THERE have certainly been a few cars that can be best described as pure evil. A '58 Plymouth Fury by the name of Christine. The George Barris creation from the B-movie horror flick The Car. And of course, that '78 Granada Ghia I owned. Oooo! I just got a chill.
According to the Wizard of Oz, there are good witches, and there are bad witches. Patti McCormick is most certainly the former.
Patti McCormick is hoping to cast a few spells when her 1962 GMC Shortbox is finished in three weeks.
"I'm a Halloween freak," said McCormick, the first female member of the El Diablo's Car Club. Her '62 GMC shortbox is currently under the spell of fellow Diablo's, at the Hillbilly Garage on Highway 44.
Before we get into the tech specs, stare into McCormick's cauldron for a clearer picture of the finished Shortie. It will wear a flattened black finish, of course, with plenty of orange splashes under the hood, inside the steel cab, and in the rear box. The original tailgate is rotten to the core. A solid Chevy piece will have the stamped script erased for a flattened surface suitable for airbrushing. Fellow Diablo Kevin Wilson has been tapped for the mural spread, which will feature a cauldron filled with Bubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble. (In the new Economy size, with 50 per cent more Newt.)
This broom will have plenty of vroom. The donor 1980 Chevy parts truck came with a '72 Oldsmobile Rocket 455 nestled in the truck bed. It's mated to a Turbo 400 automatic, which will send its wheelspin to the donor's rear axle. That axle will look a little different in three weeks, the scheduled date for completion. Why bother killing trees to restore the original oak plank box floor when you can fill it up with wheel tubs instead? Meaty slicks will be just the thing to handle the Rocket's torque.
The donor truck is literally being picked dry by Don Park, the Dr. Frankenstein of the mechanical wing at the Hillbilly Garage. "We use pretty well everything," said Park, as he guided the front suspension from the donor into the frame rails of the Shortie. It fits like the proverbial glove, with almost all of the attachment bolt holes lining up. The donor frame was a little bit taller, which will require the top brackets of the motor mounts to be cut down and welded to the frame. It's interesting to note that the "fully-boxed frame" that today's trucks boast of was standard issue on the Shortie. The newer A-arm/coil spring front end is a vast improvement over the original torsion bar set-up. "(The torsion-bar system) was an experiment that didn't go very well," said Park. An added bonus is power steering, which should keep McCormick from casting angry spells in rush-hour traffic.
The cab will remain chopless, but it's the cargo box that is due for some drastic surgery. The rear bumper will be removed, in favour of a roll pan. Remember those unibody trucks that Ford experimented with and dumped in the early Sixties? Jamie Johnston thinks he has the solution to the dreaded box/cab flex. "The space between the two will be reinforced," said Johnston. The plan is to weld square tubing inbetween the box and cab, to anchor the two body units together. Once in place, metal will be welded over the gaps to form the foundation of the new body line. The door handles will also be removed, with metal blanks welded in to cover the large indents. "It will be very smooth," said Johnston. The interior treatment will include black leather buckets from a Ford XLT Lariat, with centre console.
Patti's husband Howard McCormick brought plenty of new-old-stock parts to the party, part of a parts truck find when the couple had a 1960 Stepside. "There's new inner and outer fenders, grille, rad support, and it's all GM parts," said Howard, who was busy at work helping Patti scrape the crud off of the donor suspension, part of the sweat equity work ethic that thrives within the El Diablo's Car Club. "He's a car guy," said Patti. Howard's passion is Impalas, which he restores to showroom condition. "I was joking with him and said if he can have all these cars, I can have a truck," said Patti. No word on whether or not a spell was used to clinch the deal. Patti chose a 1960 hood, with more prominent eyebrows. "I've always loved that look."
Patti's union with Howard is an appropriate continuation of her motoring youth, fueled by having four older brothers. "I never played with dolls," said Patti. "I played with cars." She hopes that her truck, which will be dubbed the 'Wicked Witch', will inspire the rest of her coven, uhm, female friends. "I think that there's a lot of women out there that would be interested in building vehicles, but they just don't know where to go."
Tuners? Rods? What are your mods? Email Michael Clark today with your project.
michaelclark@mts.net
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