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1974 Chevy Crew Cab Prerunner - Paid In Full

Posted in Features on September 1, 2009

1974 Chevy Crew Cab Prerunner - Paid In Full

Jordan May

1974 Chevy Crew Cab side View Photo 23698135

James Hable isn't a rock star, he doesn't own 5,000 acres of real estate and his sponsor list contains no companies found outside of his own wallet. He is an off-road guy like many of us, spending days polishing concrete and his weekends tearing through places such as Ocotillo Wells and Plaster City, California. James has a passion for old body style trucks, which is why he decided to create his dream truck out of a '74 Chevy Crew Cab. With the help of Complete Fabrication out of El Cajon, California, this '74 was reborn better than ever.

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The entire truck front to rear was built by Complete Fabrication including all suspension components. The trucks I-beams were originally pulled out of a Ford Econoline Van. Complete Fab lengthened and strengthened the I-beams to fit the required width. Many trucks are converting to center mounted arms; it was refreshing to see a nice set of I-beams that work.

Hanging out under the body is a Turbo 400 transmission hand built by Culhane Racing Transmissions. The transmission has been beefed up with 300M shafts, drums and is using a manual valve body. The torque converter is a 10-inch TCS model with a 2500 stall speed. Cooling things down is a Fluidyne transmission cooler.

Allowing the front wheels to move 26 inches are 3-inch triple bypass shocks,....

.....3-inch coilovers and 2-inch air bumps all provided by Sway-A-Way.

Looking at the front of this truck you would not think it was a '74. That's because James updated the front end with '89 Chevy fiberglass and grille from Autofab in Santee, California.

Not only is the body of this truck big and mean, so is its power plant. Stuffed under a maze of chromoly tubing is a Chevy big block 572ci crate motor putting out over 620 rear wheel horsepower and 650ft lb of torque. If we tore the engine down we would find aluminum rectangular port heads, a forged 4340 steel crank, a hydraulic roller cam, forged 4340 H-beam rods and forged pistons using floating wrist pins. RPM Exhaust custom-made 2.5-inch stainless steel headers to keep air flow moving efficiently. A pair of Magnaflow 3.5-inch mufflers are centered under the truck giving it that increased grumble that only a big block can achieve.

Complete Fab built a custom 65-gallon fuel cell, which should be plenty for James' excursions. The entire chassis was built out of 13/4-inch. 120-wall chrome moly tubing. When you build a truck this big and fast you need to consider a solid level of protection. Deciding to go cheap when your life is at stake is not a smart move.

At each corner are massive 14-inch CNC rotors provided by Gear One. Gear One 6-piston calipers are also being used to stop this beast as well as a CNC master cylinder and stainless steel brake lines. Keeping the truck in line is a Howe steering pump and box running a custom made steering column. The popular Ford 9-inch rear end was built with addition gussets and stuffed with 4.56 ratio gears, Speedway 35-spline count axles and a fully locked spool.

A four-link rear suspension was the only way to go for James' Chevy. Pushing 34 inches of rear wheel travel are 3-inch triple bypass shocks, 3-inch coilovers and 2-inch air bumps all from Sway-A-Way. James wanted nothing but the best when it came to wheels and tires. He chose 37-inch BF Goodrich Baja T/A tires on American Racing Mojave Teflon wheels.

The bright orange swaybar didn't match the theme of the truck but we dig it. Complete Fabrications skill level is on par with the top stuff we are seeing today. Every piece of tube had a purpose and every weld was clean and complete.

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The cabin of the '74 Chevy Crew Cab is spacious and James tells us that was one of the main reasons he chose to start this project with a '74. He had more than enough room to mount four Mastercraft 3G race seats. Keeping drinks cool during those hot desert days is a Rubbermaid mini refrigerator located between the rear seats. Four headsets allow all passengers to keep communication flowing over the loud roar of James' big block engine. Mark Wadell of Wire Fab completed all of the wiring for the truck.

There is nothing like climbing into a well-built custom truck like this. The cockpit is nothing short of what we would imagine climbing into a space ship would be. Auto Meter gauges are found surrounding a Momo steering wheel, a 10-inch Lowrance GPS is used for guidance, Racer X provided the race radio for communications and James also added a XM Radio receiver for those days in the middle of nowhere.

James had a roof rack built to carry extra supplies when needed that ties into a roof top light bar containing five Hella Rallye HID lamps. The light bar is removable for short day trips.

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Mike Jones of Auto Trim located in El Cajon, California, finished off the cabin floor, doors and headliner in black and grey fabric.

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