This ’56 F-100 Panel Has a Unique Past and a Bright Future

Back in 1960 a man by the name of Albert Watts from Morganton, North Carolina, was in the market for a new truck. Albert, or “AB” as he was known by friends and family, had been driving a ’40s model Jeep that had been his A to B since World War II, until it finally surrendered in 1960. To replace the Jeep, AB went on the hunt for a utility vehicle that could haul parts for his growing auto repair business and carry his family and pets around. The ’56 Ford panel displayed across these pages was the truck that caught AB’s attention and his wallet.

The panel had been used by a local laundry service as a delivery vehicle. AB made the panel part of the Watts family and painted it green to cover the laundry business lettering. Next he tuned up the engine for reliable parts running and family driving. For the next 20-plus years the panel provided reliable service hauling parts with grandkids sitting on milk crates, taking dogs to the vet and transporting the family to church.

Around 1980 AB moved his shop to a custom garage built on his property. He was working at home where a host of different automotive jobs kept him busy in addition to hours talking to friends in the shop. In 1985 the panel’s faded green paint and weathered skin gave way to a fresh coat of deep blue. The reliable old ’56 had a new face and AB continued to drive and enjoy it until 1991, when sadly, he passed away. AB’s wife Lucy kept the panel in remembrance for 11 years until she passed in 2002.

At about that time, Dennis Carpenter, owner and operator of Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts, was looking for a panel truck to build as a show piece to promote his business and display many of the F-100 parts and pieces his company manufactures. The planets aligned and Dennis purchased AB’s old panel with the intent of building a show-stop-ping driver with his company logo let- tered down the side. Carpenter got his start in 1970 when he began making plastic dash knobs for ’40s Fords. From there the business grew into a, one-stop  shop  for  Blue  Oval restoration products for trucks and passenger cars.

To get the project underway Dennis delivered the panel to Dennis Christopher in Powell, Tennessee, for the chassis and suspension modifications. Stock wasn’t going to cut it because Carpenter was looking for a marriage of low-down street rod attitude and modern performance with a factory physique. The factory frame was cleaned up and suspended out back with a Currie Ford 9-inch filled with 3.50:1 gears and straddled by Chassis Engineering parallel leaf springs. The leading edge was hammered with a Fat Man Fabrication stage II independent front suspension system complete with 2-inch dropped spindles and 11- inch disc brakes. A Corvette-style master cylinder by Fat Man and an 8-inch Fat Man booster are plumbed with a combination of custom steel tube lines and stainless steel braided lines. A T-bird rack-and-pinion steering setup is commanded by a Billet Specialties steering wheel bolted to a Flaming River steering column. Planted at all four corners of the updated chassis are 18-inch American Racing Cobra wheels mounted on Yokohama Advan S/T rubber.

For power Dennis decided to go modern and drop in a 2004 Ford 5.4L supercharged Triton V-8 straight out of a Ford Lightning pickup. The engine was dressed in laser blue accents and is cooled by a Walker four-row radiator. The mill breathes through a custom 2.5-inch aluminized exhaust tipped with Hooker mufflers. Getting the power to the massaged 9-inch is a Ford 4R100 over-drive transmission hooked to a custom driveshaft built by Sonny’s Drive Lines in Knoxville.

The body was massaged and smoothed here and there for a dose of custom blended with Henry Ford’s vision. Starting at the nose, the factory Ford emblem on the hood was removed and the mounting holes were filled for a clean look. Moving to the tail end, the factory rear bumper was radiused on the ends and the center was sectioned to create an opening for the custom exhaust to exit. A Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts front bumper was installed and tucked closer to the body to tighten up the gaps. All of the chrome exterior parts were brightened up by Knox Custom Chrome in Knoxville. Bridging the gap between the reproduction front and factory rear fenders are custom running boards made by grafting F-100 pickup front running board sections onto a factory F-100 panel running board. The rear cargo doors were reinstalled with hidden hinges and the passenger side cowl vent was filled.

Once Precision Rod & Custom in Sevierville, Tennessee, finished making the body laser-straight, Victor Crawford of PR&C laid down the brilliant PPG Laser Blue effect and Silver Ice two-tone paint combination. Brian Papa of Brian Papa Studios in Atlanta applied the dark gray pinstriping that borders the blue and silver dividing line. After the paint was color sanded and buffed to a blinding shine, King’s Auto Glass in Sevierville installed smoked glass front to back.

The cruising chamber was out-fitted with full custom upholstery by Todd Kirk of Kirk’s Upholstery in Corryton, Tennessee. A combination of blue and gray leather was stitched over a custom-built set of bucket seats that accent the blue Daytona weave carpet below. Kirk built and installed a custom suede headliner to adorn the roof of the panel and finish out the tin box. A custom-built speedo panel by Precision Rod & Custom houses a set of New Relics gauges to tattle on the Lightning engine’s behavior. A Billet Specialties steering wheel handles navigational chores, while power windows from New Relics provide quick access to natural air. Dennis Carpenter interior door handles capture the classic style of Ford’s ’50s design with the modern reliability of a brand spanking new part. A Ron Francis wiring harness was installed by Dennis Richardson in Seymour, Tennessee, to connect all of the truck’s electrical dots. For entertainment and comfort, respectively, a Kenwood stereo system was installed along with a Vintage Air A/C system. Dennis Carpenter oval logos were built and sewn into the interior rear quarter panels for a little inside promotion.

This build was a team effort. It took the work and talent of the crew from Precision Rod & Custom (Chris Nash, Victor Crawford, Corn Bread, David Allegood and Frank Cook), Kirk’s Custom Upholstery (Todd Kirk) and Dennis Christopher and Tom Christenberry to make it all happen.

With the panel now a shining gem in the Carpenter fleet its working days are over. There is undoubtedly a bit of Albert “AB” Watts’ soul radiating through that 57-year-old metal and keeping a little of that old “workhorse” intact, and that is pretty darn cool. ST

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Dennis Carpenter
1956 Ford F-100
Panel Concord, NC
Dennis Carpenter
Ford Restoration Parts

ENGINE

• 2004 Ford 5.4-L supercharged Lightning
• 2.5-inch aluminized exhaust
• Hooker mufflers

SUSPENSION

• Fat Man Fabrications independent stage II front end
• Currie 9-inch rearend with Chassis Engineering parallel leaf springs
• 2-inch dropped spindles, 11-inch disc brakes, T-Bird rack-and-pinion

WHEELS & TIRES

• 18 x 8 and 18 x 10 American Racing Cobra Wheels
  235/50R18 and 285/50R18 Yokohama Advan S/T

BODY & PAINT

• Shaved hood emblem, modified running boards, radiused and tucked bumpers
• Custom PPG Laser Blue effect/Silver Ice two-tone
• Rechromed bumpers and trim

INTERIOR

• Custom bucket seats
• Blue and gray leather
• New Relics gauges
• Billet Specialties steering wheel
• Flaming River steering column
• Vintage Air
• Kenwood audio system
• Dennis Carpenter interior trim pieces
• Lokar pedals
• Custom wood floor with painted strips

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