1970 Ford F150

 

Did you ever have a vehicle that you really loved and wanted growing up? Maybe somebody your family knew drove something you liked, or you had a neighbor with the coolest mustang you ever saw. Well, Matt grew up eyeing his parents 1972 Ford F150, with a short-bed and a gleaming red and white two-tone paint job. Like so many of us, he wasn’t fortunate enough to get his hands on it as a teen and has spent his adult life looking for his own truck. It was like striking gold to find the pick-up he did acquire a few years ago now.

We took a road trip a few hours south of where we lived to look at it. Then we made another trip with a trailer to bring it home. He was like a happy kid who had just been given an ice cream cone on a hot day. He doesn’t really sing, but I remember him clearly singing along to a couple of songs as we drove home.

But then he gets quiet. And like any woman, I ask, “what’re you thinking about?” Only to be told about different cam-shafts and lifters and head studs and rings and things, to build the block that’s under the hood to make it stronger and more powerful so it can be turbo-charged. But then there’s also that V8 on the engine stand in the backroom and there’s plenty of room for it under the hood, but I would want to actually do blah, blah, blah. I get lost sometimes when he gets into the details of his dream projects.

Needless to say, I’ve learned that if Matt is silent and deep in thought, he’s thinking about engines and building horsepower. I know that if I ask to be prepared to try and follow the technical side of engine building, which I’ve learned more about than I would ever have guessed, because you talk about it a lot when you marry an engine builder.

Anyways, this is Matt’s 1970 Ford F150 Short-Bed pick-up. The engine hasn’t really needed much attention, only the carburetor required rebuild and tuning to get it running smoother. Matt has mostly had to focus time and energy on fixing the failing stabilization and suspension system. This picture shows before replacing those parts, and after replacing suspension components and lowering the truck. The entire brake system is next.