown
First thing was dragging that heavy V12 lump back to my garage. Took three of us and a lot of grunting. Then, the Ford. Pulled the hood off, drained all the fluids – mess everywhere, as usual. Getting the old straight-six out wasn’t too bad, pretty straightforward stuff. Just unbolted everything, disconnected wires and hoses, and hoisted it out. Left a big empty space in that engine bay, full of grease and dirt.
Spent a good weekend just cleaning. Scraping, degreasing, hitting it with the power washer. You gotta have a clean slate, right? Makes spotting problems later a bit easier.
Making the Beast Fit
Now the fun part. Trying to shoehorn that V12 where the old six-banger used to live. It wasn’t even close. Way too long, way too wide. Knew this going in, mostly. Out came the measuring tape, the sharpie, and eventually, the cutting tools. Had to notch the firewall quite a bit. Just kept trimming and test-fitting, trimming and test-fitting. Slow work.
Engine mounts were completely custom. Got some steel plate, did a lot of measuring, cutting, welding. Tack welded them first, dropped the engine in with the hoist maybe a dozen times to check alignment before burning them in solid. Had to make sure the transmission would line up too. Speaking of which, finding an adapter plate to mate the V12 to the Ford’s truck transmission was a headache. Ended up having one custom machined. Cost a bit, that did.
Clearance was tight everywhere. Steering shaft needed rerouting. Exhaust manifolds were a nightmare – ended up having to build custom headers. Just snaking pipes through the available space. Took ages.
- Firewall modification
- Custom engine mounts
- Transmission adapter plate
- Rerouted steering linkage
Custom exhaust headers
Wiring and Plumbing – The Spaghetti Monster
Okay, mechanical stuff mostly sorted. Then came the wiring. Oh boy. The V12 had its own complex engine harness, sensors everywhere. The Ford truck had its simple, old-school wiring. Merging the two? Felt like brain surgery with spaghetti. Lots of diagrams spread out on the floor, lots of testing connections with a multimeter, lots of head-scratching. Took days just to get the basics connected – ignition, starter, fuel pump, basic gauges.
Cooling was another challenge. A V12 puts out serious heat. The stock Ford radiator wasn’t going to cut it. Found the biggest aluminum radiator I could possibly fit, along with twin electric fans. Had to modify the radiator support quite a bit to make room. Custom hoses, of course.
The First Coughs and Sputters
Finally, moment of truth. Double-checked fluids, wiring connections tight, fuel line hooked up. Turned the key. It cranked… and cranked. Nothing. Checked for spark, checked for fuel. Found a bad ground wire I missed. Fixed that. Tried again. Coughed. Sputtered. Then roared to life! Loudest thing you ever heard through those open headers. Smoked a bit, but it ran. Smooth, too, like they say V12s are. Felt pretty good, that moment.
Getting it drivable took more tuning. Sorting out the fuel mixture, idle speed. And yeah, this thing drinks fuel like nothing else. The gas gauge moves faster than the speedometer sometimes. You don’t build this for economy, that’s for sure. It’s heavy, too. Slows the truck down unless you really stomp on it, but the power delivery is smooth, I’ll give it that.
Was it practical? Heck no. Was it easy? Definitely not. But hearing that V12 rumble in an old Ford truck? Yeah, kinda worth it. Learned a lot. Mostly about how stubborn I am, and how much metal you can cut out of a firewall before you get scared.
