Most feature trucks have been finished for some time before they are lined up to actually get a photo shoot. Some are even daily drivers when they are shot. That's not the case for this '92 GMC fullsize Stepside owned by Robert Williams from Columbia, South Carolina. When we came across this truck at a show, it had actually just been finished. Literally, it was finished, moved into the trailer, and hauled straight to the show, without even making a stop by the car wash. The truck was so fresh out of the shop, you could smell the paint and fiberglass by simply standing next to it. At the end of the six-month buildup, the last three days were a mad rush to make sure the truck would debut to show off the shop's capabilities. In order to create the perfect shop truck for Mr. Scrape Customs in Sumter, South Carolina, Robert and his business partner Mike Lee, along with employees Cory Osteen and Robbie Casselman, performed all of the work with the exception of the paint. Since this was going to be the first shop vehicle, the team wanted it to be over the top and make people take notice, so they didn't leave anything out in the buildup.
Before the ink on the truck's purchase papers was even dry, plans to tear the truck apart were already underway. The first thing to do was to get the suspension to the desired stance and to get the truck to lay out. Since Robert had planned to run a set of 22x10-inch Bonspeed Laguna wheels, wrapped in P265/35ZR22 Pirelli Scorpion rubber, the crew had to make sure the truck would be cut enough to clear these massive rollers. In front, a set of Belltech spindles was used, and the factory inner sheetmetal was trimmed to clear the wheels.
Out back, the work got a little more intense. The stock leaf springs were scrapped in favor of an Air Ride Technologies triangulated four-link, while the factory rearend was narrowed 3 inches to allow the huge wheels to tuck nicely without rubbing. The rear frame clip was reworked and step-notched, and new mounting points were added to relocate the gas tank. Slam Specialties RS-82 'bags were used on all four corners along with GC air valves for the lift and lowering functions. An Air Lift Easy Street engine-driven compressor was used to drive air to all four corners.
With the underside of the truck finished, it was time to move to the shiny side of the truck. Before any of this work was done, the owners of Mr. Scrape Customs contacted Brant at Graphic Disorder to create a rendering so they would have something to work off of. They took the truck to Jonathan Rivers over at Phaze 3 Kustoms in Effingham, South Carolina, to get him to match the truck's paint scheme to the one in the rendering. Before Jonathan started on the body, a steel cowl hood, a smoothie front bumper, and Street Scene sport mirrors were bolted on. The tailgate handle was shaved, and a roll pan was also molded in. Once it was time for the paintwork to begin, Jonathan grabbed some House of Kolor Candy Oriental Blue and some pearl white for the base colors. As soon as those colors were dry, the orange and green tribal graphics were added to the bottom of the truck and pinstriped with purple, yellow, and blue to make it all flow together. A few airbrushed graphics were then sprayed into all of the green graphics for a few extra detail points. Once all of the paintwork was done and the truck was buffed to a show-winning shine, a '95 GMC five-piece billet phantom was added, along with a set of diamond headlights to add a different look to the front, while a set of Generation 3 Euro taillights brighten up the rear. The bed was treated to some blue Line-X but only after the notch and wheels were covered by a custom-bent piece of sheetmetal that cleaned up the bed, while a Gaylord's above-the-rail tonneau caps it all off.
Since Robert, Mike, and the rest of the crew at Mr. Scrape Customs wanted to bring the exterior of the truck into the interior, the door panels were completely shaved and smoothed, with the exception of the speaker pods that house the JL Audio mids and tweets, before the graphics were flawlessly worked through the doorjambs and onto the door panels. The dash was also smoothed and painted with the same blue paint found on the body, but not before the stock HVAC controls and power window controls were moved to the front of the newly constructed center console that was also painted. The reason the controls were relocated was so they would allow room to house one of the four video monitors. Both of the sunvisors also house video monitors, along with a Pioneer AM/FM flip-down monitor in the stock radio's location. The stock bench was swapped in favor of a pair of '98 Chevy fullsize buckets wrapped in blue tweed and white leather. Stitched to each headrest is the Mr. Scrape Customs logo. A billet skull steering wheel and rearview mirror, with billet vents and dash kit, round off the bright goods on the interior. The headliner was treated to blue tweed fabric with white, orange, and green graphics to tie the entire interior together.
The last thing to see the shop's attention was the engine bay. Mr. Scrape Customs had planned on doing a full motor swap to a LS1 and still has plans to do so, but the crew ran out of time before the slated debut, so a little dress up was called for. The valve covers were chromed, and the alternator was swapped for a chrome 100-amp unit. Many underhood components were painted to match, and some braided steel lines were also added to spice up the otherwise-stock engine. The exhaust system did manage to see a full makeover with new larger piping and Flowmaster mufflers. A few custom covers were built to clean up the engine bay as well.
Mr. Scrape Customs opened in July, 2003, and should most definitely be considered a "one-stop custom shop." This truck was built with no sponsors, just the long, hard work of the shop guys. Special thanks from Mike and Robert go to their wives, who put up with them spending nights working on the truck till sunrise, so they could focus on customer's vehicles during shop hours. They would also like to thank Jonathan from Phaze 3 Kustoms for putting in all the extra hours to get the truck done in time. After seeing all of the work on this truck, we'll be on the lookout for future super-clean custom trucks to roll out of Mr. Scrape Customs.