The aforementioned upholstery job was done with great care by Smitty's to complement their work on the glassy sheetmetal surfaces of the truck, which still plays a big part of the interior layout. A Tahoe center row bench seat was covered in tan leather and flanked by matching RodDoors panels and carpet to round out the soft stuff. Elsewhere in the cab we find a custom dash with a No Limit gauge panel stuffed with Auto Meter's Ultra Light gauges, a powerful Pioneer stereo, Vintage Air, and Air Ride controls. There's even a hidden compartments in the step areas of the floor that sneakily conceals the Optima battery and wiring, clean.
Last, but not least-the drivetrain. A '70 Chevy 350 was punched out 0.060-over and balanced with the new Keith Black slugs. The COMP hydraulic 0.453-inch lift cam controls the valves in the Edelbrock Performer RPM polished heads that are accompanied by a matching Air Gap Endurashine intake and 650-cfm Mighty Demon carb. An MSD Pro Billet small HEI ignition starts the fire that gets sent out the Hedman Tight-Tubes 1 5/8-inch headers and custom mandrel-bent stainless 2 1/2-inch pipes by Smitty's, complete with 40 Series Flowmasters. The GM Performance valve covers top the motor off along with the K&N-stuffed Billet Specialties air cleaner. March Performance pulleys adorned with a Tuff Stuff chrome alternator, water pump, power steering pump, and a Be Cool radiator precede the potent small block and Turbo 350. Bringing up the rear is a Smitty's built 9-inch Ford with a 3.73:1 True-Trac that's suspended by a No Limit four-link kit and Air Ride ShockWaves.
After six years and more than a couple of bucks, the '59 was roadworthy and just in time for last year's show season where it was a finalist for Goodguys' Late Truck of The Year also receiving a Boyd Coddington Pro's-Pick at Columbus, and none other than a CLASSIC TRUCKS Top Ten pick at its first show. What can we say, we're impressed. Bill learned many things along the way, most important of which he says was to get a plan together and stick to it!