Projects My Farm Fresh F100 Build

After going back and forth on showing the world my work, I've decided to start my first build thread.
Back story: I've wanted to build a mid fifty's F100 for many years, and finally bought one. Its a 54 F100 that spent most of its life as a farm truck, it has some rust, lots of dents, but I don't believe it's ever been taken apart or messed with at all.
Direction: At this point I have disassembled most of it and done some work so I'll add a bunch of pics at first. This won't be a quick build, but I will do the best I can with updates.
I plan on building a reliable driver for cruising. lowered, some newer options, but keep the "traditional" look and Style.

 

I started on some rust repair then decided to pull the cab to make it easier to access things and paint the frame.
Excuse the blue panels I got a bunch of 18g and 16g shelving they where throwing out at work.

 

Looks like a nice old truck. There is a lot of propaganda about how bad these trucks ride and drive. The original I beam and suspension renewed with a properly adjusted or rebuilt steering gear, it will ride and drive very nicely. With stuff like monoleaf springs it can be lowered easily if that's your thing.
The 239 Y block or 215/223 whatever or you have can be hopped up and be very reliable and plus it has the neato factor.

The Bottom line is you do not have to add stuff like Mustang II,or frame clips to have a nice riding truck. You do not have to have a SBF or SBC engine to have a nice reliable truck.

 

I was able to pick up a 3" dropped axle with disc brake kit pretty cheap on C/L.

 

After stripping the frame and fixing all the small cracks, tears, and over sized expanded holes I painted it with a product I picked up at a swap meet in CT 2 coats of silver and 2 coats of black. The guy that sold it to me said I would be impressed with how it would smooth out the texture of the frame, and I am.

 

yep, nice ol' truck.
My brother had one back in the mid 60's. PO had put a 332 ahead of the 4-speed & dual chrome stacks (no mufflers) behind the cab.
Back then it was a work truck, but it would really haul a$$.

 

I want power brakes and steering so I picked up an under mount power master setup that a guy used mocking up his frame then he went a different route. The power steering box is from Mid50 via CPP. All went in very easy.

 

I cleaned up the springs, removed every other leaf (as per mid50's catalog), put in leaf liners, 2 inch drop shackles in the rear, new bushings, and pins all around. The rear end is the original Dana 44 new bearings and seals.
and this is as far as I've gotten as of today.

 

Nice truck and a great plan of attack. Great work so far. When I see old Farm truck scores such as yours, I start to wonder if the truck ever traveled far from the farm or ever left the home town.

 

Nice worksmanship so far!....nothin wrong with old shelves , making do with what you have is real "traditional" hotroding!....oh and please keep it all ford


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Thanks.
Oh, I will. I'm not anti Chevy and do believe in using what ever you have, but...

 

Yea im'e not anti Chevy, I was the chief wrench on a local stock car for 20 years, ran a lot of different Chevy combinations and had the best times of my life.....I just hate to see em in a ford!


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Saturday I got the steering and brakes installed on the frame. ( drop tie rods from Speedway)

 

I decided to get some work done on the rear cab corners this weekend.

 

I cut out the rot, and found the repair panels I bought are quite a bit off from the originals.
The corner is square, and the lower edge sticks out an 1" vs the 1/2" of the original.
I think if you where to use the whole panel it may work out but I planed to only use a section of it to keep as much of the original steel as possible.

 

I will keep watching. Building a 56 myself, along the same lines. All new from bottom up. Should be driving by spring and lots of it.

 

After looking at it for a while I decided to try to make the corner...
I think it came out pretty good, might need a little filler here and there.

 

Same thing on the right side. More rust on this side, but took half the time once I figured it out.

 

Nice work! It looks a lot like mine, only better shape to start with.

 

Thanks,
Your truck looks nice and complete. Much easier to put back together if you where the one who took it apart.

 

Thanks Guys

Thanks
Interesting thought. Not sure how far they took it, but judging by the number of dents and tears in the bed and back of the cab I'm sure its done more than its far share of work.

Good luck with your truck. Do you have a build thread going?

 

I finished up my last cab corner (I had started this one before I pulled the cab). This side needed the inner cab support.

 

I cleaned up the bottom of the cab and painted it with the same silver and black paint as I used on the frame

 

Love those trucks. Nice work. Looking good, for sure.

 

Very nice looking work so far, loved every minute working on mine and It looks like you are too. Are you reinstalling the original engine and running gear? Those rear ratios were not very highway friendly just saying. Great around the farm or town but not on the open road. Anyway keep up the good work, I'll be following this build. Ralphie

 

Looks like you had a good starting point with that truck.Complete and unmolested.Looking good so far.Keep the updates coming.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Nice truck, nice approach and very nice work!!

 

Thanks guys

 

Thanks, it has been a good time.
I have a 351w and an AOD that I plan on running.

 

The engine I'm going to use is a 351w from a 90 e150 with only 38k on it. I picked it up from a local junk yard pretty cheap.