At the age of 21, Dwayne Fietzer bought his first hot rod pickup; though he originally set out to buy the car of his dreams, a souped-up T-bucket built and formerly owned by his father Wayne. After spending a little time negotiating a price, the current owner had second thoughts about selling it and Dwayne moved on. Like any young man with extra cash in his pocket, Dwayne was in pursuit of a new hot rod candidate to power his passion. After searching for a while, he came upon a very clean ’55 Ford F100 pickup, owned by one of his father’s friends. It even sported the three-deuce setup his father (also a diehard hot rodder) had sold him years earlier. The F100 was not the car of his dreams, but he knew he could build it into one awesome street machine.

Progress was slow on the F100, as the obligations of starting a career and family soon pushed the F100 aside in favor of other demands on his time. Soon the F100 was relegated to future project status, and it sat for the next 14 years waiting its turn.

Other projects came and went over the years at the Fietzer household, until one afternoon when Dwayne was feeling frustrated working on a ’40 Ford project. He turned and noticed the ’55 resting in the corner of the shop and said to himself, “Let’s get the old F100 running first.” Fietzer explained, “The body was so clean, I just figured I could have the old girl running in no time.” He continued, “I soon formulated a plan to build it as a nice running ‘shop truck’ with the right stance and wheel and tire combination.”

At the time, Dwayne was working as a prototype part fabricator for a company that assisted in building one-off show cars for the big three automakers just outside of Detroit. Needless to say, his standards were likely higher than most enthusiasts, and having access to state-of-the-art equipment and professional expertise, his shop truck project soon took a turn in direction. He began by completely boxing the original frame and swapping out the “arm strong” I-beam front suspension for a much tamer Fat Man Fabrication Mustang II setup, and built a new 18-gallon stainless fuel tank. For added stopping power, Dwayne upgraded to 11-inch Ford Granada front rotors, which are teamed with 10-inch discs in the rear. A pair of Heidt’s two-inch drop spindles completed the front suspension.

The right stance was important to Dwayne, so the stock rear leafs gave way to a complete T.C.I. four-bar rear suspension, a set of coil-over rear shocks, and a nine-inch Ford rear axle equipped with a set of 4.56:1 Ford Motorsports rear gears.

Power for the little blue oval truck was provided by a ’90 Ford 302ci V-8, which Dwayne outfitted with a set of flat top pistons and Ford Motorsports aluminum 351 heads. To keep his vintage shop truck flavor, he kept the original Ford tri-power setup and Holley carburetors. However, his machine work didn’t end there. To give the engine a real custom look, Dwayne had the hood emblems scanned into “math data” so they could be replicated on a five-axis mill and incorporated into a set of one-off custom valve covers.

Using the math data from milling the valve covers, Dwayne machined a large emblem for the bed of the truck, before using a CNC router to inlay the emblem into his solid curly birch bed floor. Like we said, when you have access to so much equipment, it would be a shame not to use it. The results clearly speak for themselves. In fact, you don’t have to look far to find an abundance of custom parts; Dwayne even machined his own steering column using Ford internal parts.

Despite doing much of the machine work and assembly himself, Dwayne is quick to credit those who gave him a hand along the way. “I couldn’t have done it without the assistance and support of my friends and family,” Fietzer admitted. “Ed Everidge helped me get the body laser straight and lay down several coats of DuPont Pea Soup Green. Will Martin and Mario Valomossi assisted with all of the machine work. Mike Migora offered his expertise in building the wood floor. Dave Hatcher helped build the interior. And, Ralph Hancox laid down some great old school pinstripes. But, most of all, I would like to thank my kids Devon, Dalton, and Olivia for their support out in the shop during the entire build,” he concluded.

When asked if there were anything he would have done differently, Dwayne was quick to reply, “Sure, it’s a hot rod. Is it ever really done?” Then he added, “A bigger motor or air ride suspension may be next, but for now I’m just happy going for a ride with my kids at my side.”

Specifications
1955 Ford F100 Pickup
Dwayne, Deanna, Devon, Dalton & Olivia Fietzer, Dexter, MI

CHASSIS
Chassis by: Original ’55 Ford modified and fully boxed
Suspension (front): Fat Man Fabrication, Mustang II with Heidt’s two-inch drop spindles
Suspension (rear): T.C.I. four-bar and Panhard bar, with coil-over shocks
Rear Axle, Ratio: Ford nine-inch, 4.56:1
Brakes (front/rear): Ford Granada 11-inch disc, Ford Motorsports 10-inch disc
Steering: Mustang II rack and pinion, custom machined column by owner, ’55 Ford Crown Victoria steering wheel
Wheels (front, rear): American Racing, “Torq Thrust D” 15x5, 15x14
Tires (front, rear): BFGoodrich Silvertown radials, 7.75x15, Mickey Thompson Sportsman, 18.5x31x15

DRIVETRAIN
Engine Make, Model: ’90 Ford, 302ci.
Induction: Ford tri-power, Holley carburetors
Valve Covers: Custom CNC, by owner
Headers: Ford Motorsports
Transmission: Tremec, five-speed
Shifter: Custom machined aluminum, by owner
Ignition: Mallory
Radiator: U.S. Radiator, aluminum

EXTERIOR
Paint & Body by: Ed Everidge & Dwayne Fietzer
Paint: DuPont, Pea Soup Green
Other: Custom curly birch bed floor with custom CNC-milled and inset F100 emblem

INTERIOR
Upholstery (materials, color): Olive leather and custom dark green carpet
Upholstery by: Dave Hatcher & Dwayne Fietzer
Air Conditioning: Late ’60s Ford underdash unit
Gauges: Stewart Warner