Roush Industries had the completed body ready for color, and it doused the newly transformed curves in Sherwin Williams Black-perfect for the tough-guy Orange County Chopper likeness. Upon assembly, the doors were fit with ITW Active Touch door release modules. Now finally in color, the truck's reanimation progress was awash in CNC-carved billet and blinding chrome. You will find that the hood, main and front fascia grilles, along with the headlight, driving light, taillight buckets, bedrails, exterior mirrors-and finally the tailgate itself-were all created from huge chunks of T-6 stock. Old-skool glory literally shines through with tri-bar headlamps and blue-dot tail lamps but newer technology prevailed with HID and LED lights used, respectively. What would an OCC truck be like, if not for the unmistakable trademark V-twin motor? Four of the powerful big-inch thumpers ride comfortably in the bed on a custom-made rack strutting their fully chromed and polished stuff. More of the flamed motif engulfs the billet bed rack while holding the quad grouping of H&L 124-inch, 140hp engines with diamond-cut cylinder fins.
Behind the futuristic red window tint is an interior produced by some of the most amazing machines that money can buy. Roush Industries began by filling the glovebox door, then smoothing and wrapping the entire dash with black leather. The vent covers were handmade from steel bars welded together, then chromed, and the plate on the lower right is a chromed billet piece with the OCC logo machined into it. Chrome was also used to cover other plastic pieces on the dash, floor, center console, and door panels. Chrome can only stick to metal, so how do you make plastic become metal? First, the plastic was sanded completely smooth, then it was coated in liquid copper. With copper being the base of chrome, the parts were racked to hold their shape in the heat of coating, then dipped in nickel, and finally chromed. Everything else that wasn't chrome plated was painted black, after it had been sanded smooth.
It would take two pages to describe the process to create the one-off steering wheel. Essentially, it would cost more than a new Silverado to replicate it. In short, the amazing steering wheel sports a custom center piece smothered in chrome, with a wheel that was built up in diameter, and then covered with carbon fiber and leather. Choppers are known for having eye-catching seat designs with searing flames, stitching, or other designs done in leather, ostrich, or even stingray. GM Design's Michael Rhodes and Catherine Bedford worked with OCC to capture the theme of a chopper seat and converted the Silverado's seats digitally.
The Roush interior designers drew on the original seat covers to decide how the design would use the Reno and Cherokee black leather. A unique leather thread was hand stitched into the corner seams of the seat by using a chain-link pattern. This was performed by Roush's lead designer, John Fields, whose hands paid dearly for his efforts. OCC's trademark logo decorates the headrests, Dorsett Black carpet covers the floor, and the headliner and sun visors received a sinister layer of black leather.
"The OCC Silverado is a tribute to a family that has made an enormous impact on design, and the new Silverado is the perfect canvas to illustrate it," said John Cafaro, chief designer for fullsize trucks. "Ironically, the OCC Silverado represents the reverse of OCC's typical themed creations. Rather than design a bike to fit a particular theme, we've built a truck to reflect the Teutuls' contributions to the chopper and the focus they've brought to the industry," he said. Truer words could not have been spoken, and the debut of the vehicle at the 2006 SEMA Show proved that GM's John Cafaro was correct. The show attendants stood four rows deep around the perimeter of the Silverado to catch a glimpse of what chopper design had done to truck customization.