When I was 16 years old I set out to build the ultimate stereo for my ride, within my budget that is, which was inauspiciously diminutive. (This is my way of dancing around "unfortunately small!") The only thing I knew about wiring was hot wires and ground wires, and ya need a switch to turn things on. With more gall than brains I gathered all the components: receiver, subwoofer, amps, wires, and the like. Eventually I got it hooked up. From there I decided the inside of my ride needed to light up like a late-night Amsterdam discotheque. By tapping into circuits such as the dome light, power seats, and cigarette lighter I wired in strobe and black lights. It was my crowning achievement in wiring-when it worked that is. Most of the time I overloaded circuits, blew fuses, and melted wires together, but nonetheless I did it! Long story short, wiring is something anyone can accomplish so long as you set out to do it.

It's not uncommon to find crossover automotive themes applied to trucks. Take the Dodge Ram Rumble Bee, Ford SVT Lightning, or Chevy SSR for contemporary examples of passenger car themes applied to the truck market. While they are all cool in their own right, we're not a magazine that talks much about the late-model stuff. But it should come as no surprise that the classic truck world has had its share of themed builds as well, and Steve Brattin's Shelby Eleanor Mustang-inspired panel is one of the nicest executions we've ever seen.

Way back when young builders and modifiers and racers were basically inventing the hot rod hobby in Southern California, Culver City was one of the places it was happening. More than half a century later, it still is. In 2004, George Barris-the builder behind some of the best known TV and movie cars and show rods-brought the old days back to town for the inaugural Cruisin' Back to 50's Culver City Car Show.

Tough Guns
To meet the demands of welding applications ranging from light- to heavy-duty, Tregaskiss offers two brands: TOUGH GUN MIG Guns and TGX MIG Guns. Both MIG guns feature Tregaskiss' exclusive TOUGH LOCK Retaining Heads with Dual Taper Technology, a tapered design that locks the contact tip securely in place and keeps it centered to provide consistent weld quality.

One result of the growing popularity of traditional styling in hot rods, customs, and classic trucks is that the auto manufacturers are catching on. Have you noticed the recent trend in Detroit of reintroducing old marques-or creating new ones-designed with modern versions of old-time styling?

A C10 That Knows a Good Deal Garry Beightol from Montevideo, Minnesota, sent us shots of his '65 Chevy along with the story behind it. We'll let Garry take it from here.

When you're 16 years old, life moves at a fast pace. Your mouth writes checks your proverbial butt can't cash, your vast amount of assumed knowledge is light years ahead of your actual knowledge, and dreams run much wilder than your wallet. Yet there is light at the end of the tunnel. For most things come full circle and eventually meet at an equal playing ground. On that ground dreams become reality. For Clayton Lashley his dreams and vision met head on when he turned 63 years old.

Longtime reader Noris Carsen spotted this trio on one of his many ventures about the country, carrying his camera as always for just such an opportunity. He was on his way to South Dakota and into western Minnesota last summer when he spotted the relics along the highway outside of Browns Valley, Minnesota.

I know a lot of guys rave about how much they get done during the winter months. I get the fact that the rough weather makes doing many other outdoor activities impossible during those cold months, but when the sun starts setting early and the shop starts to get fitfully cold, it just doesn't seem like such an inviting place as it does when the sun is shining and the air is dry and warm. I've noticed this being especially the case this year. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I've shipped the Willys back over to its owner and I'm now back to concentrating full time on my F-1 project. Perhaps it's the anticipation that's come with being appointed editor of CCT that's got me geared up, raring to go, ready to kick-start the summer with a bang. Whatever it is, I'm trying my darndest to make the best of the newly found motivation that's burning within.

Wayne Terry bought this '67 Chevy pickup 14 years ago, and as his wife, Perley, described the half-ton, "It needed a lot of fixing up to make it into a truck just to use." How it got to be what is seen here is best explained by Mrs. Terry. She tells us that four years ago Wayne retired at the age of 74 after 50 years of being an airline mechanic. It was then the little woman put her foot down and informed her hubby, "That truck has got to be fixed, it's been in the garage long enough." Over the years all sorts of things had been stacked on and around it, in fact Perley swears that when the garage door was opened it was impossible to see it.

In the world of Custom Classic Trucks the vehicles representing the genre are as the name implies: custom. When hearing the word "custom" and "truck" together the first thought that goes racing from the left to right lobe of the brain is appearance. However, what lies under the scathed or unscathed sheetmetal needs to be appealing as well.

For many truck enthusiasts the mechanical aspects of our vehicles are easy to accept even if they're not completely understood, but the same can't always be said for the electrical system. Electricity is one of those things so theoretical in nature that it can be difficult grasp. After all, it's not something you can see (unless you walk across the carpet in your socks and touch someone and see a big, blue spark). But on the other hand you don't have to see it to know it exists, as anyone who has made contact with the business end of a spark plug wire with an engine running will testify.

Getting' hooked up doesn't always make out like one's initial train of thought might imagine. For instance, in the hot rod realm, oftentimes hooked up is simply referring to "hooking" parts together. In this specific case at hand, getting hooked up is tied into installing linkages: throttle, tranny, pedal, and column to be specific. Yep, for this chapter in the book of Project Get Shorty it's time to link all the mechanical systems together in order to get this hauler one step closer to flight.

At the tender age of 8 Tony Bowling fell in love but not with the girl next door, rather with the '56 Ford F-100 owned by his neighbor. By the time he was 15 Tony owned his first truck, a '49 Ford F-1 and not long after dragging it home the teenager learned that building a truck on the money generated by a job at the local car wash meant that he would have to gain the skills to do most of it himself. Thanks to his patient older brother Donald, Tony learned about the mechanical aspects of building a truck while knowledgeable friends and family members coached him on bodywork and painting. Rebuilding a variety of rust buckets helped hone his skills as Tony continued to learn by doing.

In last month's edition of CCT I spoke about how the '79 Chevy C10 Big 10 known to loyal CCT readers as the Americruise truck had gone through a lot of good changes. I discussed how the first improvements after buying the truck and readying it to drive across country in only six weeks time for Americruise was to install a Gearstar 4L60E transmission and rack-up over 5,200 test miles in one week on CPP's new trailing-arm kit for '73-87 C10s. I also mentioned how I had installed Howell Development's TBI kit, the Wilwood/CPP 14-inch big disc brake conversion, plus a bunch of Dakota Digital goodies, as well as a host of other upgrades that could be found in tech stories archived on CCT's website. I concluded by saying "in next month's issue we're really going to rock and roll. Before Brothers power-window mechs go in. I'm going to line the doors with Dynamat, and enclose the 6x9 speakers the right way with a Boom Mat, and DynaXorb. While I'm at we'll also drop in a set of 6x9 cab corner brackets from Jeff Drew at 73-87.com." That said in this issue we are at exactly the point where we can pick it back up as promised.

There was a time when rod runs were events put on by local car clubs, meant to bring local hot rodders together. As hot rodding enjoyed a big period of growth in the late '60s and early '70s national associations were formed to bring larger groups of hot rodders together with a series of regional and national events. Suddenly there were a lot of big events and many of the local club rod runs began to drop from the scene. There are still many club events that draw a good crowd and have a proud heritage, but what is really refreshing is to see a resurgence in club events in recent years. The Lonestar Roundup in Austin, Texas, is produced by the Kontinentals Car Club and in nine short years they have gone from a local event held at a high school to an event that filled the Austin Fairgrounds with over 1,200 cars and trucks this year. It is a success story based on attracting young, energetic hot rodders and mixing cool hot rods with great music and a laid-back, fun atmosphere. Like many fun events, there is a certain intangible ingredient that makes this event blossom while others fade. In this case the location is a great one, with Austin, Texas, being a good destination for hot rodders who enjoy basic hot rods. The Lonestar Roundup now has national and international buzz going on making this one of the premier club-produced events today.

Peggy Fontaine's love of all things classic began when she met her husband, Kurt. A lifelong hot rodder and all around tinkerer, Peggy's sudden immersion in the hot rod scene surrounding their Dayton, Ohio, home soon had her yearning, like many women lucky enough to become involved in the hobby, for a hot rod all her own.

Steer in the Right Direction
Classic Performance Product's new five-way adjusting tilt columns are designed for those who want great performance at an affordable price. These columns designed to fit '67-72 Chevy trucks and are made with 100 percent new parts. Included with each column is a factory-style floor seal and retaining ring, dash seal, and OE-style knobs. The columns come in a semi-gloss black finish with a 3/4-36 splined output shaft.

The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association is lookin’ for a few good trucks! A special indoor truck exhibit will highlight the 21st Autumn Get-Together November 13 & 14 in Pleasanton, CA. The exhibit will feature trucks of all years, makes, models and styles – from street trucks to semi trucks, dump trucks, fire trucks and any kind of truck you can imagine.

The Carlisle Truck Nationals has something for every member of the truck family including the Kid’s at Carlisle activity center and the Women’s Oasis! With adult general admission at $10 and kids 8 and under FREE, the Carlisle Truck Nationals is an affordable family all-day outing that every member of the family can enjoy without hitting one’s wallet. The Carlisle Monster Truck Program featuring the Virginia Giant and Eradicator are included with admission. Take a ride on the Virginia Giant Ride Truck and experience the raw horsepower of these awesome machines. Carlisle is the only venue in the nation that allows the ride truck to crush cars, so buckle up and get ready for the ride at the Carlisle Truck Nationals. Plus, see the fire-breathing, car-eating, three-story tall MEGASAURUS on Friday and Saturday only. Carlisle is also THE place to shop for truck parts, accessories and memorabilia with a huge midway and swap meet. (read more)

Who wouldn’t like to have a cool custom garage for working on your custom classic truck? Morton Buildings is in the business of making that happen for hobbyists like you.

In the past, a lot of the automotive magazines aimed at a female audience have been lightweight reads about with tech stories on how to change the oil or fix a flat. In many cases, those magazines were published by men trying to predict what would appeal to women. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that a lot of the women we know want something that really reflects the perspective of the serious-about-her-hobby, hands-on female enthusiast.

Hot rod builder Vern Tardel has released the fourth booklet in his “Let Me Help You” series of guides for traditional Ford enthusiasts. Ford Ignition—Ignition Systems for Early V8’s illustrates and describes the selection, disassembly, restoration, reassembly, troubleshooting, and calibration of the classic Ford Crab Cap distributor. The 44-page pocket-sized booklet is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to 8-cylinder Ford and aftermarket Flathead ignition systems and is great resource for any traditional Flathead engine builder.

David Latshaw's Fully Loaded '56 GMC David Latshaw's '56 GMC is indeed a rare breed. Purchased from the original owner in Canoga Park, California, back in 1994, David was told that it was one of only a few Deluxe cabs built with every available option offered. Powered by a 336ci V-8 backed by a four-speed Hydramatic transmission, the truck also features power steering, a front sway bar, and dual gas tanks. A side-mounted spare, full gauge set, dual outside mirrors, armrests, and sunvisors wrap up the factory options.

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