The Shop Truck is all business. A Richmond six-speed manual tranny, complete with a Centerforce 12-inch billet steel flywheel and dual-friction clutch, transfers power to a 9-inch rearend. The truck hooks up with Cal Track bars and a Detroit Locker in the rearend, spinning 18-inch Wheel Vintiques rims and Toyo Proxes tires, all the while trying to twist the living daylights out of the driveline and trans. Gale has been through a few trannys after turning up the boost and mashing the go-pedal when traction wasn't limited.
The smooth "pseudo steelie" wheels are the just beginning of an old-school look that continues on with custom pinstriping and a faux shop sign on the door that proudly points toward the builder's roots. The body mods are subtle and sparse, which betrays Bank's no-nonsense approach to truck building. If it doesn't serve a purpose or enhance the styling, it doesn't need to be on the truck. For instance, the front turn signal indicators were removed, and custom carbon-fiber ducts were crafted to seamlessly integrate into the stock grille. The ducts feed fresh air to the hungry turbo motor. To keep the truck legit, a smaller pair of turn signals was mounted inboard of the ducts.
The stock hood was retained, but nine louvers were strategically punched into its shell on each side of the body line. The rear end of the truck also received its fair share of attention. The stock bumper was ditched and replaced with the requisite roll pan but with cutouts for two pair of exhaust tips. The license plate was recessed into the tailgate after the handle was relocated inside of the bed, which received a smooth tonneau cover.
At a glance, you'd swear the interior of the truck was stock, and for the most part, it is. But, beneath that factory cloth lies a pair of Cerullo bucket seats. The only other mods to the low-mileage wonder truck are a custom shifter and an Auto Meter monster tachometer.
Gale's 502ss Truck
Of the two 454ss trucks gale owns, we're betting this is the one that gets driven the most. It's likely the turbo truck hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of passing the ridiculous rules set by CARB that we must deal with in California, but the red truck is too legit to quit. This one retains its big-block roots, although a modern Gen VI 502-cid Rat motor now resides between the framerails, instead of the antiquated throttle body-injected 454.
Of course, the 502 isn't stock either. Banks added its Power Pack system, which includes durable Torque Tube exhaust manifolds and a Ram Air induction. The exhaust system is handbuilt, using rare parts leftover from Banks' American Turbocar Camaro/Firebird program. The engine is backed by a 4L80E electronic four-speed plus Overdrive automatic transmission and the stock 12-bolt rear axle.
Also, 454SS trucks never came with this shade of red paint, and if you have eagle eyes, then you'll recognize that this truck's particular hue isn't even a GM color. Most of these trucks were painted black, and a precious few did come special-ordered in white. This truck's color was taken from the '02 Dodge Viper and looks fantastic over the clean body mods. The mods include deleted side trim, a Sir Michaels roll pan, a shaved cargo light, and a set of Street Scene power mirrors. Rounding out the mods are 17x8- and 17x9.5-inch Boyd Coddington Stingray wheels and BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires.