Customs They are still out there! Custom 53 F100 found.

Gave it a quick bath, tossed on a spare 750 carb I had (ordering a 650), fixed a few fuel leaks, ignored others (towel) and got it running for a few minutes.
Brakes and transmission need some love, all fuel lines replaced, some minor electrical, swapping to a stock mechanical fuel pump because I hate electric pumps on street driven carbed engines, cooling system flushed, possibly have to do the valve guide seals if they don't come back to life.
Biggest thing is pulling the carpet and soaking it in natures miracle and then rinsing it 537 times to get all the mouse pee out of it. Pretty sure I have four kinds of hunta virus just from working on it.
It needs some bodywork on the rear fender and the roof will probably need to be repainted as some of the bodywork is separated right above the rear window. I can save most of the upholstery and there is some chrome work that needs redone.
Next up is orderring about 5 gallons of Natures Miracle and a kiddie pool to soak the carpet in!

 

We know Anthony, we know. Hehe.

 

Let’s see, vehicle, check, repair plan, check, approval from the wife ( Da Boss that is) , check, dust removal, check, upholstery, pending, engine, progressing, suspension, check, paint, it’ll buff out, hehe.

 

Ha, the wife technically has more cars than I do. It took a while to get the keys for my chopped 56 back from her. The real trick is no kids = all the cars!

Unfortunately I am going in for neck surgery on the 6th so I will have 6 weeks of really not doing too much and then another 8 weeks of kinda sorta being able to do stuff. I'm already ordering parts so once I can get back out to the garage I can knock all the mechanical stuff out as fast as possible. I have a paint guy lined up but I kinda want to be able to drive it to a few shows so paint/body/chrome/upholstery probably won't happen right away.
I also need to sell the purple chopped 56 to free up some funds and space!

 

Unfortunately I am going in for neck surgery on the 6th so I will have 6 weeks of really not doing too much and then another 8 weeks of kinda sorta being able to do stuff. I'm already ordering parts so once I can get back out to the garage I can knock all the mechanical stuff out as fast as possible.
Your funny! I had neck surgery in 2018 and I still ain’t right. Before surgery they tell you you’ll bounce right back. After surgery they tell you the truth and say you may never bounce back.

 

Hello,

This might be far fetched, but the original 53-56 Ford F100 Custom Truck I saw in our old Westside of Long Beach neighborhood had a similar look the thing was the chopped top. Most trucks that had a chop top were level. Just lowered a few inches or so. But, the Candy Apple or Tahitian Red version I saw almost daily was this unusual chop for the top that left the front window taller and the side view at an angle. The back window was lower, causing the top to look slightly sloped.

The F100 truck in my old Westside neighborhood was the only custom truck in that whole area. Custom cars, hot rods and others were around, but no one had a chopped lowered custom truck. All white tuck and roll upholstery done in Long Beach, chromed reversed wheels, custom grille and side pipes.

Jnaki

The owner is now gone and his remaining family has no idea about the where abouts of the truck. It was a mainstay and most unusual of customs for that era. It may have been in one of the early R&C, Car Craft or Hot Rod magazines. The time period was 1955 to 65 for the possible photo spread.

Nice find on the truck and continue to have fun with it… That old custom truck I saw back when I was an elementary school kid was just the beginning. It was once owned by a optometrist who parked it right out in front of his shop/business every day. I always tagged along when one or all of my family went to see the optometrist for gl***es. Luckily, I did not need gl***es until I was almost 76 years old. YRMV

 

Good luck with the neck surgery! Love the new truck, but I love all the others as well. If my garage wasn't already packed I'd have to ask about the purple one going up for sale....that sure would save me a lot of work. LOL

 

This truck was built in Vancouver, Wa. about 2000 or 2001. It was chopped 6" in the front, 7" in the rear, the body was channeled 5", front fenders sectioned, bed shortened 8", rear fenders moved forward, Volare subframe, ford 9" and a 302/C4.

I would love to see pictures of that truck you saw!

 

@Pist-n-Broke
@saltracer219
@couverkid
@Tim_with_a_T
You guys know this truck? I have never seen it locally.

 

It was built by Jonah Meade who also built this one.



It was originally built by Jonah Meade who also built the Phantom Bantom.

 

I wasn’t in the PNW till Fall 2006 so I think I missed this one. Kinda looks like the older brother of the Cherry Bomb Model A RPU.

 

I have lived in Vancouver and been active in the car thing since the early 80's and I don't recall him or the truck. I figure one the Slo Poks might know of it.

 

I would love to see pictures of that truck you saw!


Hello,

So, would I. I was too young to take a photo of the truck. But, I walked in front of the truck almost everyday on the way to the small grocery store and playground. I am pretty sure it was featured in one of those early hot rod/custom car magazines. It was too nice not to have been left out. The Tahitian Red paint stood out from blocks away.

By the time we got our 35mm cameras, he had moved his shop across the L.A. River and freeway to a larger facility and better exposure. By then, we hardly ever saw the truck again.

Jnaki

That reddish truck in the photos is the closest to the identical look of the one I saw in 1955-57. No one at the time had the chop similar to that one. Lower in the back than the front height. YRMV

And, yes, I got a ride in the truck as a little kid, due to the truck being at the local Mobil Gas Station for some mechanical work. The gas station was a regular stop on the way home from school. So, as I stopped for a cold Coke, the owner/mechanic asked if I wanted to go for a ride back to the truck owner's shop three blocks away. He was finished with the tuning and other things and was returning it to the owner.

It was the coolest ride, ever. The tuck and roll upholstery was done in Long Beach and the long tubes were very comfortable. Plus, the white color was a good contrast to the bright Tahitian Red paint. My first ride in a custom truck and a chopped one at that!

 

Billy, I know Jonah a little bit, he seems like a decent guy, however he is a lone wolf and keeps a pretty low profile. He buys, builds and sells a lot of cars and bikes so none of them seem to stay with him for very long and apparently most of the cars go out of this area so I am not surprised that no one around here knows the car.

 

15 years of this thing sitting inside a box truck in the woods makes for a lot of mouse piss. I am just surprised that they don't chew anything at all!
Carpet is soaking overnight and the carpet cleaner will get brought out tomorrow.

 

A friend of mine told me about that Urine B Gone product, said it really works, never saw a bottle of it though.

 

Had disc replacement surgery, it went great and fixed the problems (atleast with C6/C7). No we wait for the other 4 herniated discs to either fix themselves or get worse.

In the meantime I have been back to work and doing car stuff.

I got the new shorter & tilt column installed but had to make a lower mount for it to get the correct angle.

I got the new master cylinder/power booster and under dash bracket modified and installed so now there is no more ugly volare brake pedak bracket hanging below the dash.

It always bugged me that there was no chrome trim to break up the dash to gauge cluster transition. In order to install the trim I had to remove the aluminum bezel and make a whole new one so I made a stainless copy of the one my dad made for his old 53 M100 back in the 70's.

I started installing the new wire harness but decided I hate having the battery under the carpet and floor so I made a stainless battery box & hold down then welded it into the p***enger inner fender. Working on routing wires now.

Still trying to decide on a wheel & tire size combo. I know I'm going with diamond back 3" whitewalls (going radials because I hate the ride quality of bias plys and Im going to drive the **** out of it rain or shine. Ride quality will always win over somones hurt feelings at a show because of a radial tire). I want options for hubcaps so I can change them out when I get bored of one look. I was going to run fender skirts but unfortunately the rear fenders were cut in the front and mounted kinda janky. I guess when the bed & frame were shortened to keep the proportions correct they didn't want to rework the running boards so they filled the space with the lake pipes and cut the front of the fenders. I might do a pie cut and make the skirts work but it is kind of a kick in the balls to cut up a nice and pretty rare set of steel skirts for a 53-56.

I still have some work to do on the frame to make it a safe and reliable driver. The splice where the frame was shortened wasn't done correctly and in my opinion is not safe at all. It is an easy fix one I cut off the 1" flat bar that was used as a fish plate. I am probably also going to end up 4 linking the rear because the rear suspension has zero movement and is relying on a pair of air shocks to get the ¾" of travel it has.
I'm trying really hard to not to turn this into a can of worms but there was a lot of things wrong with this truck and Im trying to fix them one at a time but keep it "movable" while doing so. It looked really good in a parkinglot from about 20' away but she needs some love.

 

Clean battery box install and I like the new gauge cluster surround as well, both worthy changes.

 

I also found a pair of 47 Chrysler taillights and modified them to fit the rear fenders as the originals were missing when I bought it.

Tossed the goofy chopper exhaust tips and ****ed the bumper in a bit to clean up the lines.

I need to find or build some sort of chrome surround to clean up the bumper where the exhaust p***es through.

I got a pretty good laugh when I pulled the rear wheels. I guess the previous owner ordered the wrong bolt pattern so they just improvised

 

Wow....

 

That's what I keep saying everytime I fix one thing and then find something else. I have to keep reminding myself how much I love old cars.

 

Dang... to risk that truck on those wallered out stud holes. Yikes.

 

The wheel reminds me of loose lug nuts. Anytime a vehicle like this pops up, there is the discussion about restore or improve. Many know that show vehicles weren't made to be driven much. But as the current owner, do you have the right to make it drive-able and make changes to your desire? I don't think there is a standard answer for one fits all. If something has a real historical significance, that is a different scenario. Because you have stated that you want a driver, what's wrong with improvements?

 

The fact that they just tossed on some conical washers to "true" it back up instead of just buying a new pair of rear wheels amazes me.
They are readily available and pretty cheap.

 

This thing was built in 2001. The guy I got it from bought it soon after that and then stashed it after swapping a few parts.

I get that "original" customs built back in the 50's & 60's often weren't built to a standard that is available today. But with all the parts and information we have had since the mid 70's there is zero reason for anyone to build something that isn't safe.
I feel that wallered out lug nut holes in a wheel being "fixed" that way is either just sheer ignorance or just plain stupid.

My main goal is to keep it visually very close to how it was built but make it a safe & somewhat comfortable driver. Visually I want to get rid of the goofy early 2000's rock a billy stuff (horse shoes and pin ups) and make it look more like an early 60's indoor show truck.

Even if it was an "original" back in the day custom I think that the current owners owe it to the vehicle itself to maybe not update it but do what is needed to atleast make it safe and reliable so it can stay on the road and be enjoyed. A car that never moves is a waste and should be p***ed onto someone who will use it as it was intended.

 

Yikes to those lug nut holes! No saving those wheels. I like the Chrysler tail lights too, why was it necessary to grind the paint off of that right rear fender?

I've seen some chrome cup holder inserts that might make really good bezels for those rear bumper exhaust holes. Seems like the diameter would be just right. Guys use them on custom consoles although I'm not totally sure where they're getting them.

 

Previous owner backed into something and dented the fender.

 

Nice work on all of the improvements. The 302, C4 and 9-inch is a great driver combo. The Volare front susp swap was popular in the 53-56 F-100s. The torsion bars give a little adjustment.

 

I remember that truck from the Hot Rod-A-Rama and maybe even Billetproof NW back in the day. Somewhere I think I have pictures of it. I'm glad to see that it still exists and that it is getting some much needed love.