“Fido” – 1956 Ford F-100 Utility (Service) truck
I found Fido in the classifieds late in 2017, but had to wait until March 2018 to purchase. He was languishing in a compound near Oxted and had been for sale for some time. I guess people didn’t ‘get’ service trucks. I did though!
So on 30 March he arrived on a trailer and I set about getting him back into service. His engine was running rough. He was wearing a horrible back bumper – which lasted about 2 hours before being unbolted. I got the engine running more sweetly with just some time and effort, gapping, timing and cleaning mainly. I attached the rear body, which was only resting on the frame when I got it. Amazing what a bit of thought can do!
Since then, I’ve fixed the extensive oil leaks underneath, swapped the original 4.27:1 rear axle for a 3.73:1, fixed the brakes, fitted a rev counter, fitted a set of staggered American Racing TTO’s and fitted those pickup rear fenders.
Why Fido? My Mrs came up with that one, after looking at his hood emblem. It says it right there.
Jobs to do: perform that cut to the passenger-side fender to bring back the side door in the utility body; rebuild the tired ol’ Y-Block over the winter, revise the exhaust system, go longer in the axle ratio again, and so on. One day I’ll get the body straightened and go for a proper paint job, but not for a good while yet.