The Tire-Burning, Gear-Banging, Hell-Raising ‘76 F-100 

When building a “dream build” truck, some prioritize comfort for cruising. Some want a beautiful truck to park at shows, while others dream of building a rowdy truck that outperforms sports cars. For Matthew Morgan, a Tennessee local, he put all of those qualities into one amazingly capable Hatteras Green 1976 F-100. This truck is no ordinary ‘76 F-100; it’s a calculation of modern design, fabrication, wiring, fitting, tuning, and finishing of what some may say is one of the baddest machines on the road today. With well over 500 hours, two years of labor, and approximately $85,000 invested in this project, we had to step in to get a closer look at what Matthew considers to be the perfect ‘76 F-100!

We’ve seen a lot of cool trucks in our days, and in impressive forms at that. But when it comes to some of the most-notable and memorable in our minds, it’s the trucks you don’t see many of on the road that stand out, especially when taken to levels that some may scratch their heads at.

Let’s start on the exterior with the body lines—the front, the back, and the sides—that make this truck an all-around eye-catcher. Starting off up front, we have a stock ‘76 F-100 OEM grille with Holley RetroBright headlights and OG Bosch fog lights. Jumping to the back, we have a stock rear bumper and Tin Knockers widened rear OEM wheel tubs. What makes this truck sit so low and look so good? I’m glad you’re curious! This ‘76 F-100 has a Huey Fab front 2.5-inch frame ‘Z’, a Crown Vic subframe, Fatman control arms, and an Outcast AutoWorks 4-link. Keeping this work of road art planted to the ground are Viking Racing springs and double-adjustable shocks all around. Not only does this Ford look smooth, but it cruises just as smoothly down the road with that suspension. It also corners like a dream.

Already off to a good start with the looks of this rig on the outside, Matthew then moved to the inside. Oh boy, where do we start? Open the door, and you’ll see a beautiful F100seats.com bench seat wrapped in Impact IP Leather in an astonishing Ochre Yellow color. Smoothly placed and laid across the interior is a leather-wrapped dash to match! This amazing interior was done by none other than Morgan’s Auto Trim in Lenoir City, Tennessee. The work seen here is nothing less than the best! Matthew is sporting the Dakota Digital RTX gauges for a fashionable readout of speed, RPM, temps, and other all-important knowledge while in the driver seat. You’ve got to keep a grip on the truck when out having fun, and there’s no better feel than a Sparc Industries steering wheel! It’s always good to have a good look, good feel, and good grip on a rig that can party at any press of the throttle. Who doesn’t want to crank up the radio and relax during a nice drive? Matthew chose a RetroSounds radio for his truck to keep that classic look like it was 1976 again but with the reliability of modern-day tech.

The moment we have all been aching to see, to read, to hear—the motor! This bad-to-the-bone F-100 is equipped with a 2022 Ford 7.3L Godzilla—445 cubic inches of the American Dream, if you ask me. Keeping this big motor in the chassis is, of course, Outcast AutoWorks’ custom mounts. Not only is this motor amazing, but it even has a Brian Tooley Racing ‘Truck Norris’ cam, giving it that extra chop and rumble in your feet when idling. Keeping this motor alive is a Ford Performance control pack. Now, that’s what I call ‘Made in America!’ But the chop, the sound, the smell—where do they come from? Well, you can’t run the best motor without pairing it with the best exhaust. That’s right, I’m talking about the Black Widow 10-inch mufflers with a 3-inch exhaust all the way back. When you hit the throttle, there’s no mistake that you’re listening to the symphony of American muscle.

But in order to produce horsepower to the ground, you have to go through the middle child, aka the transmission! This baby is packing a Tremec TKX with a twin-disc American Powertrain clutch and complete swap kit, which includes its pedal assembly and crossmember. This drivetrain was well planned out and is an amazing mixture of rowdy and reliable—two ‘R’s’ that rarely meet, but Matthew made it happen with his “Shop Truck.” Outside the drivetrain, this machine has amazing stopping power. Under all that metal and custom work are 14-inch Wilwood 6-piston brakes in the front, 13-inch 4-piston brakes at the rear, along with a Wilwood master cylinder. These are all paired with a Kincer Chassis hydroboost system to keep the pressure going to those brakes for maximum stopping power! Some may ask, “Why bigger brakes in the front and not the rear?” To whom it may concern, I believe the old saying is “business in the front, party in the back!” Enough said.

Attaching everything to the ground and keeping this monumental ‘76 F-100 planted to Earth is a set of 18×8 and 20×10 Raceline Fugitive billet wheels wrapped in tasteful Yokohama Advan Apex V601 tires. This is the perfect recipe for a smoke show—a rubber one, that is! Matthew’s hard work, dedication, and craftsman skills show in this truck. It speaks volumes about his work ethic! We hear rumors of a ProCharger and some more horsepower in store for the future of this rig, and we look forward to what is to come. We thank Matthew for allowing us to showcase beauty at its finest form when it comes to his 1976 Ford F-100.

TRUCK Specs

Kyle Delfel

Matthew Morgan
1976 Ford F-100
Lenoir City, TN

Engine & Drivetrain

2022 7.3L Ford Godzilla
Outcast AutoWorks custom engine mounts
Brian Tooley Racing ‘Truck Norris’ camshaft
Black Widow 10-inch mufflers, 3-inch exhaust
Ford Performance control pack
Tremec TKX transmission
American Powertrain complete swap kit, pedal assembly, crossmember, and twin-disc clutch
Ford 8.8 rear axle
3.73 gears
Limited slip traction

Chassis & Suspension

Stock frame
Huey Fab front 2.5-inch Z’d frame
Crown Vic subframe
Fatman control arms
Outcast AutoWorks 4-link
Viking Racing springs and double-adjustable shocks

Wheels, Tires & Brakes

18×8 and 20×10 Raceline Fugitive wheels
Yokohama Advan Apex V601 tires
Wilwood brakes: 14-inch 6-piston front, 13-inch 4-piston rear
Wilwood master cylinder
Kincer Chassis hydroboost system

Body & Paint

Hatteras Green paint
Tin Knockers rear widened OEM wheel tubs
1976 OEM Ford grille and bumpers

Interior

F100seats.com bench seat
Impact IP Leather
Ochre Yellow upholstery
Full leather dash
Dakota Digital RTX gauges
Sparc Industries steering wheel
RetroSound stereo