[1]All images by Trevor Dye
It was in September of ’83, when 16-year-old Jim Silva, his father, brother George, and longtime friend Jerry Glover piled into his dad’s ’53 Chevy truck and headed to Stockton, California, in search of a truck for young Jim. The intrepid bunch spent most of the day looking for a viable candidate, but just as things were looking bleak, the senior Silva had one more lead he wanted to follow.
[2]The truck that Jim found in 1983.
“We had spent most of the day driving around and looking, but we hadn’t found anything that suited us. I thought we were done, until dad said, ‘there is one more’.” Jim said. Armed with only an address, the four guys and a their ’53 Chevy conveyance were enroute.
[3]
Upon arrival at an unassuming small house, Jim’s father knocked on the door. That’s when a lady answered, words were exchanged, and then she walked over and opened the garage door. Jim couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Sitting inside was a white, first-series, 1955 Chevy pickup. The truck was only a roller with just a shell of a body; no powertrain, glass, or any electrical.
[4]
Series One Or Series Two?
When the ’55 Chevy was first introduced, it was still part of the Advanced Design [5] series. It was identical to the 1954 model year. Mid-year, the second-series was released, and the new body style was referred to as the Work Force [6] series.
That was 34-years ago, and since then, the pickup has seen more than its fair share of alterations throughout those years. Now, however, Jim tells us that his little hauler features a boxed, stock frame with a 12-bolt rear filled 3:73 gears, a posi, and Strange [7] axles. The suspension features VariShock [8] coilovers and Chassisworks [9]’ control arms and g-machine spindles. Halting the pick-em-up is a set of Wilwood [10]disc brakes all around.
[11]
The engine is a 350 small-block that uses a Dart [12] block, Brodix [13] aluminum heads, and a BDS blower [14]. Behind that is a Turbo 400 with a Gear Vendors under/overdrive [15]
[16]
Inside the pickup, the stock seat is covered with gorgeous, Denali Black Naugahyde, and the floors are hidden under black loop-pile carpeting. Although the gauges are stock, Jim added a custom console to house the TCI [17] shifter.
[18]Wheels are by Budnik [19], and measure 18 x 8 and 19 x 12. The front tires are Nitto [20]NT555, in 245/45-18, and the rears are Nitto NTO5R 345/30-19.
The stock sheetmetal was massaged by Guy Ruchonnet before it was covered in a blue hue by Jorge Flores.
Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heroes? All you need to do is click here [21]. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more – we can never get enough. If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected] [22].