Ford F-150 Owner Gets the Last Laugh With His Build
Named for a classic TV character, 1987 F-150 started off as a creaky runner, wound up standing tall in green and chrome.
Once upon a time, everyone’s project Ford trucks started off in some sort of state. Some were runners in need of some love. Others last ran when parked. And there are those which were little more than something found in a junkyard or someone’s backyard. In the end, though, those projects found their way back on the open road, appreciated by one and all.
Sometimes, though, not everyone is on board with the project, for whatever reason. Such was the case for the owner of a 1987 F-150, who posted his brief tale on the LMC Truck Life blog.
“I purchased my F-150 in 1995 it wasn’t running well,” wrote its owner, Kent M. “It had an exhaust leak, gas leak, leaked oil everywhere and it had a backyard spray can paint job.”
Because of its then-status as a rattle-can of a truck, his wife and children named the F-150 “Fred.” As in Fred Sanford, the patriarch of the classic Seventies NBC show, Sanford & Son, as portrayed by legendary comic, Redd Foxx. Like Kent, Sanford had a dilapidated pickup truck, in the form of a red 1951 F-1.
Around 2007, Kent parked the F-150 over a fuel leak he didn’t have time to work on. He did have a vision for the truck, which no one bought into because, as he admits, he was a bit of a procrastinator. He did make peace with the truck’s nickname, but he knew he’d have to eventually get down to work to bring the truck back to life, and then some.
A decade later, in 2017, Kent got down to brass tacks, going full bore on a frame-off restoration of the F-150. The red paint and interior was cast aside for a green-on-green motif, while the bed lost most of its metal for wood. The stock wheels were swapped for big, chrome units wrapped in low-profile tires, and the trim pieces regained their luster.
“[Two] years later Fred is about 95% finished,” Kent said. “A few more modifications under the hood and Fred’s done.”
Not a bad way to start the new decade, for sure.
Photos: LMC Truck Life
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