Table of contents for Spring 2022 in C10 Builder's Guide

AFTER TRAVELING around the country and attending events geared toward all styles of custom vehicles, it’s hard to sound unbiased when saying that the C10 truck community is very clearly the strongest and most bonded group of passionate pickup owners anywhere in the world. No other industry has a gathering of like-minded individuals as strong as ours. Not even the Jeep guys have vehicle-specific events that sell out in every state, nearly every month. The players on our team have a love for every part of the game, including those styles and trends that are not particularly popular in the mainstream. Lifted, lowered, small block or LS, we love them all and we support the projects that our fellow C10 community members are currently working on. We don’t put down…

FAMILY—‘OHANA IN HAWAIIAN—is something we can all relate to in one way or another. Many of us are fortunate enough to have those special people who believed in us even when the rest of the world had turned their backs. Many of us also have that crazy grandpa or uncle who wouldn’t hesitate to grab the chainsaw and help you cut a rotted old GMC out of a field in the middle of nowhere Alabama. Matt Barnes has his ‘ohana, and thus begins their story. Matt and Caitlan Barnes own Gauge Customs in Huntsville, Alabama. It’s a family business and custom automotive paint shop that has turned out some slick restorations for clients all over the country. But as the saying goes, “The shoemaker’s daughter goes barefoot.” They’ve built many…

BUILDING A DREAM truck is a goal most enthusiasts only wish for. A few actually get to experience it, and even fewer have the opportunity to build more than just one. Dedication to a goal that can be easily set off course with bad luck or shady people is hard to maintain, and when you hear the story on the history of this truck, it’s clear that a few highly dedicated and motivated people had plenty of one-on-one time in the garage with this ’71 K5 Blazer. The Blazer started out as a beat-up truck in Northern California. Steve Ortega Junior of Brentwood, California, picked up the primered and bagged but otherwise stock Blazer dirt cheap. After giving up on the goal, the truck was sold to Rich Schreiner, who…

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT’S so damn powerful about our trucks is how they can be such an equalizer! Think about it: Over the last year or so we have had so much tension from race, finances, vaccines, left or right, it goes on and on. (It’s more than I can ever remember, and it gets exhausting.) But the great thing about our C10 and classic autos is that they bring us together so we can leave all that crap behind. You might not be able to get away from it at work, at home, at wherever, but it all disappears at your local show, or C10 gathering, truck show or local cruise! I dig when you go to a truck show where a six-figure truck is parked, and next…

FOLLOWING UP ON OUR QA1 Suspension installation on this 1985 Chevy squarebody, we need to ensure that the brakes are as dependable and perform as well as our new coilover suspension. For its first outing, we will be driving this truck to Holley Performance Products and back with a competition along the way. Following a hopefully successful trip, we plan to pump this truck all around the country on the Hot Rod Power Tour along with some other event road trips. With a plan like that, we need parts that we can count on. So, we turned to our industry partners and leaders for performance braking. Wilwood Engineering has been winning races and bringing home best of show trophies for many years, and our experience with the company has been…

IN MANY PLACES A year ago, we had no shows, weren’t allowed to congregate and didn’t know if it would be safe to do so again. While this has changed—and the Goodguys Pacific Northwest Nationals came and went without incident—we’re still living with uncertainty and a degree of fear. Events are happening every weekend from coast to coast, yet mandates and protocols are in place depending on the venue, along with advice to get vaccinated if you haven’t done so already. Expect that for promoters and organizers to be able to hold shows of any size and magnitude, the numbers of those infected need to come down. Protect yourselves and those around you. The community of enthusiasts to which we belong needs to do what we can to shield each…

THE 30TH YEAR OF THIS FUN FLORIDAbased event was no disappointment! An epic turnout forced the Mini Madness crew to close vehicle registration early on Saturday due to filling up the fairgrounds at Florida State Park in Tampa, Florida. This weekend long, non-motor sport event is perfect for any gearhead family with vehicles from all sides of the custom scene showing up and showing off! This also happens to be one of the top car-audio competitions in the country, but we were more focused on the classic Chevy trucks that were laid out all over the property getting a suntan. Anything you could possibly imagine was at this event, from fully custom to fully restored and quite a few daily driver classic trucks, which excites us the most! This event…

This ’84 C10 is a well-rounded sport truck through and through with a lot going for it in every category. It has the quality and attention to detail of a seasoned show truck with the elements of an adrenaline-fueled street machine. IT ISN’T UNCOMMON FOR A custom truck project to outgrow all the limits first put in front of it. For example, Tyler Moss of Liberty, West Virginia, had only planned to build his ’84 C10 to be a run-of-the-mill, classic daily driver, which is totally fine. There’s no reason to have to ask for more, obviously, because who doesn’t enjoy seeing a cool “old” 40-year-old truck still cruising around? Even though that end result is not quite what Tyler got, he kept on working toward achieving a goal that…

LIKE MANY OF US, Dave Seeney dreamed of one day building his very own custom truck to share with his family and friends. While at a car show in Kansas City back in 2001, Dave noticed the growing popularity of custom 1967-’72 Chevy C10 pickups and knew instantly that he wanted one. A truck from the show that really piqued his interest was a “Chop-Top” C10, and it inspired him to build his own someday. Well, that “someday” came sooner than Dave had planned for. He got word about a project truck that had been sitting in a garage for some time, and the owner had lost interest in it. So, Dave contacted the trucks owner and set up a time to go see just what kind of a “project”…

NATURAL DISASTERS affect everybody differently, and it’s how we move past them that defines us as men and women. Pontiac, Illinois, resident Mike Simpson knows all about perseverance as he went through every custom vehicle owner’s worst nightmare. Mike first learned to turn wrenches in the garage with his father, and once he was older he found and purchased a ’69 Chevy C10. He spent months rebuilding and perfecting his craft inside his garage. The winters in Illinois cause custom truck owners to store their rides in garages waiting out the snow like a hibernating bear. Mike had his prized possession locked away in a secured garage when a massive tornado ripped through his town. Mike planned on having his father Dale paint the C10 for him, but when it…

PART OF THE FUN OF A long-term project is the process it takes to get from beginning to end. A story will inevitably prevail by the time your build is complete, and depending on your level of sentimentality you have to your steel, you may be repeating the things you remember from the days in the garage for many years to come. Nowadays with devices like cell phones and GoPros, it’s easier than ever to document the details so you can show them off to friends and family. Luckily for us, that’s what we do—and luckily for you, we are really good at our job! Project Rocky will be a unique, exciting, fun and fast truck that will be easy on the eyes for any type of human on this…