Whether we agree with them or not, GM made slight changes to their generations of trucks throughout the model years. Over the given span of a generation of trucks GM made several changes, ranging from aesthetic to practical. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. When it comes to the Advance-Design trucks, one change that appeared on the new '52 model never should have, at least in our book.

Hidden Treasure
Mar-K now makes Chevrolet and GMC Stepside tailgates modified with hidden latches and link assemblies. These excellent quality tailgates are GM Licensed Parts-available with or without the script. The latches are inside the tailgate with only the knob visible on the inside. This tailgate is perfect for those who want the traditional tailgate without the chains, which are noisy and sometimes damage the paint finish. The tailgates are made from 16-gauge electro-galvanized steel. Included with the tailgate is a customizing kit to convert stock bed sides to work with the hidden latches and links. For further information, contact Mar-K Quality Parts at 405/721-7945.

We've all heard about clay by now, but most have only seen the pre-packaged kits that come with a small clay bar, a microfiber towel, instant detailer, and a small bottle of wax. Sure those kits work, but for us hot rodders who already have waxes, rags, detailer, and so forth, we would rather have good quality clay.

Always expect the unexpected. This saying is so common, so true, so prevalent yet somehow it still doesn't seem to embed its message into our brains-or at least mine, anyway. I don't know about you, but when I set out to do something I have it all planned in my head. Step A will be followed by B, then by C, etc. I don't plan any unexpected events in my course of action. I should, though, because no matter what I do there is always that elusive glitch. In my recent quest to lower the lid on my '71, the thing I didn't foresee was space-magazine space, that is.

"This truck has a big ol' nasty ZZ4 motor with rear tires that are a foot and a half wide. But the sound it makes doesn't match all the commotion." Harold Davis of Costa Mesa, California, is like a lot of Custom Classic Trucks' readers: he loves all kinds of trucks. By day, Harold drives a conventional Peterbuilt pulling doubles, but when his shift ends it's over to his private workshop hidden away in a SoCal industrial park where he can work on his pickups without being bothered. Harold is a pretty low-key kind of guy. Sure, he's had his fun traveling over 100 mph, a quarter-mile at a time-but those days spent at the dragstrip are behind him now. These days for relaxation and enjoyment Harold likes to cruise his '55 Chevy pickup down to the donut shop on Saturday, or to a local car show. Running with open headers on the street is not an option for Harold. He just likes to roll low and slow. Of course, all bets are off when Harold's destination is one of the many local events in southern California that feature open-header cruising. Hey, can you blame him? After all, who wants to be the meek, quiet guy when the badasses are out to play? To enjoy the benefits of both worlds-the throaty mellow sound of Flowmaster mufflers, and the roar of Hooker Headers-Harold took his '55 over to the Muffler Man in Placentia, California, where Josh custom-installed a pair of Flowmaster mufflers behind Harold's existing set of Hookers. In between the Hookers and the Flowmasters, Josh custom-fabricated a pair of 21/2-inch pipes and then plugged in a pair of QTP Electric Cutouts. With a background in drag racing, Harold knew installing a pair of cutouts often meant more cool noise, but with a distinct possibility of losing bottom-end torque and horsepower. Before making the final decision to go with the QTP Electric Cutouts, Harold did a little research and learned that the folks at QTP claimed their setup would actually add torque and horsepower. When Harold told us what he'd heard about the QTP Electric Cutouts, we expressed our doubts and suggested that after Josh the Muffler Man had worked his custom-exhaust fabricating magic we run a dyno test and find out. As soon as Josh fired up the '55 with its new, bitchin'-sounding Flowmasters, we jumped in the '55 and drove it to our tech center. Within a few minutes, Jason Scudellari had Harold's ZZ4-powered Chevy pickup on our Mustang chassis dyno making a series of pulls. The first pulls were all made with the QTPs corked up. After ensuring all of the test conditions were identical to the first pulls, Jason blasted the '55 back up to 5,300 rpm and ran her with the QTPs open. Although our results weren't as impressive as some of QTP's other applications, we have to admit we were impressed that the ZZ4-powered '55 really did make more horsepower and torque. After averaging our results, the closed numbers were 244 hp and 269 lb-ft of torque-and then 249 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque with the QTPs wide open. As the saying goes: When it comes to money and horsepower, every little bit helps. Now Harold has a thundering exhaust note to match his truck's badass profile.

The secret to doing good work and not turning one's truck into a complete pile of junk by exhibiting poor craftsmanship is to use the right tool for the job. It's not hard to tell when a truck has been customized by a metal butcher-there are detectable scars left from one end to the other. Of course, sometimes a guy doesn't know that his truck was butchered until the Bondo has been peeled back, but that's a story for another issue.

Needless to say, some of the building methods that appeared on the Advance Design Chevy and GMC trucks are a bit archaic. Although several examples come to mind, at this moment in time one particular piece centered on the aesthetic appeal of the rear end comes to the forefront: tailgate chains. And to be honest, when it comes to "curb appeal" tailgate chains are about as attractive as the thought of Rosie O'Donnell sprawled out across the hood of a Corvette like an '80's shop poster!

With today's demand to have fuel-injected motors, electric fans, A/C, and creature comforts nestled into our trucks, a few issues need to be taken into account. One is the mechanics, obvious gimmes. Two is something equally as important, yet often seems to be more of an afterthought: the electrical system.

I've liked flames since I was a little kid growing up in Southern California during the '50s. I can't remember if the first time I ever saw something flamed was in one of my dad's custom car magazines, or on a hot-rod driving down the street. I do remember by the time I was in elementary school I was getting in trouble with my teachers for drawing flames on all of my school papers. When old people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told them a custom painter. By the time I was 14 I was custom painting all of my friend's bicycles in the neighborhood. By age 17, I had opened up a custom paint shop out of my parent's garage.

Whether a person is a dyed in the wool small-block Chevy lover, or a hardcore Bow Tie hater, there is no denying that the little "mouse motor" has reigned supreme for almost 60 years. Unlike other Detroit brands with developmental changes that dictated breaking the mold with each new series of V-8 introduced, Chevrolet has been able to maintain a direct lineage to its original external dimensions. On the inside, the six-decade evolutionary process has led to a highly evolved OHV pushrod engine that shares few components with its ancestors.

"You don't know what you got 'til it's gone." How many times have you heard those words come spewing at you? Too many, I'm sure. However, the underlying emphasis in those few words rings true more times than one would probably like to count. In the world of old trucks, one of those "things" that many think they can do without often becomes a first on the to-do list while the hauler is parked for winter. Exactly what is that thing that so many decide to forego? Why, none other than air conditioning.

In these times of political correctness it has become quite fashionable to jump on the Green movement's bandwagon. But for folks who are into enjoying customized classic trucks, the notion of maintaining something vintage instead of throwing it away to buy something new is old hat. The quickest and most effective way to improve the appearance of any vehicle- whether it's a car, truck, or motorcycle-is to swap out the wheels and tires with a distinctive style that expresses the individuality of its owner. That said, the fastest way to tell the world that the owner slob who doesn't take pride in himself or anything he owns is to neglect the appearance of his custom wheels and tires. Of course, just like the poor guy who exits the men's room with an undetected stringing wad of toilet paper stuck to his shoe, maybe the slovenly owner hasn't quite learned to train his eye how to appreciate subtle details.

There are some things in life that will never change. Take for example the old adage that "oil is cheap insurance." With crude oil selling for over $100 a barrel the average person probably doesn't get it, but to any gearhead it's obvious that the oil in their engine should be clean and provide the right lubrication. This makes all the sense in the world, as oil is the internal combustion engine's lifeblood. It determines whether an engine will die a slow, grinding death, or if it will vanish instantly in a terrible explosion.

There are customizing projects that the average do-it-yourselfer can easily take on by himself at home--and then are the specialized tasks that must be left to an experienced professional. That is, of course, unless we are talking about that rare breed of DIY guy who doesn't seem to care whether or not he did a sloppy job and ruined most of his new parts as long as he can say that he did it himself. For you fellows who don't fall into either category we have enlisted the help of Pete Engel and Mario at Pete's Westminster Auto Upholstery to reveal some automotive carpet laying tips that will help you to lay carpet in your truck at home like a pro. It wasn't easy for us to convince Pete to help us out. He was worried that he would be barraged with phone calls from people looking to buy a carpet kit from him or, worse yet, to answer a bunch of how-to questions. So please don't call Pete unless you are interested in having an award-winning custom interior done, like the ones he's done for Pebble Beach winners or the Grand National Roadster Show.

If there's one truck that crosses over into each realm of truck trends, it's an Advance Design Chevy. Whether a guy wants a stock restored truck, a hot rodded truck, a true radical custom, a pro street, or something to put up on a set of poles 30 feet in the air as a shop sign, the Advance Design Chevy is game for all. Even the cell phone company, Cricket, has its trademark neon green Advance Design Chevy plastered all over its ad campaigns. It's one of the most versatile trucks in the custom classic truck marketplace simply because it appeals to all ages, all minds, and all hot rodders. For that reason it's also one of the most popular to modify.

What's the ugliest part of your truck's body? Some say it's the nose, others say it's how it tows. We say it's the doors. Give it some thought and we think you will all agree that an old truck's doors can be a proverbial cauldron of rust and wear-induced problems.

Over the past few months Project Get Shorty has seen a number of stories thrown its way. From suspension to frame hacking, and from welding to bolt-ons, it's undergone quite a transformation from its starting point as a long, non-acrophobic "This is our country" everyday working man's truck. However, one aspect to the build we haven't really delved into is the transformation of the skin of the Chevy.

Ever since the beginning of time man has pondered the age-old question of how to bond fiberglass to steel without having it crack in no time like an egg dropped from the cab of a lifted truck traversing a rocky road across the plains of Montana. OK, so I exaggerated a little, but you guys get the point: it's pretty tough to successfully bond fiberglass to steel without having it crack and separate.

When we left ya hangin' last month during our wood bed install, we had just laid down the black stain. With the stain having, well, stained the wood, we can now move on to varnishing and polishing the Bruce Horkey ash wood. For this installment go ahead and grab your white-and-black-rising-sun-Karate-Kid bandana and be prepared to work those arms "paint the fence"-style.

There was a time when repairing extensive rust damage on a Tri-Five Chevy or a GMC cab meant tracking down a good or at least better example of the necessary sheetmetal and then carefully cutting it out. From here the next step was to figure out how to gracefully graft it back onto the truck. Back in the '70s, when these trucks were 20 or so years old, it took a real metalman and a fair amount of luck to pull the job off successfully. Flash forward another 10 years or so and the pool of good replacement used tin has diminished considerably, and time has taken its toll on the number of good metalmen around.

There are certain phases we humans go through as we grow up, one being dressing up. Whether it's cowboys and Indians as kids, toga parties in college, or the Hogettes at a Skins game, it's all part of our natural evolution as expressive individuals. Another area we project our desire to "dress up" is with our rides. From the outside in, and from the front to the back, we constantly change the look of whatever current truck we have in our possession. One area that gets a much-needed makeover is the engine.

When we left you hangin' last month, Smeding was just finishing up with the bottom end of their brand new 400-plus-horsepower 383 Hot Rod crate motor. Therefore, it's only natural that for this month we continue on and finish up with the top-end build. Well I guess it's not natural, because we could go all sitcom on ya and linger this thing on for a full season, but we're not fond of that either so we'll just cut to the chase. Upon completion we'll head to the dyno and see if the hype really does match the bite.

By the mid-'50s, Detroit's race to produce an overhead valve V-8 engine was full steam ahead, with offerings from all of the major manufacturers. For Ford automobiles and trucks sold in the United States, the switch from a flathead to overhead valve configuration took place with the introduction of the 1954 models (one year later in Canada). Over a half of a century has passed since the introduction of the venerable Ford Y-block engine, and amongst many a Ford fanatic the trusty engine is still considered the king.

It kind of looks like Grant and I missed our deadline for the Bumpside Build-Off-and yes I'm not calling it the Bulletside Build-Off anymore. That's the first revision in my game plan, and I'll get to the second one in a couple of paragraphs.

Strange how one's mind becomes swayed through the course of actions. When I set out to build Project Get Shorty I had absolutely no intentions, whatsoever, to throw in a wood bed. I was high hung on: "If ain't steel, get real!" However, a little bird from somewhere popped into my head about maybe putting in a wood bed, and, well, the more I started thinking about a wood bed, the more my mind shifted.