DOUBLING DOWN

There are a lot of different types of builds. Some people go into a project with a detailed spreadsheet, a list of parts to buy, and everything budgeted properly. Then there are others who decide to wing it and take each step as it goes. But then there’s a third category. The folks who buy a truck with the intention of just doing a few things here and there, but nothing crazy. And yet, that’s never exactly how things go down. 

Take this 1970 C10 owned by Greg and Tara Hairr, for example. It was a perfectly acceptable red truck with a small block and a few other goodies. By all outward appearances, this thing was in good shape and could have either been resold at a profit or kept as a driver. The only itch that Greg wanted to scratch was the engine. He didn’t like the 350, and instead wanted a 7-liter monster LS7 under the hood to really put the power down. All he had to do was find the motor and get it installed. No biggie, right? 

Yeah, it was definitely a big deal. Finding the engine he wanted wasn’t easy. Greg searched for a long time to get just the right model, and eventually, he found what he wanted. For the install, he went to Joel and the crew at Nobody Customs and Restorations in Keithville, LA. Putting in the motor was no big deal for the team, as they do everything from paint to interior. But while the install was going on, Greg found these moldings that he wanted to put onto the truck, so he asked the team to install them when they had a chance. And that is when the problem happened. 

While test fitting the trim, they used masking tape to hold it all in place. And once they went to peel it off, the clear coat came with it. Not just that, almost all of the clear coat was pulling off. In fact, they could blow compressed air under a spot and the finish would lift right off like you were inflating a balloon. 

To be clear (see what we did there?) Joel and his team did nothing wrong. The paint was the issue, and the problem would have been discovered one way or the other. At this point, Greg could have gotten mad and thrown in the towel, but instead, he doubled down. This was a sign that he needed to rebuild this truck and make it better than ever before, and so that’s exactly what he did. 

Now one thing to note here is that Greg was not the only decision maker on this project. This was a group effort, with Tara and his friends being invited to provide opinions whenever possible, as well as Joey and the team at Nobody Customs and Restorations. If Greg doubted what to do, he’d bring it to the group to ask for their thoughts. While decisions made via committee are usually a horrible idea, this time everything came together smoothly. 

Out went the red, and with the body stripped down, the crew at Nobody saw rust and they knew they had to fix that before anything else happened. Once everything was welded, smoothed, and straightened, on went the PPG paint in BMW Galaxy Gray and Olympic White, with just a touch of red on the trim. It’s clean, classy, and looks original but with a custom touch. 

Then it was on to the suspension, where bags and tubular components went onto the chassis to set the truck down perfectly. Big Wilwood brakes all the way around make sure the LS7 under the hood is kept in check, and the interior was done up in leather and cloth to tie everything together. Inside and out, this truck is just spectacular. 

It took a little bit to get everything wrapped up, but the results speak for themselves. It’s been to seven shows as of this writing, and trophied in all of them.  What’s the future for the newly restored C10? Well you can be sure Greg and Tara will get some enjoyment out of it over the next little bit, but they’re pretty flexible. He knows better than to plan for a specific future, because that’s never exactly how things go down.