An attitude seemingly shared by the show crowd is that to deserve attention, you must have a wild, built-to-the-hilt sport truck. To comply with that attitude, truck owners shave, relocate, or rework parts. There isn&8217t anything necessarily wrong with that; we all love to crawl around those kinds of trucks to get some ideas for our own projects. But every once in a while, a truck comes along whose simplicity knocks us off our feet.
A case in point: Dave Clark’s 1972 Chevy Cheyenne Super shortbed Fleetside. Take a look at the photos and the only exterior mods you’ll see are a lowered stance and American Racing Torque-Thrust II wheels--it’s even painted the factory two-tone colors but looks absolutely right-on. And the closer you look, the better it looks.
Dave is no newcomer to vintage GM trucks. He owns and operates Early Classic Enterprises in Fresno, California, which specializes in chassis components and reproduction items for those trucks. In fact, that’s how this pickup came to be: Dave originally purchased the truck to be a test bed for the many parts and pieces he carries for his business.
The original plan was for a nice driver, but it wasn’t long after the bare chassis came back from Blasttech in Fresno with a fresh coat of satin-black powder paint that Dave realized the truck was going in a new direction. Soon all the chassis components were also powder-painted and reassembled with new gold-anodized hardware. If there’s an original bolt left on this truck, it will be hard to find.
The only choice for Dave was to use his own suspension parts to lower his latest project. For the front, Early Classic Enterprises supplied 2-1/2-inch-dropped spindles and 1-1/2-inch-dropped coils, which are complemented by Belltech Nitro-Drop shocks and a 1-1/4-inch-diameter sway bar. The stopping power in the front is handled by an Early Classic Enterprises cross-drilled 12-inch rotor disc brake kit. To ensure a smooth and comfortable ride, the suspension was assembled with all new Moog Automotive rubber and suspension rebuild parts.
The original 12-bolt rearend was sent to Fearless Gear in Fresno, where it was rebuilt and fitted with an Auburn Limited Slip differential and a Precision Gear 3.42:1 ring-and-pinion. When the rearend returned, it was hung on the chassis with the stock trailing arms, Early Classic Enterprises 6-inch-dropped coils, and Belltech Nitro-Drop shocks. The rear brakes were put together by Dave and consisted of cross-drilled GM rotors and Ford calipers. The chassis was completed with new stainless brake lines and fuel lines from Inline Tube.
Dave kept driveability in mind when he chose his drivetrain. He went to his nearest GM Performance Parts dealer and ordered a 350ci ZZ4 crate engine and a 4L60 automatic overdrive trans. The ZZ4 engine comes from the factory with aluminum heads and intake and is rated at 355 hp at 5,250 rpm, so Dave decided to leave well enough alone and simply bolted on a Jones Performance Quadrajet carb and all the truck’s factory accessories, including the smog pump and exhaust manifolds. The engine and trans were dropped into the rolling chassis and tied to the rearend with a custom one-piece driveshaft built by Driveline Service of Fresno.
With the chassis looking much better than new, it became apparent that the body had to be perfect. Unfortunately, Dave’s idea of perfection differed from most of the body shops he dealt with, so in many cases he had to take matters into his own hands. The result was a radiant Martin Senour Red-Orange and White two-tone paint scheme laid down on a super-straight body. All the body pieces were painted and rubbed out while disassembled and then carefully reassembled. The paint job looks as good underneath as on top.
The cabin received the same attention to detail as the rest of the truck. New wiring from M&H Electrical was installed throughout, with sound deadener on the firewall, floorboards, and behind the seats. The factory bucket seats were reupholstered in orange and black houndstooth seat covers from Dave’s company catalog and then installed flanking the original center console. New weatherstripping and window channels guarantee that wind noise won’t detract from the tunes pumped out by the Custom Autosound stereo.
The only problem we found with this truck is that it’s not driven enough, but we can hardly blame Dave because there’s not a spot on this truck that doesn’t look better than new.
So, when we get our Project Frame Up done, what do you say to we drive ’em cross-country?