This old F1 gets the Bitchin' Rides treatment and looks like it's going to turn out rather stunning.
Chopped Up
The team at Kindig-It Design has become quite famous for the work they do on older vehicles, mostly thanks to their hit TV show Bitchin' Rides. They've attracted quite the fanbase in the process, though that doesn't include purists. That's because Kindig-It doesn't do stock restorations - they chop up pretty much everything they get their hands on. Regardless, the results of their efforts are almost always beautiful, meticulously detailed hot rods worth drooling over, like this 1951 Ford F1.
Metal Salute
It all goes down on the latest season of Bitchin' Rides in an episode called "Thank You for Your Service," which is a hint at who this truck is being built for - the son in the father and son team of Mark and Brandon Curtis. Brandon is in the National Guard and is getting ready to be deployed overseas, so he's hoping that the build will be finished by the time he gets home.
>>Join the conversation about this classic F1 right here in the forum.
Initial Plan
Mark and Brandon have owned this pickup since the 1980s, and just recently decided they wanted to take it to the next level, which is why they enlisted Bitchin' Rides to take over the build. The plan was to stretch and shave the cab to give it more legroom and make it look smoother, offset the front grille by three inches, and top it all off with an hourglass-shaped bed.
>>Join the conversation about this classic F1 right here in the forum.
Startling Discovery
Thus, the first steps are to completely disassemble the old pickup and take it down to bare metal before the customization can begin. That's when the team discovers that it's already had a ton of questionable work done to it. They uncover mountains of Bondo and other bad things as they work to massage the truck to perfection.
>>Join the conversation about this classic F1 right here in the forum.
Par for the Course
After all of that hard work is complete, the fun can begin. And by that, we mean the fabrication. Kindig-It adds their signature flush door handles, a set of new doors and fresh trim, custom hinges for the hood, and that aforementioned teardrop bed. It's a ton of work, but pretty much par for the course with Kindig-It's builds.
>>Join the conversation about this classic F1 right here in the forum.
Final Touches
Once all of the body work is completed, the crew lays down multiple coats of Bad Blood Red Pearl/Candy paint on the freshly straightened bodywork. There's much more to this build, of course, and it's all laid out in the episode.
>>Join the conversation about this classic F1 right here in the forum.
Tune In
And that, of course, can be seen by tuning in to MotorTrend TV. But then again, this is one transformation that's well worth watching the hour-long episode to see happen, if for no other reason than to see Brandon's reaction to the way it turned out.
>>Join the conversation about this classic F1 right here in the forum.
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