The project started when Quesada bought a 350 small-block-powered '87 S-10 for $500 early in 2003. It sat in the garage for five or six months before he entered the Low-Buck Challenge and engaged his dad and all his friends to help build this project truck within the six-month build period.
In our May '04 issue, we announced the winners of our first Sport Truck Magazine Low-Buck Challenge. Since the reward for the effort of the winner is a full feature in Sport Truck, we're making good on our part of the deal. We had Feature Editor John O'Neill red-eye it out to Florida to capture our winner on film. Needless to say, the truck is impressive.
Our first Low-Buck Challenge champ is Chris Quesada. This Riverview, Florida, sport truck enthusiast says he's married, has two daughters, and sells electrical supplies by day so he can work on his toys at night. That's a pretty hefty schedule, but he says the deadline imposed by the Sport Truck Magazine Low-Buck Challenge kick-started the project '87 S-10 he bought early in 2003. We're glad to be of service.
We have to lay the doubts to rest because even Editor Kevin Wilson was suspicious about Quesada's occupation. In fact, he actually does sell electrical equipment full-time. We called several times posing as buyers and he passed the black-ops test. So how is it the paint is so good?
Quesada says his serious obsession with airbrush art and painting started when he was a teen and continues to this day. Anyway, his amateur-painter status, his detailed build diary, and the consensus of our judging panel that he built the coolest custom sport truck submitted, make him the winner of the first-ever Sport Truck Magazine Low-Buck Challenge.
Quesada installed drop spindles and airbags on this project. And because he knew a welder, he saved big. He used #2500 bags on the front and #2600 bags on the rear, with two air tanks and four air valves to manipulate the two-link rear suspension. His dad helped with welding the suspension components and the C-notch. He spent $575 at Adams Air in Tampa for air suspension parts, but the rest was paid in sweat equity. |  |  |
Keeping the stock bucket seats and having them reupholstered for $500 was a smart move, as was spending $115 on the tweed covering the interior surfaces. We also think the $225 for a pair of motorcycle side mirrors was a great choice. And you can't go wrong spending $169 for an APC steering billet steering wheel. He tells us the only work he subcontracted was to Filmo's Fabrics for the seats, which brought the total spent on the interior to $1,009. | 
Quesada massaged the look of the small-block by adding a few chrome accents, a new radiator, a carburetor, and some stainless hose, but put most of his effort on the paint in the engine compartment. He also installed a dual exhaust system. He says he spent a total of $1,019 on the engine bay, excluding paint. | 
The skull theme of the paint is inspired by motorcycle and hot-rod-body graphics and art. With its hot-rodded small-block and wicked paint, this truck has a ready-to-rock street presence. |
The most expensive part of the buildup was the wheel and tire package. Quesada says he paid $940 for the American Racing 17/8-inch Spinnaker wheels on generic 225/50R17 tires. | 
The paint and finish work are what make the S-10 stand out. And by doing it on a budget, Quesada pulled off the win. He also chose not to make extensive body mods, choosing instead to rely on the quality of his painting and fabrication skills as well as a few bolt-on parts. For example, he made a bedcover to hide the air tanks and rear air suspension out of sheetmetal and square tubing. He also installed a fiberglass roll pan, a Harwood fiberglass hood, and APC taillights. The bed cost $100, the APC taillights took $125, the roll pan was $75, and the hood was $175. The total for the exterior, less paint, was $475. | 
The cost of the paint only included the materials since this builder is an amateur painter. The budget used so far was $4,091, leaving $900 for materials. Quesada tells us it took him two weeks to spray. He says using mid-line paints in "stock colors" kept costs down. He thinks he put about $500 in the Dupont Kawasaki Green, Viper Blue, Sun Yellow, Ultra Silver, and several airbrush colors, and the clearcoat paint scheme, including tape and paper. |
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The amount of work required and high skill level of this amateur builder made Quesada's truck the winning favorite of the judging panel. He says he spent around $250 on tape and paper. Graphics this detailed require a lot of time -- and a lot of taping and masking. |  |  |