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I fell into this board by tracking down Darksider Daves 53 F-100 pick-up project on an old post at FTE. In that post he was proposing to use a T-bird IRS and the Superchardged V6 which I am also in possesion of for my latest project - a 1956 F-100. So I expect I will be pestering him and others for inside info on their builds, as this is my first venture into the true DARKSIDE.
I am a young 60 year old! I still officially have a teenager in my household, but my son is actually living across the state at college. I have three daughters as well. The youngest is attending the Univ. of Montana, the next youngest is getting married in December. So, those three kids right there are enough reason for a slow start to my F100 project! My oldest daughter lives with her husband near Phoenix, AZ. She has a hook in my project as well, as I will explain below. And then there's my wife of 34 years, who has rekindled her old hobby as well, which is horseback riding. Another reason for a shortage of car funds... (Ah, but it is all good stuff!)
None-the-less!! With the departure of our kids from the house, both my wife and I rekindled our lost passions. I had previously owned a 56 F100 which I did limited mods on, back in the day... But I had also owned a little MG Midget, so I started my re-entry into the car world with a package deal on two MGB's. Four years ago I got both a 1970 and a 1965 MGB for the price of one. Neither was road worthy at the time, but I was able to get the 70 on the road for a fun summer of driving. I had intended to do the 65 as a frame up resto. I picked up two parts cars for that purpose, but while out looking for even more MGB parts, I tripped upon a 1958 MGA Coupe. This was my dream vintage sports car. So naturally it showed up at my shop as did another coupe parts car (Craigslist is your friend). That made 6 MGs under one roof! Yikes, I had caught the bug bad. Tor the next three years, I worked on a frame off resto on the 58 MGA Coupe, finishing it this past May 2011. I did everything except machining the engine parts. I really enjoy just looking at it - it has such classic lines.
So, with kids in college and one getting married, I was strongly encouraged to defer any more projects for at least a year. (I had been hinting strongly about a pick-up in my future...) But with all the MGB's in my shop, my wife figured I could stay out of trouble. Wrong. That nasty Craiglist put a 56 F-100 in front of me for super cheap. I convinced my wife it was a parts truck, not a real project to work on. She had seen the benefit of a parts vehicle = $$savings$$. Well, it was a good 100 miles distant, but work just happened to put me close by. Hmmm, how does that work nevermind.
At first sight, it was obvious that the truck was a perfectly suitable project candidate, but I have refrained from actually working on it yet. (Yes it followed me home.) I have picked up a 1989 T-bird as a donor and a 79 Jaguar XJ6 as well. So it is falling together and I am in the planning, researching and dreaming stage. Thus my connection to Dave and this board!
PS - The intended MGB project was turned into a project to sell in exchange for truck funds! Unfortunately, my oldest daughter decided she'd like a little British sports car as their second car, so my "for profit" restoration project just turned into a charity fund...
I will start a build thread of my PU project soon, even though it will be awhile before the project gets underway. It appears to be a good way to keep an online record. Sorry for being so long winded on my first post!
John Larsen
Lynden, WA
I am a young 60 year old! I still officially have a teenager in my household, but my son is actually living across the state at college. I have three daughters as well. The youngest is attending the Univ. of Montana, the next youngest is getting married in December. So, those three kids right there are enough reason for a slow start to my F100 project! My oldest daughter lives with her husband near Phoenix, AZ. She has a hook in my project as well, as I will explain below. And then there's my wife of 34 years, who has rekindled her old hobby as well, which is horseback riding. Another reason for a shortage of car funds... (Ah, but it is all good stuff!)
None-the-less!! With the departure of our kids from the house, both my wife and I rekindled our lost passions. I had previously owned a 56 F100 which I did limited mods on, back in the day... But I had also owned a little MG Midget, so I started my re-entry into the car world with a package deal on two MGB's. Four years ago I got both a 1970 and a 1965 MGB for the price of one. Neither was road worthy at the time, but I was able to get the 70 on the road for a fun summer of driving. I had intended to do the 65 as a frame up resto. I picked up two parts cars for that purpose, but while out looking for even more MGB parts, I tripped upon a 1958 MGA Coupe. This was my dream vintage sports car. So naturally it showed up at my shop as did another coupe parts car (Craigslist is your friend). That made 6 MGs under one roof! Yikes, I had caught the bug bad. Tor the next three years, I worked on a frame off resto on the 58 MGA Coupe, finishing it this past May 2011. I did everything except machining the engine parts. I really enjoy just looking at it - it has such classic lines.
So, with kids in college and one getting married, I was strongly encouraged to defer any more projects for at least a year. (I had been hinting strongly about a pick-up in my future...) But with all the MGB's in my shop, my wife figured I could stay out of trouble. Wrong. That nasty Craiglist put a 56 F-100 in front of me for super cheap. I convinced my wife it was a parts truck, not a real project to work on. She had seen the benefit of a parts vehicle = $$savings$$. Well, it was a good 100 miles distant, but work just happened to put me close by. Hmmm, how does that work nevermind.
At first sight, it was obvious that the truck was a perfectly suitable project candidate, but I have refrained from actually working on it yet. (Yes it followed me home.) I have picked up a 1989 T-bird as a donor and a 79 Jaguar XJ6 as well. So it is falling together and I am in the planning, researching and dreaming stage. Thus my connection to Dave and this board!
PS - The intended MGB project was turned into a project to sell in exchange for truck funds! Unfortunately, my oldest daughter decided she'd like a little British sports car as their second car, so my "for profit" restoration project just turned into a charity fund...
I will start a build thread of my PU project soon, even though it will be awhile before the project gets underway. It appears to be a good way to keep an online record. Sorry for being so long winded on my first post!
John Larsen
Lynden, WA
