What makes up a truck's interior? A bench seat, a rubber floor mat, roll-up windows, and a makeshift cup holder? For many trucks out there (one of mine included), this setup works great, but what happens when you build a truck that bucks the norm? Well, unless you've been sailing around the world in a canoe, you've probably seen at least one of the last few installments on the '53 F-100 the Roadster Shop is building. They are trying to push the envelope and raise the bar at the same time with every aspect of Mike Crimaldi's F-100.
Its cab rusted away on a dump truck chassis for most of its life until the crew at the Roadster Shop got a hold of it and brought it back to life and then some to the point that it's becoming celestial. This month we're taking a look through the new one-piece side windows to get a glimpse of how things are shaping up on the interior. They've done way more than just ordering an interior kit for the Effie and slapping it in. As you will soon see, there're more hours logged on the interior fabrication work than many people have in their whole truck! Even if this interior style isn't your cup of tea, you can hopefully be inspired to dust off or buy some fabrication tools and create your own--after all, it's only metal! Follow along and see what's possible if you try hard enough, and check back for the next installment.
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We're familiar with the Eric Brockmeyer rendering of the outside of the '53, but he also did one of the interior that's as stunning as the rest of the truck. Now the Roadster Shop has to make the rendering a reality, which is no easy task. |
To eliminate the vent wings in the door glass, the Roadster Shop made the door glass opening straight from the front to the back for the flat glass. This area had to be cut out because the opening turned where the stock vent wing was, so new pieces were fabricated and fitted. |
After many more feet of weld and as many hours, the glass opening looked like it was always there. Now the electric motors from Specialty Power Windows could be installed. The doors were also re-hung using a No Limit hinge kit. |
One of the major areas of change would be the dash. For some, even this shot with the glovebox door welded up would be a big deal, but the Roadster Shop sure didn't stop there! |
The hole for the stock gauge cluster was given the axe as well in favor of these custom-made hooded pods that mount Auto Meter carbon-fiber gauges. Notice the expanded metal inserts that flank each side of the gauges now taper down at the ends. An ididit column and drop are mounted to the bottom of the dash. |
The new dash looks so cool and shows off the meticulous metal finishing so well, it's almost a shame to paint it! The Roadster Shop also made a new firewall, toeboard, and tranny cover that goes over the Tremec TKO five-speed. A Kugel swing pedal assembly makes the clutch and brake operation work nicely and puts the master cylinder under the dash. Jumping just ahead, there's a round marine stereo control unit on the hand-formed center console that'll run the hidden CD player. |
The handmade waterfall console was brought to life using many specialty fabrication tools, like an English Wheel and Pull Max machine, as well as trusty template paper. |
Here're the beginning stages. With the Interior Supply Services (ISS) bucket seats in place, it's starting to come together, but just wait and see where the interior goes from here. |
These neat, one-off dimple-die mounts are for the ISS seats and hide the seat track from view. |
After sculpting the sheets of aluminum just so, they form a nice, almost space-age surround that goes beyond just a center console. |
It also wraps around the outside of the seats to finish off the back of the cab like no other. |
The Roadster Shop wasn't about to slap some plain door panels on the '53 at this point, so they made these amazing contoured panels out of aluminum that fit the door's stock lines and have an armrest built in. The Roadster Shop can do whatever a job may call for, from mild to wild. Call 'em up to discuss what they can do for you and your project! |