SPAL Builds the Hot Rod Pro Touring Classic Chevy We All Wish We Could Own
There is a large segment of truck owners who covet the popular 1967-72 Chevy trucks. But there is also a huge segment of automotive enthusiasts who obsess over high performance power and handling. Combine these elements and you would have one hell of an incredible payment wrinkling old iron horse that would surely put a grin on anyone's face that's had the opportunity to take a truck like this out for a put on the interstate.
That is precisely what the guys at SPAL Advanced Technologies had in mind when they decided to build a sleeper-looking 1967 Chevy. They wanted a truck that would handle like a slot car, have more power than they could probably use on a public street as well as be an identifiable piece of customizing work that would do well to show off the SPAL product line. Call it the ultimate toy with a purpose. The guys started with a fairly beat 1967 Chevy short bed. The truck was brought into the shop and torn down to the bare frame to begin the impressive transformation process. While the body was having the door handles, tailgate handle and stake pockets removed, along with filling in all of the trim and emblem features, the frame was attacked. First was simply grinding and melting off decades of environmental accumulation followed by removing all of the suspension components.
New modifications to the frame involved some serious upgrading. First the front was treated to a set of Air Ride Technologies tubular Strong Arms as well as the air bags specific for these arms and this truck. Attached to the new arms are Winters stock car racing hubs and spindles along with a Wilwood racing brake system and finally custom valved shocks to control the ride and handling. For the rear, the same basic suspension design was used, only with a more modern approach. Large round tube trailing arms which are part of the Air Ride Strong Arm kit replaced the original version while attaching to a trick tubular crossmember. The A.R.T. CoolRide kit incorporates air springs which attached under the frame notch and to the beefed up Ford nine-inch rear end also equipped with stock car racing hubs and Wilwood brakes.
Behind the new suspension set up the rear of the frame was completely rebuilt to embrace a stock car Fuel Safe fuel cell which is then straddled by a pair of Optima RedTop batteries. While there are many other modifications to the frame, the most obvious is the entirely boxed rails followed by a new, shiny gloss black finish. Speaking of shine, the wheels and tires of choice for the truck are 18x8 and 20x10-inch Bonspeed Huntington wheels strapped with Goodyear 245/45/18 and 285/40/20 tires.
The original old small block was sent packing and full attention paid to the new mill of choice; an LS1 pinched from a 2000 Camaro. Internally the engine all stock, but as we know, an LS1 ain't stock! The biggest upgrades for the engine was the installation of a ProCharger / ATI putting out 8 lbs of boost, Professional Products intake manifold with an NX 85mm throttle body and Aeromotive fuel rails. An MSD Ignition system keeps the fires lit while HEDMAN HEDDERS / TRANS-DAPT PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS long tube headers attached to Stainless Works three-inch exhaust system allow the supercharged motor to breath just fine, even at full-throttle, as well as produce about 500 rear wheel horsepower! To keep up with the strong mill, a hopped up 4L60E transmission complete with Lokar shifter and Setrab USA trans cooler were installed, and painted silver to match the motor which as you can tell, has been exquisitely detailed. Of course it would be important to mention the engine runs comfortably cool thanks to one of SPAL Advanced Technologies dual fan set ups which pulls air through the intercooler and radiator.
With the body parts painted flat matte black, the truck was reassembled .Delta Tech Industries HID headlights were installed into the brushed headlight buckets divided by grille trim sporting the same finish. All of the body parts are stock with the tailgate handle relocator being an LMC product. With the shaved door handles, the SPAL crew installed a set of the SPAL Shaved Door Kit ,power door lock/solenoids and power window control kits, which if you weren't paying attention, was one of the reasons they built this truck in the first place.
Looking inside the cab you will see that interior design was kept clean and simple as well as matching the overall flat black and brushed theme. Dark gray leather navigates over the original bench seat that Upholstery Unlimited reshaped to sport a folding center console. The door panels were also completely hand crafted while sporting an easily removable center panel which allows the staff to show off the power window and door kits.
Rising up from the OE black carpeting from LMC Truck to the flat black dash you will see there are numerous custom tricks at play here. Creative Werks custom milled a new all aluminum glove box door along with matching gauge panel which now hosts a full collection of Auto Meter Ultralite Gauges. Between the two big chunks of brushed billet are matching panels for the Air Ride Technologies RidePro digital control panel as well as a control panel with new knobs for the heat and A/C system.
While the sound of that killer motor is enough to make most of us want to listen to it all of the time, the SPAL crew knew they had to have some kind of high-end sound system to keep up with the motor tunes. The solution was to install a Pioneer head unit which feeds to a Bazooka Mobile Audio amplifier which of course then feeds to Bazooka speakers mounted in the doors as well as subwoofer under the seats. Upholstery Unlimited built the hidden console behind the seat to house the subs and amp, but for the most part it is hidden from the plush leather seating.
If there were ever one truck I would love to drive, this bad ass Chevy would be right near the top of the list! I could only imagine how much fun this truck would be to sling around a corner or blow the tires off of down the back streets of town. The bonus is looking good while doing it!
SPAL
ANKENY, IOWA
1967 CHEVY
 In the beginning the mean machine you have just read about started out as a beat old 1968 Chevy that had seen better days. |  |  |
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 Behind the door panels is where you will find the SPAL power window and door lock kits. |  |  |
 |  Dark gray leather adorns the highly modified original bench seat while Willan's racing belts serve more than just a visual purpose. |  Bonspeed 18 and 20 inch Huntington wheels mated to Goodyear rubber look really classy with the flat black finish on the fenders beginning to swallow the combo up. |
 |  |  The mean 500+ horsepower thundering under the classic hood comes from a supercharged LS1 motor treated to all kinds of modern fuel and air management tricks to make the engine not only look fast, but more than carry its weight when the hammer is down. |
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