Several vehicles manage to stop us in our tracks while we're walking through the vast aisles of the SEMA show, many of them are cars. But when we came across this '96 Blazer, owned by Ryan Alvidrez, we were amazed that the transformation he'd made looked so natural. A common reaction was, "Why didn't someone try that sooner?"
20x8.5-inch Bonspeed Ramone wheels and 35-series Toyo rubber were mounted on all four corners.
Let's start with the most obvious. The body was shaved by Mike Toone in Corcoran, California, where S-10 truck bed sides and a roll pan were used to create a clean view from the rear. This part of the build began years ago, as Ryan needed a clean driver which also served as an advertisement for A'z Auto Parts, his parents' business. Along the way, GM decided to release its new '07 GMC Sierra. Apparently, it didn't take long for Ryan to realize that the grille and headlights, with a bit of trimming here and there, would look great on the front of his Blazer.
Enter Steve Chapman from Fabworxs in Fresno, California. After sectioning aSierra billet grille and trimming the Blazer's front fenders, the '07 headlights made a natural update to the '96 sheetmetal. With the body all set for paint, Mike Toone painted the base House of Kolor Majik Blue, before Vince Gonzalez, again from Fresno, sprayed the overlapping tribal graphics in contrasting silver with green pinstriping and drop shadowing to finish things off.
Setting off the smoothed and updated body is a chassis that tucks 20-inch Bonspeed wheels at each corner. To get the clearance needed, Ryan again left the Blazer in the trusted hands of Steve Chapman. Belltech spindles were bolted onto the front with Slam Specialties 'bags, while the rear frame was notched and a triangulated four-link was fabricated to work with the help of more Slam Specialties 'bags. The factory gas tank was tossed in favor of a custom-built 30-gallon fuel cell, so the cruising range of this Blazer is through the roof.