Ren went out and picked up an '03 Silverado hood, grille, and fenders and delivered them to Air Concepts. With parts in hand, Eli went to work building a custom wiper cowl to accommodate the larger hood, sectioned the '97 and '03 fenders making them one seamless piece and brought the Silverado SS bumper up closer to eliminate the factory gap. Eli also went ahead and shaved the door handles, third brake light, wipers, and mirrors. A straight '94 bed was tracked down and the not-so-straight '97 bed was scrapped. With a good bed ready, Eli shaved the taillights, added a roll pan, and welded the tailgate shut. A subtle but sick detail is the lower body line wrapping around the entire bed and tailgate and the grafting of '03 Chevy fender flares onto the bed sides. Small 71/2-inch LED taillights from AVS were welded in and keep the police away from the truck. Inside the bed, an 8-gallon fuel cell from Summit Racing was mounted with a custom sheetmetal cover, a sheetmetal bed with wheel tubs was welded together and the bed was sprayed with Line-X, save for the painted bridge cover with custom chromed AA logo. Richard Galindo, of Cen-Cal Customs then stepped in and applied the House of Kolors paint. Real Teal was sprayed up top with Snow White Peal and Ice Pearl applied on the lower half with silver metal flake flames adding some hot-rod styling. Each flame was pinstriped in red and Richard finished off the truck by airbrushing a Cen-Cal crown on the tailgate.
Moving inside the shaved doors, Air Concepts rolled several sheets of steel, welded, patched, and grinded the assembly into a flowing sheetmetal dash. That dash was painted to match the body and then fitted with a custom center console also built by Air Concepts. That console houses a Dakota Digital gauge display for a '55 Chevy and a 33-inch LoKar shifter for the ultimate in custom retro looks. Brian's Auto Upholstery, in Benicia, California, wrapped a pair of '01 Honda Civic seats in white leather with silver glitter vinyl accents to keep the old-school look. He also laid down the grey carpet with white rolled edges to keep things looking clean. A white suede headliner and the addition of the custom B.A.D. billet steering wheel modeled after a '63 Chevy wheel completed the interior. Sitting in a nice setting is fun, but it is much more entertaining with your favorite jams playing. Cen-Cal Customs helped the Robinson family out by building a fiberglass box to house two 10-inch Kicker Solo-Baric subs and two Kicker amps. Custom fiberglassed door panels are the home to a pair of Kicker mids and highs. Robert Espejo wired the system and the input is controlled thanks to an iPod hookup only, no clutter found here.
Finishing off the Sierra/Silverado, Ren added a K&N intake, billet pieces from Empire Motorsports, and relocated the Optima battery using a Summit battery tray. Now Chris and Ren had themselves a truck worthy of a throwing sparks down wine country while one drives and one mans the switches. As with any project, the men of the Robinson family wanted to thank Mrs. Rose Robinson for her understanding and support, and Eli at Air Concepts for all of his hard work and skill. Do you have a son? If so, spend some time with him and let him know how important he is to you.