FLOOR MODEL

When you’re one of the big cheeses at Holley Classic Trucks and Brothers Trucks, you know that details matter, because if those details aren’t taken into account, you’ll hear about it soon enough from the customer. But what about when you’re also your own customer? Well, you’d better make damn sure those parts you’re slingin’ are absolutely perfect, because it’ll bug the everlasting hell out of you if they’re not! 

Jay McFarland has the fortunate/unfortunate role of being his own worst critic in this regard, as Director of Business Development for the aforementioned Holley Classic Trucks and Brothers Trucks, as well as Scott Drake. In this role of basically being a professional perfectionist, he’s surrounded by other truck nerds who also talk about trucks all day. Hey, you can’t work in this industry and not love classic trucks, right? 

After checking out Jay’s ‘85 Chevy, we think you’ll agree that he’s a seamless fit and a worthy ambassador in the world of C10s. When asked about the build, Jay shared, “I bought this truck to just drive while building my ‘77 C10. The interior was bad, the paint was bad, and the engine was tired. I thought I could do the old patina look, but that’s not me. I am not one to leave well enough alone. So, I tore into it. I never even drove it down the block before tearing into it!”

The ‘77 he mentioned is a rotisserie-restored truck that he admits is just too nice to drive compared to this one! To top it all off, he did all the work on both trucks himself, including the paint! Yeah, the dude’s résumé is off the charts for sure. But let’s get back to the ‘85. 

The truck started off as a very well-worn beater, complete with the original sticky, gummy steering wheel, and a paint job that seemed like it was somehow made of the same gooey stuff. Jay told the story of how he got the truck best: “I found the truck on Facebook Marketplace. It was several hours away in a small town called Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It looked better in the pictures as they always do, but it was an honest truck that had never been messed with. The paint, however, was terrible. The interior was sun burnt and crispy, and the engine was tired. The best part was the road trip with my dad to look at the truck. I always value his opinion and really enjoy the time with him when we do road trips like this. I ended up striking a deal with the owner at $5,500, and I swapped out the old, tired 305 for a reman 350. It’s no powerhouse but runs great and gets me where I want to be.”

From there, Jay got to work rebuilding the rest of the truck, including media blasting the body since that gooey paint just kept gumming up the sandpaper, and laying on multiple coats of gorgeous black paint. Yeah, the dude sprayed black paint in his home-brewed paint booth, and it turned out like this. 

The build was all downhill from that point, with upgraded LED lighting from the Holley Classic Trucks parts bin, as well as a host of other Holley Classic Trucks and Brothers restoration items. Before long, the truck was sporting a 4.5/6-inch drop (thanks to a combination of Detroit Speed and Belltech components), and gorgeous 20-inch Rocket Racing Attack wheels, giving the C10 a classic stance that just looks perfect on these trucks.  

So, you might be wondering how Jay got the experience to build a truck like this from top to bottom in his garage, and to be honest we were kind of wondering, too. Luckily, he was happy to share. As expected, it wasn’t a set of skills that came overnight. “I have been into and made a living with cars all of my life. From my first job in an auto body supply store at 16, to being an ASE certified mechanic in a dealership, to my last 25 years at Holley. I worked on it every day for 6 months with no break. My wife wasn’t really happy with me spending all the time in the shop, but she does like the result. I worked my job during the day and was in the shop every night and weekend.” 

As with most of us, Jay isn’t quite done with his C10, and has a few more upgrades planned, including a 6.0L LS swap with Holley Terminator X Max EFI, along with a 4L65E, and a Yukon Dura Grip Posi with 3.55 gears for improved performance. He also bought a spare chassis that will get some addition Performance Online (POL) suspension mods before it all gets painted and swapped in. Sounds like more good times and plenty of miles are in store for Jay’s Chevy, and we’re definitely here for it!