Sacrilege is a pretty harsh word, let alone something you'd want to commit. But for some, if there isn't blue blood running beneath the sheetmetal skin of a Blue Oval, well, sacrilege might be one of the nicer remarks a true-blue Ford fanatic would utter in response to the act of carnage. For others, it's more likely considered a smart move! In the case of Smitty Smith's '37 Ford pickup, well, the so-called blue-blood butchery goes far beyond the sin of the mill transplant.
Beneath the hood of Smitty's gorgeous, black-as-night '37 Ford lies the "heart" of the blasphemy-a 383 Chevy stroker, complete with an Edelbrock dual-quad setup. Of course, the Mighty Mouse small-block is fittingly backed up by a GM 700-R4 tranny. But beyond that (or shall we say below and behind?), the Blue Oval has been "hybridded" with a split-make chassis: beneath and forward of the cab is '87 Dodge Dakota; aft is '67 Vette. Suffice it to say, the truck's foundation is a far cry from its outdated underpinnings previously taking up space when Smitty first encountered it hidden by a plastic tarp four years ago at a neighbor's house.
With the help of Bill, Jerry, and Joan Kruger (Kruger Kustom in Jefferson, Oregon), the chassis morphing, which Smitty considers one of the more difficult aspects of the build, not only came together quite nicely, but also provided a fine-tuned driver once all was said and done. Meanwhile, Speed-O-Motive, a bit closer to Smitty's home base in Southern California, performed the machine work on the V-8. Jason Hooker then handled the installation of practically a catalog's worth of Edelbrock speed parts-both inside and out, from valvetrain to induction, and eventually including exhaust. Did we mention Smitty's the head sales coordinator at Edelbrock? Well, he is! Back up in Oregon, Eddie Human (The Human Touch, also in Jefferson) managed the multitude of modifications to the cab and bed-some very subtle, others not-and proceeded to cover them in the appropriate shade of black. When chassis and sheetmetal were reunited, the truck didn't have to go far for its final touches, either. Actually, it didn't have to go anywhere, as the Kruger crew took care of the upholstery chores, too. Along with the aforementioned, Smitty also has to credit a few people because without their help this would never have come to be: his boss, Vic Edelbrock Jr., Bob Curtis, and of course, his wife, Joan.