FARMER’S SPECIAL

Before you dive too deep into this article, take a moment, and check your local Facebook Marketplace ads, or maybe Craigslist, OfferUp, or whatever floats your boat. Look for a 1968 Chevrolet C-10 with a big back window, factory short bed, and one that’s not clapped out or packed with rust. What’d you find? Anything as cheap as $5,500? Because that’s what Keith Keele of Erin, Tennessee picked up, which makes him the subject of envy from a lot of truck enthusiasts.

This particular 1968 C-10 had a history around town, and Keith knew the broad strokes: the local constable picked it up off the lot and various hot rodders have played with it ever since. The paint was nicely patinaed and it was a decent, if not great, truck. But mainly it had a lot of potential at the right price, which is why he picked it up.

However, there was more at stake here as it wasn’t going to be his personal vehicle. When he bought it six-ish years ago, the plan was to get his then-thirteen-year-old son a project for his first ride. But the day Keith pulled the ’68 into the driveway, his son wasn’t really interested. He was more into diesel trucks and 4X4s. An old C-10? Not really on his radar.

Now Keith did like these trucks, but he didn’t intend on making all the decisions on the project. And so, the truck became something to tinker on here and there. Maybe one day he’d adjust something on the engine, and another work on some rust repair. It was a casual thing, mostly. Until it wasn’t.

Keith is a farmer, and he has a shop where he does the aforementioned tinkering. He’s built a few vehicles there over the years, including a late-‘60s Camaro and some other fun projects. That last muscle car left a mark on him, though. He knew most of his friends were doing LS engine swaps, but he had his mind set on a small-block V8. When he sold the car, all he heard was, “No LS, huh?” which meant he didn’t get what he expected out of the deal.

This time he’d have an LS. An LS3, no less, and so he started building up the truck to handle some decent horsepower as well as garner some looks. He was regularly going to his local speed shop, a place called Finch Performance, to get his parts, and one day they had a twin-turbo C-10 on the showroom floor. It got Keith a little bit itchy. You know, the kind of itchy that requires building your own twin-turbo C-10. That became the game plan.

All good truck builds have a solid foundation and having a monster motor means you need that chassis nice and tight, so he boxed the entire thing himself. For suspension, he wanted something that handled well, so he went with No Limit Engineering products front and rear. By the time he was done tweaking and tuning everything within an inch of its life, he had a rock-solid chassis upon which to place one beautiful engine.

That part started as a GM LS3 with GM aluminum heads. Then came the Texas Speed and Performance Stage 3 LS3 camshaft and rockers. Those turbos are Precision Turbo & Engine 6266s, and their added nine lbs. of boost help put down 703 horsepower at 6,550 RPM with 594 ft/lbs. of torque at 5,650 RPM. That ain’t too shabby for something to drive around the farm.

Let’s talk about the rest of the truck though, because it’s got some nice details. See that bed floor? It’s not wood, but instead all aluminum. It’s a kit from Smokey Road Rod Shop and according to Keith, it even feels like the real deal, grain and all. The truck now has paint instead of the patina it rocked for decades. It’s covered in PPG Arctic White (A factory GM color), which sets off the gunmetal powdercoated Forgeline wheels nicely. Oh, and speaking of, Keith worked with Forgeline to get some of that powder, and he used it on everything he could so it all matched. A very nice touch.

Now this project was never going to be done in a timely fashion. As a farmer, Keith’s farm sees good crop years and bad. He adjusts his building schedule accordingly, so it took until his son turned 19 for the whole thing to be done. Is the kid still into diesels and 4X4s? Yup, but now he’s a lot more interested in the ’68 than he was six or so years ago.

At least it’s still in the family.