There's a lot of reasons to start a classic truck project. The truck might be a family heirloom or, perhaps its been sitting in your garage/yard for years and your spouse is threatening to have it towed away if you don't do something with it. Maybe it was a gift and you just want to add some personal touches to it. Or it could be that you are the type that just always has to have a project going to be happy. John Racine of Schoolcraft, Michigan, has not one but two reasons to have started and finish this '48 Chevy.
The first reason came about because of a tragic automobile accident, which claimed both his parents. You see, his father had a lifetime hobby as a street rod builder. And, so, when he passed away he and his brother, Ken, got into the hobby in order to keep their father's memory and the hobby alive. This is what got John to expand out of the muscle cars he had been into for 25 years and into the street rod/classic truck scene, and what was the reason he purchased this particular truck.
But, the main reason he started actually doing work on the truck was because of the harassment's he received due to the color of the truck. The truck was not always as you see it here. No, when John first purchased the truck in April of 1994 the truck was Pink Panther Pink. And, after two years of friends threatening to put a Mary Kay sticker on it, and his wife gaining way to much attention from it, the truck was torn down for a color change.
A new paint job wasn't the only thing this truck received during the two and a half years it was being worked on by Ken and John, however. Starting from the ground up the chassis was boxed in the front and the rear. Out back they used a custom Panhard bar and four-link setup, Monroe shocks, and Airlift springs. Up front they started with a Heidts Mustang II unit and added Monroe shocks, Airlift springs, and 2-inch-dropped spindles. To make her stop they kept the original brakes in back but went with 11-inch disks in the front. They chose to use a corvette master cylinder, and raided a '70s Chevy van for its pedal assembly and steering column. Ken had to make 3-inch wheel tubs so that they could finished the lower part up with Coddington wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber.
The trucks gets its power from a '67 Chevy 327 which now has a displacement of 331 cubes. The engine is equipped with a ground and polished crankshaft, chrome molly rings, Billet Specialties engine pulleys, and a hot cam. To this he added a Weiand manifold, a Holley 650 carburetor, and Billet aluminum air cleaner. To cool things down a 16-inch Spal cooling fan was used as well as a US Radiator radiator. For exhaust Headman Headers and a Flowmaster 3 chamber with 2-inch exhaust tubes were chosen. All this power was then hooked up to a Turbo 350 from a '75 Nova.
Paint wasn't the only thing done to the out side of the truck either. Before it was painted The door handles were shaved, the hood was welded together, the headlights were frenched, and a rear roll pan with custom Hagen taillights was added. They were going to use the front bumper but, somehow, somewhere the front bumper was lost. So a new Sachse Rod Shop roll pan was installed under the grill, this being the only fiberglass piece used on the truck. After all this is when the truck finally went from pink to black. After the painting was done it was given to Mark "Bullet' Black for detailing. The bed of the truck is done with Aspen wood, with 12 coats of urethane and polished up to have a mirror finish like the rest of the truck.