Elbow Grease
Jack makes it clear throughout the build that almost everything on the truck was done by them, at home in their shop. There are a few exceptions, such as a bit of engine work to flatten the head, add new head studs, and add new springs and seals, which was performed by Kensinger Repair and Engine Machine. They also had a local shop, Browell’s Auto and Truck Repair, change the engine timing to 19 degrees and add 3K governor springs. But beyond that, everything you see on the truck was accomplished by the brothers Horton. Even the paint, which Jack says was a first for Levi. “My brother painted that thing himself,” Jack says. “He’s never painted before! I’ve painted things, and I’ve let him prime some things for me. But we haven’t even sanded a buffed truck yet. It came out super! He did all the body work, I helped some, but I was pretty shocked at how it came out! It came out pretty well.”
Another Levi original is the custom “Cummins” lettering that adorns the front grille in place of the old Ford letters. Levi cut the letters out of 1x2 aluminum angle, filed them down and polished them up, and put them in place. “Everybody that sees it just loves it,” Jack says.
The one thing that’s missing right now is an updated interior. Everything is still stock, but that’s definitely in the works for the future, as are upgrades to the power. But as it stands, the truck is quite the feat of engineering and know-how. In fact, Jack says they actually put the truck together twice. He says, “We put it all together and wired it the minimum we could to get it running. We went and drove it, then completely took it apart again to do the body work. Everything was sand blasted by Rich Reighard of R&R Restoration and epoxy primed. So there’s about 12 coats of paint on that thing right now. We did it right!”
Labor Of Love
They’re glad that everything on the truck turned out so well, because the prices on these old crew cabs are starting to get a little out of hand. “Old crew cabs are really becoming popular,” Jack says. “Their prices are really skyrocketing. We paid $1800 for the truck and hardly got anything!”
They should be proud of what they’ve accomplished, because this old Ford is a true diamond in the rough. It not only looks fantastic, but is a testament to how well the Hortons know their stuff. Jack says, “We never took tech school or anything. We were home schooled, so the shop was our schooling! We basically have just learned everything by doing it.”