Feature
By Fuelish Mediarent Mivelaz of Temecula, California, is one lucky guy. Not only does he have one of the raddest unibody Fords this side of the Mississippi (honestly, we’re too lazy to check the other side of the Mississippi so he may very well have both sides on lock), but he has the full support of his family when it comes to working on his projects. And it’s that support that made this 1963 F-100 possible in the first place.
Now, we all know how hard it can be to find the perfect truck, and to be honest at this point in Brent’s retelling of the story we were assuming that he ended up buying the truck he found in Missouri. After all, what are the chances of finding something local when you’ve already been searching for a while? But Brent kept to his word and kept his search local, and wouldn’t you know it he found this Unibody the very next day while out on a drive with his wife. After leaving a note on the windshield, he struck gold when the owner called him up a few days later and agreed to sell it!
Brent learned from the seller that the truck was originally purchased by the City of Orange fire department, possibly as an incident support vehicle considering it’d had toolboxes in the bed at one time. With history like that, Brent wasn’t about to cover up the truck’s awesome patina, although he did eventually have Dave Tumino (of Dave’s Crew Cab fame) do some touchup work here and there. But why would someone have to touch up patina? Well, for one, there was the big window conversion that Sean Ramage of Empire Fabrication grafted into the cab, and then there was the tailgate, which had completely faded over the decades. And just to make sure the finish lasts another few decades, SK Ridez also sprayed on some Vintage Pro 3820 matte clear to seal everything up after also laying down some glossy paint inside the cab.
Covering up the rear rollers and suspension was a matter of raising the bed floor and factory wheeltubs, but Brent had a different idea for the front and he knew just who could pull it off. Once again, he called on Ramage to whip up some custom tinwork in the engine bay to keep things nice and clean while skating down the highway.
If you’re wondering about what’s under the hood, it’ll make you either extremely happy or disgusted to know that there’s a 5.3L LS underhood, backed by a 4L60E automatic. Say what you will, but the truck is super reliable and starts up every time! Brent even went so far as to add some vintage Chevrolet valve covers just to drive the point home that he knows what you’re staring at.
Additionally, the seat has been lowered 3 inches and was recently reupholstered using an LMC Truck kit with a matching headliner from Rod Doors and flooring by OC Auto Carpets finishing up the most obvious parts of the interior revamp. Hidden throughout the cab, however, is a cleverly designed stereo system by SoCal audio legends Al & Ed’s Autosound Exclusive 818, ensuring that Brent’s truck sounds great even when the engine isn’t running.
Brent says that the build was long and slow, but he’s happy to have made lots of great friends in the process. And, aside from Brent’s wife, his dad is also a huge supporter of his endeavors, and hits shows with Brent every chance he gets. All this support is going to continue coming in handy, as he’s started building a 1964 C10 that promises to consume most, if not all, of his free time!