Four years ago when he was fifteen years old, Cliff Barnum of Las Vegas, Nevada, realized he wanted to build a custom truck. This realization was inspired by his neighbor, Basil, who lived across the street. In his years as a preteen, little Cliff used to watch and learn as Basil wrenched on a variety of old vehicles. Cliff dreamed of owning a '67-'72 Chevy C10. He found one for sale around the corner from his house deteriorating in a field and snatched it up for three bills. Once he got the truck home and took a good look at it, he knew it was going to take a lot of hard work and time to restore it.
Cliff stripped the truck to the frame and began removing 37 years of environmental buildup. As with any stock truck, there was also an issue with the C10's stance, which led Cliff to install a custom adjustable suspension setup using Slam Specialties air springs front and rear. Of course, you can't drastically drop a truck and not expect some issues like the axle hitting the frame, so a C-notch was welded in place to solve that problem. Instead of reinstalling the '67 control arms and factory rearend, Cliff decided to swap them out using '71 Suburban components. This little swap gave him disc brakes up front and a five-lug bolt pattern. Between the new A-arms, a 350ci V-8 was dropped in to replace the blown inline-six and was backed up with a 700-R4 transmission.
With the chassis squared away, it was time for the Chevy to take on its new look. Cliff delivered the truck to Chris Haynes, who started off with all of the typical body mods like shaving the door handles, gas filler neck, antenna, and so on. Haynes then moved to the bed, where he replaced the factory tailgate with a smooth one from Goodmark. Inside the bed, the rotting wood and rusted stringers were thrown out for a Brothers bedwood kit outfitted with stainless steel strips. As for color, Cliff knew from the beginning he wanted the truck to be green. Chris prepped the body and sprayed HOK Lime Time Green Pearl on the truck.
With the C10's exterior together and the truck looking more appropriate resting over a set of Coddington 20-inch Magneatos, Cliff set his sights on the interior. Before laying out any material, the ashtray, cigarette lighter, and ignition switch were shaved clean. Once the ignition switch was relocated to Cliff's secret hiding place, all visible metal surfaces received a healthy coating of Lime Time Green Pearl. Uptown Upholstery in Las Vegas took care of the seats, door panels, and dashpad, wrapping them in charcoal and light-gray tweed. The rest of the interior components are stock and have survived quite well over the years. Even the stock Delco AM radio still tunes in with the best of 'em.
After four years of watching his dream unfold, Cliff's vision is no longer a mirage floating faintly on the horizon. This C10 can easily roast the hides off the line, but on the open highway it'll cruise with the big boys.