The truck you see here is the work of one man over three years. When Jim Davis of Vancouver, Washington bought this ’71 Chevy it was, to put it mildly, a disaster. The paint was gone, the body was rusted, the interior looked like a cat had given birth in it and the engine was blown. The good news is that it was cheap.
But since this truck is real American iron, the good stuff is there if you know where to look. Good stuff here is an Eaton rear-end (one of the stoutest axles ever made), T400 tranny, NP205 t-case and tons of old-school charm. Such is the stuff of dreams to real off-roaders. Jim is a pretty serious truck owner. He drives auto transports for a living, has a very nice Ford SuperDuty as well as a cool custom Toyota rock rig. The Chevy, however, was Jim’s first attempt at a restoration and the results are impressive. He did all of the work himself, which includes the bodywork and spraying the gorgeous Hugger Orange paint. A couple of cool body mods that Jim made were bobbing the rear of the bed by 11” and moving the bed away from the cab 1”. The bobbed rear end is a common Toyota off-roaders trick and the Chevy looks like it should have come from the factory this way. Moving the bed away from cab deals with an issue common to older trucks, whose flexible frames can let the bed bash into the cab when twisted up. The interior of the truck is a trip in the way-back machine to the seventies. Jim did a nice job restoring the black vinyl bench seat and installed AutoMeter gauges along with a CB to complete the interior. Factory style interior is straight out of the seventies and nicely restored.
Unlike many restored cars from this era, which are relegated to shows, trucks usually continue to work and play hard. Jim built this classic truck as not only a stylish street ride, but to be capable for mud and off-roading. We would say that he succeeded in a big way. We’ve always admired vintage American iron and this is a fine example of the breed. Jim also fabricated a nice hidden, behind the front license plate, receiver hitch. This allows him to run his winch in the front or rear. A rear winch is one of the best pieces of equipment available for a full-size truck. Usually when a beast like this gets stuck, you want to go back instead of continuing forward. When Jim picked up the truck, the blown motor was the first order of business. Since he was planning on running big rubber, serious horsepower was in order. In went a fresh 383, topped with an Edelbrock carb and intake manifold. An MSD distributor and ignition system supplies the spark.
When this truck fires up, you know the engine is the real deal. After a few seconds, the engine settles into a lope that is more NASCAR than off-road. This truck is designed to spin the wheels up in the high RPM range. Even though the stroker engine provides good torque off the bottom, the motor doesn’t even really clean up until about 2000rpms and then... LOOK OUT. 383 engines make plenty of power. The nice aluminum valve covers are vintage Corvette units, complete with the crossed-flag logo. Power flows through a modified TH400 transmission—this three-speed tranny was one of GM’s strongest and in modified form it can be considered bulletproof. The iron-cased NP205 is also of the beefiest made and the stock 1.96 reduction is fine for the type of wheelin’ this truck sees. The Eaton rear axle is a thing of beauty and still considered one of the strongest factory axles. This is the axle that predates the corporate 14-bolt on GM’s heavy-duty rigs. The factory Dana 44 is thin for the 39.5” Super Swamper IROKs, but Jim promised to replace it with something more worthy when it breaks.
SPECS
Vehicle: 1971 Chevrolet C20
Owner: Jim Davis
Vancouver, Washington
Engine: 383 (10.2 to 1 compression), 202 intake valves, Edelbrock Performer RPM Cam, Edelbrock Performer
RPM Airgap Manifold, 795 Edelbrock Performer Carburetor
Tires: 39.5 x 13.50 -17LT Super Swamper IROK
Suspension: Pro Comp shocks with 8” Tuff Country Easy Ride Springs
Transmission: Deep pan Turbo 400
Transfer Case: New Process 205
Rear Axle: Eaton (4:56) with Detroit Locker.
Front Axle: Dana 44 (4.56) with Power Lock
Paint: Chevy Hugger Orange
