Waiting Game
"A Four Year Build, But Worth The Wait"
Story by John Aschenberg
Photos by – Julia Aschenberg
Sometimes the most challenging part of a build is the waiting game. The vision of what a ride should look like when finished combined with the feeling of getting behind the wheel and cruising down the road someday can be overwhelming. For Marcia Siefert from Dayton, Indiana that's what she endured in the four year build of her '52 Chevy pickup. It's a 3100 series five window to be exact, a truck that was originally from Oklahoma. When Marcia found it, she didn't have far to go as it was only 45 minutes away in the small town of Goodland, Indiana and was purchased in '2001 for the sum of $3000.00. Marcia stated it was a pretty solid truck with very little rust, but had a lot of red dirt throughout. She drove the truck home and on the way it broke a fan belt, fortunately they found another belt and drove it the rest of the way home. After getting it home, the old pick-em-up sat for one year. In the meantime she started buying parts and storing them away, (Marcia called this her Johnny Cash truck) – buying one piece at a time hoping someday to get started on it real soon. Well that someday finally came the following year, which turned out to be a four-year build. You could call this a " Family Affair " as her husband Jim, son Tracey, brother Joe, daughter Tina Gregory, along with son in law Travis Gregory were all instrumental in the buildup of her little bow tie hauler.
The truck was completely disassembled by husband Jim and son Tracey, which didn't take long before they had it down to the bare frame. Modifications to the frame include a Heidt's hot rod front clip with 2" dropped spindles, and a rack and pinion steering. A Camaro rear end with 3:73 gears bring up the rear, while a custom tranny mount secures the transmission in place. Frame mods were performed by Cheap Charlie's from Lafayette, Indiana. Rolling stock consist of Eagle alloy wheels measuring 18" x 8" both front and rear, all wrapped in Wanli tires, 225/40ZR18 in all four corners respectively.
Up next came the power train, so Marcia chose the reliable 350/350 combination to scoot the pickup down the road. The block is a 1978 vintage 350 cubic inch 4 bolt main Chevy small block, which was bored .030 over making it tip the scales right at 355 cubic inches. Dave Harrison from Mulberry, Indiana handled machine work while engine assembly was tackled by son in law Travis Gregory, Marcia's son Tracey, husband Jim and brother Joe. The bottom end consist of a stock cast crank 3.48 stroke, Speed Pro flat top pistons, and a Comp camshaft high energy model with a .440 lift and .260 duration. Heads are stock Chevy units, while an Edelbrock aluminum intake and 600 cfm carburetor takes care of the top end. An engine dress up kit was then added consisting of chrome valve covers, air cleaner, dip stick, heater and radiator hoses. Exiting the spent gases is captured and sent out through a set of ceramic coated headers, 2 1/2" exhaust with Cherry bomb mufflers. A turbo 350 transmission with a 1500 stall TCI torque converter transfers power to the Camaro rear axle. Allowing Marcia to select the right gear is complements of a B&M shifter.
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