From Paddock to Street Machine – 1969 Ford F100 SWB Styleline Utility
August 2013 – Found parked in the middle of a paddock for a few years where it had time to mature and rust…
This was supposed to be a 3-year resto-mod (modern running gear underneath an old exterior) finished in time for my son, Brendan’s 18th birthday.
And so started our 8-year journey with the F100….
We purchased a chassis damaged Ford Falcon 4.0i 5-speed Utility (XG, 1996) and stripped it of the motor, drivetrain, electronics, heater/air conditioner and everything that wasn’t part of the ute’s body/chassis to use in the F100.
Once the chassis had been cleaned and a fresh coat of paint applied, we added the front disc brakes from a 1975 F100 and replaced all the suspension rubbers with neoprene ones. The engine got a freshen up and coat of paint, with some polishing to make the rocker cover shine. New bearings and brakes in the differential, along with the installation of the fuel tank from the XG ute in between the chassis rails. The original fuel tank in the F100 was inside the cabin behind the bench seat. The wheels are Anson Jellybean or Peanut mags, 16×8 and are original 1967 models, a bit of cleaning and polishing brought the shine back.
Lots of prep work on the body panels before finally covering everything in Seafoam Green. This was an original Ford Colour from 1953 and was only ever used on the F100 by Ford. Putting the windscreen and rear window in was a heart stopping moment as we didn’t want to break anything.
The next few months saw the interior come together with the installation of central locking, power windows, seat belts, stereo, and the heating-A/C controls from the XG Ute turning the inside of the F100 into a nicer place to be. All the mod-cons for an old truck…
The original dash did not have any demist vents, so we added directional vents form a ’56 F100 into the all-steel dash. The gear stick was custom made to be much longer than the original from the Falcon. The original floor was a metal sheet which we didn’t get with the truck, so we removed the metal side pieces and went with a full wood bed. The reclaimed Tasmanian Oak timber floorboards were cut to length and a few hours were spent in working out the jigsaw puzzle to fit them in. Aluminium strips from Bunnings were used to secure the wood to the tub. Hand polishing the strips certainly made it look good. The fuel filler proved challenging but works well. The taillights were updated to include LED globes, the indicators are located inside the original reverse light placement and an LED strip has been added as a reverse light just above the rear roll pan. A tow bar and hitch was fitted to provide extra protection to the fuel tank which has been installed into a specially fabricated box that sits between the rear chassis rails.
BETYLU was registered in 2021 and has been to Albury/Wodonga for the F-Series Roundup and a trip to Gawler, SA. She has attended several car shows and events since.
Special thanks to;
- Rose, for putting up with all the shed time, noise and spending.
- Autobarn Hoppers Crossing, Ross and Linda Cooper were terrific in helping source parts, nuts and bolts and lights, etc.
