POPE’S PUDDING | 1968 Ford F100

A Winning Recipe

WHEN YOU HAVE THE perfect recipe, you often want to keep it to yourself. Sure, you might let your friends taste your delicious cookies or pudding, but to give them the secret ingredients is another story altogether.

Well, luckily for us, Brian Pope is a magician of a different kind, a master chef of sorts who has no trouble sharing his secrets. In fact, he’s built hundreds of customs and classics over more than three decades in the automotive world and shows zero sign of slowing up anytime soon.

Brian wanted to take a ’67-’72 from project truck to full frame-off restoration to go through the steps of what is fully involved with such an undertaking. And as you can tell, the outcome was most certainly worth the effort.

We even featured one of his more outlandish personal projects in our new “HOT WIPS” section, which gives us an inside look at some badass “Works in Progress” from all over the country. And one thing is for sure, Brian has no trouble sharing his ideas and offering a helping hand to friends and customers as he’s learned a thing or two through the years.

For “Pope’s Pudding” elegantly displayed here across these pages, Brian wanted to take a ’67-’72 from project truck to full frame-off restoration to go through the steps of what is fully involved with such an undertaking. And as you can tell, the outcome was most certainly worth the effort.

The magic sauce to this recipe: “You just have to start with the stance…” Brian says. Knowing how a truck will sit is the best way to build around the foundation for a complete package. It doesn’t hurt that Brian got with Mike Curtis, the custom wheel magician himself, to create some amazing one-off wheels as larger billet versions mimicking factory styled hubcaps. The cherries on top, of course, are the killer Redlines, and with a clean lowered stance and such a sweet set of rollers, Brian said the rest of the truck sort of just came together.

Now, we all know it’s not quite that easy, but the clean and classic resto-mod look did sort of come to life as Brian restored and cleaned up the rest of the F-100. With straight bodywork, PPG Pebble Beige and Wimbledon White became the color combo of choice, and the accent colors flowed from there. Making their way into the interior, restored dash and doors, and under the hood. A custom sewn plaid bench, ivory headliner and dash pad, and more factory restored parts brought the cabin to current spec, and it was time to clean up the purr just a bit.

A built 390 with all the goodies sits between the refreshed Mustang II IFS front end. Opting to stick with something a bit more classic, a few touch-ups and the engine bay was left mostly organically original. And this bad boy was built to drive. Although a ton of effort and time went into the restoration, there was still only a small budget and even smaller parts list to ensure plenty of time behind the wheel enjoying the fruits of his labor. After all, Brian spends most his days (and sometimes nights) building these wild creations, so last thing he wanted was for this one to be another paperweight collecting dust in the corner of his shop because the parts list got out of hand and the build ideas went to crazy to complete in a timely manner. Obviously, we’ve been there and done that, more then we’d all like to admit!

But for good ol’ sweet Pudding, the build list was simple and set for enjoyment, and as usual, Brian nailed it, probably one of our favorites to date. Can’t wait to see what rolls out next on the menu from Pope’s!

BRIAN POPE
Pope’s Hot Rods Smyrna, Tennessee

CHASSIS/SUSPENSION

• Mustang II IFS
• Drop spindles
• Modified custom sway bars
• Tubular control arms
• Flipped leaves and rear C-notch

ENGINE/DRIVETRAIN/ PERFORMANCE

• Built 390 with all the goodies
• Edelbrock intake manifold
• 3-inch exhaust and Magnaflow mufflers
• Clean and factory appearance

WHEELS/TIRES/BRAKES

• Mike Curtis Design Wheels 19×8- and 20×10-inch staggered with Redline tires
• Disc brakes front and rear

BODY/PAINT

• Full restoration, top and bottom, trim, lights, emblems, etc.
• Bodywork and painted by Pope’s Hot Rods
• PPG Pebble Beige and Wimbledon White

INTERIOR

• Custom sewn plaid seat
• Ivory headliner and dash pad
• Clean and simple in true Pope Fashion