Projects "Southern Manners" a 1953 f100 build.

EDIT My man Sanjay Heera did this rendering for me. Told him every little detail and part and he captured it on paper. Here is my vision for the build.




Hey all here is my f100 build thread.

I had a decent amount of money saved up due to a speeding ticket I anticipated being guilty of, cop didn't show up to the case, and I got off scot-free. So with that money, I just kept savin' and savin'. I bought an overpriced f100 last spring. I was pretty eager to start my first project and also, since I just turned 18 at the time, to have my first ride with the title in my name.

There are a lot of problems with this truck and I've learned quite a few lessons so far when it comes to buying used vehicles. It has been sitting for a year almost without me doing much to it. I've mostly just been researching and gathering parts in the meantime. The goal here is a decent hot rodded truck for me to cruise, use, and abuse. I want to stay on a moderate budget but I don't want a truck in the end that I'm going to cry over if it gets scratched or dented. Although I may not be as talented as my fellow Hambers when it comes to quality of work, I'm shooting for the highest quality I can do mostly on my own.

So here it is.....

What I'm starting with (that's my girlfriend's dad in the pic, he and his best friend are giving their help on this build when I need it)




The day we picked it up



Brought it home. ALOT of bondo on this truck. The doors are junk, along with the fenders, hood, etc. Also the bed has been screwed with. I'm going to have to be chasing and correcting who knows how many owner's hackjobs. This is going to be alot of work.......

 

I wish I had pictures but the home made engine mounts/crossmember it came with looked terrible. With that being cut out, I started installing my mustang II ifs kit from TCI. My girlfriend's dad provided help when two sets of hands were required.










This might of been a huge mistake but I wanted to do ALL of the welding on my own, and I did. This also was my first time really using a MIG welder, uh oh.

 

EDIT- Found a pic of the ugly engine crossmember that came with it, it was welded between the framerails and I had to cut it out. Doesn't it look terrible?!




Almost final product. Springs need to be worn in and possibly cut. Also I might remove the original flathead crossmember that's riveted in, depending on how my 302 will fit.

 

Cool truck!

 

Very Nice

 

Thanks guys. I'm between low gloss black (reverse steelies w/ wwalls) or silver (black steelies w/ wwalls) for the truck's color scheme cause right now it looks like a big ol' elephant haha. Although paint is far far from now. What do you all think?

 

Easy to find numerous hack jobs. Before you know it you have fixed/replaced everything twice.

Good luck.

 

...them are some very good lookin welds, nice job.

 

Haha thanks guys. TCI sent me the stock height spindles instead of the 2 inch drop spindles. Those will have to be replaced..... they were nice enough to ship me the new spindles this week and gave me a drop tag to ship the stock ones back free of charge, Hopefully the engine will get in this weekend and the rear will be boxed

 

looks like a good start ! have a 55 i'm doin myself

 

I had to remove the front crossmember in mine when I installed my sbc just no way it was gonna work...

 

Got some mustang bucket seats this morning for a decent price. I think they'll look great and plus I'm keeping it all ford! I'm going to have to fabricate a set of risers to make them work.

 

Looking good.

 

you have learned some big lessons. even the one assuming that a big name company will send you the right part the first time. welds seem to be pretty good. as for color, I would go with Silver. but, that is less forgiving than a basic Black when painting your first time out. Mustang seats might seem a little small in that cab. keep us posted on progress.

 

Haha yeah better late than never on learning lessons. I plan on being part of the manual labor of the body work and helping out but I don't think I'll be doing any spraying on my own. Paint and body work is an entirely different entity when it comes to cars, and it's really not my specialty at all. That being said, with the paint and some of the bodywork being out of my hands I think the black will turn out fine

 

A long weekend of deconstruction/teardown. Bed and runnings boards are off, cab is stripped, you name it. Time to actually get things done next weekend.

For now I thought this would be cool to post. My woman's family gave me some license plates over the weekend. So what if they're not "traditional" I'm still gonna make some sunvisors out of them

 

Good bye high school graduation money! I bought this 302 with a 4 speed for a couple hundred bucks. Hopefully I can get this son of a bitch running! I sold the 4 speed, looking for a tko-600 5 speed. This 302 will be in there just to get it to move under its own will. I'm planning on doing a later 302 (bored .030 over, roller cam, and rocker setup) build in the meantime.

 

One thing that you might look into is the crossmember (that's been removed) between the frame at the front cab mounts. If the crossmember is left out, it lets the frame rails twist and the cab mounts settle. That eventually throws everything off as far as lineing up body panels.
Larry T

 

Yes sir. I appreciate your input. Once I get a new tranny and the engine all lined up, I was planning to make a new crossmember. The doors and body panels lining up is just going to be a nightmare

edit- I forgot to mention there's a random piece of 2 x 3 wood on the drivers side, in between the front cab mounting perch and the cab, bunch of idiots I'm having to deal with here. I wish I could meet the previous owners and ask what the hell they were thinking.

I mean I'm no expert but alot of this shit does not seem right

 

Reserved for pictures of the previous owner's shortcomings....



Wood between cab perch and cab...



Here is how I literally found the brake line routed, I guess they were too lazy to cut and flare and then hook everything up. I guess they were set on a certain length of brakeline and were gonna try to make it work.....



An over bondo'd door that doesn't even match the cab's profile Notice the bondo on the cowl and the barely existent metal I ripped out



The doors felt flimsy and not solid at all. Knowing they were junk I gave one a good hit and my hand could have gone straight through. Bondo was used to fill the gaps in between the metal.



A "professional" inner cab post repair....

 

Some progress this weekend. Frame rails were outta whack and the box plate didn't fit well to begin with. I felt pretty good when I got everything dead flush after alot of hammering, clamping, and grinding




The other side welded and finished




Also on the inside of the plates, I tack welded the nut for the rubber bump stops in place. This way with the box plates being in place, it wouldn't be such a hassle bolting in the rubber bump stops

 

Thats some smart looking work you got going on. Thats gonna be a nice truck that you can be proud of. Keep strokin, oj

 

Looking good, are you chasing down a rear sump 302 pan for the SBF? I suspect you'll need it. You're doing a great job and seeing the kind of stuff a lot of "hacks" out there do to old vehicles. Significant learning experience for you when you have to fix all that crap. Its gonna be a nice truck.....

 

Thanks Oj, I learn from the best.

Yeah Boutlaw the oil pan may be a problem. The one I have now is a front sump and I'm pretty sure the "roller 302" build I want to do later on(85-up block) has a double-sump.

 

That door post repair you showed a pic of explains the piece of wood jammed under the cab. The piece of angle they've welded in is over the top of the cab mount - likely they burnt the rubber cone and then realized they'd just covered the bolt through it so simply jammed the wood in to prop the cab back up in that corner . Wonder if it was the same "professionals" that used to own my '53 .


Good progress so far man , keep at it .


.

 

Wow 4t6ford good call buddy. Seems like you are right. I was to busy looking at the piece of angle to even notice that there was no bolt on that side.

Seems like you have some good experience chasing the tracks of dummies....

What would I do without the help of my foreign hot rod allies???

Also while you're here I'd like everyone to know that I want my f100 frame to be as nice as or similar to 4t6's!

 

Gee where's the "blushing" icon ? All good man , you look like you are well on the way to having a decent frame of your own - and your own work. Mine is no show pony , it's just a work truck .


keep up the great work .


.

 

I have made two failed attempts at seat risers on my 54F100 build.
The first was using Granade seats on Speedways risers - the seats were too thick and I could not fit between the seat and the steering wheel, So I mounted some 65Mustang seats on the risers and they were way to low.
Next I made some 10-1/2" risers and they were 2" too tall at5'10" I would hit my head on the headliner when it was installed.
So the next set will be at 8-1/4" tall and I will make these out of tubing hopefully this week end. Good luck on your project and you can look at what I have done here:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=692690

 

Hey, your build is looking good. I have a set of escort buckets I think I am gonna have reapolstered and ditch the headrest. You can buy sliders from jegs or speedway for them that are relatively cheap 40ish. The ones I have found are pretty easy to raise/space.

Where did you find your mustang seat, that is exactly what I was wanting. I just cant find them for a reasonable price.

Looks good keep me posted. How far are you from lewisburg WV???

 

Keep me posted if you need any parts, I have a bunch of new trim and seals for your model I picked up. I'll give you a good deal or maybe swapsome stuff if yah want.