Hello everyone my name is Matt. I have been lurking around reading and learning. I found this truck last weekend. I brought it home yesterday.


1956 F100. It don't have no engine or trans. But it is set for a Small block Chevy. Someone put alot of time into this truck the Frame and floor have been painted. All front end and suspension has been painted. I'm going to concentrate on getting a drive train for it in the next few weeks. Drive it this year. Get it painted over next winter. The paint is in good condition. I'm just not a big fan of the color. Here are a few pictures. I will add some more soon.

 

Looks great! Not bad! Yes drive it and enjoy it and then decide what to do with it.

 

Welcome to the forum, Matt, and congratulations on your find! It looks like a pretty nice truck, and something you can have some fun with. FYI, just in case you didn't know, your grille is from a '53.

Are you going to put a Chev drive train in, or "fix it" and run a Ford engine? ;-)

 

Thanks for information on he Grill. The owner said he thought it was from a later model. I might put a chevy engine in it for this year. Then build a a Ford engine over the winter.

 

Matt,

Nice start. I would definitely say get it running and drive it. So often folks start a teardown and get discouraged along the way. It looks like a custom cab 56, door lock on the drivers door. The stickys at the top of this 48-60 forum page have a lot of great reference info. Enjoy and welcome.

 

Good luck with it looks great, hope that SBC isn't a permanent fixture in there.

 

Good looking truck! Got to love the '56 ^_^

Yeah I agree with just getting it drivable before tearing it down, it can be a long process if you completely tear it down and to be honest a truck like yours doesn't need it. At all. In fact I'd say someone else probably already did if it looks like that.

Enjoy it ^_^

 

Hi Matt and Welcome!

Yep 53 grille - and that's not a terribly easy conversion to make - not terribly tough but takes some doing. They are almost identical to the untrained eye. The 56 grille has different shaped headlight buckets - the headlights are indented into the bucket.

Pics:

1953 - like yours:



And 1956 - Your year:



Tail light brackets are upside down too. That will make a diff when you go to mount your license plate under the left one - it will hit the stake pocket!

Gonna keep the little tires?

BUT, That is a way cool truck!

 

Nice 56.....and was it an overdrive truck originally? I have seen this truck before. Congratulations and glad you will take care of another 56. If you need any questions answered be sure to ask.
I on the other hand have just got home another truck......and my fleet is growing again.
This time I got a original 1 owner family truck that was 50 miles away and the guys I bought it from were the best people ever.
Maybe some pics when I get her cleaned up. It is always a thrill to get another (old) truck. THE NEIGHBORS DON'T THINK SO ON THIS ONE....LOL
1957 AND I'M IN HEAVEN!!!

 

Matt, check out your local 53-56 Ford truck club. Klassic Haulers. They meet monthly and are a great resource for where to get parts, work done, paint, etc. They use to meet in Livonia during the summer and in members shops the rest of the year.

 

Nice truck Matt...I have always liked the 53 grilles, too many folks put 56 grilles in the slant cabs and now they are getting too commonplace. If you have the time and motivation you may want to replace the headlights with 56 lights/buckets...it takes a little work to mod the wind deflectors but the end result is dramatic. Good luck and have fun with your truck!
BTW - just say no to SBC...there's quite a few SBF/C4 combos out there, you'll be happy that you stayed "true blue".

 

Thanks everyone for the information and compliments. Julie Thanks for the info on the grill and the tail light brackets. I flip them around this morning. The tires will be replaced before the truck hits the roads again. I want something a little bigger. Plus the tires that are on there are dry rotted bad.

 

MATT,
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE 56 THAT IS ONE NICE LOOKING TRUCK.I SURE HOPE
THAT YOU KEEP IT FORD ALL THE WAY.ENJOY IT. I SURE WISH THAT I OWNED IT

 

yep , real nice buy !!! haven't got a whole lot of work to do there !! if you don't keep the 53 grille let it be known here as there are a few of us here with 53's who would be interested i'd imagine . don't cut the grille up to customize for cripes sake as suggested as they don't reproduce them , just 56 shells , and they aren't an easy item to find in good shape in my area !!!!!!!!!! stu got to watch a really nice 53 i found and the owner wouldn't part with , with a mint grille get speared by a lift and crushed here .................... so disheartening ........................

 

Not all mods equate to "cutting up", here's a pic of a slant cab with a 53 grille and 56 headlights. No cutting required on the grille and the elimination of the "bugeyes" is a lot more appealing to many non-purists. I don't think that it will throw you over to the "darkside" but each have their own interpretations.