RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME —

TERRY SIMONSEN SAYS THAT HE WAS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME, BUT THERE’S A WHOLE LOT MORE TO THE BUILD OF THIS CHEV PICKUP THAN GOOD LUCK

FULL CUSTOM CHEV PICKUP

Terry Simonsen’s a quiet type of guy, not one to shout from the rooftops about his achievements, so it seems a bit out of character for him to be the owner of a vehicle that is anything but average. Of course, it wasn’t intended to be that way for his first foray into the hot rod world; neither was it ever intended to take a full 14 years between the time that he found the thendilapidated pickup and being able to drive it. Terry says that it was about being in the right place at the right time when he found the ’49 Chev under a hedge all those years ago. Dipping his toes into the world of hot rods, he thought that a V6 Commodore motor would be a good drivetrain option. He’s probably right, too, but it didn’t take long for him to come around to the fact that, while a six would be nice, a V8 really would be better. This slight change of plan could all be done for a relatively good price, too, by sticking with a Commodore donor car, albeit one with an injected five-litre V8 — a 304 to those in the know. One of those in the know was Mark Stead, a name familiar to these pages as the proprietor and mad scientist behind the successful Blenheim business Big Shed Customs.

Terry is a Blenheim local, and all fingers pointed in Mark’s direction as the man to see when he considered chopping the roof a little bit and bringing the body back to life. Once inside Big Shed, Terry’s eyes were opened to the potential that was now at his fingertips, and what started as a simple chop morphed into a whole lot more. Terry unashamedly admits that most of the ideas that went into the wild bodywork were Mark’s, although he didn’t get a completely free rein on Terry’s bank account. Instead, the two discussed ideas, fine-tuning them until they reached a point at which both sides were happy with the outcome. While that roof chop did happen, lowering the lid around three inches over stock, the welder was kept warm as the duo moved towards the front of the vehicle. The hood was de-crowned and fitted with custom vents, but that’s not the first thing that now catches the eye — that honour goes to the headlights, which jump out as being a major diversion from how the truck left the production line back in 1949. Some 50 years newer, the lights were factory fitted to a Subaru Impreza. The finished look belies just how much work went into getting them sitting right, much like the work that went into the remainder of the front end. The chrome bumper is long gone; in fact, all of the chrome is long gone, with the decision made early on in the piece to use paint instead. As with the front, everything rearward of the cab has been essentially handcrafted from a combination of Mark and Terry’s ideas combined

with Mark’s know-how. The rear of the tray features a fully integrated roll pan that blends nicely into the custom guards that are now home to some of the more intricate tail-light assemblies you’re likely to see. As with most of the build, these evolved, growing from traditional lights on stalks to completely integrated and flowing sculptures that just happen to have lights housed within them. The fronts of the guards are now attached permanently to the custom running boards, which are also fixed to the front guards, to offer a streamlined look. Streamlined is probably the best way to describe the interior, too, with not much of Chevrolet’s work remaining there and a whole lot of Big Shed’s instead. The dash panel itself remains, although it is now smoothed and filled with aftermarket gauges. The steering column is also a new item, and plays host to a column shifter, not just for ease of shifting gears but to partially keep the console clean — and clean it is. Crafted from scratch from sheet metal, the console flows from the dash through to the rear of the cab, flanked by a pair of retrimmed Commodore seats along the way. In fact, the only concession to smooth is the

JVC touchscreen head unit that’s been wired in front and centre. Eventually, Terry did get his dream of Commodore V8 power, which is slotted between the boxed chassis rails and backed by a 700R4 transmission. Prior to installation, both the engine and trans had a bit of love to ensure that they wouldn’t be coming back out in a hurry. The Commodore donor car was also robbed of its rear diff — a vast improvement on the early Chev item — and, better still, it came complete with disc brakes, something that would also be fitted up front, these from the Wilwood catalogue this time with measurements coming in at 330mm. Both the Wilwood and Holden calipers are operated by an under-dash booster, which helps to keep the engine bay as clean as can be. It’s not just a matter of removing things that has helped achieve that look, though, as a custom engine cover that doubles as an air intake has been crafted from scratch. Don’t let the design fool you, there’s an injected engine under there, with not a carburettor in sight. Christchurch’s NZEFI was called on for its tuning expertise to ensure that the Link ECU was making the most of the 304’s available power. Although it’s far above and beyond anything that Terry could have ever envisaged, he’s over the

moon with how it’s turned out and, better still, just how well it drives. To date, it’s made multiple trips to the North Island, as well as various road trips around the South, scooping up much adoration from bystanders along the way. Sure, he can claim that it’s all been luck, but we’d say that there’s a whole lot more to it than that!