Instant gratification. For most any true enthusiast, those two words typically aren't associated with much when it comes to building a classic truck-even less when having one built. As with anything worth having, it requires time and plenty of it to take an old truck from start to finish, even if your definition of "finished" is simply being able to drive said truck. Among the tedious, time-consuming jobs, bodywork ranks right up there at the top, if not being the most lengthy process of them all. While the actual amount of physical time spent on a vehicle varies drastically from one person/shop to another, all will testify to the abovementioned facts and agree that if you want it done right, you better have as much, if not more, time than money.

Gas You Can Count On
The release of the new FAST Street/Strip Fuel System offers a complete kit that increases the reliability and potential of any electronic fuel injection (EFI) system up to 600 naturally aspirated horsepower. This extremely cost-effective kit makes it a snap to switch from carburetion to EFI for trucks, cars, or hot rods. The FAST Street/Strip Fuel System Kit includes everything you need, including the proper fuel pump, adjustable regulator, filter and Y-block for compatibility with just about any application you can think of from OE to custom high-performance. The high-performance fuel pump utilizes OE-type filters for easy replacement. For more information about the FAST Street/Strip Fuel System Kit or any other FAST product, call 877-334-8355, or log onto www.fuelairspark.com.

How many times have you been to the doctor or hospital for some ailment and the diagnosis was wrong? Getting to the root of most any problem within a complex situation is tough-even for professionals. And while you may take a trip to the emergency room for a pesky or persistent headache that could be some sort of allergy or worse, the symptoms can be all too similar for a number of scenarios.

Whether you're in the market for, already building, or simply want to get that '47-54 (and of course First Series '55) Chevrolet Advance Design or GMC 1/2-ton pickup on the road once and for all, the following Buyer's Guide might just be what the doctor ordered. The following pages contain everything from complete chassis to IFS kits, sheetmetal to rubber, and probably a little of everything in between-but even more important, where to get it! Enjoy, and be sure to mention who referred you when you start making those calls!

Reinvented
From the drawing board to the mill, automotive designer Jason Rushforth is proud to debut Rushforth Wheels. With a heavy emphasis put on design-naturally-as well as function, these two-piece forged billet wheels are offered in diameters ranging from 17-24 inches and are available in custom bolt patterns, widths, offsets, and finishes. The finish options include brushed, powdercoated, fully polished, and its exclusive "smoked titanium" that debuted at the 2007 SEMA show. Rushforth Wheels are truly design driven to complement your unique custom truck. For more information about Rushforth Wheels, call 951-609-3483, or visit www.rushforthwheels.com.

Two Finned Heads Are Better Than One
Modern engineering and manufacturing technology are making it easier to build reliable performance Flathead Ford motors. Designed with nostalgia in mind, Edelbrock is bringing back its early "Block Letter" logo as an option on 24-stud '38-48 Flathead cylinder heads. Cast in Edelbrock's ultra-modern aluminum foundry, these heads are made from prime A356 aluminum. The combustion chambers are sized at 64 cc to accommodate naturally aspirated performance applications and are available with an optional polished finish. For more information about Edelbrock, call 800-416-8628 or visit www.edelbrock.com.

You know that old familiar saying, "You don't know what you got till it's gone"? Well, that was exactly how I'd describe the old electrical system on my '53 Chevy pickup. Since the day I purchased her a couple years back, I'd always suspected some fishy things going on with the truck's wiring, but here again another proverbial axiom came into play: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, that's exactly what I did.

Although a number of years have passed since a vehicle equipped with a carburetor has come off an assembly line, those venerable mixers invented by Karl Benz almost 150 years ago are still doing duty, many of them under the hoods of classic trucks.

Although a number of years have passed since a vehicle equipped with a carburetor has come off an assembly line, those venerable mixers invented by Karl Benz almost 150 years ago are still doing duty, many of them under the hoods of classic trucks.

More often than not, it's the simple things that end up causing the most trouble. Take, for instance, spark plugs and wires. The tiniest break in your engine's ignition spark anywhere between the distributor and the plug can wreak all kinds of havoc, and you may not even be aware of it. Be it damage from heat, wearing over time, improper installation, or simply a dislodged component, if your plugs and wires aren't in tiptop shape, how do you expect your engine to run at its best? Whether you're running a modern HEI (High Energy Ignition) or a basic points-style ignition, each individual component is only as strong as its weakest link (gee, where have we heard that before?). keeping your ignition system healthy is "key" to ensuring your engine's well-being down the road...literally.

Why should you get amped up? Because there's a good chance you have more accessories drawing current from your truck's electrical system at idle than your stock alternator can keep up with. It seems as time continues to fly by that people are incorporating more power-hungry modern features into their old trucks than its stock electrical system was designed for and soon the alternator is taxed way beyond its output at idle, which for most stock alternators is around 40 amperes or amps. Running an aftermarket stereo with an external power amp at idle can leave the alternator in a 30-40 amp deficit alone, not to mention running air conditioning which can suck up another 20-23 amps. As a rule of thumb, an electric cooling fan zaps another amp per inch of fan diameter (double that at start up) and many systems use two fans, which could add up to another 30-40 amps!

Take a seat and let's talk about what you are sitting on for a minute. We all have seats in our trucks that come in different shapes, colors, comforts, as well as good or not-so-good looks. More often than not, a stock seat is fine and most don't really question it-it's there and it works. Some choose to swap their old one out for cushy late-model buckets, a split bench, or a slick aftermarket seat with heaters, cup holders, or any number of options. Unless the "new" seat is made specifically for your truck, there will be a varying degree of work needed to make it fit in its new home.

Owning a classic truck can be a dream; stopping a classic truck, on the other hand, can be a nightmare! The '61-71 Dodge sweptlines are no exception. Four-wheel manual drum brakes and panic stops do not make good bed mates; repeated stops and brake fade can make for an interesting commute. If you are driving your truck daily, chances are the thought of "what if" has crossed your mind more than once.

There are a million good reasons to upgrade the suspension on any classic truck, but especially those equipped with a straight-axle, parallel-leaf frontend. These suspension designs are archaic at best, given today's technology and high-demand driving conditions. As a farm hauler, the parallel leaves and straightaxle suspension designs work great for hauling heavy loads or traversing rough, uneven terrain; but as an urban cruiser, the straight-axle design leaves a bit to be desired. The ride can be rather rough, the stock steering a bit of bear to handle, and the brakes slightly unruly. Put short, there are a number of desirable upgrades to be had.

Last month I gave you the skinny on Air Ride Technologies' latest version of their '73-87 C-10 StrongArm suspension (which also applies to '67-72 models, as well) with a little hint of their accompanying bolt-on rear suspension. Well, the hinting's over-time to get to the nitty gritty of the all-new AirBar four-link.

Look under the hood of a hopped-up classic truck and you're likely to find an engine topped with a four-barrel carburetor. Thanks to the flexibility of a pair of primary venturis for low to mid-rpm operation, and a secondary set to handle the engines wide-open-throttle needs, four-barrels are certainly the most popular type of carburetors, and some of the best come from Barry Grant and Holley.Similar in construction, both manufacturers offer carburetors in a variety of cfm ratings with vacuum or mechanical secondaries, with single or double accelerator pumps, and they use power valves for enrichment systems. While the architecture is similar, there are subtle differences in the construction of some components, but for our purposes, we're going to look at them together. The rebuild procedure is based on a Barry Grant Demon, while the tips are from Holley, but the following information is applicable to both.

Baptism by fire is often the fastest way to learn, but boy does it get hot! When it comes to knowing what makes modern EFI motors tick, I'm not exactly "with it." Nonetheless, I needed to figure out how to make the '05-08 Ford 4.6L SOHC V-8 in my '68 F-100 get the go juice necessary for good ol' internal combustion.

The last time we worked on our F-1, we installed a Heidt's Mustang II independent front suspension to replace the stock, dilapidated axle and parallel leaf springs. The kit was not only a great suspension upgrade, but also stiffened up the front of the frame tremendously due to the boxing of the 'rails and the addition of the strong crossmember. Moving our way rearward, we also hung the engine and transmission, a '53 Chrysler 331ci Hemi and T5 trans, which we'll get into in a future issue. Continuing on, we arrived at the worn-out 9-inch Ford rearend that was in the truck when we purchased it and the stock, de-arched and broken leaf springs. With such an upgrade made to the front suspension, it only made sense to upgrade the components out back as well.

MIG (metal inert gas) welder, aka gas metal arc welder (GMAW), was once a not-so-common sight in home garages across the country. But today, with technology rising and prices dropping, they are within most do-it-yourselfer's reach. With this being said, there are still plenty of fancy, highfalutin MIG machines that cost a pretty penny, but we'll pay no mind to those since we have no use for them while working on our classic trucks. Even though it is fun to get carried away and pipe dream about the biggest and baddest welding machine that has tons of amperage and can weld thicker material than your neighbor's welder, it's more than you'll ever need and money wasted. Many of us don't even have 220-volt hookups in our garage, which limits the type of machine you get--but that's not to say you can't have a machine that'll do most anything you'll ever need it for.

Barry Grant's new Old School Triple-D Six Shooter system combines the vintage look with contemporary performance. Due to the progressive linkage, the engine runs off the center carburetor most of the time; all three reach wide open simultaneously.

Getting doors to fit right seems to be at the bottom of many people's lists and might as well be black magic to some, but when it comes down to it-it's not much harder than a crossword puzzle or a good game of Trivial Pursuit. As classic truckers, we have it a bit easier than say, the musclecar crowd with their big, long, and not to mention heavy doors, that can be a real pain in the posterior. Most of our doors will be bolted to hinges that are bolted to the doorjamb. They're aren't too many welded-on hinges like the late models and most makes have some sort of hinge pin repair kit available.

Part 13 is upon us and I still haven't finished the Bumpside Build-Off F-100-but neither has the competition! If you've skipped this month's editorial, check it out for the nitty gritty on why you're not reading a feature on a finished '68 F-100.

Bver tried to cut something with a pair of dull scissors? How about shaving with an old razor? Cutting or trimming with anything that isn't as sharp as it's meant to be is no fun-and the same goes for those drill bits we're constantly wearing down. Once a bit loses its cutting edge, the job it's intended to do becomes much harder to accomplish, and nobody enjoys spending the extra time (and labor) it takes trying to work a drill through material with a dull bit. I know I don't.

When the F-series pickups were introduced in 1948, they were revolutionary in many respects, but the most noteworthy feature is that they were the first light-duty Ford trucks that weren't built on a passenger-car frame. And when the second-generation F-series debuted, Ford really hit a home run. With some of the most styling sheetmetal ever hung on a truck, the '53-56 F-100s became instant classics.

There are two reasons so many trucks throughout the years were designed with a traditional parallel leaf spring rear suspension: It's simple and cheap. It works really well from a manufacturing and utilitarian standpoint and has stood the test of time throughout the life of the automobile, but what if you get tired of being treated like dice in a Yatzee cup?