Truck And Jeep Fest, Canfield 2007
The 4 Wheel Parts Canfield Truck and Jeep Fest last July was a premier event and we hope you enjoyed the coverage in the November issue. If you closed your eyes to snap pictures and fired off the camera aimlessly, you could hardly not catch a cool truck or happening. We shot so many interesting rigs that we decided to put some into a “Best-Of” collection. Our choices run the gamut from the cost-was-no-object, way over the top, to some really nice daily drivers, the kinda weird and some sweet vintage iron. Want to feast your eyes on more beauties like these? Then be sure to reserve July 26-27, 2008 as the Truck and Jeep Fest will return to Canfield with even more vehicles.
Camo Scrambo - Judging by his “Bowhuntin” license plate, Doug Dove, of Chillicothe, Ohio, likes to hear the twang of a bow in the woods. If so, he has the perfect Jeep. His ’83 Jeep Scrambler has a mildly upcammed 350 Chevy transplant in front of a basically stock drivetrain. With a 4Wheel Drive Hardware 4-inch lift, the truck mounts 35 inch Mickey Thomson MTZs on Champion beadlocks. The paint is a bed liner kind of material Doug didn’t identify but it looks to be just about bulletproof and perfect for avoiding brush “pinstriping” from ‘wheeling in the woods.
Bowtie on Air - This ’76 Chevy shortbed stepside bears only a superficial resemblance to its original self. Dave Gwin designed and built a custom air suspension on a pair of GI deuce-and-a-half Rockwell axles. If we read his spec sheet right, he has a total of more than four feet of travel available at the flip of a switch. It mounts 425/65-22.5 Goodyears on custom 22.5 rims. The 350 smallblock is enhanced with a hot cam, intake and carb, as well as a custom exhaust. The 350 hands off to a TH-350 trans and NP-203 t-case. The Rockwells carry 6.72:1 cogs and steers from both the front and rear via hydraulics. Obviously, it has a tilt bed. The superb paint and graphics come from Randy McFarland. Just behind the cab Dave mounted a screen on the chassis and was playing monster truck DVDs for the fun and edification of the crowd.
Classic Michigan Mudder - Rick Heinze, the Junior, of Morenci, Michigan, has been mudding this resurrected ’53 Chevy 3100 in competition and fun for the past seven years. It’s homebuilt and powered by a big bad 454 Chevy. The body has been mounted onto a later model GM truck chassis and with 8-inch Superlift springs, it mounts a set of 44 inch Interco Boggers. The rear axle is a “Lincoln-Locked” GM 14-bolt and the front a Dana 60. The old Bowtie managed a fourth place finish in the mud bog competition in a spread that was only three tenths of a second from second to fourth. As Maxwell Smart used to say, “Missed it by THAT much!”
Khaki Cowboy - This rig shows that it isn’t the number of things bolted onto a Jeep, it’s which ones. Kevin Killmier’s ’06 Rubicon mounts 37 x 13-50-16 Mickey Thompson Baja Claws. To get there, Kevin installed a 6-inch Fabtech kit and a body lift. Other details include a Hanson winch bumper with a Warn XD900i winch and OR Fab tube doors.
Not Your Grampa’s Chevy - In 1967, GM rolled out a completely redesigned line of trucks but Bob Walter’s bears only a superficial resemblance to the C-10 that rolled off the line at Chevrolet that year. To start with, Bob turned the two-wheeler into a four-wheeler. Beyond that he went max performance. The powerplant is a very built 355 smallblock with a tunnel ram with dual 500cfm Edelbrocks. It’s lifted with a Superlift 12-inch kit and mounts 44-inch Interco Boggers on Mickey Thompson wheels.
The Big Six - Robert Malec’s ’62 Chevy K10 Sharknose marks the era when the last of the old “Stovebolt” style Chevy sixes were sold. Showing only 34,000 miles, it had lived and worked on a New Jersey farm most of its life and was fitted with a snowplow. Tan house paint, applied by brush, preserved the body and made the resto a lot easier. Mechanically, little was needed but a major service and some carb work. The big 261ci six runs like a top and has the grunt to turn the 33 x 13.50 Interco TSLs on Pro Comp Rock Crawler wheels. The interior is factory stock and original, as is the drivetrain.
Tilt-Nose Willy - Willys Overland engineers wouldn’t believe the treatment Christopher Fritch gave their work truck some 60 years later. The ’48’s most obvious mod is the nicely executed tilt front that covers an equally nicely done 350 that mounts an Edelbrock Performer intake with a Holley 600 feeding the fire, Hooker block hugger headers and a custom exhaust provides an escape route for the digested gasoline. A GM drivetrain, including a Turbo 400 trans and Dana 44 disc brake front axle carries the power down to 35 x 14.50-15 Super Swamper SSRs on American Racing Outlaw wheels.
Orange, but Not Crushed - Most ’57 Willys Wagons have long since had their final appointment with the crusher. Not so Dave Doepker’s. And Dave means to see that you don’t forget it! The basically stock Willys is a feast of orange. The superb body and interior work is all done in various shades of the color-that-is-fruit. The stock Willys 226ci Hurricane flathead six included. Other than the 33 x 12.50 Mickey Thompson tires on chrome spoker wheels and a Flowmaster muffler, the wagon is mechanically stock. The interior is retro-style custom in a pumpkin color that really works with the wood details. This Willys was a super hit and earned a Show-n-Shine award.
Opel Tracker It’s been said the ’68-74 Opel GT was one of the most lovely body styles ever fitted to a motor car. It’s also been said that the performance barely reached anything that could loosely be called “sporty.”We’re not sure what Tom Bedore of Follansbee, West Virginia, thinks about that, but he knows what happens when you combine that curvaceous body with a ‘97 Geo Tracker. Tom says that only Opel or Geo parts were used in the conversion, with the exception of a 6,000 pound Warn winch, fabricated bumpers and nerf bars and the Buckshot Mudder tires. Don’t know how else to say it, but it works!
Rolling Thunder Ram Dually Trying to get a photo of Marty and Kathy Miozzi’s Dodge just about required armed guards to keep people away for the few minutes needed. The compelling part of this truck is the custom made suspension. It offers 22 inches of lift on the fabbed four-link setup. The truck mounts six 49 x 21-16.5 IROKs on custom built rims. The V10 is stock but for a 3-inch dual exhaust system. No doubt when climbing into this truck, it’s wise to stop halfway and get used to the altitude for a while before proceeding. This truck was a serious crowd pleaser, as evidenced by garnering a people’s choice Show-n-Shine award.