Hi Guys and Gals,

So I just joined your community because, well, I have a couple of Ford trucks. I've got a '95 F150 with a 5.0 (work horse), and a '53 F100 with a 390. The 53 was my dad's. He was a big time hot rodder and it was one of his all time favorites. He swapped out the original Flathead for the the 390 in the mid 60s and drove it all over hell's half-acre (to use his terminology). I remember riding around in it as a kid, but he got busy with other things, you know the drill, so it sat since about 85. The 53 was always at the top of my list of projects that I wanted to do, but I thought of it as my “future ultimate show car” build that I would do when I was rich and had tons of time. I went and grew up, finished school, career, marriage, kid, etc. My dad gave me the truck many years ago, and unfortunately he passed away.

So here I am at 45, I don't have tons of money and I don't have tons of time. I'm slowly working through my other must-do projects and I'm finally coming up on the 53. Honestly, I don't see myself starting on it for about a year, but I want to take this time to really figure out what I want to do with it so that when I start on it I can forge ahead with confidence.

So, what should I do with it? Well, I know that I want to drive it a lot. Like daily for 20 years. Considering my age, I need to get it on the road fairly soon if I want to hit that mark. Also it's got to be enjoyable, or I'll be tempted to jump into the late-model every morning. I think a show quality paint job and a slammed stance is awesome, on other people's trucks. For me, I'm all in with the stock body, dents, surface rust, etc. Not necessarily a rat rod, but definitely nothing more is needed than rattle cans and Rust-Oleum. And no need for filler, I know the story behind every dent and none of 'em are big enough to bother me.

My dad had several flavors of 390 in the truck as well as a 427 (which, just to brag, I still have). My mom swears she could pull the front wheels when she launched going up the hill by our house. So it's funny that whenever I would tell my dad how I was gonna drop a blown big block in it and run 10s, he would balk at the idea and say something like, “you only need 80 horsepower to drive at 60mph”. These days, I get that. I mean, this is a 65 year old pickup truck. I just want to drive it, listen to audiobooks, and enjoy the sun on my left arm. All this is my long winded way of saying I'm going with a stock mill. I'll get it running with the 390, but I don't think I'm going to like living with the beast and the unreliable carb.

I think I will be cool with the stock chassis and brakes for quite a while, maybe forever. I drove a 60 Falcon for a year, then a bug. They were loud, had heavy steering, and the brakes sucked. But I got used to that very quickly. In fact, it was always cool to jump into the wife's car and be amazed at the luxury. You tend to take it for granted if it's all you are exposed to. Anyway, really the only thing I'm fixated on is getting a reliable, fuel injected engine into it. Which brings me to the main question I want to pose to the community. And if you're still reading at this point, your vote counts! Should I swap in the 5.0 from my F150, the 350 TPI from my Corvette, or some other engine?


5.0 option:

So, I originally bought the F150 with the thought of using it's engine in the 53. It's a 95, last year of EECIV fuel injection. I know this system pretty well. It runs dead smooth, the electronics are relatively simple, and it's a Ford. I like the fact that the SBF is dimensionally one of the smallest V8 engines available. I like space to work. Don't worry about the 95. It's been a great work truck, but the body is beat, the suspension is wasted, it's done. I think it would be somehow wonderful to think it's heart gave new life to the 53.


Corvette TPI 350:

My buddy dumped a 91 Vette at my house a few years ago. Like my F150, the car is fairly trashed, but the engine and fuel injection are in good shape. Same buddy gave me a couple of good 700R4s which are the type of strong overdrive trans I would want if I went SBC. This option would be more work because I would have to go through the engine and trans a little more, plus I would have to rig something up to make the trans lock up automagically. The 5.0 and it's E4OD are controlled together by the PCM.


Other ? Engine:

You can't throw a rock at a car show without getting your *** kicked by someone with an LS in their car. The one in my wife's Yukon runs really great. Should I go look for one? Are they easier to drop in? Have you done this swap? What do you guys think? What other whacky engine should I consider? Diesel? 6cyl? Electric? Right now the slate is clean.


It will likely come down to which engine will most easily go into the truck. I think both SBFs and SBCs are great engines, I don't have any concern that GM made one of them. It means nothing at this point. So I would like to ask you guys to link me to any straight engine install threads for 53 through 56 F100s. Most of the threads are front suspension upgrades mixed with engine swaps. I'm interested in what it takes to drop various engines into the stock chassis. I want to know what crossmembers, body mounts, header issues, etc. I will have to deal with for each engine. Thanks in advance!


Wheels:

I probably have this covered. Years ago I picked up an original set of 15 inch torque thrusts. Something like 8 inches wide in front and 10 in the back. They look shiny from a few feet away, but they have some pitting up close to make them look patina legit. I haven't tried them on, but I'm expecting that 70s muscle truck look. ALSO, I have some stock FoMoCo wheels from the early 60s. Not sure what they are off, but my dad actually drilled out the rivets on the two rears and put the centers into some 9 inch wide rims. His welds are really good, I feel comfortable running these, plus I love the 60s custom look. The paint is also just right. Good condition, but not too new so as to attract too much attention. I'll probably want to find some cool center caps for these.

I figure I'll get tires on both sets of wheels and change them back and forth as the moods strike me.


So, here's my list for now:

• Planning to get it running with the 390 to start with. Not expecting this to be a daily driver solution.
  
• Need to decide on engine: 5.0, SBC, or ?
  
• Trans to match engine
  
• Planning two sets of wheels, dad-widened-steelies and OG torque thrusts
  
• Really want to add A/C
  
• Need simple plan for bed floor. Any threads on making a plywood bed floor?
  
• Need cheap, simple plan for fuel system. Really want to reuse the mid tank from the F150
  
• Should I stick with the cracked glass? Big money savings, seems kinda cool, but maybe a little too ghetto
  
• Thinking of using Tahoe seats with built in seat belts, what have you guys used?
  

I'll try to upload some pictures at some point when I pull it out of the barn. Maybe I'll change this over to a build thread. But until then, thanks for reading and please post ANY advice or recommendations you want to share regarding my truck build (fix-up really). I want to find resources in southern California and get all your kooky cool ideas lined up so that I can sort through and eventually execute a decisive and cool fix-up on my lifelong friend and tribute to my dad.


Nice to meet you all, I'm happy to be here!

Patrick Frye

 

Welcome to the forum and we hope you enjoy your time here. We have a great group to answer questions and help with problems. We look forwards to your questions and input.
We have plenty of sub-forum for input.
Look in your states chapter and talk with your neighbors.

Rod

 

Welcome to the forum Patrick

WOW, What an intro

My advise it to build it for 90% of it's intended use

 

Thanks MrMajestyk, yeah I had insomnia and I just started typing. Reading it back I see I was sort of all over the place.

What do you guys think of my two engine choices: SBC or SBF? I think I'm leaning way toward the 5.0, but if someone said the Chevy goes in better/easier, I might want to reconsider.