Feature
Images by THE AUTHORhen Mike Miller purchased a derelict 1965 Nova for $500, well, his wife, Tracy, thought he was nuts. For the next decade, the Dover, Pennsylvania, native bought and squirrelled away parts while he gradually rebuilt the little Chevy into the muscle car of his dreams. Then it happened. “It was at that point that my wife realized I could restore cars, so now she wanted me to build her a classic hot rod truck of her very own,” Mike states.
What Mike and Tracy bought was a truck that had been used at one time as a display at a local nursery. The truck had a flat wooden bed out back and had significant rust in all the wrong places. But there were some bright spots. “It did run and drive but not much more than that. However, it was a usable starting point. Funny thing is we are Chevy people but couldn’t find one in our price range. However, we kind of liked the body style of that year Ford.”
Back home Mike tore down the truck, separating the cab from the frame. “The cab got media blasted and the frame got stripped bare. From there I smoothed out the exterior side of the frame and painted it a dark brown. I then installed a Total Cost Involved (TCI) front suspension kit, which is a Mustang II–based setup, using Ford Granada cross-drilled rotors with GM calipers and a Thunderbird rack-and-pinion with power steering.” Out back, the truck received a TCI four-link suspension with coilovers and a Ford 9-inch rear stuffed with 3.55 gears. The combo spins 31-spline Moser axles to push the power to the rear tires. A Right Stuff rear disc brake conversion kit, built with cross-drilled-and-slotted rotors and GM metric pinchers with a built-in parking brake were installed to get this ride to come to a speedy stop.
The Deshongs did the bodywork, with Mike helping out with the blocking and sanding. Once the truck was laser straight, the team then laid out a custom paintjob, starting with two colors from the PPG Charley Hutton Collection. Sepia Brown covers the top of the truck, which is laid over the Slanted Brown hue on the bottom. It’s separated by a 1/8-inch pinstripe in House of Kolor Sunset Orange. The continuous stripe reaches around the truck and forms a wedge on the doors for a little aesthetic break-up.
Out back, the bed was sourced from Midwest Early Ford in Springfield, Ohio. It received a pair of 4-inch tubs from Dan Carpenter Specialties and was finished off in the same paint scheme as the cab. The bed was then completed with oak slats, finished in PPG clear and then installed with stainless steel strips. The custom running boards were extended to meet the front fenders to finish off the look Mike was after.
For the motorvation for this here ride, Mike did not feel the need to keep it all Ford, as he really is a Chevy guy when it comes down to it. So, the owner chose a 383ci stroker to power this pickup. The mill is built from a Chevy 350 four-bolt main block. An octet of KB pistons and GM rods work with the 400 crank to stretch out the power curve on this powerplant. Pro Comp heads, Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake, and Howard’s camshaft round out the big players in this build. A Holley 750-cfm double-pumper feeds this truck the go-juice it needs. Up front, a March Revolver II serpentine pulley setup pulls it all together and an MSD Pro billet distributor and MSD 6AL ignition get this beast ready to run.
For the cockpit, Mike chose to paint the interior a Chrysler tan color with a matte clearcoat finish. From there he contacted Custom Rags Upholstery in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania, to do the interior work. The Glide Engineering seat is upholstered in Relicate vintage distressed leather in their ARCHAIC color, and was used on the door panels, steering wheel, and the custom console. The carpet is Relicate German square weave. The gauges are Auto Meter and the doors have the vent windows deleted. Power windows were added with regulators by Nu-Relics. A Forever Sharp steering wheel, mounted to an Ididit column keeps this ride pointed in the right direction and a Lokar shifter gets this ride through the gears. HVAC duties are done by Vintage Air setup.
Out on the corners, American Racing VF497 wheels in 18×8 front and 20×11 rear are shod in Atturo rubber; 245/40R18 and 315/35R20, respectively. Out back a custom roll pan built with Loker LED taillights and a Billet Specialties license plate frame give the ride a modern, race-ready touch.
Once finished, Mike was excited to hand over the keys to Tracy. Though it was a long and winding road to completion, she was blown away by the results. Tracy puts it this way: “It was a long 10 years to wait for the truck, but I am beyond pleased on the way the truck turned out. There was so much hard work and thought put into building it. I couldn’t ask for a more fun truck to drive around and enjoy!”
