MUSEUM QUALITY, many Magazine and reference book features. One of the best car builds of all time. Built 40 years ago by Dick Lewis, Tool & Die maker and machinist. Dick is a legend and Master Fabricator and is the origin of the term: "Hand Built". THE TRUCK: 29 ALL STEEL CAB AND FENDERS, METICULOUSLY MASSAGED AND REINFORCED. Bed shortened 12 inches with mahogany inlays and maple strips. Original 32-grille shell and insert, filled. Louvered splash aprons and rear fenders by Jack Hageman (Calif). The cowl is filled and stock firewall reshaped. Chromed 32 front bumper and brackets. The paint on this 29 is Corvette Monza Red, striped in Tan. There are no (zero) reproduction parts used on this truck. (there was no availability 40 years ago.) The headlights are Dietz on a dropped and peaked chromed headlight bar …SPECTACULAR! The chassis is real Model A, boxed, gusseted, filled and dropped. Lightening holes are prevalent everywhere; inner boxing plates, cross member, brackets and front dropped axle are all drilled. Hand built 4 bar, front and rear, with leaf springs (Transverse). 57 Olds rear with 63 Pontiac aluminum center section with 4:30 gears. Ross steering box, front disc brakes, rear 12" Olds drums. Entire front and rear suspension, including Olds rear, is show-chromed-everything. The rear brake drums were slotted on a Bridgeport, and in themselves are a work of art! During the 8 year process of this build, when the chassis was painted, striped and completed, it was shown all by itself and won many awards. The engine is a 1968 Z-28 302 with the stamping intact. The block is bored .030, fitted with forged crank (1970 Z-28) and pink rods, TRW pistons and now displaces 355 cubic inches. Z-28 angle plug heads and Crower cam add to the mix. The pièce de résistance is the 4-carb Man-A-Fre induction with 58 Olds J-2 carbs and Lewis-Built linkage. It's all fired by a Flamethrower ignition. Hand built stainless Tri-Y headers (No welds to be seen), and a completely plated exhaust are tubular jewelry. A Hurst-shifted M-20 4 SPD is mated to the block. (Real Hot Rods have 3 pedals.)!! Interior by Dick Gerwer is Acorn Naugahyde over a custom built seat. A modified stock dash (Tank) is filled with Stewart Warner gauges. A 2" chopped top is covered in tan Haartz cloth (LeBaron Bonney), with a matching "Potters" trunk in the bed cradled between the chromed roll bar uprights. The wheels are modified 35 Ford. Dick built a fixture to cut out the old Ford centers, and replace them with 4-3/4 Chevrolet pattern. The wheels now measure 5 x 15 front and 7 x 16 rear, wearing a set of grooved Firestone 950 x 16 Dirt Trackers in the rear and Pirelli 165 x 15 fronts. Living through the 60's (class of 65) I feel well acquainted with cars and Hot Rods of that era. This truck represents that time faithfully. A true historian would….will….and has drooled over the detail and authenticity of this Hot Rod. Even though the build is 40 years past, the truck shows no sign of age and still looks fresh. The thrill of owning this piece of history for the last 18 years is humbling. I will forever miss it, but circumstances and priorities must prevail. Thanks, Joe The cost to build this truck today would be in excess of $200,000.
The Jalopy Journal
