This is an article that was published in Rodder's Digest October 1995 issue
On a Bet
In Iowa City there's a gas station, and until a few years ago, there was a '34 Ford pickup
sitting there, settling a little further into the dirt as each year passed by. Numerous rodders, restorers, and old truck buffs had tried to buy the truck over the years,
but the answer was always the same: Not For Sale!
Then one day, fate put Richard Crees in the right place at the right time. He was driving his '37 Chevy and stopped in at the station for gas.....the owner saw the car and asked Dick if he was interested in buying another old car. Dick said maybe, and they both went out back to look at the pickup. It wasn't much to look at, either: The body was Badly rusted away at the bottom and the frame had pretty much rusted in half and sagged in the middle, allowing the box to crease the back of the cab. Well, Dick thought he
could use a shop truck, so after a little negotiating, the tired old truck was headin' for its new home at Dick's shop.
Soon after that, Roy Lewis stopped by Dick's place (Roy owns Chassis Engineering in nearby West Branch), and the two got to bench racing about car building. Well, to make a long story short, Roy bet Dick that he couldn't build the truck in 11 days.
Dick said "You're on!" and immediately set to work, and while he didn't quite win the bet, 21 days later a high-boy primered pickup, powered by a 440 Mopar motor, rolled out of the shop and down the street.
Here's what happened in 21 days: After repairing the frame, Dick boxed it and built and installed engine and tranny mounts. The rear suspension consists of an 8-¾ inch Mopar rear end hung on leaf springs. Up front is a dropped I-beam with a four-link, and 69 plymouth GTX disc brakes.... Home made mounts. Dick added a Vega box, a home-brewed pedal assembly, ran brake lines and shot it with a coat of red paint. Power came from a 69 Plymouth GTX. 440 and 727-b automatic tranny.
The stock box was almost perfect, so Dick simply cleaned it up, shot it in primmer and bolted it back on the frame. The body needed some pretty serious work though, and somewhere in the middle of all that cutting and welding the roof lost some four inches of height. It too was covered in primer, then fitted with Stewart-Warmer gauges, owner-strung wires, and a stock seat covered with an Indian blanket. Then it was time to hit the road, and we do mean hit it! Dick drives the truck almost every day (even in the winter, when he admits it gets a little cool inside), goin to town picking up parts, and goin'out dancing.
After some 42,000 miles (Dick estimates that he puts about 6,000 miles a year on the truck), the 440 decided it'd try running on just 7 cylinders and shoved a rod out the bottom of the block (in all fairness, this action may have been in response to Dick's driving habits.....he does admit to occasional bursts of "spirited" acceleration). Well, Roy Lewis had an extra Hemi laying around, so last winter that engine was put together and installed in the truck. The 1957 vintage motor is a 392, bored to 400 cubes and fitted with vintage parts. Jahns 12.5:1 pistons, Mickey Thompson aluminum rods, a Milodon oil pump and 6 quart pan, a Crower cam (300° duration, 540 intake, 540 exhaust), big valves, and Isky chrome rocker shafts with 1,5:1 rockers. External stuff includes a reworked stock intake with a Holley 750 double pumper, Shortend stock water pump housing with a 440 water pump installed, Water pump adapter plate (Rod Doctor designed) is also the chevy alternator mount, 440 damper and pulleys, Homemade ignition, Sanderson headers (with dumps that are used pretty regularly), and homemade chrome steel valve covers and air breather. Oh, and that 727-B tranny is still in there, kickin' and screamin' behind the hemi.
Along with the new engine came a fresh coat of primer, which prompted Eric Aurand (Eric's automotive sensibilities have apparently been severely warped by hanging around us too much) to shoot these photos of the truck. So there you have it; a low-buck 21-day wonder that's driven daily in the heartland.
