Family Values | Gary Zahra's 1964 Chevrolet C10 Pickup

Words Karlee Sangster Photography Luke Ray

This article first appeared in Fuel Magazine issue 23.

It’s not unusual to read about a father/son team completing a build, but this one pretty much takes the cake. Gary Zahra’s father Charlie had started work on his latest project, a newly acquired ‘56 Chevrolet pickup, turning it into a reliable daily driver complete with airbags, an LS1 motor, modified chassis and 20 inch wheels. Watching Charlie put the time into the Chev, Gary catches the bug and his upcoming trip to the States quickly becomes a truck hunt.

“Just before I went to the U.S. with my partner (now wife) for an extended holiday, Dad was showing me all the trucks for sale over there and the seed was planted,” recalls Gary. “We took off and began our holiday. Half way through I said to myself ‘If I don’t find something on this trip, I’m never going to do it and I’ll just talk about what ifs.’ So it was on! We went to all the shows and swap meets looking for the perfect truck. I was having a ball, thank god I have a wonderful wife who was so patient walking all around with me like I was a kid in a candy shop though all those car events.”

It was a combination of good fortune, budget constraints and Gary’s eye for the unusual that led him to the ’64. “I was originally searching for a ‘56 like Dad’s, but a good one was looking out of my sights. I saw a ‘65 on the ground at one of the Goodguys shows and it looked hot. I searched through many and eventually sent home the ’64,” he says.

“The idea was to slam it, put some wheels on it and use it to tow my drift car, so while we were in the States I thought I’d get as many parts as I could to save money on the build, but as the story goes it turned into a lot more. After it landed in Sydney, we found out that some of our parts had been stolen. No one was willing to claim responsibility, but we took that on the chin and Dad and I went to work. We completely stripped it down to a bare chassis and started cutting it up to weld in the full Porterbuilt suspension system. We put a big notch in the rear and cut up the front end to put on a Porterbuilt dropmember. We also notched the front of the chassis to fit the steering rack and tubular cross members. We then put together all the modular arms and installed the airbags. At that point, it was back on the ground as a rolling chassis.”

It seemed like the build was going as smoothly as the pair could hope. Gary continues: “I had some spare time before the container got shipped out, so I thought I’d get some rust cut out as it was way cheaper than back home, so the panel guy cut the rust out and he said to do it properly he would have to spray half the truck. I ended up getting him to respray the whole truck while he was at it, figuring that way it was done. Unfortunately, we put a big scratch in it moving it into the shed, so I thought “May as well mod the back floor before the respray. We had a friend come up with a design of the body shape wrapping around the whole rear end of the truck and making a false floor for the wood bed on gas struts with sheet metal rolling down to the wood bed to regain the lost space from the big notch. I wanted Caddy lights in the rear and got them welded in also.” There were a few dramas at this point, “We ended up having to re modify a lot of things,” says Gary, but the pair ploughed on.

“I was always thinking of changing the motor to a injected one later down the track, so I thought we may as well change the motor now while we’re at it, so we pulled the 350 out and replaced it with an LS1. After putting a cam and springs in and making some engine and gearbox mounts to suit, we realised it wasn’t going to work, so we fitted an F-body sump and moved onto getting a Holden Commodore two piece tail shaft shortened and set up correctly for the right angles for the low truck. We continued to make the full 2.5" stainless exhaust system ourselves, making sure it sat higher than the chassis the whole way.” These guys clearly don’t do things by halves.

“We used the original diff housing, but rebuilt it with bigger axles, a Trutrac centre and 3.73 gears,” Gary recalls. “I wanted it to be a fully engineered truck so I’d have no problems down the track, so I got a engineer out to see how we were going. He left us with a list and many hours went into ticking those boxes. We all know how strict ADR rules can be. “We carried on and got the airbag system set up with an Air Ride AirPod with height level sensors mounted on all the arms and got it back to rolling state.”

Sounds good thus far, but yet another setback befell the team. “It was at this stage that we noticed the wonderful paint job I got in the U.S. was flaking. We actually peeled massive sheets of paint straight off the truck. It was then that I decided to do it properly. I’d always liked the look of the slammed two tone trucks I saw in the States and wanted to keep the old school look, so we got it sandblasted and went and got some quotes. They were a bit shocking for me, as we did most of the work ourselves and never put a price on our time.”

Gary bit the bullet. “I really wanted to take it to Summernats and get in the ‘Top 60’. I ended up taking it to Fat 57 Customs as they loved the truck. They liked that it was already bagged and on the ground with extensive body and engine mods and they wanted to be part of it. While they were working on the body, we took back the chassis and were advised to box the whole chassis, not just the notch. I wasn’t so keen after all the work we did - we thought we were done with it! But Dad jumped in and we re-did the whole chassis, cutting out all the cross members and sorting them and boxing the chassis until it was perfect, taking off edges and adding some on, as the chassis was never the same width. When we finished, there were no holes, bumps or imperfections and Dad went all out, welding up little scratches and sanding it back to a mirror shine. Fat 57 then got the chassis powder coated and helped complete body work alignment. I had bought some front fenders and rear quarter panels from the States to reduce panel work time and more rust was cut out from the cab. Scott Walker put a lot of work into making sharp body lines throughout the truck, redefining the bonnet and smoothing out the firewall.”

With the exterior and mechanics nearly done, the boys got to work on the interior. “It came with full size electric GMC seats and I wanted a third seat,” Gary says. “Also, the inside of a ‘64 is a lot wider than a ’56, so the bench I wanted was too short. We got an EL Falcon bench seat, as it folds down and cut it down till it was the correct width, welded it back together and refitted the supports. Mark at Hawkesbury Auto and Marine Upholstery helped us come up with a design and the trimmer was super helpful driving 45 minutes to us to do a fit up as the truck was taking longer than expected.”

The pickup was taking shape. Gary continues: “Back at the panel shop, they told me that Den Doughy was now going to paint it. It was done in a PPG water based paint, along with the motor and box. It took us over six months to decide on a paint colour, I knew it would make or break the truck. I wanted to go with that two tone look, but we changed the roof colour at the last minute and I’m so glad we did.

“With Summernats three weeks away it would have been nice to get the truck back a bit earlier as we still had a heck of a lot to do. We took it back home to the shed and with the help from some awesome friends, we went hard at it. I was working 16 hours most days and Dad was working all day before shift work. The truck had never been together before to this point, so pretty much everything that wasn’t on the chassis at that time had to be made to fit.

“We had a custom fuel tank and custom radiator made, installed the airbag system and dressed up the motor, hiding coil packs on brackets on the chassis and painting the Proform rocker covers to match the two tone theme. I added an aftermarket fuel rail and black anodised accessories, and we got the motor rewired for a neater look.” Things were falling into place, as their deadline rapidly approached.

The pair had some difficulty fitting the American oak wood bed pieces to the sub frame underneath, but pushed on, wiring the whole truck up with the help of Steve Faux. The pair fitted new seat belts, installed the Lokar auto shifter and cable, Classic Instruments gauges, billet steering wheel and all the interior fittings. The Chev also got brand new windows and power window systems, new grilles, a new front bumper. Gary smiles. “There were just boxes and boxes of brand new parts from LMC. Throughout the truck, everything is brand new. I can't think of one thing that’s original.

“With only a few days till the ‘Nats I was wrecked,” Gary says. “It had nearly broken me. Then it looked like it was turning around… My new 22” Centerline Smoothies I’d been waiting for just turned up and these things were going to make the truck. I had adapters made up to sit original ‘56 Chev hubcaps over the face of the rim. We started fitting the newly finished interior and noticed a major problem. The carpet was for a different hump size, so some desperate calls went out and we had custom carpet fitted on New Year's Eve. It was finished.” Gary grins. “We did it. A lot of people said we’d never make it, but we did, working right up until the morning we left. It was crazy.”

The truck was a hit, taking out Best Pick Up, Top 60 and a Vibrance PPG Supreme Finalist award. Gary and the Chev have since moved to Perth taking out many more awards but the truck has met with its fair share of bad luck, including damage during transport and the bonnet flying up and hitting the roof just before a big show in Western Australia, but thanks to Kustom Panel & Paint they got it there in time, undertaking a full respray after fixing a few things Gary wasn’t happy about. This would be the truck’s third respray in three years.

Despite the blood, sweat and tears that went into the build, Gary is stoked on the result and has found a club he loves. “The guys from South Side Eight & Kustom Club made me feel welcome and we share experiences and help each other out,” Gary says. “I’ve been to many local car shows and cruises, it’s great to get out and about and show off this style of pickup. It’s one of the main reasons I really wanted the build to be finished in time for Summernats. No one in Australia had done one like this and it’s hard these days to be different, so it’s cool to get some good feedback. It makes those sleepless nights worth it when people can really appreciate what you have done.

“I would like to thank most of all my Dad Charlie Zahra for his continued efforts with this build, putting his own life and projects on hold. Also to my wife Paula for her patience, to my family and friends and everyone who has helped with this build. It couldn’t have been done without you. Thanks to Kustom Panel & Paint, Hawkesbury Auto and Marine Upholstery.”