’57 Chevy Fleetside

Custom truck enthusiast Alan Beers from Owasso, Oklahoma has always been a custom truck guy. Alan had a dream of someday building an award-winning early model custom truck. He located a ’57 Chevy fleetside pickup project that the previous owner had started work on. Jason and Jim Smith at Hot Rods Garage (HRG) in Sand Springs, Oklahoma had taken on the project and were making progress when the owner ran out of cash and ambition. Alan was able to hook up the owner, they haggled a bit, and after a handshake, Alan exchanged a fistful of cash for the pink slip. Alan reconnected with Jason and Jim at HRG where they collaborated, produced a rendering and put the new project in gear.

After the truck was delivered to HRG, the first thing they did was remove the cab, bed, front fenders and hood to expose the original frame. The frame was stripped down to the frame rails. After a trip through the media blaster, the cross members were removed and replaced with custom versions. The rear frame rails were cut and step-notched to allow ample clearance so that the rearend housing won’t bottom out during negative suspension travel. The inside of the frame rails were boxed for added strength and rigidity. A narrowed Ford 9-inch axle housing was stuffed with 3.70:1 gears and a Strange limited-slip differential. The Ford rearend housing is anchored by a Greening Automotive 4-link and pan hard bar setup with a pair of Bilstein coil-over adjustable shocks.

Up front, a Fatman Mustang II independent front suspension (IFS) was grafted to the front frame rails then fit with a rack- and-pinion power steering unit. A pair of Bilstein coil-over adjustable shocks and swaybar allows the IFS to be set at a lowered ride height, and the beefy sway bars helps eliminate body roll during cornering. Stopping power comes from a set of front Baer six-piston QuikSilver calipers with 15-inch ball-milled, cross-drilled vented rotors.

Finishing off the rolling chassis, a set of (front 20×8, rear 22×12) Jimmy Smith-designed and Greening Automotive machined one-off QuikSilver polished billet aluminum wheels was added. The wheels are wrapped with BF Goodrich T/A G-Force front 245/35ZR-20 and rear 305/40ZR-22 rubber.

A GM Performance Chevrolet Gen VI 540-ci big-block was machined and assembled by Chaz Rose from Tulsa. The assembly started with a SCAT billet stroked crankshaft that received SCAT H-beam connecting rods and J&E 10.5:1 pistons. An Erson hydraulic roller camshaft synchronized the engine’s internal rotating mass. While a set of Erson hydraulic roller lifters and pushrods link the Erson aluminum roller rocker arms to the lobes of the Erson camshaft. A pair of Air Flow aluminum rectangular port cylinder heads was equipped with Air Flow valves and Erson valve springs that were capped with a pair of custom aluminum QuikSilver finned valve covers. An old school Crower fuel injection intake manifold with custom 10-inch velocity stacks and filter inserts was converted into a FAST EFI. After assembly, the engine was programmed and fine-tuned by the team at HRG. A GearStar 4L60E automatic transmission was fit with a Compshift controller. Linking the GearStar 4L60E transmission to the Ford 9-inch rearend/Strange third member is a polished aluminum driveshaft from Inland Empire Driveline, Ontario, California. After installing the engine between the frame rails, a pair of custom one-off Holloway Race Car headers was bolted onto the cylinder heads, the header collector flanges were then bolted to the 3-inch ceramic-coated exhaust system that flows into a pair of Stainless Works polished mufflers.

ALAN’S DREAM OF BUILDING AN AWARD-WINNING CUSTOM TRUCK BECAME A REALITY, AND QUIKSILVER HAS ATTRACTED A LOT OF ATTENTION…”

Alan and designer/illustrator Jimmy Smith from Phoenix collaborated to create the altered profile and many body mods. The crew at HRG lowered the lid 3 inches. They also cross-pollinated a 1956 Ford sedan windshield frame to the 1957 Chevy cab; in doing so, the lower portion of the windshield frame was moved forward 3 inches, then the windshield frame was laid back 3 inches at the top.

Tri-Valley Glass in Pleasanton, California performed another challenging task. The shop molded and glazed the new replacement glass that laid flush with the windshield frame.

To mimic the chopped roof the hood was reshaped and pie cut 1 ½ inches. The hood received an inner hood skin to achieve a smooth, finished appearance. A very clean molded grille shell was fit with grille bars, and Greening Automotive fabricated a one-off V-grille bar. The stock front bumper was narrowed, while the ends were cut, messaged to fit snug and tuck into the reshaped front fenders. All of the plating was performed by Jon Wright Custom Chrome Plating in Grafton, Ohio.

The 1957 Chevy cab rear radius corners below the bodyline were squared to accept the custom handmade HRG fleetside short-bed. The cab and bed lines were aligned and matched precisely. The crew at HRG designed and fabricated the incredible one-off custom fleetside bed to fit and align the contour shape and bodylines of the cab. Due to the step-notched rear frame rails, the one-piece steel bed floor was raised then fit with polished stainless steel stringers that matched the V-bar of the grille and taillight assembly. A pair of custom HRG rear wheel tubs was fabricated and installed. To complement the fleetside bed, a hand-formed tailgate by HRG was completed with a custom taillight V-bar designed and fabricated by Greening Automotive. To finish off the rear of the bed, HRG fabricated a weld-in/smoothed roll pan that features a license plate cove and a pair of exhaust tip ports. Two full length belly pans enclose QuikSilver’s underside. After the cab, doors, front fenders, hood and bed were modified, every inch of sheet metal was smoothed to perfection.

Jason Smith, painter extraordinaire at HRG, applied the Sherwin-Williams Planet Color primer, and then block-sanded the surfaces smooth. He followed that up by laying down the striking two-tone Sherwin-Williams Planet Color QuikSilver and Tungsten basecoats separated using a steady hand by a candy red pinstripe. Then he buried the painted surfaces with multiple coats of clear. After ample cure time the clear was cut, buffed and polished until the truck glistened.

Opening the cab doors exposes the immaculate custom leather interior created by Chuck Rowland at CAR Upholstery in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The cab floor received sound-deadening material. Custom-formed floor panels were covered with high quality Mercedes Raspberry leather. Chuck designed and built a custom one-off bench seat that features a blended Classic Instruments tachometer center console and glove box. The seat and console were covered with smooth, perforated Mercedes Raspberry leather. The entire cab interior was covered with Mercedes Raspberry leather: door, kick panels, padded dash and headliner. An ididit tilt steering shift column was capped with a custom one-off Greening Automotive steering wheel that also received matching Mercedes Raspberry perforated leather. The one-off gauge panel was drawn up by Jimmy’s Hot Rod Design then machined by Greening Automotive and continues the V-bar theme of the grille and tailgate. The gauge insert was filled with Classic Instruments horizontal sweep speedometer, fuel, temp, oil pressure and volt gauges. To keep the interior comfortable, a Vintage Air Front Runner A/C unit was installed.

Following the five-year build, this epic ’57 Chevy fleetside short-bed was showcased at the 2013 Detroit Autoroma where it was picked as a Don Ridler Great Eight finalist. Alan’s sculptured masterpiece also captured the Goodguys 2013 LMC Truck Parts Truck of the Year-Late at the Goodguys Columbus Show. QuikSilver was a Top 10 pick at the 2013 SEMA Show.

Alan’s dream of building an award-winning custom truck became a reality, and QuikSilver has attracted a lot of attention in the world of iconic custom early model trucks. It’s truly a winner. ST

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNERS

Alan Beers
1957 Chevy fleetside short-bed QuikSilver
Owasso, Oklahoma

ENGINE

• Machined and assembled by Chaz Rose
• GM Performance Gen VI 540-ci big-block, 650 hp
• SCAT billet stroker crankshaft
• SCAT H-beam connecting rods
• J&E 10.5:1 pistons
• Erson hydraulic roller camshaft
• Prim pushrods
• Erson hydraulic roller lifters and valve springs
• Erson aluminum roller rocker arms
• Crower intake manifold
• Velocity stack converted to EFI
• FAST EFI programmer
• Tuned by HRG
• Holloway Race Cars headers
• 3-inch ceramic-coated exhaust
• Stainless Works polished mufflers
• GearStar 4L60E transmission with Compushhift controller 2,800-rpm stall and shift kit

SUSPENSION

• Fatman Mustang II front suspension with 2-inch dropped spindles and
• Bilstein coil-over shocks
• Baer six-piston brake calipers with 15-inch cross drilled/ball-milled vented rotors
• Greening Automotive one-off 4-link rear suspension with pan hard bar
• Ford 9-inch rearend with 3.70 gears, Strange polished aluminum differential cover, Bilstein coil-over shocks
• Baer six-piston rear brake calipers with 14-inch cross- drilled/ball-milled vented rotors

WHEELS & TIRES

• Greening Automotive wheels, front 22×8-inch QuikSilver polished aluminum; rear Greening Automotive 22×12 QuikSilver polished aluminum
• BF Goodrich G-Force T/A tires, front 245/35ZR-20; rear BF Goodrich G-Force T/A 305/40ZR-22

BODY & PAINT

• Shop: Hot Rod Garage and Greening Automotive
• HRG cab chopped 3 inches
• HRG doors chopped with handles shaved
• 1956 Ford sedan windshield frame
• Tri-Valley Auto Glass windshield glass custom molded flush
• Tri-Valley Auto Glass rear glass custom molded flush
• HRG hood pie-cut 1 ½ inches, reshaped nose
• Greening Automotive hinges
• HRG modified and shaved front fenders
• HRG custom grille shell and insert
• Greening Automotive V-bar
• HRG narrowed and tucked front bumper
• HRG custom handmade fleetside short-bed
• HRG custom tailgate
• Greening Automotive taillight assembly with V-bar
• Greening Automotive hinges
• HRG custom steel rear roll pan with license plate cove and exhaust ports
• Sherwin-Williams Color Planet Silver, Tungsten, Candy Red pinstripe paint
• Painted by Jason Smith, HRG

INTERIOR

• Chuck Rowland CAR Upholstery
• Greening Automotive custom low-back bench with built-in center console, tach and glove box
• Mercedes Raspberry leather smooth and perforated
• Custom armrests
• Custom headliner
• Padded Mercedes Raspberry red leather dash
• Custom Greening Automotive steering wheel
• ididit tilt steering column with column shift
• Greening Automotive pedal assembly

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