By Gary Rosier
I first met Ron Graves and his wife Rhonda with their unique ride at a local car cruise-in here in Port Orange, Fl. Visiting from their hometown of Marion, IL, they had ventured south for a warmer climate for the winter as a lot of “snow birds” do this time of year.
Ron is a retired Welder and Heavy Equipment operator of a power plant nearby their home in Illinois. He can tackle just about any job he says with a laugh! He and his wife were in the market for a project to share with their two grandsons. Ron had always had some kind of street rod and was ready to move on to another project. He was keeping his eye on a low-rider Rat Rod Truck on E-Bay from Texas and saw that it didn’t sell. He contacted the seller and found out that they were “in the range” on the price so on a whim, decided to load up their car and trailer. Off they went, all the way to Wilmer, Texas! Upon arriving, Ron drove the truck which at the time was powered by a small block (283cu in) Chevy. It was a driver ok and after Rhonda took a turn fell in love with it’s “patina”. She asked the owner if the cab lights worked, the owner said yes, and while Ron still had ideas of negotiating a price on it further, Rhonda blurted out “We’ll take it”!
A ground scraping, sparks flying low-rider was not part of Ron’s plan however and once home, he got to work right away on transforming this truck. They wanted something dependable, safe and comfortable. Ron ditched all the running gear for a 350 crate motor that was given a mild cam and dress up shifting thru a 700R4 trans. A donor S-10 Blazer was relieved of its chassis, tilt column and back seat. Rear end gearing is 3:42 gears and it rolls on Corvette 15″ rear steel wheels (235/75R15’s) with Camaro 7in wide “slots” (205/65R15’s) up front. Disc’s and drum brakes courtesy of the blazer helps it stop smoothly. Freshly painted wheels contrast nicely with the chrome center caps and “wide whites”.
They both loved the overall body, so massaged the “paint” – which was the original ‘rusty gold’- to their liking. The lettering on the door is a testament to its roots.The body, is a 1947 International with the crank-out windshield still functioning and cowl vent that lets in all the fresh air they need. ’38 Ford Deluxe front fenders, with unique “eyebrows” over the headlights, and a front grill that consists partly of a 46 Chevy Truck and Hood from a ’41 Chevy Deluxe, rounds out the front end. Out back is the ’39 Ford Bed and fenders, mostly made up of old street signs! They added a “tailgate” as an add-on, from a ’48 Ford, that folds down with an umbrella and chairs and becomes their “Tiki” bar at the local cruise-ins.
This truck was built to drive they said and with over 33,000 miles on it so far, was a “No-Brainer” to drive it all the way from Illinois to Florida. They call it their “Johnny Cash” Truck ( he had a #1 hit in 1976 which referred to an auto worker who put together a car out of misc parts, “One Piece at a Time”..Wikipedia). It cruises like a dream, runs and drives like a new truck, and piece by piece or not, is certainly a hit where ever they go and with us too!
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