The California Hauler Part II -- Kit Car

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men. The phrase has been reinterpreted many times since first written by 18th-century poet Robert Burns (who, oddly enough, was the first to commit the words to the New Year's standard "Auld Lang Syne" to paper), but what it comes down to is: Things don't go the way they're planned. But that was not the feeling I had when I first laid eyes on Active Power's Willys pickup kit at the Carlisle Kit & Import Nationals last year. What I thought was, "I like this design. Part street rod, part kit car, and something that was new on the market." It had been a few years since I had immersed myself in a car project to the level of which this one will become. The last one, the California Spyder project built while I was on staff at Street Rodder magazine in the '90s, took twice as many years to finish as I thought it would and buried me financially, too. The car, an all-steel, original '29 Ford highboy roadster, turned out great, but I learned the very hard way how a high-end street rod was supposed to be built.

The sinking feeling hadn't occurred while I worked out the details on the projected build with Active Power's Chris Ardern, or even as I started to put some of the other projects in my life (with the various cars I own and home projects, too) on hold so I could focus on what's in front of me. No, that gut-punching feeling didn't occur until the trailer delivering the chassis I had bought (sight unseen) rolled up in front of our company's Tech Center. It was there and then I wondered what I'd done. Wow, I thought. This is going to be a lot of work! I had looked around Southern California for a running S-10 driver, because at first I thought I'd build this truck with the stock drivetrain. But being a hot rod guy, I changed my mind and thought only a V-8 would do. I reasoned I could get just a rolling chassis and add a V-8 to it. (Active Power even has an engine swap kit that makes that job easier.) But because of the goofy car licensing/registration process in California (how it is registered will determine what engine I can run, basically), I wasn't able to decide which way I was going to go at first.

One of the contacts I'd made while finalizing this project was with a hardcore GM guy who worked at the GM Proving Grounds in Arizona. He not only knew his way around the S-10 chassis, but he had converted a few over to street rods by dropping an original '48 Chevy truck body on it (and it looked right!). He turned me on to another Arizona gent who deals in crushed and/or damaged S-10s, which lead me to the '82 S-10 I bought.

Since what I needed was just the chassis, I arranged to purchase a rolling chassis with-out the front sheetmetal, bed, or drivetrain. It came with a cab, though, as that's one of the places the VIN number is recorded on these vehicles. I wasn't sure what it would be registered as (California's DMV gives you options), but I thought with a cab, its VIN, and the original registration I'd be that much farther ahead.

With the roller (and its flat tire) unloaded, I went to work stripping what I didn't need. The cab came off easily (just four bolts and a few cables cut from the firewall), and out came the gas tank and the exhaust. There were lots of smaller items, some of which I'll keep for now (power steering unit), but most of it was tossed. The cab got stored just in case I needed it in the future. A few hours into the project, everything was off. What was left was a rolling chassis covered with dirt and grease. The good news is the chassis seems to be in great shape, looks to be square, and not even a hint of rust. (Thank you Arizona desert!) The next step will be stripping the chassis of grime, maybe giving it a light coat of primer or paint, and then cutting into it so the new Active Power body will fit, but that's for an upcoming issue.