Wicked 53 – ’53 Ford Build Journal (ZZ502, Custom Chassis)

Owner/Builder: Tom Bryant (@F502 Wicked53),(@53zz502). Chassis — Labes Pro Street Shop (Jody). Fabrication — Loman Rods (Tim & Jim)(@Lo-ManRods). One-off bed panel — Misfit Fabs (James)(@MisfitFab). Engine — X-Metal Engineering. Suppliers — Summit Racing (@SummitRacing), Midwest Early Ford (@MidwestEarlyFord).

Wicked 53 is Tom Bryant’s in-progress ’53 Ford build with a Chevy ZZ502 heart—Ohio steel, Chevy thunder, nothing done halfway. Early on it wore the F502 nickname as a nod to the 502 swap; as the vision hardened, the name that fit was Wicked 53.

Eleven years in, the story reads in weld beads and shop dust. The centerpiece is an aluminum ZZ502 (8.2L) hand-built at X-Metal Engineering in Evansville, Indiana—because there’s no replacement for displacement, only the discipline to build a chassis that can carry it.

Underneath, it’s purpose over pose. Jody at Labes Pro Street Shop crafted a one-off frame, narrowed the Ford 9-inch, and hung a 4-link with 4.11 Strange gears and Moser axles so this truck plants when the day comes. Mickey Thompson Sportsman tires on American Racing wheels fill the tubs like they were sketched around the stance.

Breath in, power out. Doug’s long-tube headers (fabricated by Matt Robbins) feed twin stainless Borla mufflers and a 2.5-inch stainless system. It’s not on the street yet—this is a Feature in Progress—so the soundtrack lives in mock-ups, first-fires, and those shop-light moments when the whole place hums with potential.

Inside, the cockpit is honest and ready. TMI buckets with clean stitch work, a no-nonsense console, Classic Instruments in the dash, Vintage Air to keep long summer nights from boiling over, and a Flaming River rack with an Ididit column to point it where the fun is. No fluff. All intent.

Heat kills builds, so cooling got respect. A custom C&R Racing radiator holds the line up front.

Metal work tells the truth. Three focused years at Lo-Man Rods in Tipp City brought the structure tight; paint by Mac laid down a tone like the eye of a hurricane—calm on the skin, violence coiled underneath.

Here’s the soul of it: so many one-off parts came from friends Tom made across five decades of owning and building—small-batch brackets, clever fixes, and “bring it by” favors that only exist because somebody answered the phone at 9:47 p.m. Wicked 53 isn’t just a parts list; it’s a network of builders welded into one machine.

This truck is for today and tomorrow. Tom’s building it to drive, but he’s also thinking about the Bryants who’ll slide into that seat down the line and learn where they come from the loud way. Wicked 53 is a time machine in the making—memories, mileage, and a family name carried by big-block heartbeat.

Builder Notes & Credits

Tim (master fabricator) and his right-hand Jim at Lo-Man Rods are the ones turning wild ideas into real parts—mocking up 3D-printed templates first, then shaping the one-off pieces that make Wicked 53 feel purpose-built. That problem-solving is the secret sauce behind so many of the details on this truck.

Maker Spotlight — One-Off Bed Panel
James at Misfit Fabs (TN) created a custom F-502 panel for the bed’s back wall—a clean, machined nod to the 502 that started it all.

Suppliers that kept it moving
For anything not handmade, Tom leaned on Summit Racing as the one-stop source throughout the build. Midwest Early Ford supplied the metal pieces beyond the original cab—key to keeping the sheet-metal side honest. Tom’s fired up to share this feature with the Summit Racing crew and the pro-street crowd—shining a light on the people behind Wicked 53.

Feature in Progress: Updates drop when the wrenches do—pics and notes posted as the build moves. Got a ride with the same scars and soul? Feature Spotlight opens on the 1st.