Basic Body Details - Hoods And Handles

When cutting and welding to body panels isn't something you can or want to perform on your truck, you're limited to bolt-on styling choices. After you've created the base of your style with the tried-and-trued suspension, wheel, tire, and grille combination, some other final touches may be in order. Note: We said touches, as in a few styling cues; too many accessories can make your ride look like you blasted through Pep Boys with a magnet on your truck. Subtle hints to your style base should almost blend into your rig, not dominate it. So to give this Sierra the few touches it needed, we contacted the cowl-induction hood king, aka Goodmark Industries Inc., and knight of the cool handles, Grippin' Billets.

The Goodmark all-steel hood features a 2-inch rise in the center to replicate the badass lines of the early Camaro and Chevelles. In addition, the cowl has a welded-in screen in the scoop opening and a fully detailed inner frame. The cowl is also GM-licensed, which means it has to meet OE standards for fit, finish, and rust-resistance. All factory latch and hinge hardware is used with these hoods. Just test-fit, prime, paint, and bolt them on! All hoods are EDP-coated like the factory and bolt on just like a stock replacement. Goodmark also has a ram air option if that's what you want to see.

The iron cross-style handles are whittled out of 6061 T-6 aluminum on a CNC machine at the Grippin' Billet factory right here in the good ol' US of A. Then they're polished and chrome-plated so you don't have to continually polish them. We thought the cross design would look pretty tough on our straight-black truck, but if it's not quite what you're looking for, the company has 10 different styles to chose from for your GM truck. The handles replace the factory pulls but retain the OE bucket, so if your stuff is already painted, it's a simple swap once you get the assembly off the door.

Speaking of paint, we hooked up with Nick at Wicked Hot Rods to have the hood and handle buckets sprayed the factory hue. He test-fit the hood before he started scuffing, priming, and spraying the paint. After all the stuff was dry, he broke out the wet or dry paper and knocked down the small amount of orange peel, and then polished it up with the buffer. This is pretty simple stuff for Nick, who is usually restoring rods or laying hard-core graphics.

To have the handles assembled, we took a trip to Billet Superstore so we could take pics while the crew worked. We like to watch Dave, one of the techs there, bust butt on one of our trucks while we kick back and push the camera button; we think that's fair. On a serious note, if you need just the handles installed, Billet Superstore can hook you up pretty quick, but the company also does grille, suspension, and interior kits.