Daily Slideshow: 74 F-100: Bought then Built
The father and son team that bought this 1974 Ford F-100 Ranger decided it could use a little more building, so they got to work.
Getting to be That Time
When Kevin Harrell was just a lad, in 1979, his parents bought him a '78 F-150 for his High School graduation present. Kevin made the most of that pickup, rebuilding, customizing and showing the F-150—eventually garnering enough attention for the Ford to make it into a few magazines. Kevin's son Richard was along for part of that ride and lent a hand with later work on the truck, as well as with the latest restoration. It was while searching online for parts for that restoration that Kevin came across the 1974 F-100 you see here. But it didn't look like this back then, in 2010. It was coming up on the time when Richard would want his own pickup, and he'd saved up $3,000 towards that end. Kevin pledged to match Richard's $3K, and they bid on the '74. Their bid just cleared the F-100's reserve and they won the truck. The next day, the Ford was on a trailer back to the Harrell's home.
Frontward
When the Harrells got the '74 home, they gave it a once-over. It looked better than it had in the internet auction photos, but there was room left for improvement. They stripped the frame down and repainted it flat black, then turned their attention towards getting the pickup a little closer to the ground. Up front, they went with the stock spindles and I-beams, though one source mentions they initially utilized Chassis Tech 3-inch dropped I-beams, together with Firestone airbags with Ride Tech Big Red valves and Toxic shocks.
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Backwise
In the back of the pickup, the Harrells C-notched the frame and added another pair of Firestone airbags on top of the springs to facilitate effortless drops and lifts, (an earlier article mentions the use of a Ride Tech’s AIRoverLeaf kit, with two leafs removed from each spring as well).
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Stop, Drop, and Roll
The factory Ford brakes the truck had when the Harrells acquired it still stop it, but the 17-inch Generation 1 Lightning wheels it came with had their days numbered. The Harrells instead had wheel spacers specially made so they could install Wheel Replicas' 20-inch Mustang Bullitt wheels with the right backspacing, and wrapped the Bullitt rims in Toyo Proxes 4 tires —255/35R20 front and 295/30R20 rear.
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Cobracity
One thing the Harrells didn't build, well not completely, was the Jasper-block 5.0 liter V8 sourced from a 1994 Mustang. It came with an ’88 Ford F-150 fuel injection set-up, but the Harrells had Josh Tonski from Horsepower Solutions swap in a full EFI system with a high-polish 1993 Mustang Cobra intake manifold, fed by a cold air intake. Horsepower Solutions also added Mustang exhaust manifolds and a custom 2½-inch exhaust system using Flowmaster mufflers. Before the 5.0 went in, the Harrells refinished the engine bay, adding chrome components as they went. The end product looks great and puts out a conservative 265 hp to the rear wheels.
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Sheet Metal
With a re-done frame and engine compartment, the F-100's exterior called for a bit of work to keep up. LMC Truck provided a new, chrome-plated steel grille shell, new front fenders, new trim, and new front and rear chrome-plated steel bumpers. Stateline Collision out of Kingsport, Tennessee handled the painting duties, spraying the '74 light smoke grey and bringing it up to snuff.
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Inside Again
The steel factory dash was also painted body color, and Kingsport Trim Shop was called in to recover the stock bench seat in two-tone tweed upholstery. Rounding out the interior is a Grant steering wheel, a set of Ride Tech switches, a Super Pro tachometer, and coolness via a Vintage Air A/C system.
Keven Harrell says working on the Ranger brought him and his son even closer together, and helped sharpen their shop time arguing skills along the way. Since finishing the build, the father and son have closed the circle—the Ford has been to shows and been in magazines. It seems obvious that the cycle will continue when Richard has kids, the only unknown is whether they'll be driving yet another '70s F-series.
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