1947 Chevy TK Truck - Built By Me

As with so many off-road enthusiasts, Dennis and Elaine Lindenmoyer watched their '47 Chevy TK work truck turn into an off-road project and then snowball into a full-blown show-stopper. The avalanche of customization occurred slowly and methodically over a 12-year period, consuming almost half of Dennis' 20-year tenure in the sport. The foundation for the project is a '71 Chevy 1/2-ton truck frame, which was lifted 6 inches from stock with Rancho Softride springs; Rancho shocks damp the suspension. Rolling stock consists of factory Chevy rally wheels that are stuffed inside BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain TAs. At this point in the project, the safe route would have been to toss in a stock small-block and call it a day. The Lindenmoyers, however, had something different in mind. Dennis assembled a B&M 6-71-blown, 350-cid mouse motor using Brodix cylinder heads, a crane cam, and Keith Black pistons. A pair of 1,050-cfm Holley Dominator-series carbs feeds the hungry beast. While we don't have dyno numbers on the mill, we assume it has no problem twisting the living daylights out of the homemade driveline and turbo 350 tranny.

Dennis also took on the task of restoring the body to better than stock condition. All of the panels were straightened and smoothed out and reassembled with stainless-steel fasteners. Dennis built a set of running boards and a bed floor from diamond-tread aluminum plating. When he was satisfied with his progress, Dennis whipped out the old spray gun and laid down the custom forest-green paint.

The interior of the truck was the one aspect of the buildup that Dennis wanted to stay fairly original. The upholstery was restored to its original black luster, and instead of cutting up the beautiful dashboard, Dennis installed a grouping of Auto Meter shift lights beneath the dashboard to serve as warning indicators for the oil pressure, water temperature, and transmission oil temperature.

The Mean Green Machine has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a farm truck. The Lindenmoyers have definitely built a truck to be proud of, and it shows in the amount of detail throughout.