'73 Ford F-100...start to finish! (56K)

[Josue]

Well, it's not a pro-touring build, but I figured you guys would still enjoy a project that's been completed start to finish.

I've been a body man for 7-8 years, been in the business since I was 14, and went full time after my collision repair high school program. A few years ago, I decided that the career SUCKS, and it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I went to college for Air Traffic Control, and now I'm awating getting hired for that. (very LONG and PAINFULL process)

After I graduated college last August, it took about 4 months to get back into a body shop, but in the mean time, my parent's neighbor had this 1973 Ford F-100 that he needed the body work done on. He was a Ford mechanic for years, so he did most of the restoration. I just came in, fixed some dents, blocked it a few times, painted and buffed it. The money really helped pay my bills though...LOL

The truck came from TN, it was his uncle's who was going to junk it to make room. He knew his nephew liked the trucks though (actually the 2nd F-100 I've painted for him! haha) so he gave him a call and sold it to him. It was pretty rust free I guess...when I steped in, he already had it completly disassembled, sandblasted, and primed. The only patching he did, or I shoud say TRIED to do (explain in a sec) were some floorboard work, and a cab corner. I say tried, because he didn't know to fit the door when welding the cab corner in, so the gap down there isn't the best. hahaha

Here's when I steped in... Did all the work in his barn. I didn't have anywhere to do it, or the equipment. He builds and races super modifieds (circle track) in this barn, so we just did it there.







Started slingin some mud...





Fast forward to primer...








Blocked...getting ready to reprime.






Good enough, let's paint! (literally what he said. LOL)

[Josue]

The color was supposed to be "Fire Signal Red", a 66 Ford color, but it came out more orange? Not what he wanted, but it grew on him.

It also went 2 tone, he wanted a factory-style paint scheme. The middle color was white, but he wanted more of a "hot-rod" style as opposed to a grandpa-driven, BONE stock look. So we had to tint it around a bit to get this cream color.










Red/Orange...






Clear!







I should mention that I hadn't painted anything since high school too! haha I've just been a body man my whole career. Fix the cars, send 'em over to paint. Get them back, put 'em together. I was kind of nervous about it, but he had alot of confidence in me, and I knew i'd be just like riding a bike. Plus, I knew I could just sand and buff it to make the end result look good. hehe

On a side note, he already had the frame, engine, suspension, etc., cleaned up, and sprayed before I got there too. The engine is just the stock 360/2bbl. I don't even think he went through it, I think he just cleaned it up and added some shine. Same thing with mostly everything else, just sandblasted alot, and used some rustoleum!

[Josue]

As you can maybe tell from the work environment, the newspaper mask job, the rustoleum use, etc.....this was just a budget build. He didn't want a "barret jackson", 100pt show piece. He wanted a nice looking, daily driver worthy truck, and he thinks it's perfect for what he wanted, as do I. There may be imperfections here and there, some pieces/parts that could use replacing, and other little things, but again, he didn't want to get too fancy, since he'd be driving the truck quite often. I believe he drives it to work all the time, and I know for a fact he uses it as a truck still!

On to the finished pics!










It was actually pretty funny working on this with him. I take GREAT pride in what I do, no matter what it is. Even though I hate my job, and can't wait to get out of the business, I still do the very best repair I can on EVERY SINGLE car I work on! So, alot of times, I'd go the extra mile on something on this truck, while he'd be telling me..."Nah man, it's good enough for me" or "what are you looking at? It looks perfect to me!" hahaha Even though I only charged him $1,000 for this, I still wanted to give him a great job. He's good people and helps my parents out alot.

So, that's the story! Like I said, it's not winning any awards, but as you can see in the pics, it came out pretty nice for a budget build!

[oestek]

That's the best $1000 anyone has ever spent. Nice work, great story! Thanks for posting!

[Bryce]

Nice work!

[sgt d]

nice to see, i have searched for this gen on this site and have not come up with much. i have my dad's 74 f100 that i have asked him for years not to scrap, going to a pt build with it and thinking a gt500 drivetrain. thanks for some motivation!

[Josue]

No problem! haha

It's definately not a "typical" restoration, but hey, it's all about what you're in to!

[John Wright]

Looks like a brand new, right off the floor truck...neat, kind of a step back in time to 73'

[CruizinKev]

wow looks great!!!! brandnew

[mc84_zz4]

That has to be the best looking 1973 F100 around town!
Nice job!

[Josue]

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

[Boatmark]

Very cool truck. I am sure the owner is very happy and proud every time he leaves the driveway. And for $1000, an all time fantastic deal.

Now if I could just get my uncle to let loose of that 74' Chev 4x4 sitting in his barn . . . . was his fathers, 50k orig miles, looks like it went through a war, but would make a cool budget resto . . . .

[twosaturns]

very cool, I used to have a '83 F100 from my father-in-law (it came w/ the wife) that I would have loved to fix up; short bed, 3 on the tree, 300 inline 6. a 5.0/5speed combo would of been cool.
truck was just WAY too much work at the time, no garage, no money, etc.
(still have the wife though, she's a keeper!)

[bigshotsho93]

I love every part of this truck, except the lights on the roof. (just personal preference) The whole truck is awesome! Great work.

[hammypj]

Awesome truck!! love the color choices!

[srh3trinity]

Why can't I find a 1K body man and get an outcome like that? Probably because you had way more than 1K of work into that truck. Looks great!

[Bossed]

Very nice!!! I agree with the others, best $1000 dollar paint job I've seen. I'd love a swb with those colors. Thanks for sharing.

Bossed