SUPERCHARGED AND SLAMMED
A ’55 Ford F-100 with a Blast of Power
A ’55 Ford F-100 with a Blast of Power
THIS BLACK PATINA’D ’55 FORD F-100 looks innocent enough. I mean, it has a smiling supercharged snail slapped on the door, for Pete’s sake. But under the hood, it’s anything but innocent—or sluggish, for that matter.
Owned by Gumby Sanders of Sour Lake, Texas, the truck was built to be a fun cruiser while promoting his shop, Texas Speed Lab Performance, he says. Sanders specializes in Coyote swaps for Mustangs and F-150s, so you know he had a great time putting this sweet ride together. It took him only four months to build—and the cost?
“I don’t even want to think about it,” he laughs.
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of this F-100, let’s first check out the exterior mods. It had almost no rust on the original cab, hood, doors, grille, fenders, front clip and bed running
boards, so Sanders let the factory black and natural patina shine through. He added smooth sheetmetal running boards to finish off the body, and he also installed Mid-Fifty 3-inch wider rear fenders and a Mid-Fifty bed kit made with cedar fence board, which, by the way, cost him a whopping $50.
The heart of this F-100 is, of course, a ’14 Ford Mustang Coyote. Using a Ford controls pack for EFI, Sanders boosted the 302c.i. 5.0L V-8 with a ProCharger D1-X Supercharger adding 8 psi, giving it 600 rwhp on 93 octane fuel. Not bad, huh? He also included stock 14 Coyote headers and a custom 3-inch X-pipe with Flowmaster mufflers, and the exhaust exits from under the truck.
“The easiest part of this buildup was getting the Coyote to fit,” Sanders tells us. “And one of the most unique features of this truck is its supercharged engine!”
There’s a manual transmission in this F-100—specifically, a ’14 MT-82 with an MGW Racespec shifter that’s been shortened. Sanders says he wants to replace the MT-82 with a T56 in the near future. Sanders stole the IRS rear drive axle and rear disc brakes from a ’17 Mustang GT, and the master cylinder from a ’14 Mustang. He also added Wilwood 13-inch front brakes to the mix.
The F-100’s frame modifications were all done by Sanders at Texas Speed Lab Performance. The frame itself is a stock boxed ’55, but he added a Crown Vic front
K-member to hold the frontend together. He also installed air-ride suspension all around for a more menacing stance.
“That’s another unique feature of this truck—fourwheel independent suspension on air,” Sanders says.
Those svelte 5-lug wheels come from Ferrada. The FR5s are sized 20x10 in the front, and 20x11 in the rear. They’re wrapped in 275/35/20 rubber up front, and 315/35/20 rubber in the back. And the fuel tank comes from Tanks Inc. with an Aeromotive 340 lph in-tank pump to keep the juice flowing.
Inside the cab, Sanders installed Nissan Murano seats and did all the upholstery himself. He even fabricated a plywood center console. The truck
features Dolphin gauges, Vintage Air A/C, and a Pioneer stereo with two 10-inch subs behind the seats.
“The interior features also include a hydraulic clutch and pedal assembly from a ’14 Mustang and one-piece power windows,” Sanders says.
“It wasn’t easy to do the window conversion without cutting the doors to do it. But something I learned is to have patience, and when someone says, ‘That won’t fit,’ try it anyway! And toss in a few—or a lot—of cuss words along the way.”
One thing is for sure: Sanders took a great truck and made it even better, and he did it his own way.
“Build it how you want, not how others think it should be,” he says.
Sanders has taken his F-100 to the Lone Star Throwdown in nearby Conroe, since it’s just over an hour outside of town. If you see him cruising at the 2021 LST, say hey and ask him to show off his supercharged Coyote!