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Sizzlin' Silverado

Street Scene Equipment's Latest Head-Turner

By Travis Noack, Sergio Euzarraga

Photography by Wes Allison

Those individuals who own and operate automotive aftermarket companies know that building custom vehicles to showcase the company's products can be the best sales tool available to give consumers a tangible picture of how their truck will look once fit with a given company's product or products. Creating these rolling business cards allows automotive aftermarket businesses to showcase their home-run products all in one shot, on trucks that are best suited to be modified. Street Scene Equipment of Costa Mesa, California, is an industryleader in aftermarket body dress-up panels and custom grilles for today's popular Bow Tie, Blue Oval, and Ram sport trucks.

Company President Mike Spagnola spends most of his 9-5 time making sure that products stamped with the respected SSE logo go out the door free of flaws and ready to turn customers' trucks into head-turning street customs. The crew at Street Scene not only breaks their backs striving to turn out some of the highest-quality body enhancements the custom truck aftermarket has to offer, but between juggling the phone and filling orders, the company works to create project vehicles that demand respect from enthusiasts all over. Sure, many companies build project trucks, but few do it to the degree of the folks at Street Scene, focusing on cutting-edge looks and superior attention to detail all the way through. Examples of the company's past four-wheeled success stories can be seen in its slammed Ford SuperCrew on the cover of the Apr. '02 issue of Truckin' and bright-orange Expedition livening up the cover of the June '03 edition of Truckin's SUV magazine. Having built two wild Blue Ovals, SSE's Vice President of Sales Tom Urbaniak felt it was time for the company to lay its signature down on a Bow Tie. Tom agreed to purchase the truck, and with checkbook in hand, he headed to his local Chevy dealer and picked up a stock two-wheel-drive '03 Chevy extended cab equipped with a 5.3L engine. The concept behind the project would be to create a clean daily driver with a host of performance modifications and body alterations to make the truck a standout at the traffic lights along Tom's daily commute.

First, to get the desired exterior attitude, the truck needed to loose some altitude. It was delivered to Billet Superstore in Anaheim, California, for a mild lowering and some aftermarket rims and rubber. The crew at Billet Superstore took the ride height down a few notches by installing Belltech 2-inch lowering springs up front and a Belltech rear shackle and spring hanger to crank the tail end down 4 inches. Edelbrock IAS shocks were used to iron out the wrinkles in the Silverado's daily traveled asphalt. To enhance the stance, Tom chose Boze Speed 6 wheels in the bold 22x10-inch fashion, wrapped by meaty BFGoodrich P295/45R20 rubber forward and aft. Completion of the stance led Tom and the crew at Street Scene to address the truck's stock powerplant, and what could be done to create the same sinister and potent appearance under the hood that would appear on the truck's exterior.To create a tire-blazing and neck-snapping driving experience when piloting the Silverado, a polished Magnuson Radix intercooled blower was pulled from the shelves at MagnaCharger in Ventura, California, and bolted to the top of the 5.3L engine. Forcing even more air into the motor is a Volant air intake, while the operating cycle is completed by a 3-inch Corsa after-cat exhaust system. Producing a whopping 403 hp when the Sizzlin' Silverado is dropped into gear and the go pedal is mashed, this truck's powerplant means serious business. While this Chevy's powerplant is certainly strong in the performance arena, it is no slouch in the detail department. To sanitize the underhood looks, Lance Laverty of Faded Kolors in Santa Fe Springs, California, pulled a few engine compartment odds and ends, then coated them in silver to match the exterior hood and roof graphics. True Billet of Scottsdale, Arizona, provided a few billet engine dress-up pieces for extra detail, while the factory fender support braces were removed and chrome-plated for that perfect finishing touch. Further drawing onlookers' focus under the hood is a flamed computer box cover and custom-made plexiglass filter box top for the Volant Air Intake filter. Power produced by the eye-and-ear-pleasing 5.3L is put to the ground with a vengeance by an Eaton E-Locker differential.

Completion of the truck's performance enhancements and underhood detailing led the Street Scene crew to their area of expertise in assembling the right combination of exterior body enhancement products for that mandatory custom look. Up front, a Street Scene Equipment Generation 1 SS-style front bumper with Speed Grille insert was used to create the truck's bold facial expression, while the rear was spiced up with a Street Scene Generation 3 SS-style roll pan. Encased in the factory grille shell is chrome-plated Street Scene Speed Grille inserts capped off by a polished billet Bow Tie. Rounding out the exterior body additions are a Street Scene wiper cowl cover, Street Scene side skirts, Street Scene side mirrors, and Street Scene smooth bedrail caps. Street Scene's custom bedrail caps work to conceal the factory stake pockets, while the tailgate piece eliminates the factory tailgate cover and holes, and gives the rear of the truck an aerodynamic look. After the products were assembled, custom painter Jerry Sievers, owner of Paint 'N' Place in Placentia, California, was contracted to use his vision and skills to give the Bow Tie some color. First, all of the Street Scene body panels were color-matched to the factory red basecoat, then Jerry cut loose with the paint gun, using House of Kolor Silver Pearl to enhance the grille shell, center hood section, and roof portion of the truck. The simple yet effective graphic is bordered by a PPG Yellow Candy stripe on each side for a little something extra.

To bring the extreme style of the truck's exterior to the interior, Tom called Joe Provenza at Audio Innovations in Glendora, California, to whip up an ear-blistering audio system for listening enjoyment during his daily commute. Joe fulfilled Tom's expectations by sticking a Rockford Fosgate 9420 CD head unit in the dash, backed by Rockford Fosgate 851X and 1501bd amplifiers powering two 12-inch Rockford Fosgate subwoofers mounted under the back seat, as well as Rockford Fosgate FNQ3614 mids and separates sprinkled throughout the cabin. Rockford Fosgate tweeters in the A-pillars help bring out the wail of the guitar in all Tom's classic rock selections.

Once the cab was filled with a system worthy of AC/DC and Rush hits, the truck was driven to Billet Superstore in Anaheim, where the dash cluster, center console top pieces, steering wheel, and door panel switch plates were treated to a special brushed aluminum coating called Photo Genesis. A Nu-Image Platinum Series gauge panel was placed in the dash, while Street Scene speaker grilles added further detail to the door panels. The fabric greatness inside Sizzlin' Silverado is maximized by black and red two-tone perforated leather seats, stitched up by the aftermarket upholstery professionals at Classic Soft Trim in Fresno, California.

Tom Urbaniak and the staff at Street Scene Equipment have worked hard to create the eye-catching Silverado shown here, using some of the best products and shops in the industry to make that vision a glowing reality. With a few custom Blue Ovals under the company's belt, and now this sensational Bow Tie, we're putting our money on Street Scene's next project truck being a Dodge Ram. Whatever quality-built custom pickup rolls out of Street Scene's Southern California facility next, rest assured it will be every bit as detailed and quality crafted as its predecessors.