Back in July 2003, Mike Lee and Robert Williams got together and opened a vehicle customizing shop in Sumter, South Carolina, and after throwing some names around, they came up with a perfect one - Mr. Scrape Customs. Because they specialize in all-out customizing, they felt it would be important to build a ride that showed the level of work the shop could turn out. Robert was already the owner of a '92 GMC fullsize Stepside pickup that was in need of some loving care. It became the shop's guinea pig and was stripped to the frame so it could be transformed into what you see here.
Knowing this truck was going to show potential customers the work that could be done to their own vehicles, Mike and Robert wanted to keep the truck simple yet take it to the extreme at the same time. We know you're probably thinking, how can you keep a simple truck extreme? This truck still needed to be driveable and a full-out show vehicle, so they opted not to body-drop it or shave it like a lot of the trucks that take top honors at shows. That didn't mean, however, that the truck wouldn't be an eye-catcher.
Being that the Mr. Scrape crew set an almost ridiculous deadline of six months 'til they planned to debut the truck, along with the fact that this was a shop truck, most of the work had to be done after-hours, when the paying customers' vehicles were finished for the day. After the truck was stripped, every part was worked on at pretty much the same time, due to all the help Mike and Robert had from shop employees Cory Osteen and Robbie Casselman.
First thing on the to-do list once the truck was torn apart was to get the frame planted firmly on the ground and still allow enough room to clear a massive set of 22-inch wheels. Up front, the stock spindles were swapped out in favor of Belltech drop spindles and mated to a pair of Slam Specialties RS-82 'bags. The inner fenders were also removed and cut out to give plenty of clearance for the wheels.
Out back, the rear frame clip was chopped up and rewelded with a little more axle clearance, thanks to a step notch that was installed before the Air Ride Tech triangulated four-link was added. The gas tank was also relocated while all the cutting and welding was being performed. The axle was narrowed 3 inches to make sure the new rolling stock would fit, and a pair of Slam Specialties RS-82 'bags was used to give the rear the same adjustability as the front of the truck. Plumbing is handled by 3/4-inch air lines and GC valves at all four corners and is fed by an Easy Street engine-driven air compressor.
With the height of the truck where they wanted it, it was time to focus on the interior. The dash was pulled out and smoothed, while the door panels were completely shaved clean and prepped for paint. A custom fiberglass center console was built to run all the way from the dash to the rear cab wall, between the buckets seats taken from a '98 Chevy fullsize. The HVAC controls were then moved to this new centerpiece to free up room in the dash for one of the truck's four TVs. The other three reside in both sunvisors and a flip-out in the center of the dash. With all the plastic pieces addressed, it was time to move on to the rest of the interior. The new bucket seats were wrapped in white leather and blue tweed, and the Mr. Scrape Customs logo was stitched into each headrest. The headliner also received the blue-tweed treatment while getting a custom graphic center section using white, orange, and green vinyl. Bright-blue carpet added a plush look to the floor of the truck. A grip of billet goodies was also ordered to add that extra bling to the interior and match the billet skull steering wheel and rearview mirror.