Bluebird of Speed
July 11, 2024
Edit Template
THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
The Cars & Trucks That Defined PRI 2025
PRI is where performance gets honest. No hype cycles. No trend chasing. Just builders, engineers, and racers showing exactly what works when the gloves come off. At PRI 2025 in Indianapolis, the show floor was packed with innovation—but only a handful of cars and trucks truly separated themselves from the noise. Those are the builds we’re spotlighting here.
UNLIKELY CANDIDATE
Some of it involves learning, but, for the most part, we’re pretty sure it’s something you’re born with, and you either have it or you don’t, and you can’t “fake it ’til ya make it.” We’re talking about vision—not the 20/20 version, but the ability to squint your eyes and see past the ugly duckling and uncover a swan. Tom Flurry has that even more special blend of vision and the ability to perform the work. Before your eyes is colorful proof that below the somewhat homely skin of a stock ’36 Plymouth there is indeed a swan, and Flurry uncovered most of it in his home shop in Mattituck, New York
2026 Pigeon Forge Spring Rod Run
When Pigeon Forge hosts the Spring Rod Run, it doesn’t just put on a show—it takes over the entire town.
From April 16–18, the LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge was ground zero for some of the cleanest, hardest-hitting builds in the country. Inside, it’s all business—high-end restorations, pro-touring muscle, detailed customs, and serious contenders chasing Top 25, Ultimate 5, and King of the Hill. It’s the polished side of the Rod Run, where the bar is set high and the details matter.
Spotlighter
GET IT HANDLED
How to Install ’69 Pontiac Grand Prix Door Handles in a ’56 Ford F-100
Author
Warren Boughn
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit dolor
Before the advent of the “smoothie look,” people were slicking down the lines of their cars and trucks in numerous ways, and shaving door handles was one of the more popular mods. Today the trend is to fit later-model door handles rather than no door handles at all. This still provides a simple way to clean up your vehicle with very little effort, yet retains the convenience of manually opening the door. If you have the patience, talent and imagination, you can borrow the parts from a donor car or truck and fit them to your own project, thereby achieving a cool, smooth look that will be unique to your vehicle.
Not all people like to worry about electrical entry system malfunctions or dead batteries, forcing one to resort to a hidden mechanical release to get into a parked vehicle. Many would rather retain the 100-percent mechanical advantage, thus providing a certain peace of mind.
We’ve come across a nice door handle modification, which includes the installation of 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix outside door handles on ’53-’56 Ford F-100s. The installation is a straightforward, clean and simple swap. You retain the outside door locks and inside door handles, as they do not interfere with the new Grand Prix handles. How cool is that?
The only thing you need to modify is the door strikers, which is very minor, and you’ll have to fill in the old door handle holes. Follow along as we watch the folks at Precision Street Rods & Machines show us how it was done in the good old days. The process takes less than a day to perform, minus the paintwork, of course, making this a modification that almost anyone can do.
Here’s a look at the stock F-100 door handle and lock. As you can clearly see, the handle protrudes from the door quite a bit.
First we removed the outside door handles. There are two mounting points that secure each handle to the door, one inside the door and the other at the door’s edge by the rubber seal.
With the handle gone, we can see the latch assembly and how it functions. This is the linkage arm that the door handle plunger pushes against to open the door. The Pontiac door handle works on the same principle. That’s what makes it a logical choice.
Here’s a look at the ’69 Pontiac Grand Prix door handle we’re going to be installing.
Before we install the new door handles, we’re going to fill in the old handle holes. This process starts by grinding the metal surfaces clean.
We made a filler plug for the larger door handle hole. A magnet was used to temporarily hold it in place while we tack welded the plug to the door.
The magnet was removed and the welding began. We cooled the welds with water to cut down on the warping.
The welds were then ground smooth.
These are the door handle mounting buckets. The top bucket is what they looked like before we modified them to fit the F-100 doors. Basically the angle was removed from the one end and made straight.
This is how the door handle and bucket join together. There is a lip on the outside handle to prevent it from falling through the door. This sandwiches the door when the bucket is installed from the rear with two 1/4-inch bolts.
The door handle location was marked on the door with masking tape. The door handle opening measures
3/4-inch high by 8-1/2 inches long. We came in 1-5/8 inches from the door’s edge and again at 10-1/8 inches for our vertical cut lines. We measured up from the top of the key lock hole 3-5/8 inches and again at 4-3/8 inches for our horizontal cut lines.
We drilled a 1/2-inch hole at either end of the door handle template so our pneumatic saw blade had a starting and a stopping point.
Here’s a look at the door handles in the open and closed positions. Note how the plunger works on the top one that’s in the open position.
The Grand Prix door is thinner than the F-100 door is. Therefore, we needed to space the plunger outward accordingly. We did this by tack welding a small piece of metal to the latch arm.
Now it’s time to install the new door handles. Don’t you think the Grand Prix door handles give the door a more sleek and graceful look?
ARTICLE SOURCES
Precision Street Rods & Machines
19158 Roscoe Blvd.
Northridge, CA 91324
818/886-5018
