1950 Chevrolet Bomb Truck - The Prophecy

Bomb Truck Of The Year

Edgar HoillWriter

There are many things you need in order to build a truck worthy of being dubbed the "Bomb Truck of the Year," the most important of which are the ethics of hard work and dedication. Isidro Juares is no stranger to these two virtues, especially that of hard work. His family lived in the border town of La Cuña Coahuila, MX where they worked for 6 months out of each year in the Turkey processing plants in the city of Del Rio, TX. When Isidro was not working with his parents, he was back in his hometown, going to school and getting his education. By the age of 16, Isidro had saved up enough money to purchase his first car from one of his friends; a clean '73 Chevy Impala convertible that was custom-painted royal blue and sitting on Rocket Wheels. As the years went by and he got older, Isidro began working as an upholsterer until he decided to move to the city of San Antonio, TX to open up his own shop. Liberated by his new move, Isidro knew that there was still much more in store for him.

Since the move was well-planned, Isidro already had work waiting for him in San Antonio. He opened up a shop named Hi Tech Auto in 1999, and began work on his first project that year as well. Isidro garnered a lot of attention for the work he did on this project, a car he christened "The Great Pretender," which took home honors for Bomb Car of the Year. His penchant for working on award winning cars like "Wild Thing 2000," and "Pura Plata 2," gave him the inspiration he needed to build his own award-winning car. Rather than jump in head first, Isidro took it one step at a time and built "The Prophecy" bicycle, which took home Best Bike Honors in the '04 and '05 Las Vegas Super Shows. Having tasted success in the bike arena, a reluctant Isidro knew it was time to finally build himself an award-winning 'Lo-Lo.

After looking for some time, Isidro came across a 1950 Bomb truck while looking for some car parts in a junkyard in November of 2005. Isidro saw great potential in the Bomb truck, so he purchased it for $200, dragged it out from the junkyard, and put it on his trailer, readying it for a trip straight to his shop. Isidro knew that if he wanted to show in the '06 Las Vegas Super Show, he needed to qualify in the Houston show that took place earlier in the year. This meant having the truck ready by that show's July date, so Isidro and his team of employees worked on the truck day and night to make sure that he could meet his deadline.

The crew started by taking the entire truck apart to see what was salvageable and what needed to be replaced or thrown away. Isidro took the stock frame and delivered it to Jerry Vader, so that he could take the necessary specifications to custom build a new frame that would fit the '84 American Jag rear end, and the '74 Ford Mustang front end. When the frame was finished, they began the necessary bodywork, and it was during this step that the truck's transformation really took place. The truck got a molded tilt front end, while the original headlamps were swapped with '07 Mini Cooper headlamps. The firewall was shaved and molded, while the top was chopped down for a bit of extra style. To complement that, the doors were upgraded to scissor-style doors that open straight out, away from the cabin. The truck bed was fitted with a custom molded '07 Chevy SSR tailgate and lights, and was also set up with a hydraulic pump to tilt as well. To give it that extra smooth look, the belly, roll pan, doors, and vents were also molded. After all the upgrades were added, the Bomb was shipped to Fabian, a/k/a "Candy Man" in Corpus Christi, TX, where he laid down a mixture of Candy Magenta over a Silver Flake base. "Candy Man" also added running graphics throughout the belly, firewall, rear cabin wall, and under the tilt bed and front end, using custom graphics in different shades of Candy Magenta. After Fabian was done he handed the Bomb to John Saenz, also in Corpus Christi, so that he could add custom lifelike murals of medieval female warariors. The truck was then clear coated, and Randy Rodriguez underwent the excruciating task of color, sanding, and buffing the truck to a glass-like finish. The truck had been worked on for a month straight, but now it was time for it to be shipped back to Isidro, as there was still much more work to be done to what would become an award-winning Bomb.

Isidro used his skills and fabricated a new fiberglass dash and center console. He then added a set of custom-built seats, which he upholstered with a mixture of Biscuit Tuck and Wrinkle, before accenting it with small mirrors. It was around this time that Louie from Q-Rodz in San Antonio, TX installed the hydraulic setup. Louie installed three 1950's Pesco 717's Series Pumps with chrome hard lines. The set up is controlled by four switches, and also includes custom engraved cylinders, front and back, with 4 optima batteries, Adex dumps, and 6 solenoids.

The final steps in this detailed build included installing an engine and putting the entire truck back together. The engine was completely built from scratch by Isidro. He took an '07 LS1 Engine and rebuilt it, starting with a polished block and added custom-built chrome and gold plated accessories along the way. These accessories included an air filter, headers, an intake manifold, pulleys, a water pump and an alternator. After the setup and engine were installed, Isidro put together the entire truck to make sure that everything was working properly, before taking it all apart one last time, and sending everything to get engraved by Gilbert of Cortez Custom Engraving. Gilbert engraved the entire engine, front and rear end suspension, frame, transmission, the boxed lower and upper arms, and the transmission shaft. Once he was finished, the parts were taken to Morales Plating in Dallas, TX, so that everything could be fully chromed-out. After the chrome plating, everything was delivered to Daniel at Gold Touch in San Antonio, TX, so that he could perform the necessary custom gold-plating to all of the newly engraved parts. Finally, after six months of hard work, all the parts for the truck were back at Isidro's shop. The truck was fully reassembled, thanks to the custom cut nuts and bolts that were made for the build by La Chiva from Eagle Pass, TX.

The Bomb Truck was finished just a few days before the Lowrider Magazine Tour Stop in Houston, TX in 2006. Isidro went to the show and swept the entire event, taking home "Best of Show," "Best Bomb Truck," and qualifying for the Vegas Super Show, just like he had planned. "The Prophecy" was in full display in 2006, representing the Rollerz Only Car Club and taking home the Title for "Bomb Truck of the Year," along with various other awards and plenty of cold, hard cash. Isidro's hard work and dedication got him the recognition and bragging rights his team deserved, especially considering the fact that the people who worked with him on this project finished it in just seven months! Isidro would like to extend his thanks to his family, and everybody that worked on "The Prophecy," because without them, it wouldn't be one of the most recognized Lowrider Bomb Trucks in the game.

The Prophecy

Owner:Isidro Juarez

Vehicle:1950 Chevy Bomb Truck

Club:Rollerz Only

City/State:San Antonio, Texas

Engine:'97 LS1 Engine with custom-built air filter and polished block. A custom engraved 700 R transmission was also added to the truck.

Interior:Isidro customs built the interior with a two-tone pink and purple Biscuit tuck and wrinkle with mirrors. Custom fiberglass dash and center console with a gold-plated, NOS engraved tank.

Set Up:3 1950's 717 Pesco pumps, custom-painted and chrome-plated with hard lines.

Tires:155/80 R 13

Wheels:Custom engraved chrome and gold-platted 13X7 Zenith's.

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