Art & Inspiration We need to have a talk about the 1956 F-100

"Good Times"?

 

Yeah I always thought i remembered it having the Fonze on the side from Happy Days but I guess I just remembered wrong. Good times. Haha

 

The gas fill pipe is in the ‘53-‘55 position? I like it, first one I’ve seen like that....

 

I got one for free so I traded it for a '56 Chevy 2 door sedan.

They always looked like bulldogs to me...

 

It's a mixture, 55 tank under the drivers floor.

 

At lest you are getting a free education on 1956 Ford F100 details. When the thread is over you can go back and ID the misidentified photos.

 

Blot out the HAMB unfriendly wheels & tires, looks like Chip likes his '56. Bob

 

Let's see, the 47 had no wind wings, ... hmm; the 48 had the tank under the bed with the filler on some side, floor starter pedal, three-on-the-tree was optional, and I believe you had to get in and out of the passenger door when you locked it; 49: I don't recall; 50-something went to push-button door handles and wind wings; dahhh, some years had the tank in the cab; 54 was a major grille change and one-piece windshield(?); 216 splash oiler, then 235 was available at some point in the series(?); some of the badging/naming was different; and there was even a 55 first series! How'd I do?

 

CHEVROLET had the First and Second Series in 1955, I owned a First Series, replaced it with the '56 Ford from LA, small world. Bob

 

I'd have to say your Wrong. It has a 53-5 gas tank fill tube where it belongs. I'd almost go out on a limb here and say it looks like the total back cab panel was changed out from the roof seam down and then the tank mounted on the running board mounts where it was on the slant cabs. Heck with the 55 hood emblems it may have started life as a 1955 and got the front half of a 56 Cab graphed onto the 55 platform. Best part is it's still being used like a Truck. In 1972 I went the other way and took one of my 55's and graphed a 56 Big Window back panel to it.

 

Why'd you go and do that?

 

Yeah, the fill spout wouldn't be low if the tank was behind the seat.

 

Ford didn’t make an ugly truck until 1957, and a few of them weren’t ugly. I’d take a free 40-56 Ford truck any day!

 

I will say that the tail lights look like they'll interchange with a boat trailer's.

 

Not exactly, the F-100 taillights were so grate many were used on boat trailers and there were cheep knock off's made to look similar to them not the other way around.

 

Remember growing up as a little one playing in the back of my Dad's '56. He was a mason and often brought home fresh sand so we had a great time playing in this mobile sandbox ,of course with our toy cars. Loved the memory so much that I just had to build one for myself several decades later. I love the '56 and cherish that memory for me.

 

This is what a Bulldog looks like, and I like the look.

 

That 56 has appears to have the tank under the body
like earlier models. I have seen one other like that.
May be an owner modification? Perhaps Ford utilized
some earlier production panels in the "new" 56 body
style?

 

Gomer likes 'em.

 

I doubt it was done at the Factory. That tank sits on the running board brackets. On the 53-55 those are totally different than the 56 ones plus the 53-55 are a bolt on and in 56 they got riveted on while building the frame.

 

Remember back in the 1950's when real men didn't give a shit were the gas tank was, then some started wearing panties that easily knotted up and bitched about everything?

 

Citizens Arrest! Citizens Arrest!

 

Sounded more like, Citizens Array-ust !

 

Yeah, profile is everything. My '55 is raked, dropped with a '58 F100 front axle
(1" factory drop! Free lunch! Well...Axle was free, and I installed it around noon...had to mill out the 'U' bolt bores 1/8" each side, '58 springs are 2"; '55 springs are 1-3/4".)
My wife Joey flattened the leaves on my air/hyd. press, reversed the main leaves.
She then redrilled the centerbolt holes 1-1/2" 'forward', (main leaf and 2 following) centering the wheels in the fender wells. Visually different from side view, makes the front end appear longer. Wow! Nice 4" drop...Thanks, Joey!
Tire sizes (Classic Tiger Paws!) are 205/60 X 15" front, 265/70 rear...Rubber size helps the rake. 4 degree caster shims netted 6.5 degrees positive. Drives excellent, EXCEPT for the Toyota 4X4 power steering box gifted me by a former employee.
Short pitman arm is horrible...so I rebuilt a '59 F100 box, ($$$) and the long pitman arm will regain the quick steering it used to have before the '55 box got 'grindy'...
When I got the axle, I also got the spindles. Drivers spindle has a steering arm forged on, and on the '58 axle (1" drop) steering arm goes down lower to the drag link, lessening the angle from lowering.
I get lots of comments, mostly positive...Worst ones are from youngsters (and uninformed types) that don't remember when we used to install small block Chevys in Fords!
A 20 foot lightup of tires usually quells their disbelief...Yes, the Moon gas pedal works.
I didn't see the Chip Foose pic of his '56 'til this morning...Wow...Major massage!
I have to say my '55 looks...well, pretty good, alongside that beauty!

 

Seriously though, what's not to love? I mean, just look at that big fat ass, those wide hips, and that narrow waist.




Kinda looks like Aunt Bea in a red negligee... umm... okay... maybe that wasn't the best reference.

Some might find them distasteful, but even the ugliest old, beat up iron is better than that non-user serviceable, proprietized, foreign junk everybody is driving today, and they sure as hell cost less than a new Ford truck.

 

My first car when I turned 16 in '72. My dad was into them for the last half of the 60s and of course I had to have one. We had a handful of them, all big windows until 1981. Sure wish I'd kept one, someday would like to get a slant cab with a '54 grill. My favorite.
Hung onto my plaque and jacket, can still fit into the jacket almost 50 years later but it's a TIGHT fit.

 

Hey Mike, there was a guy in our club that did the same to his '56. Always like that location better than behind the seat.
Where's your 56?

 

Factory location Rich. It’s staying there.....The guys meet in Garden Grove for breakfast on Saturday @ 7:30....I’ll be there in my Woodie....Aunt Yeses on Brookhurst.....

 

This is my truck, from what I can tell it is a 55 that has had the dash, windshield,roof and doors from a 56. The welded joint is right below the dash and the rear joint is at the factory joint above the rear window. I bought this thing as a basket case and was quite surprised to see it was not quite as it appeared.

 

Hey Sarge , can you post some pics of what you are building?