American 1956 F-100 Undergoes Unique Restoration in Australia
F-100 body features a cool exterior patina while the undercarriage and engine bay are like-new.
An Australian Redditor named “Malibu-Q” recently shared his 1956 Ford F-100 in the site’s project car channel and it is a cool project fora variety of reasons. First, it is not an Australian model, it is an American model that the owner had shipped from the United States with the plan of restoring it and converting it to right-hand-drive, but the owner opted to keep the left-drive layout.
Second, it features a unique custom red patina on the outside while the chassis, the engine and much of the interior looks like it is new.
The Introduction
When the OP first shared his cool 1956 Ford F-100 pickup, he included the picture above and a very brief bit of information.
“Recently completed a ‘ratty style rebuild’ on my old Ford truck. It’s starring in a booze commercial tomorrow. Build pics in comments.”
Later on in the thread, he would also share a link to an Imgur account with tons of pictures, some of which we have included here, but there are many more in his gallery. Click here for a closer look at the whole spread of images.
Frame-Off Restoration
If you saw this 1956 Ford F-100 in passing on the road, you might mistake it for a ragged, old pickup, but it is anything but ragged. The Aussie owner bought the truck from an American owner in Minnesota and had it shipped to Australia with the plans for transforming it into a right-hand-drive model. However, once he saw it in person, the OP decided that it was too nice to cut up for the conversion, so he left it with the original left-drive layout.
The truck was subject to a thorough frame-off restoration,with the frame being cleaned up, primed and painted, as were the suspension pieces and pretty much everything else under the body. The rolling chassis was completed with a set of bright white wheels with proper chrome hubcaps.
Under the hood of this 1956 F-100 is the original 272-cubicinch Y-block V8. The engine was cleaned up to look like it was new, except it is painted grey rather than yellow and it features a Holley carburetor and a set of custom headers. It sends its power through the Ford-O-Matic transmission and a Dana 44 rear axle.
Exterior Patina
While much of this 1956 F-100 exterior looks aged, the restoration process did include a new wood floor in the bed with a metal liner,but everything else on the body has an aged look. Not surprisingly, the Reddit community wanted to know how he created this unique patina and he was quick to share his process.
“I painted the pieces in a red oxide brown 2K (replicates original primer), faced them down with fine wet sandpaper, then painted some matched red acrylic lacquer. After a few weeks of drying I used lacquer thinner on a rag to rub away some of the red. The thinner won’t affect the 2Kunderneath. I finished by using flatting compound (like coarse cutting compound) and a scotchbrite to remove any gloss.”
The result is a truck that looks rusty, but it is actually clad in new paint that has been modified to present a worn, rusty look and it is incredible.
At the end of the piece, the OP explains how he came to own this truck for his project and why he went the direction that he did, but in the long run, this Redditor created an awesome 1956 Ford F-100 that many of us would love to own.
“It’s almost impossible to find an Australian delivered restorable 53-56 F-100. The Australian delivered F-100s had a locally made bed which was wider, and had narrowed rear fenders. IMHO they aren’t as nice looking. My truck was imported from Minnesota USA. I wrecked a crashed and rusted local RHD 56 F-600 cab, and my initial plan was to convert this one to RHD using a Jag IFS. When I got the F-100 home I realized that is was too nice and original. So I restored it instead.”
