John’s ’65 Ford F-100 Flareside

John Bailey’s grandfather and his dad Robbie were the maina influences in his life who got him hooked on custom cars and trucks. He remembers growing up with his dad’s ’56 Ford F-100, and all through high school John was the guy with bitchin’ rides.

John and his wife Karen were celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary while attending the Barrett Jackson auction in Palm Beach, Florida, where they noticed an eye catching Yellow Flash ’65 Ford F 100 Flareside pickup highlighted with silver pearl flames. Karen fell in love with the truck, and like all good husbands, John exchanged a stack of greenbacks for the pink slip from the previ ous owner/builder Glen Van Buskirk from Castro Valley, California. After driving the ’65 for about six months, John decided to per sonalize the truck to his taste. He and his friend Tim Davis began the journey together.

The original owner/builder removed the cab, front fenders, hood and bed, exposing the factory chassis. They extracted the twin I beam front end and replaced it with a Jim Meyer Racing IFS cross member with upper and lower control arms that sandwich a pair of ’78 GMC truck spindles with Wilwood 13 inch cross drilled, ball milled, vented rotors with Wilwood six piston calipers. A Mustang II rack and pinion gives Yellow Flash lateral direction. The rolling bling was accomplished by bolting on a pair of 18 x 8 inch Budnik Rocker polished satin aluminum wheels covered in 225/45R 18 Goodyear Eagle tires. The original QA 1 coil over shocks were maintained to allow for adjustable front suspension ride height. Originally the factory rear leaf spring suspension was elimi nated and substituted with a much more efficient Jim Meyer Racing 4 link setup that anchors the Ford 9 inch rearend stuffed with 31 splined axles, 3.73 gears and a lim ited slip unit. The factory gas tank was removed from inside the cab, allowing more seat room, plus a safer environment. A 20 gallon stain less steel gas tank from Rock Valley was dropped in between and behind the Ford 9 inch rearend. A Jim Mey er Racing panhard bar was mounted to the frame rail and rearend hous ing to eliminate any lateral shifting of the rearend while cornering. A pair of QA 1 coil over shocks was installed to support and dampen the rear sus pension. In the rear, 20 x 10 inch Budnik Rocker polished satin alu minum wheels were wrapped in 275/45R20 Goodyear Eagle rubber. The factory Ford Edsel (FE) series V 8 was swapped out for a 1996 Ford 460 ci engine with electronic fuel injection (EFI) by the previous owner. After purchasing the truck, John decided he wanted more grunt under the hood. The engine was dis assembled, cleaned, machined and reassembled with all new perform ance components by Brinkley’s Auto Machine in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The factory crankshaft was machined .010, and then fit with a set of SCAT H beam connect ing rods and SRP pistons that received Total Seal rings. A healthy Comp Cams camshaft was installed and to sync the crankshaft and camshaft a Comp Cams double roller timing chain kit was added. A set of Comp Cams hydraulic lifters was linked to the Comp Cams Magnum roller rockers with Magnum pushrods. The factory cast iron heads were machined then set up with Comp Cams single springs and Sportsman stainless steel intake and exhaust valves. A pair of chromed stock center bolt valve covers caps the valve train. A Pure Power 5 quart chromed oil pan was installed on the bottom end of the block. To circulate the engine’s coolant, a Weiand high volume alu minum water pump was bolted on, while a Be Cool four row aluminum radiator completes the engine’s cool ing system. The electrical system stays charged with a Power Master 130 amp chrome alternator. A set of custom billet aluminum pulleys routes the serpentine belt. The elec tronic charge is accelerated by an MSD Blaster coil that powers the Electronic Engine Control (EEC IV) distributor, sending the electronic pulses through a set of Taylor Spiro Pro 8mm blue silicone ignition wires to the individual spark plugs. A pair of K&N air filters ensures clean air enters the fabricated Deetz Performance aluminum air box that feeds the EFI throttle body. The cylin ders burnt gasses are exhausted by a pair of Jet Hot ceramic coated Sanderson shorty headers that collect into a 3 inch exhaust that flows into a pair of Flowmaster Hush Power II muffs. When all was said and done, the mighty 460 produces 400 lb ft of torque and 425 hp. The Ford C6 automatic transmission was rebuilt by Chuck Carter Transmis sions in Davidsonville, Maryland. Chuck installed all new clutch packs, planetary and stator gears with a 10 inch convertor and 2,800 rpm stall. A Lokar tall shifter was bolted up to the shift linkage.

The original body mods, prep and paint work were split between Deetz Performance and Bartoni Auto Body of Dublin, California. Before sending the truck over to Bartoni, the cab, front fenders and custom one piece Flareside bed were body dropped 8 inches. Also, the front and rear 1965 bumpers were narrowed for a snugger fit. The factory doors were shaved and a pair of 1982 Fiat Spyder door handles was fused into the door skins. To improve the peripheral vision and styling, one piece electric side windows were installed. Bartoni was responsible for straightening and finishing the body’s sheet metal then priming and block sanding every little imperfection of the Ford’s complex ion. The exterior/interior color was sprayed PPG Flash Yellow, and then a set of very cool silver pearl flames with blue pinstripes was laid by Basil Platt of Concord, California. After purchasing the truck, some of the road chips and other minor imperfections were touched up by Nelson Body and Paint in Maryland. The truck bumpers were chrome plated by Hayward Bumper in Hayward, California.

Opening the doors exposed the very clean, custom interior. The fac tory gauges/speed cluster was removed then filled in and smoothed. The original owner installed Autometer white face gauges, and water temp, fuel level, tachometer, speedometer, oil pressure and volt gauges were neatly inserted where the factory cluster used to reside. Keeping the audio simple, the crew at Ultimate Car Toys in Dublin, California, installed a Ford six CD head unit with iPod adapter into the dash. The sound was amplified by an Alpine unit that powers two tweeters in the dash and two 6 inch speakers stuffed in the kick panels, a pair of 8 inch subwoofers was mounted behind the bucket seats. Creature comfort was achieved by installing a Vintage Air system with vents mounted into the dash. An Ididit chrome tilt steering column was capped with a Budnik Shock split grip black leather four spoke black powder coated billet aluminum steering wheel. The custom interior was created by the team at Finish Line Interiors from San Jose, California. To eliminate the majority of engine heat and road noise, a layer of Dynamat was installed before laying down the black carpet. A pair of 2008 Chevy Tahoe bucket seats was covered in dark charcoal leather and separated by a custom storage center console.

John’s Yellow Flash ’65 Ford draws attention wherever he rolls. The first two shows he attended, the truck took home an assortment of trophies. It’s pretty cool when you raise your garage door and see your ’65 Ford F 100 Flareside parked next to your ever so cool custom ’61 Ford F 100 unibody. ST

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JOHN BAILEY
1965 FORD F-100 FLARESIDE
CLEMENTS, MD

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