A First-Hand Experience of Fat Fender Garage’s Revival Series

Travis Echols had very little hope that he’d ever see his 1969 F-100 again after he sold it on eBay in 2007. Travis had a real estate opportunity come up during that time, so he was forced to liquidate his vehicle collection to strengthen his purchasing power. He figured his beloved truck was long gone, but he was okay with that. It was time to move on to a new phase in life.

8 years flew by, but Travis still had his mind stuck on his prized F-100 that got away. He began to wonder if he could track down the gentleman who bought it, but he was unsuccessful in recovering any information that would help in his search. “My parents randomly called me during Thanksgiving of 2018 and told me there was a man looking for me,” Travis recounts. “It was Mike Henry—the guy who I sold my F-100 to! Mike was asking me for documents so he could finally register the truck in his name. I asked to buy the truck back, but he was still very much interested in keeping it. We remained friends over the years, and I finally got my second chance to buy it in 2022. Mike’s family life had become busier, and he needed to clear out the space the truck was taking up at home.”

Travis and his wife made the trip from Virginia to Louisiana to pick up his truck from the man who bought it from him 15 years prior. After returning home, Travis started researching the F-100 world online to catch up on what he had missed during his absence. “I watched YouTube videos about what Fat Fender Garage was doing with Coyote swaps, which I thought was really cool,” Travis admits. “I was trying to pick up where I had left off with this truck in 2007, so I went to the Grand National F-100 show in 2023 to get some inspiration. That’s when I met Jason Noel from FFG. We got to talking, and Jason gave me some excellent advice on how I could start back up working on my F-100 again.”

If there’s anyone who knows about second chances with trucks, it’s Jason. His new Revival Series program at Fat Fender Garage was just starting to take off and proved to work out perfectly for Travis. For those unfamiliar with the Revival program, it’s basically a rehab summer camp for old trucks. FFG gives truck owners an impressive menu of restoration options to choose from, such as engine swaps, suspension and interior packages, body and paint work, wheel and tire combos, and everything else that goes into creating a fully custom truck. To sweeten the deal, FFG boasts an expedited 90-day turnaround from start to finish for trucks that don’t require anything out of the ordinary. “They didn’t finish mine in 90 days, but I didn’t push them because they were in the middle of moving shops,” Travis says jokingly. “I couldn’t be happier with the outcome though,” he adds.

So what offerings did Travis select from the Revival Series menu? He picked a Gen 3 Ford Aluminator V-8 specifically for the ability to back it up with a 10R80 10-speed automatic transmission to make cruising a breeze. Travis also opted for the Level 2 Porterbuilt Fab chassis, which is a coilover setup that offers 4-6 inches of drop—the perfect ride height to showcase the 20-inch Schott Cobra wheels that came next.

One of the truck’s glaring highlights is the BMW Imola Red leather interior, which features FFG’s all-encompassing interior kit. This package comes with the bench seat, all panels, headliner, sun visors, dash pad, and below-dash A/C valence. The interior also features Dakota Digital gauges, a Sparc steering wheel, and a RetroSound stereo—basically, everything Travis personally chose from FFG’s catalog offerings. The black paint is the same that was applied to the truck during its first build some 20-25 years ago. This saved Travis some time and money right out of the gate.

“Jason and the FFG crew gave me weekly updates with photos along the way,” Travis says. “I saw it complete for the first time in person at this year’s Grand National F-100 show, and I was blown away. The photos they sent were helpful but didn’t do justice to the outcome of my F-100.”

Truck specs

Owner

Travis Echols

1969 Ford F-100
Radford, VA

Engine & Drivetrain

2018+ Gen 3 Ford Aluminator 5.0L V-8
Whipple supercharger
Wizard radiator with brushless fans
Custom Fat Fender Garage headers
3-inch stainless exhaust
MagnaFlow mufflers
2021+ 10R80 transmission
Currie F9 Fabricated with Ford 9-inch rear

Chassis & Suspension

Porterbuilt Level 2 chassis
Falcon coilovers
Boyd Welding fuel tank

Wheels, Tires & Brakes

20-inch Schott Cobra wheels
Wilwood 14-inch brakes and master cylinder

Body & Paint

Black paint
Factory 1967 grille
Holley Retrobright headlights
Factory bumpers
Custom front inner fenders, widened rear tubs
Raised bed floor to accommodate chassis
Custom transmission tunnel and fabricated engine bay

Interior

Fat Fender Garage
interior kit
Snowden bolstered bench covered in Imola Red Relicate leather
Matching door and kick panels, headliner, dash pad, sun visor, and below-dash A/C valence
Sparc Industries steering wheel
RetroSound stereo
Dakota Digital RTX gauges