Gothic images drip from Dennis McDonough's sick 1989 Nissan Hardbody like the dew on a humid Florida morning. And that's appropriate for a truck he calls Soul Keeper. Wispy black skulls pile up on the truck's two-tone candy red and silver killing fields, gathered by the penitent Angel of Death on the hood - a dark tribute to the mini-trucker soul.
Dennis is an autobody man from Fort Walton, Florida. He put five years into building this truck and had a hand in much of the work that was done. Going back to the bodywork, he shaved the front bumper, hood squirters, door handles, and tailgate handle; he relocated the gas filler to the bed and installed a couple of third brake lights from an '03 Impala to replace the factory taillights. Tinted windows help darken the truck's aspect. And the candy-and-silver-colored terrain of the truck bed rolls over two compressor tanks and the C-notch bridge. While David painted much of the truck, Kustom Auto Graphix in Fort Walton handled the graphics.
The Nissan's exterior paint scheme bleeds onto the dash, center console, and door panels, announced silently by the skull bursting from the passenger side of the smoothed and 'glassed candy red dash. Maybe it likes the dirge wind-ing from the Sony Xplod CDX-CA700X AM/FM/CD head unit, Kenwood amplifier, and Xplod 6-1/2-inch coaxials in the doors. Another grimacing skull overlooks the sub enclosure behind the seats, which harbor two 12-inch Xplod subwoofers. There are no more bench seats thanks to the Xterra buckets re-upholstered with black leather and gray ostrich inserts (from Sonny's Upholstery in Fort Walton). Black leather lines the ceiling, and medium gray carpet freshens the floor. David did the interior, aside from the leathers.
Underneath the truck, the airspace has been chopped by three inches courtesy of a notched frame. Firestone airbags drop the truck the rest of the way...to the rockers. A triangulated suspension setup from Pete & Jake's modifies the rear. Intro 18x7-inch wheels roll in Kumho 215/30R18 tires. Not much is happening under the hood, except for an Optima battery moved under the bed and a Majic Muffler exhaust system. David and Elite Concepts busted knuckles on the chassis mods.
David thanks his wife, Cliff and Keith at Kustom Auto Graphix, and Sonny at Sonny's Upholstery for their help, material, and otherwise with building his mini-truck spirit vault.