1953 Advance Design King Cab,short bed pickup custom.

1953 Chevrolet Other Pickups Deluxe 1953 Description

This truck was built about 6 years ago, started briefly then has been mothballed ever since. It is a case of real life getting in the way resulting in it not getting put into service. When I finished it, we moved to another house and I spent most of a year building my 1700sqft work shop, doing the landscaping in our big yard, putting up crown molding in the house, etc. Then I started a project with my grandson doing a ground-up restoration of his 1959 El Camino which took a couple years. After that I started my reproduction of Ed Roth’s 1963 Mysterion show car which took at least another couple years. Now I am about to retire and move from California to Texas and have too many cars to move so something had to give.

I drove this truck in stock condition for about 5 years. It got really tired (I was putting in a quart of oil every week!) and I got a company truck to drive so I decided to tear it completely down and while totally restoring it, make it a ‘factory’ king-cab. I wanted to modernize it with all the conveniences but make it look like what GM would have built as a king-cab in the 50s. To convert the truck, I lengthened the cab 2’ using Advanced Design pickup doors for the sides and the same door skins for the roof extension since the roof has pretty much the same profile as the doors. I then lengthened the frame 1’ by cutting it, boxing it and splicing in pieces of rectangular tubing which perfectly slid onto the frame and shortening the bed 1’. The body mounts to the lengthened frame with relocated stock body mounts. I made a headliner which the original trucks lack by laying fiberglass over the top of the truck to form a headliner shell then upholstering it and screwing it inside the cab. Below is a bullet point list of everything I can remember doing to the truck to get it to the point it is in the pictures.

• Chassis was stripped, lengthened, and powder-coated gloss black.

• A late model Chevy pickup large gas tank was mounted inside the frame rails. The tank was cleaned, coated on the outside with corrosion resistant urethane coating and coated inside with a rubberized gas tank liner.
• I added a spare tire carrier under the bed rear whereit should have been in the first place form the factory.
• Carter electric rotary fuel pump.
• The truck came with an open drive line and late model Chevy truck rear end with 3:54 gears. I simply rebuilt the spring mounts that were poorly done by previous owner, checked the gears and bearings, and put it back in.
• Springs on all 4 corners are stock ’53 Chevy that were disassembled, cleaned and powder coated gloss black.
• Front axle is stock (that suspension gets over 50,000 miles on a set of tires so didn’t want to change that). I rebuilt it with new king pins and bushings, everything was powder coated gloss black.
• Steering is power using a gear from an 80s Toyota Land Cruiser. This is a common upgrade for 50s Ford trucks but I built a custom bracket to adapt it to the Chevy. I also adapted a Toyota remote power steering pump and fluid reservoir to the Chevy 235 engine.
• Of course it has all new brakes and brake lines.
• Bumpers are stock Advanced Design pickup (the rear bumper is hard to find since most trucks opted for custom farm type bumpers) that have been restored and chrome plated. The brackets are stock ones that have been powder coated gloss black.
• Stock ’53 pickup wheels were powder coated gloss white then the centers were painted with catalyzed urethane base/clear coat the same yellow as the truck.

• Wheel wells have been powder coated gloss white.

• The engine is a late 50s (pressured oil system) 235 straight 6.

  • The block, head and pan are powder coated white. Everything else on the engine is either chrome plated or polished aluminum.

  • Head milled 1/10” for more compression.

  • New pistons fitted to machined cylinders. I apologize can’t remember how much it was bored but it was just enough to clean it up.

  • New oil pump.

  • Clifford 6=8 ‘warm’ cam shaft, new lifters.

  • Clifford 6=8 4-bbl intake manifold.

  • Fenton split cast iron headers that have been Jet Hot coated bright aluminum.

  • Clifford aluminum timing gear.

  • Of course all new bearings, turned and polished crankshaft.

  • Added a positive flow oil filter. Factory didn’t do this so block has to be modified.

  • Polished aluminum Offenhauser valve cover and side plate.

  • PCV valve.

  • Stock distributor is chrome plated and has Chrysler pointless electronic ignition adapted inside.

  • MSD 6 ignition module.

  • Holley 390 4-bbl carburetor With Bow-Tie Overdrives transmission TV cable cam.

  • 50s big oil bath air cleaner with paper filter element adapted, chrome plated for a ‘stock’ look. Didn’t what a modern helmet air cleaner. Top was notched to clear power brake vacuum brake canister.

  • Dual exhaust with glass pack mufflers, chrome exhaust tips out back.

  • Chrome GM alternator although it is showing some corrosion and pitting form sitting. Will work like new, just not cosmetically perfect.

  • ¾” exhaust tubes to preheat intake. Installed where Fenton and Clifford left spots to drill and tap for tubing fittings.

• Transmission

  • 2004R overdrive, totally rebuilt. This is the same setup I put in my grandson’s El Camino and it works great. It needs a governor tuned to the vehicle but that is super easy. I can show you how.

  • Fully polished case.

  • TransGo shift kit.

  • Chevs of the 40s trans adaptor and flex plate. Home made motor mounts that bolt to the aluminum adaptor and sit on the truck frame on 40s Ford biscuit motor mounts.

  • I added a tranny cooler radiator with its own fan under the truck. It also has a thermostat that only runs the fan if the tranny gets too warm.

• Interior

  • As mentioned, custom fiberglass headliner.

  • Old Air AC/heating unit. I chose Old Air over Vintage Air due to the small rectangular evaporator that looks a lot like the stock 50s heater. I put a stock heater decal on it to continue the illusion.

  • Moon Eyes vintage style tach.

  • AM/FM stereo/CD radio adapted to dash.

  • Front and rear stereo speakers.

  • Stock gauges. All have been gone through by an instrument shop.

  • Entire truck converted to 12V.

  • EZ wiring harness.

  • The entire cab was lined with aluminized bubble insulation for noise and temperature control.

  • I adapted VW 2-speed electric wipers to replace the dumb stock vacuum ones. These need some attention. The motor works outside the dash using the truck switch, won’t run when installed. I am sure it is a grounding problem. Note I adapted the stock pickup wiper switch knob to the VW electric one.

  • Steering tilt column is 80’s GM (they are all the same except for length for the various models).

  • Column has been totally disassembled and rebuilt. Will never go wobbly like all the stock ones always do. Has all new bearings and switches.

  • I built a custom fiberglass shield that bolts on bottom to mold the column to the dash.

  • I adapted the refurbished stock ’53 steering wheel and shift levers to the modern column.

  • It shifts to the 200R4 shift pattern. I installed an aftermarket shift indicator to the column.

  • Modern GM throttle and brake pedals. Brakes are modern dual reservoir GM power brakes.

  • I installed a cruise control but obviously have never tried it out. Need final wiring check-over and tuning.

  • I made a thin plywood/fiberglass firewall cover that is upholstered.

  • All new glass and rubber on the windows except for the perfect stock condition glass quarter windows. There is a problem with the chrome welts I installed on the quarter and back windows. The plastic coating has delaminated while in storage. All these need replacing with more chrome ones or stock black ones. I will include the installation tool.

  • Truck has power windows. I adapted late model Ford motors to the stock ’53 mechanisms so they are guaranteed to work.

  • You can see the custom door panels and side panels I made and upholstered. Those Chevy bow-tie inserts need to be reglued or better yet, made of wood or metal and painted instead of upholstered, but otherwise the upholstery is in great shape.

  • Front seats are 80s Buick split bench, power driver’s seat, manual passenger seat adjustment.

  • Rear seat is the stock ’53 seat cushion, custom back cushion.

  • 6 seatbelts.

  • I added four 80s Buick arm rests for some more bling.

  • Has the deluxe 70s GM dome light.

  • Entire cab is upholstered.

  • Entire floor is covered with gray carpet.

• Exterior

  • Truck is 2-toned white and yellow painted with catalyzed urethane base/clear coat.

  • Hood is stock except I welded it together and removed the center molding trim for a one-piece look.

  • I added the custom aftermarket 50s hood ornament.

  • Front fenders are stock except I frenched in the headlights.

  • Grille was disassembled, the back bars painted white and the fore-bars chrome plated.

  • New chrome rear view mirrors.

  • Deluxe factory windshield rubber with the stainless-steel inserts.

  • New tires with stock restored hubcaps.

  • Chrome plated side window surrounds.

  • Rear fenders are stock except I frenched in dual ’59 Cadillac tail lights. They fit the fender shape perfectly.

  • The running boards were extended 2’ using two sets of stock units. An additional set of frame brackets where added for support. These are painted, not powder coated. I added the after-market Chevy step pads to protect the paint.

  • The bed was simply cut off the front 1’ and the stake columns moved back. The little beauty panels between the bed and running boards had to be shortened.

  • I eliminated the chains on the tail gate and grafted in the center, one-handle latch handle mechanism from a Toyota mini-pickup. The bed is constrained by a couple plastic coated aircraft cable lanyards. It works great and prevents the chain-caused paint damage.

  • I added the bed-roll 3rd stop lights.

  • I also added two stock ’53 front running lights to the bottom of the bed as backup lights.

  • I wanted a nicer looking bed than black painted pine so I tried some ironwood (Ipe) with a weatherproof wood coating. This stuff is a tropical hardwood that is sold for decking. It has the same fire rating as concrete, so dense it sinks in water and is full of a resin that bugs don’t like. It finishes looking like dark walnut but will probably weather to gray like all woods but should stand up to weather better than most species. I finished it with polished stainless bed strips.

That’s all I can think of now. Ask questions. I also took a lot of in-progress pictures during the build and will include them with the sale for reference. Also have an old factory maintenance manual and 3-ring binder of data on all the custom parts used. Truck needs some TLC but has great bones.