Joe Bochnowicz is lucky to be married to Patricia. She shares his dream of having a very special truck to park at their Sellersville, Pennsylvania, home and she's traipsed through backyards, farmer's fields, and junkyards by his side in search of just the right one. In 1994 they bought three trucks out of a field and one from a newspaper ad, and began sorting out the parts-but they still weren't done. More fields, more trucks, and more parts were hunted, found, and inspected until Joe finally began work on the project. A serious illness, however, made it clear that he couldn't complete the job by himself. Enter Ted Munsell of Trick Works in Telford, Pennsylvania. Ted took all the pieces to his shop and he worked with Joe to figure out exactly what "Joe's Truck" was going to be. Ted and his employee, Jerry Kratz, took the dream on as their own, designing and fabricating custom parts when nothing else would do.
It was the Bochnowicz' wedding anniversary the day their truck was selected as the winner of the Outstanding Classic Truck award, presented by Super Chevy and CLASSIC TRUCKS magazines at the Maple Grove, Pennsylvania., Super Chevy Show. Happy anniversary!
There's a ton of custom touches and performance parts on this hauler, but there are a couple of things that make it a classic, which is what Joe and Pat never lost sight of. First the Chevy small block is a 327 cubic inch, which is what all the '50s rods, customs, and cool trucks used in the early '60s. Second, and this is the kicker; there's no radio! For everything else that's done to this half-ton, the owners say, "it's an old truck, no radio."
Facts & Figures
Joe And Patricia Bochnowicz
Sellersville, Pennsylvania
1948 Chevy Pickup
| CHASSIS |
| Frame / Manufacturer | modified stock / Chevrolet |
| Modifications | Boxed full-length, custom cross- |
| | member, molded, smoothed, painted |
| Rearend / Ratio | 12 bolt / 3.42:1 |
| Rear suspension | Street Rod Engineering leaves, Monroe |
| | gas shocks |
| Rear brakes | Eldorado calipers on 11 inch rotors |
| Front suspension | Heidt’s Mustang II front crossmember, |
| | Heidts 2-inch drop spindles, Heidts |
| | tubular dropped A-arms, TRW springs |
| | w/4 inch drop, Monroe gas shocks |
| Front brakes | Malibu calipers on 11-inch rotors |
| Master cylinder | Corvette |
| Steering | rack-and-pinion |
| Steering column | ididit |
| Front wheel make, size | American Racing Chrome Smoothie, |
| | 15X6 w/3-inch backspacing |
| Rear wheel make, size | American Racing Chrome Smoothie, |
| | 15X7 w/4 inch backspacing |
| Front tire make, size | Coker Classic Wide Whites, 215/75-15 |
| Rear tire make, size | Coker Classic Wide Whites, 215/75-15 |
| Gas tank | custom, mounted at rear of frame |