Some folks are reticent to delve into at-home projects, fearing they’ll make a mistake or botch a job. But many modifications and repairs are well within the capabilities of custom truck owners. We’ve included a small selection of such tasks in the following “At-Home How-To” section. But there may be no better example of what can be done than Wayne Brock’s ’66 Ford F-100. Residents of Stanley, North Carolina, Brock and his son, Eric, performed nearly all the work on the truck themselves. Wayne even attended classes at a community college in order to learn how to do bodywork.
Wayne bought his F-100 new in 1966 for only $2,142. He drove it until 1984, then parked it in his backyard. He even tried to sell it a time or two, but his wife talked him out of it. Then, in 1990, he and Eric began to work on it together. After four years, the result was a showpiece that won several first-place awards.
The Brocks C’d the frame and incorporated a Ford 9-inch differential, lowering the rearend 9 inches. Mustang II front suspension components bring that end down 8 inches, and the spindles carry Camaro 11-inch brakes. The rack-and-pinion power steering is also from a Mustang II, and the power-brake booster is from a Jeep. The Boyds wheels measure 15x6 in the front and 15x8 in the rear, and all four corners carry Gabriel shocks.
Wayne’s father was a mechanic who taught Wayne how to build engines. Wayne passed that knowledge on to Eric as the two built the F-100’s powerplant. It’s based on a 390ci FE block that has been bored .030 over. A Crane cam controls hydraulic lifters, and the 390 heads have been reworked to 428 Cobra Jet specifications. Fuel is supplied by a Holley 750-cfm carb under a Ford Motorsport chrome air cleaner, and the headers are BlackJack units. The engine is mated to a ’66 Thunderbird C6 trans.
The stock fuel tank in the F-100’s cab was replaced by an Isuzu Trooper tank that Wayne relocated under the pickup’s bed. He closed the filler neck and reworked much of the sheetmetal, which had rusted badly during the six years that the Ford was unattended. The bedcover and roll pan are aftermarket pieces, and the PPG Royal Red paint was sprayed by Montgomery Body Shop in Huntersville, North Carolina.
Although the custom upholstery work was farmed out for the door panels and the 60/40 split-bench seat, which was swapped in from a ’93 Chevy pickup, Wayne and Eric did the rest of the detail work. The instrument panel is a custom piece fabricated from walnut wood, and it contains a full complement of Stewart-Warner gauges. The stereo is a JVC system with four speakers, and the smoked Vintage Glass windows are controlled by Specialty Power Windows electric mechanisms. The window controls, Dallas Air air conditioning vents, and a CB radio are housed in a custom center console, and Wayne installed billet door handles and a steering-column dress-up kit. The wheel itself is from LeCarra.
Wayne is justifiably proud of the F-100, and he’s even more pleased that he and his son completed it together.