53 Ford Pickup - New Lease On Life is finished!

[Tom Geiger]

Lest not forget our humble beginnings…

I had this poor old pickup in my 1950s Ford Pickup parts box. Built by some kid somewhere back in history, I don’t even remember how I came into it.

It would have been easy to just toss it since I have a whole box full of this kit..  It wound up sitting on top of my model room TV where it would call my name!  So I started playing and you know where it went!

And she rolled off the workbench this morning!  Part of this build was to have a no pressure build, and to retain some of the character the original builder put into it. Thus we kept it Desoto Hemi powered and left the hood scoop intact. We even kept the original grille the kid painted the center logo red so maybe he’d recognize it someday.

The original brush paint blue yielded two more colors under it as we wet sanded it flat. That worked for our vision. The front bumper with 4 fog lights was an old broken roll bar from the parts box. 

We left the rear roll pan the way it was and added Pennsylvania license “REFRESH” as appropriate.  We added Caddy bullet tail lights from our parts box.

We did dry brush some wood grain in the box. Tool box has been banging around my workbench looking for a project. 

Wheels and tires came from our vast parts collection. We went to reuse the original gas cap and noticed the kid accidentally used the back side of the alternator, so we used the custom one from the kit.

The truck had no suspension at all so we hit the 53 Ford parts box for all new stuff. The back end of chassis has been hacked up, so we cut the back end from a new chassis and pinned it together. Important to note that the front chassis and body are permanently fused together with an enthusiastic amount of glue so we left it together.

We made the side exhaust from kit supplied parts. 

Desoto Hemi was all glued to death crooked, so we grabbed a new one from the parts bin. The engine is wired, though you can hardly see the work. Manifold and carbs again from the parts box.

Interior was originally assembled without any paint. Since it’s stuck in there, we did the ship in a bottle thing and did work through the windows. Steering wheel got painted. Dash got a gauge label and detail painting.

The seat got a printed paper cover glued in place.

And the money shot! She fits right into the 53-56 pickup collection.

This was a fun no pressure build.. anything I did would be an improvement! At times a bit frustrating and with the limitations it’s not perfect, but I’m glad to have it on the shelf!

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by Tom Geiger

[cobraman]

I like it, you have a very unique building style.

[PappyD340]

Real nice makeover Tom, nice patina!

[NOBLNG]

Really nice fleet of old Fords you have there Tom!

[Kromolly]

Very nice, creative restoration of an old build.  There is some historical significance to builds done by kids in days gone by.  You did a great job preserving the character of the original build while correcting some flaws adding a personal touch.  

[espo]

Great looking build and I like how you kept it pretty true to what you started with. 

[Paul Payne]

Great save of an old original build- I really like your weathering!

[Tom Geiger]

Thank you everyone! 
I enjoyed saving this one and creating something interesting. It does fit right into my collection!

[alan barton]

Its always fun bringing them back from the dead!  There is something very calming about being able to to work with something you really can't care about, adter all, it's not like you can make it any worse!  I love the family shot at the end.

Cheers

Alan.  

[slusher]

really nice save of a cast off. I like your weathered look.  Real nice touch on the bench seat…

[Tom Geiger]

Thank you Alan and Carl!  I’m enjoying it finished up on my family room wall unit next to the TV.. that’s the place of honor each new build occupies until superseded by the next build.  

[Zippi]

That kinda what I do Tom.  Every new build get put on a turn table at my workbench in the garage.  This way when friends stop by they can see what I've been working on.  Right now I have my 66 Nova setting there soon to be replace by my 65 Impala.  

[ChrisR]

Cool!!

[HonestCharlie]

On 6/12/2021 at 3:04 PM, Tom Geiger said:

Lest not forget our humble beginnings…

I had this poor old pickup in my 1950s Ford Pickup parts box. Built by some kid somewhere back in history, I don’t even remember how I came into it.

It would have been easy to just toss it since I have a whole box full of this kit..  It wound up sitting on top of my model room TV where it would call my name!  So I started playing and you know where it went!

And she rolled off the workbench this morning!  Part of this build was to have a no pressure build, and to retain some of the character the original builder put into it. Thus we kept it Desoto Hemi powered and left the hood scoop intact. We even kept the original grille the kid painted the center logo red so maybe he’d recognize it someday.

The original brush paint blue yielded two more colors under it as we wet sanded it flat. That worked for our vision. The front bumper with 4 fog lights was an old broken roll bar from the parts box. 

We left the rear roll pan the way it was and added Pennsylvania license “REFRESH” as appropriate.  We added Caddy bullet tail lights from our parts box.

We did dry brush some wood grain in the box. Tool box has been banging around my workbench looking for a project. 

Wheels and tires came from our vast parts collection. We went to reuse the original gas cap and noticed the kid accidentally used the back side of the alternator, so we used the custom one from the kit.

The truck had no suspension at all so we hit the 53 Ford parts box for all new stuff. The back end of chassis has been hacked up, so we cut the back end from a new chassis and pinned it together. Important to note that the front chassis and body are permanently fused together with an enthusiastic amount of glue so we left it together.

We made the side exhaust from kit supplied parts. 

Desoto Hemi was all glued to death crooked, so we grabbed a new one from the parts bin. The engine is wired, though you can hardly see the work. Manifold and carbs again from the parts box.

Interior was originally assembled without any paint. Since it’s stuck in there, we did the ship in a bottle thing and did work through the windows. Steering wheel got painted. Dash got a gauge label and detail painting.

The seat got a printed paper cover glued in place.

And the money shot! She fits right into the 53-56 pickup collection.

This was a fun no pressure build.. anything I did would be an improvement! At times a bit frustrating and with the limitations it’s not perfect, but I’m glad to have it on the shelf!

 

Nice lineup Tom. I have 4 53's built myself. Love 'em.