Cap’t Insano Shows No Mercy

Teo Zoetmelk is the guy behind Cap’t Insano, the Gasser Green 1955 Ford F100 that you see here. He wasn’t responsible for the name (more on that later), but he was responsible for what the truck was going to look like, what parts were on it, and he built it himself in chunks of stolen hours after work. Teo’s day job just so happens to be in the Research and Development department at TMI, but he is a dyed-in-the-wool gearhead.

Teo found the Ford locally after he was tipped off by a friend who knew of a project whose owner was moving and needed it gone. At first, the plan was just to collect all the boxes and crates of parts, complete it as is and flip it for some cash at the Pomona Fairgrounds Swap Meet (a major auto swap meet in SoCal) but the project shifted gears shortly after when some folks at TMI heard about it and wanted Teo to build it.

More than Custom

Being on the inside of TMI in R&D allowed Teo to not only pick out the types of interior components that went into his ’55, but to actually be involved in their construction and do the installation and fitment himself. He chose to use a Pro-Series Universal Sport-X 55-inch Bench Seat in leather with white stitching and the signature TMI grommets in black. The two-tone color scheme of distressed maroon leather teamed up with black vinyl was carried through to the door panels, and TMI also supplied one of their 14-inch Sport Steering wheels in black, a set of maroon sun visors, black carpet, and black headliner.

The single cab configuration of those vintage Fords is a little on the Spartan side of amenities, but Teo dressed it to his liking. He added a set of Dakota Digital gauges, tunes play out of a RetroSound radio and speakers, with a Genie floor shifter that also has a TMI touch in the form of a matching leather shift boot. Teo made good use of the available parts and recycled the existing door handles and window cranks by sandblasting them and painting them flat black to keep that minimalistic flair. A full A/C set up from Old Air Products keeps the cab cool.

A Mighty Rumble

Inside that cavernous engine bay lives a Cleveland 351 rebuilt and restored by Chip’s Performance Tuning that starts with an Edelbrock intake and carb topped with a Spectre air filter and valve covers. A radiator and fans from Champion keep everything cool, while spent gasses pass out of a set of Patriot headers connected to a stainless exhaust capped off with Flowmaster mufflers. Power gets routed through a Ford FMX 3-speed gearbox down to a Dana 44 rearend.

During the build Teo found some rust that had eaten up the bed floor and the doors, so a call was put into LMC Truck to get replacements. The exterior of this F100 really shines (well, not really) with the sheet metal getting a coat of Gasser Green paint, toned down with a layer of matte clear coat, while the trim was painted matte black. Johnny’s Auto Color and Body Werks really came through on the exterior. LMC Truck also supplied the replacement glass.

That great door art came courtesy from Teo’s old friend Craig Cummings of Black Parrot Sign Studios. The inspiration came from a routine outing of tacos and adult beverages. Craig asked about how Teo was handling building the truck in the summer heat in his garage on nights a weekends and how he must’ve been insane by now. And thus, the Rat-Fink stylized door art depicting Teo half-crazed from the heat and stress, wrenching away in his home garage was born.

Sittin’ Pretty Low

The previous owner had wanted to take the truck in a downward direction so he had sourced a Plymouth Volare front end to replace the straight axle. This upgrade gave the truck the added benefits of an adjustable independent torsion bar, disc brakes, and more front shock options. The rear retained their factory leaf spring setup, just mounted with a flip kit to bring the overall stance of the truck a little lower.

That downward trajectory continues to Cap’t Insano’s shoes. The ’55 wears a set of US Mags Heavy Artillery U602 with painted centers and chrome caps in 20x8 and 20x9 respectively. Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires were then stretched and mounted.

Sunset Rides

Teo is a hardworking paycheck slave that has used his skills to build parts of his own projects, and helped his buddies complete their builds in the past. He never really went as deep as he did with this F100, but it came out absolutely awesome! He built it in conjunction with TMI to develop products to fit the vintage Ford truck line, and it spent time looking pretty at the display booth for SEMA 2015. But this is his truck; Teo built it to be a driver and he now gets to cruise his own custom creation.

Teo is a hardworking paycheck slave that has used his skills to build parts of his own projects, and helped his buddies complete their builds in the past. He never really went as deep as he did with this F100, but it came out absolutely awesome! He built it in conjunction with TMI to develop products to fit the vintage Ford truck line, and it spent time looking pretty at the display booth for SEMA 2015. But this is his truck; Teo built it to be a driver and he now gets to cruise his own custom creation.