Often times when building a hot rod, there is one area that is the main focus during the process. For Tres Wilcox and his 1952 Ford F1 it was body work and paint. Wilcox has been in the ho trod culture for over 20 years. When his Dad showed him an AutoTrader listing for this F1 four years ago, he liked the look of the rounded fenders and the fact that it was an old truck.

The Ford was not in great shape when Wilcox purchased it, decent but not great. The pickup bed was in dire need of work and there were rusty panels, but over all it was a good base that just needed some love. Luckily, Tres had experience with body work and paint. Straight out of high school, he went to a vocational school in Phoenix and the professor must have seen some real talent from Tres, as the instructor worked closely with him to help hone his craft and taught him tricks of the trade. Those tricks certainly came useful during the build of “Hot Tamale.”

Tres Wilcox had an amazing attention to detail when building his Hot Tamale truck.

Rod Authority happened upon Hot Tamale while at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend in Las Vegas. The bright red paint stood out from the crowd like, well, a hot tamale candy. Tres spent hours upon hours working the metal of the truck, repairing what needed to be repaired, smoothing what needed to be smoothed. He welded the front upper and lower fenders together for a smooth and seamless blend, and patch panels were expertly put in to eliminate the cancerous rust that was trying to take a grip on the truck.

Tres opted to replace the entire bed box, which he also welded the corners of and flushed smooth the bed roll ends. To clean the lines even further, he used a hidden latch kit for the tailgate. The gas tank was moved under the bed, allowing him to shave the fuel filler. He also shaved the stake pockets in the bed to clean up the lines even further.

After shooting the PPG Vermilion Red body paint and the PPG Vanilla Shake accent paint, Wilcox used a total of six coats of clear. He stopped after the first three, block-sanded it, cleaned it, and then added three more coats. This extra attention to detail provides a deep look that will last for many years to come.

The truck’s interior is still in progress, says Tres, though he could leave it exactly as-is and still have a stunning truck.  The bench seat was reupholstered prior to him purchasing the truck and was in such great shape, he ran with it. All the original gauges we completely dismantled, cleaned and repainted. While the stock gauges are in good working order, Tres did elect to add some redundancy with a gauge pod under the dash. That way there is never any question about the engine temperature or oil pressure.

Tres bolted in a custom steering wheel that he painted to perfectly match to the truck, using all the same paint processes as applied to the exterior. The original stereo in the dash was replaced with an updated unit and a custom Alpine was hidden away in the glove box. For tunes output, two amplifiers were installed along with mids, tweeters, and enclosed subwoofers.

The interior is sparse and clean. Lack of clutter or gadgets brings out the charm.

For the suspension, Tres decided to go clean and basic. Monoleafs were used for both front and rear, and he used original control arms and custom shocks. The brakes are the original drums, refreshed of course. Weighing in at a mere 3,200 pounds, the truck doesn’t need anything fancy under there.

The truck’s stance was decreased so the Coker Classic 235/75R15 whitewall radials would fill the wheelwells nicely. Original vintage Ford 15-inch diameter and six-inch wide steel wheels were prepped and painted in the same red as the truck, and a smooth chrome dish style cap was fitted to shine off the whole vehicle.

The attention to detail put into Hot Tamale just keeps going. The entire engine bay was cleaned, prepped, and painted prior to the installation of a 1949 Mercury 255 cubic inch Flathead V8. The motor is not in the slightest stock. Due to the age of the engine, Tres spent the time to update the valvetrain system for use with today’s unleaded fuel. Inside the Navarro heads, Speedway Motors’ one-piece hard anodized valve guides were used with stock Lincoln Zephyr springs, oversized valves, and a full three-angle valve job to improve performance and efficiency.

An Isky 77B camshaft provides a very streetable powerband. The bottom end utilizes the rare Mercury four-inch stroke cast steel crankshaft and Mercury 8BA connecting rods. A fresh grind job was done on the rods and mains, which was chamfered and micro-polished to provide a perfect finish on the rod and main journals. Speedway Motors HyperMax four ring pistons with Grant piston rings, and Egge Machine connecting rods round out the bottom end. Tres enlisted the help of Shaw City Engines to assist with some of the work.

To route the exhaust out, Red’s Headers were bolted on. The stock intake manifold provides the fresh air. To get spark, a Mallory Unilite 12-volt distributor and ignition system was installed, and to keep the custom aluminum radiator flowing low-temperature coolant, Tres used an electric fan.

With the help of some upgrades, the Mercury 255ci Flathead V8 provides plenty of power to cruise Hot Tamale around.

While at Viva, models and photographers came up regularly to take pictures with the truck. The attention to detail, impeccable paint finish, and all-around charm of this little F1 are undeniable. Tres did much of the work himself but wants to make sure big thanks go out to those who helped and trusted him during the process. Not having a shop space of his own, he relied heavily on his friend Orlando Cobbs and his father, and he is extremely grateful. Tres intends to cruise and enjoy his hot rod truck for many years.

“When restoring or building cars, you get what you put into it,” Tres said. A motto to live by.

Enjoy this photo gallery of the Hot Tamale: