We are former Indiana lifelong residents Allen and Lyndia Stroud, who relocated to Florida in 1988 to the west coast, in the Port Charlotte area. Twenty five years later we moved to St. Cloud so the grandkids and family could be closer to Disney, Universal and Sea World to visit more. Also so we could attend the Saturday Nite Cruise at Old Town in Kissimmee more often, and be closer to the Turkey Run events in Daytona. I also work at the Mecum Classic Car Auction in Kissimmee, a job I love doing every year.
My interest in cars goes back to when I was in high school. I worked at a local body shop after school and on weekends, sanding and prepping cars to paint. The money I saved was used to buy my first car, a 1949 Ford Coupe. I was only fourteen years old, so my dad would only let me drive it on our farm, and not on public roads. Fast forward to when I was 19 or 20 in about 1967, I took a liking to C-1 Chevy Corvettes. You could buy a fixer-upper then for less than $1,000 and for another $1,500 to $2,000 dollars it was done. Those were the good old days! I restored 10 or so C-1 Vette’s, sold all of them and made a little extra money to do the next one. One 1956 was purchased by John Cougar Mellencamp. Now a fixer-upper starts about $40,000 and up. Hence that is why I work on Fords now, haha!
The 1956 big back window Custom Cab F-100 pictured here is my latest project. It was made in San Jose, California when new, and spent it’s entire life there. It was rust free, but showed lots of wear and tear when I bought it. What started as a cheap paint job only to make it look better turned into a full frame off restoration.
The truck came with a 350 Chevy crate motor which I used, but painted the block Ford Blue, added valve covers that read Ford, and a serpentine belt system. The transmission is a 700R4 automatic with a shift kit, and the lock-up convertor makes it like a 5-speed when engaged for highway driving. The rear section is from a 2004 Explorer with an 8.8-inch rear end fitted with positraction and 3.73:1 gears. The front is a Mustang type with T-Bird power rack and pinion steering, and there are power disc brakes all around.
The paint and body work was done by Kevin Verlinde in St. Cloud, and he did an outstanding job. Rather than the original cheap paint job I had in mind when I first got the truck, it instead has a nice 3-stage paint job utilizing a silver base, Plymouth Prowler Gold color, then lots of clear coat on top. For rims I went with American Racing 15x8 inch Torque Thrusts. The interior was a kit from Mid-Fifty F-100 Parts, and the dash has new classic instrument gages, I used a Painless wiring harness, installed a stereo with a CD player, and Vintage Air for the Florida heat....a must down here! However my favorite part about the truck is the storage box in the nice wood bed. It is a 1940 Coca-Cola cooler modified to fit the bed, which was built by my brother and uncle (both deceased now) for his 1950 Ford truck about 20 years ago. It was handed down to me now, and has a lot of sentimental value.
Most cruisers recognize me by my everyday driver, a faded red 1934 Ford Pickup with Al’s Speed Shop written on the doors. We also have a beautiful turquoise 1957 Chevy Bel-Air 2-Door Hardtop, which is done up in a resto-mod style. If you see us at any local cruise-ins or car shows, stop by and say hello! CN |
