1989 Chevy C1500 - For The Memory

Once the Kellers were done making sparks and paint fly on the frame, they moved on to the bodywork, including the front stock bumper, which was dechromed, welded, and smoothed. Adorning the metal craftsmanship are a couple of coats of the shiny candy red. Above the bumper rests a painted grille shell. Filling the void between the plastic bars is a phantom billet grille. Prominently displayed on the leading edge is a billet Bow Tie. All four of the side marker lights were sanded to a fine finish and painted in matching candy red, as well. An SS-style hood adds additional flair to an otherwise boring expanse of steel. Before the rest of the body of the truck could receive its glorious coating of color, more shaving was the order of business. On the gone-forever list are the door handles, antenna, taillights, gas door, tailgate handle, and body seams. A smooth, steel roll pan encloses the area where the rear bumper used to reside. Hiding what's inside the bed is a SnugTop fiberglass tonneau. At the completion of all this metalworking, PPG Candy-Red was finally blown across all of the exterior sheetmetal surfaces and miles of clear were laid down before color-sanding and polishing to bring this rolling memory to a high sheen. After color-sanding the truck to a mirror shine, a few more exterior accessories were put into place by Ken. Street Scene mirrors allow rearward view, Hitech LED lights mounted between the roll pan and tailgate warn tailgaters, and billet step plates take the place of the factory plastic parts.

In the go department, Ken had the tired original motor yanked from its home and handed off to Right Way machining. Right Way created a rumbler more fitting for this body-dragger. The 350ci block was bored 0.030 over before being fitted with fresh internals. Instead of the old TBI unit to feed fuel to the motor, a Street & Performance TPI hat was installed; but not before the manifold was completely polished and chromed. Getting fuel to this hungry mouse is a stainless steel fuel cell mounted under the tonneau in the bed. Dual Optima Yellow Top batteries billet-mounted into the bed supply power to the MSD ignition that sparks this painted and polished small-block. Ceramic-coated Flowtech headers move the hot gases out of the expelled cylinders after the 100 shots of NOS has its way with them. Flowmaster keeps it all to a dull roar. Trying to harness all those aggressive horses is a T-handle-shifted 700-R4 slush box.