1969 F-100 Short Bed 408W Stroker Build
Here is the project my dad and I have dedicated the past several years to. Pictures are in no particular order and only show a fraction of the work we put into this truck. This 1969 short bed bump was purchased from the original family, and lived its life as a farm truck in Mississippi where it as passed down through 3 generations before being parked under a farm shed. It started as a 240 straight-6 with a 3-speed column shift and a radio, nothing else. We refreshed the original motor with new seals and enough TLC to get it on the road. We ended up tearing it down to the block and taking it to the machine shop, but they weren’t able to salvage it. That’s where the craziness begins. Before you know it, we had the entire truck torn apart with 2 frame rails sitting in front of us. We opted for a full QA1 setup front and rear, so lots of rivets to drill out, c-notch the rear, and cut out the original engine cradle. Brakes were upgraded to Wilwood 6-pistons and sitting on American Racing VN510’s wrapped in Michelin Sport 4S’. Of course, you have to have some rumble under the hood with a little power, so why not go for a 408W stroker? We picked up the complete engine from BluePrint, and the dyno sheet showed ~485hp/525tq and you feel every bit of it throughout the power band. To handle the power, we settled on a Tremec TKX 5-speed close ratio gearbox mated to a Spec Stage 2+ clutch/pressure plate kit. In the rear, a Speedway Motors 3.73 LSD with Quick Performance axels. All wiring was replaced with a new American Autowire harness and the battery was moved behind the bench seat, plenty of space back there once we moved the gas tank to the rear. The entire floor and firewall inside of the cabin was covered with sound descending before we put down the padding and carpet. Everything underneath was sanded, rust encapsulated, and repainted with tractor paint. The exterior is the original Harbor Blue paint, no clear coat, no patina sauce, just lots of hand polishing and buffing. My dad took care of making all the brake lines, and we fabricated the exhaust ourselves using a Jegs builders kit and a few slip joints to make things easier to take apart for maintenance. I’m sure there are things I’ve missed or forgot, this has taken about 5 years working in our garage to make it happen. Link to a few videos below if you want to hear the truck and see a quick driving video. I plan to upload a longer one in the following weeks to go over the build and get some better driving angles. Hope y’all dig the build, I know we sure do!
First Start: https://youtu.be/J1FWEw7YZ4w?si=wi5IagXDeAE-FMGM
Short Cruise: https://youtu.be/HnEfqfVkeNw?si=IP0fmQAgXo2pO7Ws