Pro Street Looks and Power to Spare Highlight Howard Light’s ’56 Chevy 3100
arold Light has always had a thing for Pro Street rides. Recently, the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, native finally decided to do something about this lifelong obsession. “I’ve owned an all-original ’56 Chevy 3200 for over 20 years. I’m never going to modify that one, so I decided to find a suitable ’56 that I could grab up and then fab into my dream Pro Street ride.”
What Harold got was the perfect starting point for his Pro Street–bedded hot rod. “I already had a bullet list of a lot of the things I wanted in my new ride. Once I received the truck, I got a better idea of what I needed to do to accomplish my goals. I moved it to my friend Dave Yingst’s two-car garage and we both got to work on it.”
Harold wasted no time tearing into the body. “We knew that the paint scheme was going to change, so we dug into the sheetmetal to make improvements.” There is an extensive list of mods here on the skin, including a shaved cowl and firewall, frenched front marker lights and antenna, shaved rain rail and bed pockets, tilt forward hood, and shaved door handles and trim. But there’s more. “I installed a rear roll pan out back, shaved the bumper bolts, smoothed the tailgate, shaved all the bed pockets, and installed one-piece door glass, removing the vent windows.”
As for the chassis, Harold used the stock frame to his advantage. “I started off by blasting and powdercoating the frame. From there I reused a Mustang II frontend that was on the truck when I bought it with its stock shocks. Out back I installed a four-link suspension from Steve’s House of Speed with QA1 coilovers to get the stance that I wanted.”
Once completed, Harold had one wild Pro Street–styled truck on his hands. After a day or two of tuning the truck was street ready and on the road. “The truck rides a little on the rough side being lowered but it’s always a lot of fun to cruise. I get a thumbs up wherever I go, and I’ve witnessed people nearly crashing while staring too long at my truck!”