Unibody shop truck

It’s easy to say you’re going to keep your next build plain and simple. Actually keeping that promise once you’ve made it to yourself is another matter altogether

Words: Dave Biggadyke Pics: Matt Richardson

Johnny Morris is a quiet, unassuming guy. He’s not one to expound endless details of what he is or isn’t going to build next; instead, he gets stuck in and brings each project to a pretty rapid conclusion. That probably explains why the pick-up depicted here wasn’t even on my radar.

Photographer Matt Richardson was on assignment at Johnny’s earlier this year snapping his TorqStorm supercharged, small block Ford-powered Zephyr sleeper when he rang me: ‘Johnny’s just shown me his new work truck. He admits to getting a bit carried away with the build and I have to say it is rather nice. Do you want me to shoot it while I’m here?’ Knowing that Matt has a keen eye for such things and that

The F100 as it looked after Mark Hanley had fi nished tinkering with it fi nished tinkering with it Pic: Mark Hanley Pic: Mark Hanley

Johnny is a no-compromise builder, it was a no-brainer.

I knew the pick-up was a Ford F100 but that in no way prepared me for the images Matt sent through. An early ‘60s unibody: what a rarity that is.

‘You know me,’ quipped Johnny when I caught up with him. ‘When I build something new, I like it to be that bit different!

‘The bonus is that these trucks are around 18 inches shorter than a conventional separate bed pick-up of the era. Perfect for

caught up with him. ‘When I build something

‘The bonus is that these trucks are around separate bed pick-up of the era. Perfect for

‘The story was that the pick-up had previously been owned by Boling Brothers Early Iron in Lindsay, California. So I contacted them and they confirmed it is indeed their old shop truck’

finding a parking space at Tesco when doing your weekly shop… the downside being they tend to rot out like hell.

‘I’m always fiddling about with something or other and when I’m building a car, I’m already thinking about the next one. I needed a new work truck and a unibody F100 suddenly popped into my head.

‘Problem was, finding a solid one was proving a more daunting task than sourcing the proverbial rocking horse shit. With that, though, one popped up on Facebook. Mark Hanley had it for sale and it supposedly had some hot rod credibility from when it was still in the States. The original plan was to

Main picture: Year dating fourth generation F100 pick-ups is made easier as only ’61-’64 models have indicators mounted in the front grille, and the unibody was dropped mid-way through 1963, with the 1964 models then sporting an all-new Styleside bed Left: The pick-up rolls on vintage style steels from North Hants Tyres, painted green to match the body panels with gold pinstriping by Dean Maudsley, who also striped the bodywork. The rims measure 8.5x16 all round, the fronts wearing 235/70 rubber and the rears 265/70s Right: Johnny spent a good number of hours sketching out his plan for the paint scheme before he hit on the ‘60’s vibe he was after. It was then down to local painter Danny Sherratt to replicate the design in Old English White and a made-up shade of green. There’s no change in ride height for everyday driving: jump in, select drive and enjoy the ride. That’s what it’s all about, after all!

Johnny bought the 347 small block Ford, a stroked 302ci, from Jason Hollamby and then had it rebuilt by local engine guru John Wright. Ceramic- coated Patriot headers feed a Johnny fabricated 3-inch stainless exhaust system. Backing up the engine is a rebuilt heavy-duty Ford C6 tranny, with a custom fabricated propshaft linking it to the rear axle Top right: Hidden underneath the air filter is a FiTech GO EFI 4 self-tuning fuel injection system rated at 600hp. Johnny simply describes this as mega efficient, adding: ‘It runs beautifully, and the more miles you clock up the better it gets’ Above right: Fuel delivery to the GO EFI is taken care of by a FiTech Command Center, plumbed in using braided lines. This is ideal when changing from carb to fuel injection as it eliminates the need for an external regulator and constantly circulates fuel to and from the existing tank

keep things simple but, as Matt told you, I did get a bit carried away…’

Jamming

Before revealing the extent of that getting carried away, let’s look at what makes these particular trucks such a rarity. Originally referred to as integrated pick-ups, Ford introduced unibody F100 and heavier payload F250 models in 1960. With the cab and bed being of one-piece construction, production costs were reduced as the design required fewer stampings and therefore less complicated assembly. The marketplace, however, did not take kindly to the fresh design approach and, amid rumours that overloading the bed could result in the doors becoming jammed shut, the unibody pick-ups were dropped mid-way through 1963. A fresh yet more conventional Styleside bed was introduced for 1964 year models, together of course with the resultant increase in overall length.

Curious about the Stateside hot rod credibility of this particular unibody, I contacted Mark Hanley to find out more. ‘I purchased the truck from a guy in Kent,’ he explained ‘From what he told me, he basically built it using a Ford Mustang as the donor for the IFS, steering column, gauges and more modern wheels. It wasn’t roadworthy though, so I had it trailered home.

‘The story was that the pick-up had previously been owned by Boling Brothers Early Iron in Lindsay, California, so I contacted them and they confirmed it is indeed their old shop truck. I bought it as something to tinker with and drive while I was building my ’40 Ford cabriolet.

‘I spent a week removing overspray, bled the brakes, got it running properly and had the tracking done. One of my pet hates is exhaust pipes that exit just before the rear wheels so I redid the system so the tailpipes exited at the rear of the car.

‘I painted the rear bumper and grille, switched the fuel sender unit to the correct one and fitted new door rubbers. Lots of silly little jobs really, after which I drove it as it was for a while. The gearing was way off though, so it was revving its nuts off on the

Above left: In case you don’t think the pick-up is equipped for towing, here’s the detachable towbar that slots in in place of the rear number plate Above: The inside of the bed is Raptor coated for practicality and durability. Mick Payne crafted the wooden in-bed storage chest, only for Johnny to then clad it in ali. Mick was not best pleased. If those tailgate latches look familiar, it’s because they are. Check out the top latches on the fi re doors next time you visit the hospital… Left: While Johnny sorted the carpet himself, his mate Shaun retrimmed the original bench seat in hard-wearing vinyl. Mick Payne sorted the door panels and headlining and Ididit supplied the tilt column and steering wheel, with the long shifter being by Lokar Below: Johnny fabbed the dash insert panel, which houses a complement of black-faced gauges contrasting with the white-faced Auto Meter oil pressure gauge, while the under-dash mounted panel houses the on / off switch and Viair pressure gauge used for raising the rear suspension when he’s towing

‘I’m really happy with how it’s turned out. It’s comfortable and drives well – bit like a Jag, really!’

motorway. Apart from that, it drove pretty good, as I recall.

‘I was spending too much time tinkering and driving it, though, and that was slowing the build on my ‘40. So I sold it to Johnny. Big mistake, really, as he has taken the pickup to where I was heading with the steel wheels and, I guess, a better rear axle ratio.

‘It’s now a cool-looking truck. Well done to him.’

No compromise

A nice compliment from Mark, but what exactly has Johnny done to transform the unibody into such a cool-looking truck? He bought the ’62 Ford F100 already fitted with a Mustang II IFS and a Ford 9-inch rear axle hanging from leaf springs. On the face of it just what he wanted – trouble was, it wasn’t put together to ‘Johnny’ spec.

Not being one to accept a compromise, he stripped it all down, had everything blasted and set about rebuilding the rolling chassis to what he refers to as ‘a nice spec.’

Heidts double A-arms, coilovers, drop spindles, an anti-roll bar, power steering and GM-based disc brakes and calipers all went in the mix at the front end. The rear axle was stripped, rebuilt and remounted using Chassis Engineering 4-bars, a Panhard rod, adjustable shocks and airbags. Rear brakes are rebuilt Ford drums.

The thankfully minor areas of rust in the bodywork were cut out and replaced with fresh steel, after which the body and panels went off for paint.

Johnny gave the painter the brief for a satin finish – it is a work truck, after all. Apparently, the message didn’t get through as it came back nice and shiny.

Despite all the cleaning this entails, Johnny’s still really pleased with it. In keeping with the shiny paint, new glass, rubbers and seals were fitted, including a tinted front screen that Billy MacDermid at Topspeed Automotive brought in when nobody else would.

With Johnny wiring the pick-up with a scratch-built loom, the build was finished. All that’s left is for him to clock up the miles to let the fuel injection system get the measure of how heavy his right foot is.

Planning ahead

‘I’m really happy with how it’s turned out,’ is Johnny’s verdict. ‘It’s comfortable and drives well – bit like a Jag, really. I’d gladly jump in it and drive to Wales if I had to, and it’s easy to find a parking space it fits into.’

With no plans to change anything on the F100, I was understandably concerned that Johnny would find himself kicking his heels with nothing to do. He did recently manage to put together the 600bhp big block-powered ’55 Chevy he debuted at the Peterborough show last May though, so he hasn’t exactly been idle.

‘Right now I’m building a Chevy truck for Steve Billingham, and you know that means ideas for the next build for myself are bouncing around in my head. I just don’t know what it will be yet though. It’s got to be something different and I quite fancy taking on a flagging project and finishing it off.’

Let us know if you’ve got something that fits the bill languishing in your garage and we’ll pass the details on to Johnny on your behalf. We can’t let his hands stay still for too long, after all.

A change in styling cues saw the unibody’s bonnet line, door window sill and bed side height being in harmony. With the cab rear and bed front being one and the same, the overall length was reduced yet the payload area was increased