By Rob Fortier – Images by Not Stock Photography
“Our goal from day one was to build one of the baddest, most detailed 1969 Ford F-100s to date.” – Justin Padfield, owner, Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs, October 2024
Since we started In The Garage Media back in 2020, Padfield constantly teased about the aforementioned build but refused to give up any photographic insight! I understood the embargo, but still, come on—the baddest Bumpside?
Well, that prediction, rather, claim, came to fruition this past summer when, at their annual open house in Knoxville, Tennessee, Scott’s Hotrods ’N Customs finally unveiled Troy Peck’s beyond-bad Bumpside just prior to fully debuting it at the 2nd annual Triple Crown of Rodding in Nashville. I had the honor of interviewing Padfield (behind the camera) for Modern Rodding’s TCR documentary, and was amazed at just how much work went into the build—but even what Padfield described was just a sampling. So, with that said, I asked him to further explain the entire project for us:
“We started this project in 2016 when our shop was still in Oxnard, California,” Padfield began. “However, we did not work on this truck full time from then until now … typically, we bounce our sheetmetal fabricators from project to project every couple of weeks to try to make all of our customers happy. Approaching the move to Tennessee we did not work on any projects. After arriving in Knoxville, the F-100 was on the back burner for a little bit; we would work on it here and there per the customer’s request, but it sat for almost a year before final prep prior to being sent off to paint in California. It was in ‘paint jail’ for about two years. Then, when we got it back, it sat in our trailer for almost a year as we were building our new fabrication shop. We didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a freshly painted vehicle in the manufacturing shop with all the metal dust flying around daily.
“We kept the F-100 off social media before it even went to paint so when it debuted it would shock the world. We had it uncovered at our open house while we were doing final assembly to show off our work and create a little buzz about it. Once it was just about finished, we created a teaser video and posted it up and it generated over 200,000 views and lots of talk. ‘Time Capsule’ made its big debut at the Triple Crown of Rodding 2024. It blew everyone away. It made the Top 30, as it should. However, it didn’t get anything more than that. A couple weekends later it took home Best of Show at the F-100 Super Nationals. Its next stop will be Dino’s Git-Down in Arizona—a CHEVY ONLY Show. Yes, that’s right, a Ford at a Chevy-only show. Dino Battilana personally asked us to bring it out because it is that BADASS. From there it will be competing in the Barrett-Jackson Cup.”
I asked about all the modifications that it took to create that badass Time Capsule. “Well, first off, the customer ordered a new Scott’s coilover chassis when we were still in Oxnard … but the project changed 1,000 percent when that order was changed for one of our Super Slam chassis! Once everything was disassembled and then media-blasted, the cab, bed, and front sheetmetal were mocked up on the new chassis—Troy wanted the truck to lay out, and at that point we also agreed on running (Hot Rods By Boyd) 20-inch wheels.” From there, it was ALL about the metalwork … hours upon hours of metalwork and custom machinework, from the bed to the headlight bezels.
Padfield continues, “All metalwork on the inside of bed is 100 percent custom, including the entire bed floor. The inner bed sidewalls were created with the dent side on them to mimic the outside of the bed; the topside of the bedrails were remade (wider than stock) to create the simple break in them, so they are not flat. Also, the firewall detail mimics the bed floor detail while being pushed out a little rather than recessed like others. The tailgate is all custom made and built to shut very easily/perfectly; the bumpers are hand made from 14-gauge, tucked and flush mounted. The taillights are custom machined, as are the marker lights with custom lenses.”
That’s just the back third of the truck—tell us about the front end and underhood. “Well, the inner fenderwells are made to tie into all the underhood metalwork, to flow all together and be different than any other 1967-1972 Ford truck. It was in this stage that we designed a set of billet hood hinges to work with a Bumpside—ones that actually lay out—and open up via actuators. The bottom side of the hood was all reworked to clean up and look different than just a plain stock ugly hood. The radiator cover ties into the sheetmetal as well. We filled in the front of the hood to give it a clean gap all the way across. While the grille shell is 100 percent stock, the headlight bezels were machined out of 6061 to give it a sharp edge like the fenders have now—speaking of which, all the rounded edges on the sheetmetal were massaged to give it a sharp edge and look crisper.”
All right, let’s move to the center—the cab, both inside and out, starting with the machined stuff. “OK, we custom machined everything from the exterior and interior door handles, side mirror arms (with 3-D printed mirrors), and rearview mirror to the gauge bezel (with Dakota Digital instruments), glovebox, gas/brake pedals, and a special control panel housing the A/C-heat and power window and hood switches. Metalwork-wise, we reshaped the Bumpside edge (sharpened), reshaped the window openings (and used our one-piece window kit), heavily reshaped the top of the roof, shaved the driprails, and, despite being told it couldn’t be done (right), the windshield as well as the rear glass were flush-fit. Additionally, Li’l Louie hand-shaped all the moldings from brass, which were then plated ‘brushed chrome’ along with the bumpers by Advanced Plating. Inside the cab, the dash is all custom made from sheetmetal and is all painted, not wrapped. The center console is handmade as well, with a machined insert and one-off shifter.
“Once all of that—and much more—was completed, the bodywork followed, then the 1969 was shipped back to California to Alan Palmer for initial paintwork; final paint chores were completed back in Knoxville by Steve Mancini, Jason Fox, and Kurt Cooper. We then sent the Ford to Steve Holcomb at Pro Auto Interiors for the peanut butter–colored leather upholstery to finish off Time Capsule.”
For those of you wondering about some of the finer details, here’s a quick list of what Scott’s used under the hood, under the roof, and even under the bed of Troy Peck’s F-100. Starting with the drivetrain, they chose a 5.0L Coyote and 6R80E overdrive (the engine features custom-machined valve covers and engine cover by JC Customs and an in-house stainless exhaust using MagnaFlow mufflers) with a Moser 9-inch rearend. The Super Slam chassis features RideTech shocks dampening Slam Specialties ’bags, while 13-inch Wilwood discs are nestled behind those HRBB Sub Zero billets. Inside the heavily massaged cab, Sparc Industries made a one-off wheel to top the truck’s Ididit column, while a Vintage Air unit and Kicker/JL Audio sound system were discretely concealed within the leather and custom-painted surroundings.
It is without a doubt a complete package to behold—but knowing all the details behind Peck’s Ford give you even more reason to appreciate why this indeed one of the baddest Bumps ever built!
Check out this story in our digital edition here.
