A '48 truck cab was used for the greenhouse and part of the cowl. With the new metal welded into place and looking almost like a truck again, the top was cut off. With some help from the legendary Gene Winfield, the team at WCC chopped the top 2 inches, but kept the same rear window height. Bob's Classic Auto Glass stepped up and supplied tinted glass to fit the cab's new profile. Most of the remaining body pieces came from Pro's Pick, including a new steel bed, tailgate, roll pan, tonneau cover, and running boards. Pro's Pick also supplied fiberglass fenders, both front and rear, but they didn't just bolt them on.
According to Gary Sobbry, the department chair of the Auto Body Repair and Custom Cars & Concepts, "the front fenders were extended in the cowl area to delete the filler panel located between the lower cowl and fender." The rear fenders were widened 2 inches to cover the 12-inch wide rear tire that was planned for the Ford. To get Justin's vision of a sleek hot-rod, the door handles, bumpers, drip rails, and fuel door were all removed by the students. In place of the bumpers, students installed a roll pan with LED lights for the rear, and a handmade valance for the front. Other exterior modifications include a custom fiberglass hood from Fairlane Company and Auto-Loc suicide door hinges and bear-claw latches that were added after the doors were reinforced. Ford aficionados will quickly notice the '51 grille was modified along the way. Headlight buckets were frenched into the center of the grille, and the grille teeth were shortened to float in the grille opening.
Thanks to the hard work of Ray Evans and dyno-tuning at Paul's High Performance, the blown 4.6L puts out 540 hp.
Next, Gary Sobbry's autobody crew took on the challenge of painting the truck PPG DCC 9000 Black, and they sprayed it on every facet of the truck before dousing the body in clear. When the body was back from the paint booth and buffed to a high gloss, Steele Rubber weatherstripping was installed to seal the doors and hood, and a Painless Wiring harness connected all of the important electrical components.
If you can tear your eyes away from the body and take a look at the wheels, you might recognize them from another high-performance Ford. The crew at WCC painted a set of Ford GT wheels gloss black to match the truck. Look just behind those wheels and you'll notice SSBC disc brakes. The rest of what lies under the sheetmetal is equally cool. The factory frame was tossed for a complete Fatman Fabrications unit, with Mustang II arms and spindles and QA1 coils up front. The rear also uses QA1 coils, but this time on a Ford 8.8-inch rearend, hung from a Fatman Fabrications four-link and Panhard bar that was welded into the custom rectangular-tube chassis. A 6-inch notch by fabrication leader Joe Ortiz at WCC allows the truck to sit at the ride height you see here. Aside from the parallel four-link, the rear of the frame also holds a 20-gallon brushed-aluminum fuel tank, fabricated by the students, as well as an Optima battery that mounts to one framerail. The suspension, as well as the rest of the truck, used Gardner-Wescott fasteners throughout.