To help the stock seat covers, we first took the truck to Katzkin Interiors in Montebello, and then to Billet Superstore for some more goodies ("Croc and Bling," ST Oct. '03 issue). Katzkin stitched together seat covers made with suede bands and crocodile inserts for both the front and back seats. Colby Mcghee and Billet Superstore hooked the truck up with a Billet and Acrylic Fantasies dress-up kit. The kit came with AC vent covers, heater controls, a shift handle, a tilt lever, and a recliner and lumbar controls for the seats. Trenz billet doorsills and pedals were also added.
Since the new motor will be louder than the current stock one, we wanted to offset it with some bumps ("Can You Hear Me Now?," ST Nov. '03 issue). The factory 6.5-inch door speakers were replaced with MTX speakers, while two 8-inch MTX subs were installed beneath the rear seat in a Thunderform box. To power the speakers, a 560-watt MTX amplifier was wired in with Street Wires, also beneath the seat.
The final step in the styling of the Comp Cruizer was the paint. Keeping in line with our limitations, we went with Auto Air Colors, a water-based paint that can be sprayed in your garage. Rather than spraying it in our garage, though, we took it to Jerry Sievers at Paint-n-Place in Placentia, California. Jerry and the guys dismantled the truck and began by shaving the fender flares and emblems. Once the truck was primered and blocked, it was sprayed with a basecoat of flaked pearl white. A coat of clear was sprayed on to seal the base, then heavily flaked orange was laid down on top. To split the two tones, a tribal flame design was laid out and shot using green pigment. Willis Dorman then came in and striped the licks with purple and drop-shadowed the flames using candy black. A full Street Scene body kit, including front valance, mirrors, and roll pan, was sprayed to match, as was the Cervinis hood. The rear window vinyl was designed and cut by Tim from Ultimate Design.
The Comp Cruizer was finished just in time to roll into our studios before being driven to SEMA. The only unfortunate part was not being able to pimp it a little longer before we had to give it back to Scooter and the rest of the Comp Cams team. The saving grace is that we've been promised, once Comp Cams is done with the motor, that we'll be able to take the finished project for a drive, which should be fun. The last time we drove it, the editors of Ford Truck World handed us business cards and said they wanted to shoot it. Oops - I guess we beat them to it.