Built to Last a Lifetime of Memories

YOU SEE A TRUCK LIKE THIS AND JUST HAVE TO THINK: WHERE DID I GO WRONG WITH MY LIFE? But then maybe the better question would be: where did Albert Vowell go so right with his? As it turns out, the answer to that is steeped in a deep, rich family history that spans decades.

It was 1963, Albert’s great-granddad had just picked up his newest farmhand, a Ford F-100 long-bed, fresh off the lot. It had taken a lot of man-hours to save up for the purchase, but since a work truck is an extension of one’s self, he wanted the best truck he could afford to make life easier on himself and his family.

KEEP IN MIND THAT, AS A TRUCK GUY, ALBERT HAD BEEN DREAMING OF ONE DAY GETTING THE KEYS TO GRANDPA’S F-100 AND GIVING IT SOME CUSTOM FLAVOR.”

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This truck paid for itself time and time again throughout the years, and it eventually was passed down to Albert’s grandfather. Albert tells us, “As kids, we used to play in the back of it every time we were at my grandparents’ house, and then when my grandpa passed my mom got it.” Keep in mind that as a truck guy Albert had been dreaming of one day getting the keys to his grandpa’s F-100 and giving it some custom flavor.

As you can probably guess, Albert eventually did get the truck, but it took a bit of cash since his brothers and sisters also wanted it. By the time Albert took possession, the F-100 had been sitting in a barn for 12 years with a worn-out 292 and an increasingly thick layer of dust. The important part was that it was finally his. It was a chance to reminisce over old times with grandpa and build some new memories as well.

With help from his buddies, who also happened to include his father Danny and his brother Neil Smith, Albert went full steam ahead on the build. The first thing he did was to drop it off at friend Diego Chavira’s shop, A&K Muffler, for some major metal surgery. The ’63’s frame was chopped off before and after the cab, and a 1978 Trans Am donor was robbed of its front clip and rearend.

Albert had always envisioned the truck as a shorty. After grafting in the Pontiac suspension up front (with Camaro drop spindles), Diego built a custom shorter rear frame section behind the body-dropped cab, with a 4-link attached to the Trans Am 10-bolt axle. Of course, it’s pretty obvious that the ol’ F-100 also received airbags on all four corners, allowing the truck to get up to a respectable ride height even if Albert does keep it at about an inch off the ground at all times.

Once the truck was ready to have a short-bed added, Albert decided that he didn’t want an early-style bed. He found a later ’65-style version with the more streamlined wheel arches to better match the front sheet metal. This bed swap really brought things together and made the truck look even lower, but Albert really wanted to mix things up even more. Diego once again rolled out the welder and shaved the tailgate handle, welded the tailgate to the bed sides, rounded the bed corners and built some custom bead-rolled inner bedsides.

Once the bed was color-matched to the original cab color and mounted by Jones Auto Body in Aledo, Texas, a custom wood bed floor was fabricated to finish things off— almost. Something was missing out back, but Albert wasn’t too keen on having a roll pan on the truck; so, after some narrowing, a 1978 Ford F- 150 rear bumper was painted white and did the trick.

The original 292 had long since been retired, and that Pontiac front clip made it really easy to just slide in an eight-slug Chevy, so that’s exactly what went in. The billet-dressed 350 breathes through an Edelbrock Performer 650-cfm carb and a custom 3-inch Flowmaster exhaust but is otherwise stock. The engine has no trouble spinning a kitted Turbo 350, which was built by Marty’s Transmission out of Fort Worth. Albert wanted a solid and stylish way to go through the gears, so he installed a 24-inch single-bend Lokar floor shifter for the shift that keeps on shifting.

With all of the work that was put into the truck, Albert had every intention of driving it as much as possible, so he didn’t want to get too wild with the interior. Instead, he opted to keep things simple and clean, and so it remains essentially as it was when it left the factory, except for a Flash Power 14-inch billet steering wheel.

FOUR GENERATIONS IN, AND YOU COULD SAY GRANDPA IS STILL TAKING THE KIDS FOR A RIDE.”

Roadworthy and ready for some action, Albert rolled on a couple of different sets of wheels before finally ordering up a set of 20-inch Detroit Mobsteel wheels in white powder- coat finish, on which were mounted 245/35 and 255/35R20 Bridgestone tires. We’d say it gives the truck the perfect blend of old-school design cues with modern performance.

When we finally asked Albert why he named the F-100 Big Boy, we were expecting him to tell us that it was because it was a full-size truck, or maybe because it sat on some big- inch wheels. What we didn’t expect was for him to tell us that “Big Boy” was his grandpa’s nickname, and so his family had named the truck after him. How’s that for preserving history? Four generations in and you could say grandpa is still taking the kids for a ride.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Albert Vowell
1963 aFord F-100
Azle, TX BodyDropInc

ENGINE

• 1986 Chevy 350
• Stock internals
• Edelbrock 650-cfm carburetor
• GM one-wire alternator
• 16-inch electric fan
• Billet air cleaner
• Finned aluminum valve covers
• Polished aluminum pulley set
• Custom polished upper radiator hose
• Energy Suspension polyurethane engine mount bushings
• Built Turbo 350 transmission with shift kit
• 3-inch exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers
• Optima Yellow Top battery

SUSPENSION

• 1978 Pontiac Trans front frame clip with airbags
• Camaro drop spindles
• Custom shortened rear frame for ’65 short-bed conversion
• 4-link with airbags on link bars
• 1978 Pontiac Trans Am rearend
• Center frame modified for body drop
• Monroe gas shocks front and rear
• 8-inch chrome brake booster and master cylinder

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8 Detroit Mobsteel solid wheels
• 245/35R20 and 255/35R20 Bridgestone tires

BODY & PAINT

• Shop: A&K Muffler
• Paint: Jones Auto Body
• Body dropped to lay rockers on the ground
• Cab is original, including paint
• 1965 short-bed has been welded shut with radiused corners and bead-rolled inner bedsides
• Raised wood bed floor
• Bed was color-matched to original cab paint
• 1978 Ford rear bumper cut down 3 inches

INTERIOR

• Original upholstery
• Flash Power 14-inch billet steering wheel
• Lokar shifter
• Three switches on the dash to control airbags

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: “First off, I would like to thank my wife; I couldn’t have gotten it done without her support! I would also like to thank my brother Billy Vowell for all the help and my dad Danny Vowell, my brother Neil Smith, Diego over at A&K and all my boys from BodyDropInc that lent a helping hand when needed.”

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