Page 78 - Issue 33

The ’41 GMC cab has been altered
dramatically, with 6 inches taken off below
the doors, 4 inches out of the windows, and
then the whole thing was channeled 3 inches
over the mostly custom frame. Some of the
original Jimmy frame was used up front,
but from the fi rewall back it’s custom-made
out of 2 x 3 tubing. It’s Z’d about a foot up
front and it rides about 5 inches off the
ground. Also helping achieve its aggressive
stance are the massive 19-inch wide Mickey
Thompson tires mounted on 15x14 steelies.
The full Packard wheelcovers may not be
‘traditional’, but they look right on Ken’s
truck and add to its overall uniqueness.
All the chopping and channeling left
precious little room for Ken’s 6’2” 250
pound physique. Every seat he bolted in
jammed his manly frame into the steering
wheel. Another friend with the same issue
built his own seats. So Ken got some
round steel stock and 300 feet of refl ective
paracord and proceeded to bend and weave
a set of comfy seats for himself and his wife.
He even weaved in some Lunati 351 valve
springs to add some give to the seatbacks.
While we’re talking about items that refl ect,
we can’t leave out the pinstriping on the back
of the cab. Ken wanted his to stand out, so he
hired local artist, ‘Mikey’ to pull some lines. Ken
had a stash of special refl ective glass that’s used
in airport runways, and asked Mikey if he could
incorporate it into the pinstriping. He did, and
according to Ken, it ‘lights up like a Christmas
tree’ when you hit it with a light at night.
Every inch of Ken’s truck is full of details
from the skeleton side mirrors to the hand-
fabbed visor and the likewise home-brewed
grille shell. But above and beyond all of the other
grille shell. But above and beyond all of the other
details, the main attraction is that huge engine.
When Ken pulls into car show, “People gather
around it like a campfi re. It appeals to everybody –
around it like a campfi re. It appeals to everybody –
especially the older guys that worked on or owned
especially the older guys that worked on or owned
them, and also the people who have never seen a
them, and also the people who have never seen a
straight eight or even heard of one”.
Hats off to Ken for having a vision and sticking
Hats off to Ken for having a vision and sticking
to it, even though the engine gods weren’t
necessarily smiling on him. He stuck it out and
we were all rewarded with his patience.

78 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE THIRTY-THREE

74x79_RR1511_PackRat.indd 78 8/21/15 6:41 PM