So after lurking around the boards for awhile, I've decided to start my own thread to track our build. Last summer we picked up a 55 F-100 from a long time family friend who was using it as a daily driver. My mom has always wanted an old pickup for going to estate sales and cruising around in. So technically this truck started as hers, but I have always claimed it to be mine. Some things have happened recently in the family and now I'm the only one driving it and I plan on continuing to fix it up as I have time. I currently have one more semester of college left so I plan on getting as much done this summer and then coming back to it after I graduate (or when I come home).

Here's the truck as we got it. The family friend was actually my grandpa's best friend since first grade so it has special memories. This is the first Ford we have ever had so I am really excited to learn as I mainly only know Chevy (dad had a 40 Chevy).

Everything I know about the truck when we picked it up: 1955 Ford F-100 with a '67 Impala rear end and a '71 GMC van steering column. It's sitting on a Mustang frame but the year is slipping my mind right now. At the time it had a two barrel 302 from a '76 Ford. The chop is 4" in the front and 3" in the rear. Vintage Air, power windows, new gauges, new tires, and all new glass. Also it has a VERY unique yellow paint....

 

That thing is sweet!

 

Looks to be a great start - driver . What are your plans ? As a caution lurking here can become quite expensive .

 

With the truck home we finally were able to dig into it and see what we were working with. The current state of the truck wasn't really something that my mom could take out by herself and drive comfortably, which was/is the main goal of the build. It ran as one would expect an old pickup with a 70's motor to run. With some recommendations from our trusted mechanic we met with an engine builder to see what he could do to make it more comfortable. I realllllly wish I could have been able to do some of this work but in reality it wasn't feasible. I had to go back to school and I definitely do not have the skills to build a better engine than what was in there. It also worked out well in the end because we found a lot more issues with the truck that the builder was able to help with and I was able to learn a ton during this process.

Engine build (straight from the build sheet so it may read funny):
- Late model 302 hyd. roller core
- GT40 heads
- Thumpr COMP cam
- Weiand aluminum intake
- 600 CFM Holley carb
- 2500 stall converter
- MSD billet distributor

In the second picture you can kind of see the engine sitting pretty far to the right of the engine bay. We assume that the original engine must have sat to the side like this and we just never noticed it. We did know that the old engine did sit pretty far back in the bay and was tilted slightly so it most likely was off center as well. With the new motor re-centered we could also add a kickdown kit since there was room now.

 

Welcome to FTE the best Ford truck Forum on the world wide web!

Thanks for the pic. Keep us informed of your progress. We have.e a lot of experts here so don't be afraid to ask questions!

 

 

Congratulations on a very sweet ride!

 

Early on we knew that the gas tank wasn't sufficient so that was a major upgrade that had to be done. I talked with the old owner because I knew the tank had already been relocated but wasn't sure of the size. I guess during the relocation they also switched the gas tank out with an 8 gallon tractor tank... No idea why but that's what we found LOL. Below you can see the 26 gallon tank we were able to jump up to. I'm still fighting with the tank as it spits every time I try to fill it up and is a big PITA. I'm assuming its a ventilation issue in the filler tube so I am going to check that out hopefully this weekend. Also the gas gauge is all over the place with the new tank and shows it full when I add only like 9 gallons. Minor issues that have been giving me some trouble lately.

 

Looks like the 78 Bronco tank I have in mine and I'm never sure if I ever completely fill it, please post what you find out..

 

So tomorrow is the first day of my summer internship so I tried to get some work done on the truck today. I checked out the gas tank and I think I found the issue with the vent line and I have a temporary fix. The hose had a pretty gnarly kink in it which I assume was enough to limit air flow and cause the spitting. Temporarily I have two pieces of wood pinching the hose to remove the kink. If this fixes the issue when I fill it up next then I'll just replace the hose and keep it shorter.

The past few days I have been noticing some new leaks in the garage and didn't think too much of it since I have been trying to put some miles on the truck. While I was underneath it today I noticed that it's the left rear drum brake that's leaking so looks like that is the next project. I've never worked on drum brakes but I'm going to see what I can do on it. A little hesitant to drive it until I get that resolved. Any thoughts?

 

I'd just buy a new wheel cylinder for the brakes and do both sides while you're at it..

 

Hey Iadoin,
Welcome Aboard! On the Gas gauge jumping around & not showing accurate readings.
You will want to know what type of gauge you have & what Ohms range it uses to report Empty /Full.
You will then need to find out what sort of Sending Unit you have in your tank - they need to be operating off of the same Ohms range.
In our example we had new Autometer gauges that operated on something like 0 - 200 ohms. The '70 Mustang tank sending unit worked from 11 - 80 ohms.
That will never show an accurate fuel level....

We clipped off the old 11 - 80 ohms unit & soldered on a nice new universal sending unit that worked from 0 - 200 ohms.... Victory.. accurate fuel readings.
You will also want to look at how your float arm is sitting in the tank. If it was set up for your 8 gallon tank - you may need to do some adjusting to get it to work across it's full range in the new tank.

Looking good over there.
Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

So it was a long summer and I apologize for a lack of updates, but I figured it's a good time to update the thread with some news on the truck. This started as a family truck with plans to build this up for my mom so she can use it as she wants. Without getting into too much of the details, that's kind of changed as we are going through a slight change in the household where things are just changing. It's looking like I may just take sole ownership of it and can build accordingly.

Now, all of the fun stuff we all really care about.

So the leak that is seen in the top pictures actually turned out to be the axle rods in the rear end which were throwing oil all over the bed. To make this repair that much more of a PITA, apparently our rear end was from a limited run in like 64. I don't have the notes in front of me but I think it was from like a limited run of impalas that were using this rear end for only 6 months. The truck ended up being in the shop for about 2 months until we were able to find the replacement parts. I'll try to find the notes on the repair and see what the actual year is.

The clamp I put on the gas line has worked really well so it appears the kink in the line was the issue. When I get back home I'm just going to shorten the vent line and get rid of my clamp so it is done right.

I know some people have been asking what we had planned for the truck so I'll go through what the future holds. One of the very first things I want to do is get rid of the yellow.. I just can't do the yellow LOL. I am thinking of going with a dark gray or black once I get all of the body work done. Question, does it matter if I do body work before or after sanding? I need to get a few dents out of the hood and bed, fix a few rust spots along the windshield, and get the doors lined up. The previous owner hammered out the "Ford" on the tailgate so I am going to try to undo that and if not I'll just get a new tailgate. Currently the bed is an old piece of plywood just laying there so that'll have to go. I think I'll pick up a bed kit and stain the wood to a dark color. My mom wants to do something fun with the wood design so I may just let her take the lead as she is an incredibly talented woodworker. The wheels are pretty pitted and will be replaced down the road. They aren't a main concern right now but they'll get changed and will also be resized. I am thinking of mixing the old school look of white walls with some all black steel wheels with chrome moons. The interior is pretty lacking right now so I'll probably start picking up pieces for it this semester while I'm at school. It definitely needs a new seat as it's shot. I'll end up going with a leather/canvas mix on the new seat but will see what ends up looking good. The dash and doors are red and I am going sand those and figure out what color the interior is going to be all around. I really like the black/gray/white with leather look so hopefully I can tie that all together. Pick up a new steering wheel and carpet and headliner. Lastly, I HAVE to get a footprint gas pedal. My grandpa had one in every street rod he ever owned and being this truck was his lifelong best friend's, I think it'll be a cool touch. After that I think one of the last things I'll do is upgrade the radio and speakers, for now I keep the radio off anyways and just listen to the truck.

Sorry for the wall of text. I figured it would only be fair to share as much as I can since I haven't provided an update in quite some time. I look forward to sharing more updates as soon as I can.

 

Sorry about your family situation. Hang in there and work hard in school your last semester. Keep us posted.

 

No real progress at this point, still waiting for everything to get sorted out before anything major happens. I've been lurking these threads all semester and trying to read and learn while I have the chance. As I mentioned before, the rear end was recently repaired but I don't like the outlook of its future especially if replacement parts aren't readily available. I think I am going to start looking into an upgrade down the road but I'm afraid I am going to open a can of worms when I do that. From when I had my Jeep I know the 8.8 and DANA 44 were pretty standard upgrades but I am not sure how that translates here. Wheels and tires are getting swapped eventually so I'm not worried about something new not matching up and actually I want to get a wider rear tire. So I guess that's what I'm looking into now.

In about a week I'll be graduated and will have around a month before work starts so HOPEFULLY can get some stuff going. We'll see what happens.