In his own words Bob Dillon gives us the play-by-play saga into building his very first custom truck
As a model builder as a kid, I always liked hot rods. I bought the truck in 1991 for $400 and worked on it off and on for the next 12 years. It was in pretty rough shape. I stripped the truck down to the frame and started from there. The frame was sandblasted, primed and then painted black. I ordered a Mustang II front end kit from Fat Man Fabrications out of Charlotte, NC. Then I purchased a Ford nine-inch rear end and had it narrowed. I always wanted the pro-street look so a Morrison ladder bar set up was installed. I wanted the largest meats I could get under the stock fenders so Mickey Thompson 33x21.5-15 Sportsman tires were mounted on CenterLine Convo Pro wheels. A buddy of mine named Tim found me a 460 cubic inch engine and we tore it down and sent the parts off for cleaning and machine work. Once I got it back, I built it up myself, the first engine I had ever built. I then purchased a C-6 transmission, had it rebuilt and then mated it to the 460 big block and installed the duo into the frame.
Next came the body work. I had never done any body work before so it was a learn as I go process. First I stripped it down to just the shell, then sandblasted the body to bare metal followed by priming the surface. I had to replace all four corners, the floor pan and rocker panels. The bottom of the doors had to go also. I replaced the stock firewall with a four-inch set back I got from No Limit Engineering. Now that I was feeling like a body work expert, I said what the heck, and went ahead and chopped the top, suicided the doors, shaved everything from the body and filled all of the body seams. I read all of the articles I could find and started to just do it. To my surprise it came out pretty well. I got it as smooth as I could then sent it to C.A.R.S. in Belews Creek, NC to let the real experts get it baby smooth. While it was out, I plumbed the brakes and took care of the fuel and transmission plumbing. Not being happy with the black frame, I decided to strip the frame down again and painted it Ford Blue. Then I reinstalled the engine, trans and rear end along with an Air Ride Technologies Shockwave set up as well as chrome plated control arms.
While the body was away, I hauled the frame to Barry's Exhaust in Hillsboro who installed the full exhaust system including a set of stainless Trans Am splitters which is something I've always liked. The frame was now ready. It was now time to test my engine building skills. I wired an ignition switch up and turned the key. The 460 fired! Man there is nothing that sounds like a large cubic inch Ford engine running in a closed garage! What a rush!
The cab and body panels returned in great shape. I mounted the cab to the frame and started fitting the front fenders, hood, grille, gravel pan and inner fenders. All was going well so far. I purchased a Dan Carpenter bed and tailgate that I had to modify to fit the slightly larger Mickey Thompson rear tires. I couldn't find a set of tubs that met my needs so I set out to make my own. Again to my surprise they came out pretty good. Jeff at C.A.R.S. had a buddy that just happened to have the Purple Heart bed wood that I had been looking for. It was cut to fit the bed and turned out great. I always loved the look of the old gassers. They had the fuel cell on the front bumper. I though they were the coolest. So I called Mooneyes and asked if they could make me one to fit my bed. They sent me a great new tank that installed into the bed.
Now the truck was beginning to look like a truck again and I had taken it as far as I could with my skill level. So I contacted Jim at C.A.R.S. and we worked out the details. They took the truck apart and reworked all of the areas that needed help along with making modifications that I wasn't able to complete. Once the mods were finished the truck was taken to the paint booth where a DuPont silver base was laid down. Flames were laid out by Mike and a coat of blue and purple was shot. Shading and pinstriping was addd to the flames which really makes them stand out.
The ostrich silver and pearl british blue leather was installed over Rod Doors seats and interior panels while an ididit steering column, custom center console, Ford Motorsports gauges and a Vintage Air A/C system was installed to complete the interior. A little over 12 years had passed and a lot of memories had been made. I wouldn't trade any of them for anything. Then in April of 2004 I lost my mother-in-law. She really loved seeing the work that I had done to the truck and always asked me to take her for a ride when it was finished. Well, she never got to take a ride with me so we had her name painted on the hump between the tubs in the bed. Now she rides with us every time we take the truck out. We took the truck now affectionately called "The Damn Thing" out to many cruises ins and show around our area. We had a great time and made many memories and friends along the way. To us that is what hot rodding is all about. It was time for it's debut at the 2005 F-100 Supernationals. The response and feedback was great. It really made it feel like all of the time and passion that had gone into building our truck was worth it. We attended many other large shows during the year such as the All Truck Nationals in Carlisle where the compliments and accolades continued.
When the season was over and the weather had turned bad I became a little restless wanting to start a new project. I ran the idea by the boss "my wife", and she wasn't as open to the idea as I had hoped. She told me if I wanted something to work on why not redo a few things on the '55. Well that was all I needed to hear. I began work in February by taking the front half of the truck apart. I pulled all the sheet metal followed by the engine. I stripped the engine then repainted it and changed out the cam to a more radical one. I have always thought the look of eight Weber carbs on the old hot rods was just awesome. I set out to find someone that could supply me with that look but in an EFI set up. I came across Imagine Injection owned by Bob Ream, one of the nicest and knowledgeable men I have ever met. I contacted Bob and he answered all the questions I had, both the good and the bad, then provided the trick injection set up as well as helping with the tuning of the engine.
I really liked the look of the Convo Pros, but I thought the truck needed a newer look. I contacted Bob and Dave at Newstalgia about a set of 20x15.5 and 18x7 Boyd Coddington Crown Jewel wheels as well as a set of 31x18.5SR20 and 26x8SR18 Mickey Thompson Sportsman SR Radial tires. They did some checking and informed me that it would be at least 12 weeks for delivery. That was cutting it close for the 2006 F-100 Supernationals but they assured me that we would make it. They were right and the wheels and tires were just what I wanted. I also contacted the guys at Air Ride Technologies and ordered the latest and greatest Air Ride Technologies RidePro air suspension additions they had. Then came a new Billet Specialties Tru Trac serpentine pulley system to go with the billet looks of the injection. I also wanted to upgrade the brakes so I contacted Kevin at Precision Brakes to get Wilwood four-piston calipers as well as drilled and polished rotors and assembly. My birthday is in March and to my surprise my wife and Jim at C.A.R.S. got together and had a custom radiator made for me by Wizard Cooling. I am not sure how she did it but it turned out great! I can't thank her enough as well as Jim for all of his help over the past few years and the use of his facility.
Now that the parts were starting to come in and a plan of action was in line, the work began. The next three months proved to be the most trying time of the entire 13-year build. If it could go wrong, it did. Missed shipments, wrong parts, not enough parts. Everyone that has built a hot rod or custom truck knows what I am talking about. Time was getting close and I still had a ways to go. I could have never made it if it hadn't been for a good friend Robert Smith. He spent many hours the last two weeks before the Nationals in my garage helping in any way he could. Steve at the Hose House came through with all the fittings and hoses in the last minutes. But I can't thank Aldin down at C.A.R.S. enough. He came through with body and paint work in the last minutes. When I say last minutes, I mean the very last minutes. He had to touch up and straighten my right front fender after we had a little accident loading the truck on the trailer to come to the Supernationals. He saved the day.
The Supernationals were way more than we had ever expected. Finishing in the top four was far beyond my wildest dreams. This was my first build and we drive our truck every chance we get. I would like to thank everyone we came in contact with at the show. We made tons of new friends and got many more ideas of new things to try on our '55 this winter. To be picked as one of the top four Ford trucks at the F-100 Supernationals is one of the greatest achievements in my life. The passion that I feel for our sport is greater than I can put into words. And something else that is great about our hobby is that there are thousands out there that feel just as I do. I can't wait to meet them next year.
BOB DILLON
CHRISTIANSBURG, VIRGINIA
1955 FORD F-100
