It's almost amusing how many times we feature a truck that was customized by the original owner. A faithful daily driver for a decade one day finds itself up on jackstands with the bed removed, hood up, and the suspension all torn off. Poor truck...or in the case of Shane Willoughby of Pulaski, Tennessee, not so poor truck, as his 1993 S-10 was transformed from the framerails up, and what used to be a work truck is now a regular on the Southern show scene.
Shane writes, "I always wanted to customize it, and when I finally could, I did." Simple idea, simple words - not so simple a task, however. Shane decided to go full bore with the S-10 and blow right past the typical bolt-on items. Shane and his friend, builder Tommy Boshers, are apparently handy with a welder and English wheel, because this truck has a ton of body mods. Starting up front, a '95 Toyota 4WD chrome bumper was added just below the billet grille, chrome Bow Tie, and cowl-induction hood. The firewall was shaved and the underside of the hood was shaved, with the flowing body line added to both. Custom inner fenders were rolled and welded into place, and absent from the body are the door handles, the tailgate handle, and the stock taillights. Now residing in their locations are '93 DeVille taillights, while the tailgate was widened to match the top of the bedside rails. Inside the bedrails, a sheetmetal surface was ground smooth and even incorporates the wheeltubs. From the firewall forward, the frame was smoothed and painted, while the rest of the frame received just paint. Finished with the bodywork, Tommy filled his paint gun with PPG Red and sprayed the entire truck with the vibrant hue.
Suspension work was also performed by Shane and Tommy, working as the dynamic duo of S-10 builders. Using Air Ride Technologies' airbag setup, the Chevrolet can easily rest the painted frame on the ground. Up front, Belltech spindles lower the nose, while Firestone 'bags put it on terra firma. Out back, an Air Ride three-link keeps the back end nice and low. Each fender is filled with 18-inch Zinik chrome wheels wrapped in Wanli 225/40R18 tires.
Turning the larger-than-stock wheel and tire combo is a painted and polished 4.3L V-6. Converted to carburetion, the 262ci V-6 was equipped with an Accel distributor, Edelbrock performer intake, and Jet-Hot-coated Hedman Hedders.
Inside the tight con-fines of the standard cab, the entire stock dash was removed and a new, hand-built-from-steel unit was put into place. The smooth lines of the dash carry through onto the door panels, which were painted red and black to match the exterior. Mike's Auto Interiors in Columbia, Tennessee, wrapped the '94 S-10 bucket seats in black leather and replaced the factory carpet with new fabric. A B.A.D. Hellfire billet steering wheel and billet gauge cluster complete the package. Audio is provided by an Alpine head unit, sending signals to two Boston Acoustics amps, pushing two Boston Acoustics subwoofers, installed by Hi-Fi Buys in Nashville.
It took Shane and Tommy 16 months to rebuild the S-10 from the ground up and it was worth every frustrating moment. Absolutely gorgeous, the S-10 is as clean a custom as you will ever see.