Projects Somebody Gave me a 1955 F100 “Effie” It’s a rough one . Paint with iodine and mark it duty Doc!!

Here’s one I built and sold several years ago
It also has an SBC

 

With the enormous room under hood, I’ve seen everything from baby I6’s to 385 series 460’s and Chrysler 426 Hemis stuck under those big bulbous hoods. Talk about a hot rod builders kit, wow, just about anything will fit with ease and not look out of place. A buddy had a 55 for a short while with the guts from a totaled 60’s Mustang GT, Hipo 289 4 speed, looked factory sitting in there, ran like a top. Former bro in law had a 56 with a FE, supposedly a 390, it was another one you’d have thought came that way. They are just so versatile and have room to make things look to grow there. I’ve always admired them, got to drive a few, but never really looked for one for myself. If someone gave me one, you can bet whatever power plant I had that was good would be going in it even if it was just temporary until I got something else built for it. These trucks look great out of the box, they don’t have to have goofy grilles and multiple headlight treatments to be noticed.

 

A FE was my first choice. I’ve always thought that a 390 in a ‘53-64 Ford truck would be really sweet.

Then I began to look for one.
That took me down yet another Ford rabbit hole.
I thought I had found a combo but the transmission would not work for this application without a great deal of work.

I thought.....I’m sick of this baloney.

I have been a dyed in the wool Ford guy for 30 years.
The Y block is long gone.

The F100 is a great platform for just about anything.
I’m just tired of all the quirks with Ford engines.

A simple 283 with a 3 speed sounds really good to me.
I may slide in a Duntov 097 or 30 30.

I kind of see it as the best of both worlds, an iconic vehicle with an iconic engine.

 

Unless I am greatly mistaken, someone wanting to hop up a 53-56 F1 like this back in say 1960 would have used any engine he could get his hands on. The SBC was established as high performance leader already - the Y-Block was uncompetitive in comparison, the MEL was huge and heavy and more expensive being mostly fitted to Fomoco's luxury cars, the FE was only a year and a half old and the Windsor was not invented yet. So it makes sense.

 

Didn't the "phone booth T pickup come out in 1925 with the roadster pickup, I always liked a phone booth t pickup and the homemade "C" cabs of the same era.

 

Be like the rest of us have more projects in your yard than you have days of life left in you.
Use the excuse you are saving it from the scrap yard.

 

I don't know if I will ever actually do it because my boring late model Dodge gas pickup works really well for towing but I've always thought it would be neat to take an F-250 or F-350 (with a 9' pickup bed) from the 54-56 era and drop a lower compression (for cheap fuel) 460 with a zf5 speed setup to be a torque monster and turn it into my tow rig/hot rod working mans rig.
I occasionally will look at the classifieds hoping to find a really cheap one that basically twists my arm to build it but I have yet to come across it.

 

A located a complete 390 and fmx for $400 last year for a friend.
4v from a 63 murauder
I run across FEs every now and then.
But I’m putting a 283 in my 51 merc. Hard to beat and look cool. I don’t care what makes it go.

 

Clarence (1948) had a 283 for about 30 years. Replaced with a 350 crate motor because it was less expensive than rebuilding the 283. Friend has had a 460 in his 56 F-100 for over 30 years.

Subscribed.

 

My buddy had a 56 with a 390 Cad. We drove that thing everywhere without a problem

 

The "phone booth" and the C-cabs bodies where only avalable on the 125" wheelbase (and longer) Model TT trucks. In 1917 Ford intro'd the Model TT trucks as just a cab and chassis...whatever went on the bed/back of the truck was the responsibility of the new owner.

 

I gotta go with Jack on this.
Not that I have any knowledge on the subject, but he was there when they were new

 

We always called the "Jellybean" a "Gumby" truck.

 

I'm not THAT old Mike...just a little unstable

 

I know you are just providing info, but I find the urge to nickname everything a bit tiresome.* The "OBS" designation is particularly odd given that anything other than a current body style is effectively "OBS"**

*Exceptions being terms like "Bonus Built" "Five Star" "Task Force" "Advanced Design" being factory given names.
**Maybe I'm just touchy since I apparently drive a "Dick Nose Ford"

 

Great now I find out I’m a proud owner of a “Dicknose” Jelly Bean

 

Keep the hood shut and no one needs to know. Don't ask, don't tell. I owned one like it in Abilene, TX that had a 318 in it. Whatever turns your crank...so to speak.

 

When I first got my '56, I put a 331 Caddy with a hydro in it. It was OK, but not right. Then put a rebuilt 292 in it. Worked fine but still not right. Finally dropped a 390 and a C-6 in it and all was right.

 

one thing I have never seen in the flesh is a 53 with the flathead.

 

A guy I went to trade with school had one

one shows up at local cruise nights with one

 

@trailer-Ed (on here) has his. I believe he's had it since high school.

 

I built my first 56 F-100 in the mid 70s with a rebuilt 352 FE my dad have me. I raced a buddy from work a few times in his 55 F-100 with a 400 Pontiac in it. I whipped his a$$ ever time.

 

Dad was in the Henery's Hauler's truck club in the 70's and 80's, I grew up around 53-56 "Effies", built my first truck at 12 years old (56 small window with a 79 Buick estate wagon subframe and buick 350), I have had Mercs and Fords, currently have a chopped big window 56 F100 daily driver and a chopped small window 56 M100 project and we always called the 53-56 trucks "Effies".

 

I learn something new everyday.
I didn't believe you so I did a ton of research with the books I have and other than a few secondhand accounts there is no first hand accounts or factory documentation showing a closed cap pickup from 1925 to 1927 only closed cab big TT trucks. What's crazy is I have probably personally seen a few hundred of them (to many to count) either as stockers or Hot Rods.
I always wanted one so now I know if I want one I will have to make it, plus side is I know where a cab is...

 

I bought a 55 when I was in the Navy and drove it cross country twice with the 239 and overdrive; it got 21 mpg on gas, traded in on a 1971 F250 4x4 which I still have. I'm still looking for another 55.

 

You dare to question the great and powerful Ford-o-phile @hotrodjack33 ???
Seriously, I too always thought they made cool hot rods. Unfortunately, here on the East Coast, rust was not kind to them, and very few survived.

 

What is a OBS?
I think I may some some of those obs......Obie’s?

 

I actually prefer to use the year or body type or the year and body type.....
The 64.....or The Fairlane....or the Sports Coupe
The 51 or simply.....the Coupe.
The ‘50 or ...... the 50 Ford or.....The F-One
The 62 or the Galaxie
This will one I’ll call.....
The 55 or the F-One Hundred. (F100)
Effie was just an enthusiast name that is fairly common in that community for early F-Trucks.
I used it here.
I’m not big on the cutesy nicknames or abbreviations like .....tranny.....dizzy......carbie......boltie woltie.....
It gets old.

 

You guys are going to kill me.
This is the head of the ‘64 283 somebody gave me.
As expensive as this stuff is going to be. It’s good to get a break.
The 283 runs good does not smoke but is does leak a little out of the rear seal.

the block and point casting....
Is that “Power Pack” heads or just regular?
It came out of a ‘64 Impala.
Sorry for the triple pics....I’m learning this phone.

 

Yep. Those are power pack heads
Great set up
Building one now. Just put together a 3 speed OD for it.

I’d clean it up, do a re-seal and cruise