Justin: I'm Justin with AmericanTrucks.com and today in the shop we have a very special
build and a very special truck.
Now, I know it doesn't look like much right now but let me tell you what's going on with
this thing.
This actually belongs to a young man named Levi King from Pennsylvania.
Now Levi is a Make-A-Wish kid and it was his desire to have his '95 single cab six-cylinder
truck made over by us here at here AmericanTrucks.com.
Now you're looking at this thing going, "What a minute.
That's not a single cab truck and it's certainly not a six-cylinder truck."
Well, let me fill you in.
Levi's dad actually sourced this truck because Levi is a tall dude.
The single cab truck just really wasn't working for him and his original truck had almost
200,000 miles and was just almost beyond repair.
So he sourced us a pretty cherry '96 XL extended cab truck.
Even better, the 5-liter is under the hood.
So we're going to have some fun with that as well.
Levi's been very good with giving us some direction for the truck.
He wants a dark metallic gray color for this thing.
He wants it lifted about 4 inches with some 33s underneath it, all of which should be
no problem for us here at AT.
Now, our friends at Malvern Collision are going to help us out with the paint as they've
done in the past with some of our Mustang builds, so that's our first step.
Once we get the truck back, we're going to get to work on some of the other aesthetic
work, some mechanical stuff that this needs as well, and then go from there, guys.
So this should be a fun one.
I hope you stay tuned for it, but for now, let's get this off to paint.
Well, check it out, guys.
Levi's truck is back from paint.
The gang over at Malvern Collision absolutely killed this thing yet again.
They do a great job in a very tight timeline.
Magnetic metallic is the color we ended up going with.
As you can see, we got the LINE-X back there as well kind of carried over the bed rail
a little bit.
That's a look Levi really wanted with this truck so we made sure we did that for him.
But we have a tight timeline, guys, so in order to get this thing done for Levi, it's
time to divide and conquer.
So Joe's in the process of yanking out the 5-liter power plant right now.
When this thing is out, we're going to ship the whole shell over to a friend's shop, get
this thing regeared for Levi because we're going to lift it, we're going to put some
bigger wheels and tires on it so we don't want it to be a dog out on the street for
Levi, in addition to the power we're going to give this thing.
But I'm going to stop talking and we're going to help get this thing done.
[00:02:25] [music]
[00:03:00]
Justin: Well, guys if you've ever disassembled a push rod 5-liter motor before, your floor
probably looks like this.
You can tell the boys and I have been pretty busy on Levi's motor here.
Now, there's a lot going on inside the motor.
For instance, brand new Ford Performance E303 cam should give him a nice little chop at
idle.
Brand new JBA shorty headers to replace those tetanus shot stock manifolds, being topped
off with a brand new Edelbrock Performer intake manifold.
Really, really nice piece here.
We're going to hold off with the final assembly just because we want to lower this in.
We don't want to damage this with the engine hoist.
But on top of the performance goodies, we also took care of some maintenance for Levi
because, let's face it, guys, this thing was rounding about 100,000 miles so timing chain,
water pump, oil pan, gaskets, distributor, plugs, wires, you name it, we did it.
And this thing should be pretty fresh for Levi once it is dropped in.
Speaking of which, that's our next step.
We just got the truck back from getting the gears done, so we're going to finish this
thing up, drop the engine back into the truck, stereo's currently going in as we speak.
A lot going on right now.
Again, divide and conquer is kind of the theme of this build.
Got a short time frame for this thing to get done but we're doing our best for you, Levi,
and we hope you enjoy it.
Well, Joe and the boys have been cranking away here on Levi's truck.
Engine's back in.
Gears are done.
Now it's time to tackle some maintenance and suspension goodies.
Let's face it, guys.
This is not a new truck.
It needed a lot of love on the maintenance side of things, so brand new secondary fuel
tank.
I'm sure a lot of guys familiar with these older F-150s know these things are prone to
rusting away and leaking, so knocked that out for him, along with a brand new fuel pump
as well.
Leaf springs and perches were a disaster when this thing rolled in, so we blew those out,
put on a brand new set of leafs and perches for him to make way for the suspension lift
kit.
Now, we chose the Rough Country 4-inch suspension lift kit because we think it's a nice number
for these trucks and it's going to allow the altitude for the 33-inch tires that Levi really
wanted for his dream rig.
So let's cruise on up to the front of the truck.
We got a lot more stuff going on up there.
You'll notice the brand new side steps that the boys installed.
Should help making getting in and out of the truck a lot easier thanks to this new ride
height.
But here you go.
Obviously, a lot more going on up front with this particular lift kit.
Brand new drop brackets for radius arms, Pitman arms, steering stabilizer, new shocks on all
four corners, brand new beefy springs on this thing, and again should give us the added
altitude needed to hide those 33-inch tires underneath Levi's F-150.
You'll also see some of the maintenance stuff going on up here that we already talked about.
Spring buckets, again, a really, really rough area for these particular trucks.
They tend to rust away and rot, so blew those out, brand new spring buckets in there for
him as well.
Lower rad support.
This thing is going to be a brand new truck practically for Levi when he gets it back.
New brake lines, soft and hard lines on this thing.
You can kind of see those JBA shorty headers peeking through the engine bay here.
Well, that's just part one of two of the new exhaust system.
We're going to tie this thing all together with a brand new Flowmaster but he needs some
wheels and tires, so let's tackle that next.
Check these things out, guys.
The Method standard wheel in black, 18 by 9 is the diameter and size.
They're wrapped in the 275 70/18 Nitto Trail Grappler.
About a 33-inch tire and this is exactly what Levi wanted for his F-150.
Should have a real nice stance along with that Rough Country 4-inch lift kit.
And black because Levi just digs the black look with his truck.
I am just in love with these wheels.
Method makes a really, really offroad wheel.
And, yes, I know the chrome lugs might not be everybody's favorite, but honestly they
tie in the hardware real nice.
And the only chrome remaining on the truck for you, Levi, are your manual locking hubs.
Sorry, buddy, but couldn't do much about this one.
But, guys, almost there.
Again, we got some interior stuff, we got some appearance stuff to show you, and then
it's time for the big reveal.
Now, before we get the truck completely on the ground, obviously we had to finish up
the rest of the exhaust system, so that's what Joe's working on now.
Classic American truck like the F-150, what better than slapping on a classic American-made
exhaust system like the Flowmaster American Thunder.
Centerpiece is that super 40 series muffler, kind of built the brand from Flowmaster, define
that sound that we all know and love from the brand.
So that in addition to those JBA shorties, that e-cam, this thing should have a pretty
nasty sound once it's down on the ground running good, and hopefully brings a smile to Levi's
face every time he lays into the throttle a little bit.
Couple of small modifications due to the piping rubbing into the leafs here because of that
lift kit.
Nothing Joe can't handle, of course, so we're making some good progress on that.
Then it's time to get the truck down and finish things up.
Guys, come on in and check out Levi's interior.
It is absolutely sick for a 20-plus-year-old truck.
We got the front and rear seats recovered in black leather.
They are absolutely mint and super comfortable, may I add.
Little touches like LED lighting throughout in the dash and also in your dome light.
But my favorite part, no doubt, is the new system we hooked Levi up with.
That was a biggie on his list so we couldn't disappoint him there.
New Alpine head units, brand new separates, JL sub box, amp, the whole nine yards.
He's really going to dig cruising this thing around town.
But we have one more thing to show you.
It's kind of a biggie, right?
The exterior.
Let's get outside of the truck and check that out.
All right, guys.
So suspension is done, engine work's done, interior is looking good, the sound system
is rocking.
Only one more thing to talk about and, yes, of course, I am talking about the exterior.
And what you're looking at, guys, is exactly what Levi requested for his F-150.
The gun metal paint job, black out everything, including the grill, the bumpers, both front
and rear, and the smoked tail lights, in addition to the smoked LED headlights.
We actually threw some bed lighting in there as well for some added accent lighting.
And my favorite part is definitely this hood.
Little cowl hood, nothing too crazy or over the top, but just enough to kick it up a notch.
And all together, guys, the wheels, the paint, the blacked out look, I think we really nailed
this one.
Again, big hat tip to Joe over here.
He's really been killing himself on this build.
Time to just get this thing cleaned up and over to the big reveal.
Levi, we hope you dig it, buddy.
We've had in the last few years a lot of experience working with Make-A-Wish.
It's been an unbelievable pleasure I know form me and a lot of my colleagues in the
video department because we get to make dreams come true and build some incredible cars for
very, very deserving kids.
And I'm happy to say [inaudible 00:09:59] twice this year.
This is the one that I've been waiting for because, man, we saw this thing coming together.
And when I first met your mom and dad, Levi, they started talking to me a little bit about
what kind of kid you were and how great you were and what you liked to do.
When you first got the word from Make-A-Wish, you didn't want it.
You said, "Give it to somebody else."
That's a big humble thing that you don't see out of a lot of people, and we wanted to make
sure we gave you the truck that you deserved.
So I know you had some little wishes with the truck, but more importantly, just wanted
to see this thing reliable so you can hang out with your friends, take road trips, take
it hunting.
And I think we did that and then some for you.
All right.
So I know you've been dying to see this thing, right?
Come on, let's just get to it.
I'm just going to count down from three, two, one.
Let's see that truck.
[inaudible 00:10:45] What do you think, buddy?
Levi: Awesome.
Justin: Did we nail in your dream or what?
We had some specific requests from you and your dad.
Is it everything you imagined?
Levi: Yeah.
Justin: Speechless is usually a good thing.
So, there we go.
And one more thing, my friend.
Those belong to you now, okay?
Hide them at night so your parents don't steal this thing.
Here you go, bud.
This thing is a completely new truck.
And we just want to know, do you like it, man?
Levi: Fricking awesome.
Justin: There you go.
Put your hands together one more time, everybody.
Congrats, man.
Well, we just unveiled Levi's truck here at our annual company picnic and, as you can
see, it's a huge success.
Levi has not been able to stop staring at this thing for the last, so that puts a big
smile on our faces.
And all the great people that worked on this truck the last couple of weeks, Levi could
not deserve this any more.
Guys, we hope you enjoyed the video and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you haven't already,
for more great truck content.
And for all things F-150, keep it right there at AmericanTrucks.com.