Casey Scranton, owner of Pomona, California-based CGS Motorsports, is no virgin truck builder. With previous cover trucks such as Caddy Hack and his sky-high Ram, which graced the cover of OFF-ROAD magazine last year, magazine covers have become a CGS trademark. Casey's latest build is this 'bagged '04 Ford F-150 XLT SuperCab, one of the first of its kind, built specifically to debut the CGS air intake at the coveted SEMA show back in November.
As with most SEMA projects, time was of the essence, with only six weeks to complete the Ford in time for roll-in at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Casey started with the cosmetics of the truck. Ford had already given CGS a head start by revamping the body lines and giving it a much heavier outward appearance, but as much as Casey liked the look, he still couldn't deal with the OEM Dumbo-style mirrors. Street Scene came to his rescue and outfitted the hauler with its Cal View signal mirrors as well as a roll pan to replace the rear bumper.
With the help of Bern's Restoration in Santa Maria, California, all the factory emblems were shaved from the side and rear of the truck. The antenna was shaved as well, and the factory door handles were replaced with Caddy door handles. Bern's then blocked and sanded all the imperfections out of the body and laid down the black top tone. The top half was then masked off and Dupont CGS Red was sprayed on the whole lower half, with a silver separation line laid between the two colors. Gaylord's hard tonneau cover was sprayed black and installed over the bed, and Ford Centennial badges were added to the front fenders.
Inside the cab, the black and red two-tone was sprayed over a freshly smoothed dash. The center console not only received some red pigment, but was also covered using heavy-flake silver, which was likewise used on the dash to accent the heater controls and stereo. A few coats of red were thrown beneath the hood to dress up the engine bay, which would serve as the display case for the CGS intake, and then pinstriped by Andy of Flyin' Iron Designs.
The stock seat covers were removed, and a combination of leather and suede seat covers by Classic Soft Trim were installed in their place. To protect the interior from fading, House of Tints in Tustin, California, laid its tints over the glass.
Ernie Salazar took the reins and gave the stock components an A/V facelift. An Audiovox head unit and DVD player were set into the dash and wired to a Visonik 400-watt amp. The amp powers two 10-inch Visonik subs, 4x6-inch separates, and tweeters. Two Audiovox monitors were set into the headrests and wired to the DVD player.
Devious Customs in Ontario, California, was chosen to 'bag the Ford. Up front, a set of Firestone 'bags was used to replace the factory springs. The rear of the truck would prove to be a larger task. With the bed removed, the Devious Customs crew was able to shorten the rearend and fabricate a custom four-link that would be adjusted with Firestone 'bags. To improve the stopping power of the hauler, Stainless Steel Brake Company provided 13-inch rotors with three-piston calipers. A set of 22-inch Colorado Custom wheels was mounted with Toyo rubber at all four corners.
To finish off the SuperCab, Casey bent up a 3-inch aluminized CGS exhaust system and hung it beneath the truck. The top of the engine was fitted with a mandrel-bent CGS cold-air intake, and a set of Trenz billet grilles was fitted onto the nose of the Ford with absolutely no time to spare before SEMA. It had been a hectic six weeks, but thanks to Bern's, Devious, Ernie, and the other sponsors, Casey was able to build yet another CGS trademark.