The End of an Econoline’s 11-Year Shop Sentence

There are fewer things more influential for a pre-teenage kid than having a dad who takes him out to car shows on a regular basis. Shallon Broussard of Carencro, Louisiana, was only 12 years old when his pops told him to start looking for some kind of classic vehicle that they could build to have ready by the time he got his license.

“With that in mind, I really started keeping my eyes peeled while we were out at shows,” Shallon says. “Then one day, I saw the exact truck I wanted! It was exciting to have narrowed the selection down to one specific model.

Even though the completion of this Econoline is roughly seven years overdue, the guys still couldn’t be happier with the outcome. 

“I had spotted a ’60s Ford Econoline pickup at a show and knew instantly that was the truck I wanted to build,” Shallon adds. “Of course, the first thing my dad asked me was, ‘You like that ugly thing?!’ I did like it—a lot. It was just very different from a lot of other trucks I had seen up until that point, and the one I spotted at the show was done up very nice, which was a huge inspiration right away.”

Luckily, Shallon’s dad Shawn knew of an Econoline pickup in their hometown that had been sitting in the same spot of some guy’s yard for years. The next Monday after that fateful car show, the guys took a drive after school to inquire about purchasing the old Ford.

“Come to find out, the guy was just using the truck to store his grandkids’ old toys,” Shallon admits. “It was full of stuff inside the cab and the bed, but from what we could see, there were only a few rust spots and wasn’t in bad shape considering it had been sitting out for so long.”

Needless to say, the man wasn’t opposed to selling his old truck, and just like that, the Broussard boys had a brand new project in front of them.

The Econoline was taken directly to Shawn’s shop, Shawn’s Auto Body, where the guys, along with Cody Stoute, a fabricator working at the shop, started building some kind of plan for it.

Vintage Air A/C and a Bluetooth stereo system were incorporated into the build to give Shallon access to all the modern conveniences.

“Cody played a huge role in the build,” Shallon says. “He had worked with my dad for a while, and eventually started his own shop in conjunction with my dad’s business called Popeye’s Rod Shop. He really has become a part of our family and my best friend over the years. He is the major reason why the Econoline ended up as cool as it did.”

Now, the timeline for the build process was to have the truck done and ready to drive by the time Shallon turned 16, which was still almost a full four years out from that beginning point. Unfortunately, things don’t always work out as planned, and the truck’s eventual 11-year build process is proof of that. The Econoline project would get pushed to the side quite often to allow the guys to work on paying customer work as well as to focus on the Broussards’ busy drag racing schedule. Shallon even had time in between this period to buy and mildly build a ’69 C10, drive it around for a few years and sell it off before the Ford had been completed. The Econoline was never forgotten about, however, no matter how many times it was delayed.

In the years the Ford was in the shop, Cody built a full custom chassis for the Econoline complete with all the top shelf air-ride suspension components he could throw at it. Since there really are no readymade kits for these trucks, he felt it best to start from scratch in order to gain the ideal ride height with the best ride quality possible. Aside from the full Air Lift Performance 3H air management system he added, Cody also fitted the frame with a Mustang II front clip and a 2-link for the rear end. Since the guys weren’t interested in going overboard with the wheel size, a modest set of 18-inch Intro Flagstaff wheels now give the Ford an updated yet old school appearance to round out the new chassis setup.

A Chevy 327c.i. V-8 mill was then selected and built up to plant onto the Ford’s new frame. The engine was completely overhauled, decked out with some choice performance boosting add-ons, and paired with a turbo 350 transmission for a neatly packaged, ultra reliable powertrain combination.

With the Econoline being parked at an auto body shop, it was just a matter of time before Shawn could get his hands wrapped around their project truck. To make the body look a little sleeker, he welded all the body seams before adding some custom touches in the one-off tailgate, wheel tubs and panels enclosing the inside of the bed. This Ford truck had never looked better, and to capitalize on all the expert body work that was invested into the project, Shawn decided to treat the truck’s surface with his own specially mixed PPG Envirobase two-tone blue paint scheme. The finished product had to have Shawn thinking of retracting all that “ugly” talk before the paint even dried.

The next phase of the build was to transform the interior, and to do that, the guys had already planned on contacting Brent Davison of Sculpt Garage in San Marcos, Texas. Brent whipped up a set of custom seats, center console and engine cover, and then selected the right material to upholster the entire inside of the cab. The dash was outfitted with a set of Esquire Series Classic Instrument gauges, and a ’64 Impala steering wheel with a factory horn button to thoroughly class up the cab. Vintage Air A/C and a Bluetooth stereo system were also incorporated into the build to give Shallon access to all the modern conveniences.

Even though the completion of this Econoline is roughly seven years overdue, the guys still couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

“The quality time with my dad is something I’ll cherish forever,” says Shallon. “The time we got to spend with Cody has been a blast, and it was great to see the process slowly take shape even through we had to wait longer than expected.”

The truck was finally considered done in February 2021, and Shallon has been busy taking it to shows all year long. He’s been driving the Ford and enjoying it as much as possible with his hectic school schedule, and the forecast calls for more of the same for years to come. You only get one first build, and Shallon plans on making the most of the experience.

TRUCK SPECS

 Owner

Shallon Broussard

Carencro, LA
1964 Ford Econoline Pickup

Engine/Drivetrain
  • Chevy V-8 327c.i.
  • Mild camshaft
  • Edelbrock carburetor
  • Sanderson Block Hugger headers
  • Custom 2.5-inch stainless mandrel-bent exhaust system
  • Flowmaster FX mufflers
  • Turbo 350 transmission by A-Abal Transmissions, Lafayette, LA
  • Lokar shifter
  • Derale transmission cooler
  • S10 rear axle with posi
Chassis/Suspension
  • Full custom chassis built and modified by Cody Stoute @ Popeye’s Rod Shop, Corencro, LA
  • Air ride setup featuring Air Lift Performance 3H air management system
  • Mustang II front suspension
  • Rear 2-link
  • Wizard Fab Steer Clear steering coupler
Wheels & Tires 
  • 18-inch Intro Flagstaff wheels
Body/Paint
  • Shawn Broussard @ Shawn’s Auto Body, Carencro, LA
  • PPG Envrobase custom mix blue two-tone paint
  • Welded body seams, custom tailgate, wheel tubs and panels inside of bed
Interior
  • Custom seats by Sculpt Garage, San Marcos, TX
  • Classic Instruments Esquire Series
  • 1964 Impala steering with factory horn button
  • Bluetooth stereo
  • Vintage Air A/C
  • Optima battery

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