Building the AMT Ford F100

[OldNYJim]

Got a few of these on my shelf, and had an idea for one of them (actually, ideas for like 25 of them…) for a while, so here goes nothing…

The evergreen AMT 53 F100 kit:

I’m thinking drop it a little, as much as you could feasibly lower one of these in real life without major modifications, slightly upgraded drivetrain and a classic hot rod paintjob (with a twist…)

First stage was going to be a quick rough ‘n’ ready mock-up of body and wheels like I always like to do…but there aren’t super-positive locators for the frame, cab and bed to help you do that.  Even a little tape didn’t exactly leave me with an inspiring starting point…

 So, first things first, and what ended up taking up most of today, let’s add a bunch of pins and get this thing where everything locks in place nicely.  The floor (which incorporates the running boards) has a couple of locators but they’re pretty vague…added a couple of extras just for easy and consistent mocking-up:

Did the same on the bed also, and then moved onto the cab.  Tricky thing with the cab is that it locates nicely, but there’s a big ugly gap between the frame and the inner fenders on the body that allows for some vertical wiggle-room…no good.

A little styrene shim helps hide that gap though, and stops the attitude of the nose being too variable…

Fixed the gap, body doesn’t tilt nose-down anymore:

Added little locators and more pins to help keep the body straight throughout mock-up (and to help during final assembly later):

Repeated the same trick for the rear fenders (now we’ve got a solid locked-together basis for some mock-up fun tomorrow!

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[espo]

Very popular model Ford pickup then and still. Had several friends that had these and I have owned two '56-year models at different times. 

[slusher]

I built this kit several times, one of. My favorites. I have two one to build a replica of my dads truck he owne a 53 I have a picture . I am very interested in seeing your build…thanks

[OldNYJim]

Thanks fellas!

Day two, and my attempts at getting a rough mockup of this thing continue…

First up; dug some old AMT tires out of the parts box - the piecrust slick rears from the old 60s 32 Sedan kit (the one that came paired with a Willy’s Coupe) are nice and skinny, a little taller and a little more performance oriented than the kit tires.  Problem is, I’ve had a few of them exhibit the ‘melty wheel’ effect that some of these vintage tires have, so I’m taking a shot at casting them:

Tomorrow I’ll flip the mold and do the other side…

For the fronts, I dug up some old Armstrong bias ply tires - I THINK these are from one of the Lindberg kits - they’re slightly smaller than the kit fronts which will help with my lowering mission:

Now, I’m only just starting to figure out suspension and axles, but I wasn’t wild about the kit rear axle…I’ll clean up the Ford 9” from a spare Revell Deuce kit and adapt it to work:

BUT, I know that with a notch in the rear of the frame I’ll be able to get the ride height something like this…and if I can get the front ride height somewhere similar I’ll be pretty happy:

Excuse the gap under the bed…needs more pins, apparently…

Oh, and I’ve been printing some upgraded engine parts all day, but more on that tomorrow:

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[stavanzer]

Looks good so far.

I like the stance you have.

[FoMoCo66]

Looking good, curious to see how the tires come out.

[OldNYJim]

Thanks fellas!

On 6/30/2025 at 3:47 PM, FoMoCo66 said:

Looking good, curious to see how the tires come out.

Me too - need to pick up some mold-release to stop the second ‘pour’ sticking to the first one…

Meanwhile, a little progress at least…

Modified that Revell 9” axle rear axle and started building some leaf springs and shackles:

Mounts in the same spot, just lower…for the front end I flipped the front axle to be on top of the springs rather than below it and that seems like it will work pretty well (and is a trick used on 1:1s):

Here’s the stance with the axles in place - I think it would be fairly feasible for a 1:1 build to have it sit like this without major frame or suspension mods:

I wanted to switch out the molded-in rad for a separate piece - I have probably 20 of these puke-green ones that I got for a buck at a model show…not 100% certain what they’re from…

But whatever it is, it fits in the space for a stock F100 rad just perfect:

And, as you can see from that pic, I started mocking up the printed Flathead and seeing how it fits…this is an Arden conversion with a SCoT blower up top - nicely detailed files!

I’m still very much in the ‘roughing-in’ stage but the list is getting shorter…tomorrow I’ll figure out filling that hole in the front clip, plus I need to work out what I’m thinking for the interior and figure out headers and exhaust.  

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[FoMoCo66]

Wow, nice suspension! That rad might be from the og release of the revell 67 chevelle pro street, it was molded in that color.

[meechum68]

Wicked! 

[Zippi]

The ole 53 Ford pickup is looking pretty kewl Jim with that flatty setting in the business end.  Great looking print.  

[DJMar]

13 hours ago, OldNYJim said:

Mounts in the same spot, just lower…for the front end I flipped the front axle to be on top of the springs rather than below it and that seems like it will work pretty well (and is a trick used on 1:1s😞

Here’s the stance with the axles in place - I think it would be fairly feasible for a 1:1 build to have it sit like this without major frame or suspension mods:

I've seen the flipped front axle (SOA to SUA) on some 1:1 Effies, and while you can do it, it can lead to some clearance and handling issues. A lot of F100 owners will get new leafs for the front end that 1) lower the ride height and 2) center the wheel in the fender. Some go with a dropped axle or a dropped axle with new springs. But in general, these trucks are relatively easy to lower without a ton of mods and still ride decently. On the kit, it's much easier to flip the axle then it is to do anything else. I'd say your build has got a stance that would be totally workable on a real '53.

And yes, that radiator is from the original, lime green issue of the Revell Malibu SS Pro Street "Max Rat" kit.

[OldNYJim]

23 hours ago, FoMoCo66 said:

Wow, nice suspension! That rad might be from the og release of the revell 67 chevelle pro street, it was molded in that color.

Good eye!  A few people on my Instagram said the same thing - thanks for the confirmation!

10 hours ago, DJMar said:

I've seen the flipped front axle (SOA to SUA) on some 1:1 Effies, and while you can do it, it can lead to some clearance and handling issues. A lot of F100 owners will get new leafs for the front end that 1) lower the ride height and 2) center the wheel in the fender. Some go with a dropped axle or a dropped axle with new springs. But in general, these trucks are relatively easy to lower without a ton of mods and still ride decently. On the kit, it's much easier to flip the axle then it is to do anything else. I'd say your build has got a stance that would be totally workable on a real '53.

Yep, you’re 100% right…I did some pretty lengthy research on the Ford Trucks forum…seems the consensus is that the BEST way to lower is the ways you said - I guess a 57 year truck axle has more drop than the earlier years plus some aftermarket springs make it easier too (or, less desirably, remove some leafs…)

My goal for this build was something maybe in the early to mid sixties era of hot rodding - I THINK all the parts I’ve used so far (besides that rad) would have been available in this time frame and I’d bet more than a few people tried this technique on their 1:1s.

I think steering geometry would be the toughest hurdle to cross, plus maybe notching the frame if this were a 1:1.  Mine has about 1.5 scale inches of travel right now so I’ll probably grind a notch in there just to add a little extra feasibility. Thanks for the feedback!!

A little bit of progress today…had to print the headers for my Flathead so that I can figure out engine placement, but in the meantime…

Ran to Michael’s AND Hobby Lobby for mold release spray so I could pour the second half of my tire mold:

Hobby Lobby was $5 cheaper for the same spray, in case you’re wondering…we’ll see if I messed up this mold tomorrow - I never did a 2 part one before…

While my mold’s curing and my printer’s printing, decided to tackle the front grille.  Stripped the chrome (besides one stubborn spot that even oven cleaner wouldn’t remove) and cleaned up the obvious flaws:

Then had a chance to use my new reciprocating sander…

…to open it up:

Nothing too complex about it…just sanded until it was see thru 😂

Quick mock-up:

I did play with the kit front bumpers (there’s a drilled option and a stock variation) but wasn’t wild about either.  You’ve got to figure that if someone in the early-ish 60s was hot rodding one of these they might just lose the heavy old bumpers and save the weight, but I’m still thinking on if I could do SOMETHING there maybe. 

Ive got a bunch of old late-50s and early-60s hot rod mags here; but it seems like if most people were customizing a Ford truck back then they were going more custom than hot rod so I may have to figure it out myself…

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[espo]

One common body mod was to fill the openings in the front roll pan where the bumper supports passed through. The downside was that the protection that the bumper provided was then gone. As for the headlight chrome removal. Try a 10-to-15-minute bath in your basic pure bleach product. Has never seemed to affect the kit plastic.  

[Ulf]

Nice build, 

After the owen cleaner, Tamiya lacquer thinner take the undercoat away over nigth.  I put a chromed part from Round2 directly into Tamiya's lacquer thinner and after 18 hours I just had to brush it lightly with a toothbrush and the chrome flakes flew like light snowflakes. Now I will skip the mess with my decanted oven cleaner as long as the crome part fit in the thinnerjar.

I have stripped old Monogram and new Round2 overnight and even a couple of nights without problems but you should probably test with a piece of the sprue to be sure. 

 

[Radretireddad]

If you’re going to use the front axle that comes with the kit, you can drill out the center of the wheels and use a small machine screw on each side to eliminate the exposed metal axle. The stock center caps cover the screw heads.

[OldNYJim]

On 7/6/2025 at 10:58 AM, espo said:

Try a 10-to-15-minute bath in your basic pure bleach product. Has never seemed to affect the kit plastic.  

That’s actually what I started with - left it overnight, in fact, but had a couple of spots that didn’t wanna go.

On 7/7/2025 at 2:05 PM, Ulf said:

Nice build, 

After the owen cleaner, Tamiya lacquer thinner take the undercoat away over nigth.  I put a chromed part from Round2 directly into Tamiya's lacquer thinner and after 18 hours I just had to brush it lightly with a toothbrush and the chrome flakes flew like light snowflakes. Now I will skip the mess with my decanted oven cleaner as long as the crome part fit in the thinnerjar.

I have stripped old Monogram and new Round2 overnight and even a couple of nights without problems but you should probably test with a piece of the sprue to be sure. 

 

You’re braver than me…

On 7/10/2025 at 8:09 PM, Radretireddad said:

If you’re going to use the front axle that comes with the kit, you can drill out the center of the wheels and use a small machine screw on each side to eliminate the exposed metal axle. The stock center caps cover the screw heads.

Good tip, thank you!

 

So, I got stuck on a couple of dumb little issues that it took me a straight week to resolve to my satisfaction.  One was front shocks, but I figured those out, and the second was the headers.  I really had in mind, some simple flowing Lakes headers in that engine bay with angles complimenting the natural lines of the tinwork around them and the lines of the truck when viewed from above.  Problem is, of course, that they’re pointing right at the firewall if they were ACTUALLY lakes headers, plus the wider heads on this flathead made it tough (impossible) for any of the styrene ones I had in my stash to actually fit.

I tried a bunch of more conventional block-hugging designs, tried a 4-into-1, tried a bunch of stuff that didn’t look as clean as I wanted…so eventually this weekend I took some photos of the truck from the top down and designed some that did exactly what I wanted:

It’s actually nothing crazy…I just couldn’t find exactly what I was trying to find with them following those inner fenders and kinda disappearing mysteriously under the firewall.  Of course, you wouldn’t want them ACTUALLY running into the firewall, so the underside is straight pipes hidden from normal view:
 

I think I want want those pipes to end with some fish-mouths like you see on a lot of motorcycle pipes, but I’ve never seen those on styrene…leads anyone?

Anyway, that was a stupid design problem to get hung-up on for a week but I’ve made a career of exactly that so I guess it won’t be the last time…

Next up, was the steering wheel.  I found this in my parts stash, and the design (there’s that word again) ties in PERFECTLY with something I’ll be doing later…you’ll have to bear with me on that, but I was excited to find this wheel anyway.  I wonder what it’s from?

The rest of the kit interior is pretty basic…in fact this is pretty much basically everything else there is to it, from the kit:

Made some door cards with printed handles (that reversed door handle is another intentional feature that will make sense later), switched out the plain-Jane bench seat for a couple of AMT buckets from something else, resin cast a Moon pedal and a skull shift-knob, and carved a shifter boot.  Will probably hide the kit-supplied fire extinguisher in there also:

Speaking of kit-supplied geegaws, I wanted to include the tools that come in the kit with this build, so I dug out a spare toolbox from the 34 Ford truck kits, and also replaced the bed floor with something that would be easier to paint:

And I’m almost done with the fab now, at least enough to start prepping the body for paint.  Before I start that work though, took some templates so I can make paint masks this week:

And then blew the whole thing apart so I can start getting some major components prepped for primer…the frame was particularly bad with the sink-marks but a little de-caff Bondo will level it off the sixty-fourth that I need to make it nice:

Thanks for looking all…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

Edited Monday at 03:52 AM by OldNYJim

[slusher]

Really nice work and custom work…

[DJMar]

On 7/5/2025 at 9:13 PM, OldNYJim said:

I think steering geometry would be the toughest hurdle to cross, plus maybe notching the frame if this were a 1:1.  Mine has about 1.5 scale inches of travel right now so I’ll probably grind a notch in there just to add a little extra feasibility. Thanks for the feedback!!

Yes, the steering geometry on lowered Effies is a whole other ball of wax. But I've seen a few notched front frames to go along with the axle flip on 1:1s, so you're right on. The whole project is coming along nicely.

I spent countless hours and too many busted knuckles on my own '53 F100, and I'll tell you, building the kit is a lot easier.

 

[NOBLNG]

On 7/13/2025 at 10:50 PM, OldNYJim said:

I think I want want those pipes to end with some fish-mouths like you see on a lot of motorcycle pipes, but I’ve never seen those on styrene…leads anyone?

Nice work so far Jim!👍 I made some exhaust tips out of aluminum tube using a round chainsaw file. Is this kinda what you’re looking for?

 

Edited 8 hours ago by NOBLNG

[OldNYJim]

3 hours ago, DJMar said:

building the kit is a lot easier.

…and cheaper! 😂. I’m envious though, I’d drive one of these for sure!

2 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

I made some exhaust tips out of aluminum tube using a round chainsaw file. Is this kinda what you’re looking for?

Those look great!  Nice work!  Yeah, that kind of look!  Thanks for sharing!

No big updates to report…it’s primer-hell-week this week.  Prep, prime, sand, prime…but I’ll have a bunch of fun stuff to paint at the weekend.  Got the frame smoothed out ready for primer and color:

And smoothed out the body also - adding some separate wipers, plus some printed door handles too so that stuff had to go:

I’m excited to get the body in paint…been figuring out some paint mask designs:

Now, mine won’t run a hood, so ignore the fact that the hood looks pretty bare and uninteresting in that bottom pic there…that’ll be full of shiny engine and blowers and whatnot.  Excited to get to where I can start paint on this, soon as I’ve finished getting the body and bed straight.

Thanks for looking, and for the nice comments!