Blood Sweat and Gears | 1964 F-100

Works in Progress Getting Some Love

With this being our Homebuilt Heroes special issue, we wanted to kick off a new feature series called “Hot WIPs” that showcases badass Works in Progress (WIP) with more “under construction” or current in-process builds. For our first installment, this is a true “garage-build” built by the owner Travis Norvell out of his home garage in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The truck originally came out of Trinidad, Colorado. Travis had transferred down there for work and saw it as he was driving around town. He ended up tracking down the owner and asked if it was for sale. The owner just wouldn’t come off it at the time. Fast forward about five years, and Travis was headed to a friend’s house when he happened to stumble across the exact same truck sitting there on the side of the road with a for sale sign. Travis immediately got a hold of the guy and told him, “Don’t sell it! I’m on my way to the bank and will be back.”

Travis did just that. He nabbed the 1964 F-100 from the side of the road the next day, brought it home and immediately began cutting. Travis shared some of the truck’s history with us and why he didn’t touch the patina paint.

“There is an American quarter-horse and ghosted horse vinyl stickers on the side of the truck,” he says. “The old man who I got the truck from said the original owner used to live in Oklahoma and would fly into Trinidad where he had a horse ranch. He had several trucks there and would hook a trailer onto the back of the truck and haul horses over Raton Pass and race his horses at the racetrack every few weeks.”

So, Travis wanted to keep some of that nostalgic presence with his F-100 even though he knew he was totally going to cut her up and get her flat to the ground.

Besides creating a pavement-pounding stance, Travis also wanted to go a little different with the drivetrain selection. He ended up scoring a bone stock 4BT diesel on the cheap and stuffed it in without much thought. Realizing a ton of work was ahead, he got down to business with the chassis and drivetrain. With a lot of patience, he worked his way through figuring out what he could on his own and referring to the ever-powerful internet when he was stuck.

What Travis learned through it all is there are a ton of awesome truck enthusiasts out there, and he is now on a mission to cruise his truck all over the country and meet them all!

What Travis learned through it all is there are a ton of awesome truck enthusiasts out there, and he is now on a mission to cruise his truck all over the country and meet them all!

Travis Norvell
1964 Ford F-100
Colorado Springs, CO

Chassis/Suspension

• Front: Industrial chassis Dodge Dakota-based IFS
• Control Arms: Michigan Metal Works super pivot
• Rear: Custom back half with Thorbros universal wishbone three-link
• Shocks: Ford F-150 shocks
• Air Management: Air Lift 3h, two billet FLO Airride tanks, Viair comps
• Brakes: Dodge Dakota front disc, Ford Explorer rear disc, Ford Superduty master cylinder and hydroboost

Wheels/Tires

• Wheels Front: Delmo Specials Intro billets 22×9-inch
• Wheels Rear: Delmo Specials rear 22×12-inch
• Tires Front: Pirelli PZERO NERO 255/30ZR22
• Tires Rear: Pirelli PZERO NERO 315/25ZR22

Engine/Performance

• Engine: Stock 4BT
• Intake: Custom air-to-water intercooler intake and charge pipes all pie cut
• Header/exhaust: Cut down 6BT turbo manifold
• Transmission: Ford M5OD late model Ford F-150 trans
• Rear end: 8.8-inch Ford explorer with lsd with narrowed Moser Engineering axles
• Misc.: High flow delivery valves, 3k governor springs, Holset HE341 turbo, advanced pump timing

Paint/Body

• Body Mods: 5/8-inch body drop to lay flat
• Off road ledbars, split 7-inch LED headlights, white rock/wheel lights
• Paint: Ford factory paint, Red & White 55 years old

Interior/Stereo

• Seats: Factory bench seat covered in Mexican blanket

Special Thanks from Owner: “Huge thanks to my wife Kaalyn Norvell for always putting up with my crazy hobbies, Angel Dooly and Mike Alexander for putting together a cool little piece on my truck. Really looking forward to meeting many more of you!”