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John Jackson snapped our killer September cover of Tyler Dahlgren’s ‘66 C10 “Buford” built by Killer Hot Rods in Arlington, Texas.
Rodney Bauman, Tommy Lee Byrd, Ron Ceridono, Michael Christensen, Ron Covell, Grant Cox, Dominic Damato, John Drummond, Fuelish Media, Eric Geisert, John Gilbert, Joe Greeves, John Jackson, Barry Kluczyk, Scotty Lachenauer, Don Lindfors, Ryan Manson, Josh Mishler, Todd Ryden, Jason Scudellari, Chris Shelton, Tim Sutton, Chuck Vranas, Michael Yamada – Writers and Photographers
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Still Hammerin’
BY ROB FORTIERs I sit here, attempting to write my late-as-usual editorial for the month—a day after a glorious Fourth of July holiday weekend no less—I’m still reeling after forking over twice as much hard-earned money as I had this time last year just to replace the groceries AND the fuel that I somewhat sparingly consumed over the last three days. My pockets and wallet have taken the worst beating in the last 12 months alone, and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for the financial bruising they’ll continue to endure.
So, how and why does this pertain to anything classic truck related, you might ask? Simple: I still have two trucks currently under construction that, despite what many think, still require quite a bit of monetary compensation for both parts and associated labor. That’s how it pertains!
Now, because I’m a hard-headed, diehard enthusiast, there is no option of putting either the ’69 C10 or the ’48 three-window on hold till the purse strings loosen up. Nope. Rather, I’ll be reallocating funds usually spent on dining out, entertainment, and even on some of the usual consumables, like new clothes. Furthermore, I’ve also dropped my standards when it comes to the types/brands of products I buy at the grocery store. Sure, the savings I’ll see will in no way cover any major portions of either project—but it will help in the long run. Most of all, I’m hoping it will become natural, even though I’ve always been kind of frugal in most areas to begin with.
Parts Dept.
Feature
PHOTOGRAPHY BY John Jacksonack in 1962, Jared Pharr’s grandfather, Jackie Moore, purchased a then 4-year-old ’58 Chevy Stepside. He drove it daily for years before relegating it to farm truck duties, that is until the day it quit running. From that day and for many, many to follow, the ol’ farm truck sat beneath a tree on the family’s property.
Even at an early age, young Jared dreamed of owning that truck and had many conversations with his grandpa about bringing the Chevy back to life one day. Before his death in 2003, Jackie promised his grandson that he could do just that—bring the truck back to life—and with the blessing of his grandmother, Shirley, the ’58 was brought out of its extended retirement and transported to Jared’s home. That transformation, however, would not begin for another 11 years.
It wasn’t until 2015 that Jared’s brother-in-law, Alex Huggins, saw the ’58 Chevy as the perfect opportunity to branch out on his own and open his own restoration/hot rod shop, Hub City Fab, in Idalou, Texas, just northeast of Jared’s hometown of Lubbock.
Tech
Photography by THE AUTHORcouple months ago we finished rebuilding the stock control arms and steering linkage of our ’71 Suburban with parts from Duralast, Classic Performance Products (CPP), and Rare Parts. The result is a much smoother ride and tighter driving feel that is likely better than when the rig was new. With new coil springs and shocks complementing the rebuild there was one final upgrade we wanted to make: sway bars.
Antiroll bars, stabilizer bars, antisway—or whatever you decide to call them—are key in reducing body roll to produce a smoother cornering action. When going around a corner, the outside corner of the car drops and leans over the wheel. By tying the right and left side of the suspension together via the sway bar, the bar helps resist the roll and pulls the opposite side of the vehicle down toward the wheel to keep the body more level and in control.
This of course oversimplifies the physics and design that engineers can build into true performance machines. Different materials, stiffness of the steel, form, and overall design vary per application. Depending on the year and trim level of your truck, it may have been equipped with a front sway bar (likely a small-diameter one) but for many classics, trucks weren’t built to handle better, they were just meant to haul and work.
Feature
Photography By John Jackson
This truck, my ’66 Chevy affectionately known as ‘Buford,’ was purchased in January 1991. Buford was originally a C20 3/4-ton longbed truck; it was named by a coworker who saw it and said, ‘That looks like a Buford to me.’ The coworker died shortly after I got the truck, so the name is a tribute to him.
“Buford was a daily driver for about 18 months to a year before it started having overheating issues. The truck was purchased with the intention of repowering and refurbishing, so I purchased a new 454 big-block and a 700-R4 transmission. As is common with many projects of this type, life got in the way and it languished until August 2019 in a completely disassembled state.
Event
BY Tommy Lee Byrd Photography By THE AUTHOR
hen it comes to classic trucks, the Ford F-series has a tremendous following—and for good reason. These trucks were workhorses when they were new and they now offer a step back to simpler times, even if they’re updated with modern equipment. The Grand National F-100 Show provides common ground for classic Ford truck enthusiasts, whether you like original restorations, lifted 4x4s, slammed trucks with patina, or anything in-between. The event takes place annually at the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and packs every square inch of the convention center, as well as the surrounding parking lots. Dozens of vendors and trucks reserve spots inside the arena, while hundreds more trucks file into the outside lots. There is a swap meet, food vendors, and all sorts of great family friendly fun to be had all weekend long.
We have watched this event grow for the past few years, and this year saw even more growth, with approximately 900 Ford trucks on hand and thousands of spectators over the course of the three-day show. 2022 marked the fifth annual event, and we saw trucks from all over the country represented. In fact, there was a group of F-100s that drove all the way from California to take part in the event. The “Super Tour” racked up 5,000 miles on the incredible round-trip, which included many scenic stops along the way. No matter your location or preference in build style, there was something for every Ford truck enthusiast to enjoy at the 2022 Grand National F-100 Show. Take a look at some of our highlights from this epic event and check out gnf100show.com for more information.
Behind the Scenes
SOURCES SOURCES
Photography By THE AUTHORurely by now most of you are familiar with South City Rod & Custom, regardless of whether you’re a regular reader or this is your first issue. Bill Ganahl and crew put out a mean end product, so we figured why not get you behind the scenes on one of their latest projects—Tony Jurado’s ’56 F-100—to see the proof in the pudding, as it were. Mr. Bill was kind enough to provide some details regarding what their master plan is with the converted big-window Effie … take it away, sir!
“We started with a fairly nice cab and some sheetmetal and not much else. We knew we were going to use an Art Morrison chassis and a Coyote engine, so all we wanted was a good cab. We also knew we could get a complete new bed, which are always beat up on these old pickups, so we ordered an aftermarket one from Dan Carpenter, which will have the floor raised 3 inches to accommodate the lowered Art Morrison suspension.
FeatureInTheGarageMedia.com
BY Fuelish MediaIwas born with a little gasoline in my blood,” Mike Shannon, a proud custom-loving Wisconsinite who fell in love with cars as a child and made auto sales his career, says. “My dad started with a Sinclair gas station in the ’30s and used to tell me about selling 10 gallons of gasoline for $1. Can you imagine that?” Mike muses. “When he (Shannon’s dad) became a local Pure Oil distributor, I began hanging around filling stations more often and would accompany my dad on trips to Road America at Elkhart Lake to deliver a truckload of Pure Firebird racing gasoline every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for race weekends. I really used to look forward to these adventures every summer when I was young,” Mike continues.
Tech
BY Ron Ceridonohere are few things that are more annoying than an engine that overheats. Living in fear of steam boiling out from under the hood of your truck and then seeing the green river of death pouring out from underneath your cherished truck is a sure way to ruin the day.
Overheating an engine comes with consequences, some minor, like cleaning up the mess that burping out coolant can make, to catastrophic engine damage that can cost a small fortune. And while overheating is a concern, the first question to ask on the subject is how hot is hot? Due to the composition of today’s fuels, 180 degrees is considered the minimum operating temperature for efficient combustion even for vintage engines on the street. Most experts agree that 190 degrees is a safe operating temperature for modern engines and for contemporary fuel-injected crate engines, 195 to 220 degrees is considered the norm.
Any discussion about cooling has to start with the radiator. Simply put, radiators dissipate heat by air passing by the tubes and fins that make up the radiator core. Generally there is a 25- to 50-degree drop in water temperature between the radiator’s inlet and outlet; of course the more powerful the engine is the more challenging cooling becomes. In performance applications it’s always wise to fit the largest radiator that will fit the space available and consult the tech team at Afco Racing Products.
FEATURE
Photography By THE AUTHORe’ve all been there. You’re doing the math on your newest project, estimating how much time and money it’ll take to see the finish line. It’s safe to say that most of us underestimate the build during those planning stages, but that’s when passion steps into the picture to keep a project from stalling out. Such is the case with Scott and Traci Pate’s ’61 Ford F-100 Custom Cab, a beautifully crafted truck that originally started as a simple restoration. By the time it was said and done, the truck had a whole new personality, thanks to a combination of efforts from Dynamic Speed & Custom and several individuals along the way.
Tech
A Properly Tuned Engine Requires Optimum Sensor Readings
BY Ryan Manson Photography by THE Author
hen it comes to prepping a junkyard, pull-out LS engine for a new truck build, one of the first things we like to do is replace all the necessary OE sensors with the corresponding items from Duralast Parts. These engines, whether clean as a whistle or filthy as a feral cat, don’t tell their true story regarding what’s going on inside and the miles of torture and torment they may have endured. While the interior of the engine may not be easily inspected, the consumable components on the exterior are easily accessed while the engine is out of the vehicle, something that becomes more difficult after the engine’s installed. Tight, confined space due to firewall clearance can make accessing the cam position and oil pressure sensors a challenge in some trucks, while the low-mounted crank sensor can be hard to access due to various header designs and so on.
Feature
BY Fuelish Mediahis ’57 Chevy, better known as “Snow White,” is no ordinary classic truck. The tale of its creation is part of why it has become a legend. It all began back in 2011 when Rob and Kerry Logsdon started a parts shop in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to help create a career for their kids. With a specialty of providing quality sheetmetal replacement products for classic trucks, they were solidified in the custom scene.
Years later, their son, Ross, started tinkering around in the back area of the shop, as he’d developed a passion for customizing. He would put his new skills to the test by building a ’62 Chevy C10 that was not only put back into running order but was made to shine and lay low. The truck went to the SEMA Show in 2016 and served to promote Premier Street Rod as a shop that could build modernized rides.
Event Photography By THE AUTHOR
nother stellar C10 Nationals has come and gone, but this was indeed one for the books … attendance- and weather-wise!
It was unseasonably hot the weekend of May 13-14 in good ol’ Fort Worth at the Texas Motor Speedway for the 2022 installment of the C10 Nationals presented by Classic Parts of America and Chevrolet Performance … and we were there to catch all the action.
The reconfigured show layout not only made room for more classic trucks (we’re told entries were well above last year’s post-lockdown numbers) but put the Classic Performance Products AutoCross on an actual infield road course (rather than a coned-out course), making for some heated action between purpose-built race trucks and causal cruisers alike.
The usual fare of swap meet, a C10 Club VIP parking area, the C10 Circus, Gandrud Chevrolet Dyno Runs (for all makes, models, and displacements!), and actual NASCAR ride-alongs on the fabled TMS oval made for yet another exciting weekend in the heart of classic truck land!
Be sure to catch the southern edition of the C10 Nationals coming up September 30 at the Nashville Superspeedway in good ol’ Gladeville, Tennessee!
Ad Index
- ALL AMERICAN BILLET17
- AMERICAN AUTOWIRE49
- ART MORRISON ENTERPRISES53
- AUTO METAL DIRECT23
- AUTOMETER PRODUCTS7
- AUTOMOTIVE RACING PRODUCTS25
- BEDWOOD AND PARTS69
- BORGESON UNIVERSAL CO.35
- BOWLER PERFORMANCE TRANSMISSIONS93
- BROTHERS TRUCK PARTS100
- CHEVS OF THE 40’S65
- CLASSIC INDUSTRIES41
- CLASSIC INSTRUMENTS77
- CLASSIC PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS4-5, 97
- DAKOTA DIGITAL99
- DESIGN ENGINEERING93
- EATON DETROIT SPRING91
- FAT MAN FABRICATION91
- FITECH EFI43
- FLAT OUT ENGINEERING91
- FRONTIER SHOP SUPPLIES67
- GOLDEN STAR CLASSIC AUTO PARTS6
- GRANATELLI MOTOR SPORTS81
- HEIDTS SUSPENSION SYSTEMS83
- HEINZMAN STREET ROD SHOP97
- HOLLEY PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS76
- KUGEL KOMPONENTS91
- LMC TRUCK33
- LOKAR2, 27
- NATIONAL STREET ROD ASSOCIATION61
- OLD AIR PRODUCTS75
- PAINT OVER RUST PRODUCTS67
- PERFORMANCE ONLINE37
- PHOENIX MACHINE PRODUCTS97
- POWERMASTER PERFORMANCE81
- ROD SHOWS51
- SCOTT’S HOTRODS65
- SMEDING PERFORMANCE83
- SPEEDWAY MOTORS11
- STRANGE ENGINEERING75
- SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT19
- THAT’S GREAT NEWS93
- THERMO-TEC AUTOMOTIVE97
- VINTAGE AIR9
- WENTZ MOTOR COMPANY93
- WESTERN CHASSIS45
- WILWOOD ENGINEERING59
- WINTERS PERFORMANCE69
