Chevrolet truck receives a custom job
In another customization project, Rick Slape set out to build a classic custom that any builder would be proud to claim. This
project requires a lot of his personal time and skill invested, not to mention some of the great work from local Bakersfield, California, craftsmen. Time and hard work resulted to an amazing outcome.
The base for this custom ‘48 Chevy is an ‘88 S-10 chassis that uses some stock equipment and numerous custom modifications. For example, the factory 15-gallon steel gas tank was modified to fit the ‘48 body, and the rear trailing arm suspension was hand built by Slape. At each corner, the custom suspension uses had new airbags and shocks to soak up the bumps. Up front on the ride are 18×8-inch wheels, while 20×9-1/2-inch wheels can be seen out back.
The interior of the ‘48 has nearly as many modifications as the sheetmetal outside. The dash was stretched 2 inches to meet the new door panels, before it was painted with the same PPG Yellow as the exterior. Slape did both the custom floor and overhead consoles. To tie up the whole yellow and purple theme, the seats were wrapped with yellow vinyl and purple tweed .
Once people popped the hood and they would see polished billet and cast aluminum and a chromed master cylinder surrounding the 350ci V-8. The smooth treatment didn’t stop with the bolt-on pieces, the entire block and cylinder heads were smoothed to complete the look. Slape also made the headers They dump into a 2-1/2-inch exhaust that leads to Stainless Works mufflers. Although it’s not on display, if you do peek underneath the truck you’ll see a 10-bolt Chevrolet rear end filled with 3.08 gears.