Get a bunch of old hot rodders bench racing and eventually the subject will turn to the lack of young guys building cool rides. While that may be a concern for some, one look at Zach Howard’s ’67 Chevrolet pickup should help to ease your concerns.
Zach acquired his love of old trucks and hot rods the old fashioned way; he inherited it from three generations before him. As a matter of fact before this truck was finished no less than four generations of the Howard family had lent a hand in building this truck.
It all started by working with his grandfather Philip Rodgers and great-grandfather restoring old cars, then Zach jumped into a ’38 Buick project with his dad Trevor, and it only seemed natural that Zach should have a project of his own. And so, at the tender age of 15 this C10 rolled into the family garage with the goal of building it as his high school driver.
As Zach told us, “My sixteenth birthday passed, high school graduation passed, and now I am in my second year of college and finally driving my truck, but now it’s too nice to bring to school.” The project would take five years to finish and in the end the truck was well beyond daily driver status, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
When the ’67 rolled into the family garage it was a decent work truck with the usual dents, dings, and scars from years of work. Rust repair was about average but Zach was just pleased to have a ’67 as he prefers the small rear window cab.
After stripping the truck down work began on the chassis. Ride Tech air suspension was installed on all four corners, and while the dream included Baer brakes too, when you are 16 some things just have to wait, so stock brakes were rebuilt front and rear. The frame and suspension components were detailed and painted silver. Resting between the silver framerails is 400 ci of Chevrolet big-block power that passes power through a 3000 stall converter and a turbo-400 tranny.
Much like the rest of the truck the engine was detailed to perfection and topped with Billet Specialties valve covers, Taylor plug wires, and a Holley carb resting on a polished Edelbrock intake. Black Jack headers complete the engine while an aluminum radiator from A+ Rods cools the big-block.
While the chassis work was going on Zach and his dad were busy doing the bodywork on the truck. Modifications were limited to a cowl induction hood, shaved moldings and a rolled rear pan. When years of dents and dings were finally worked out of the panels Mickey Heflin at Heflin’s Rod Shop laid down the Sikkens blue over silver paint scheme. Zach came up with the color split and graphic pattern after “drawing the truck over and over until I got it right.” Zach and Mickey Heflin teamed up to spray the red graphic split. We must agree, this is one of the better two-tone splits we have seen.
Moving inside the cab the dashboard was designed and built by Zach and his dad, drawing inspiration from the ’62 Corvette. An aluminum insert holds Auto Meter gauges and Vintage Air was installed. Electrical needs are handled by a Ron Francis Wiring kit while Dynamat handles unwanted noise and heat transfer. The bucket seats were upholstered by Jim’s Upholstery, but the remainder of the interior was all done by Zack, including wiring, A/C installation, carpets, door panels ,and headliner. The ididit steering column is topped off with a Billet Specialties steering wheel and an Alpine pumps out the tunes.
Zach Howard did a lot, if not most of the work on this truck himself, with help from his family and friends. Its graphic proof that young, talented builders are coming along. This entire truck was home built with the only outside work coming in the form of paint and two bucket seats being upholstered. That’s impressive for a first project, and with a start like this, we can’t wait to see where twenty-year-old Zach Howard goes from here.