4. Handle Swappin'
Here is a clean mod that won't mess with functionality. John Meyer from Clean Cut Creations in St. Louis welded in a set of Malibu door handles to replace the square units that were stock in John Collett's truck. If you are confident in your welding abilities, this is a mod for you. The Malibu door has the same curvature as the S-10, so all you have to do is worry about placement and welding it in without warping the doorskin.
5. Nose Job
Nate from Neighborhood Dreamz car club totally went for it and had a 300 front clip grafted to his Dodge Dakota. Sneaky Snake Customs went the extra mile and made sure the rear fenderwells matched up with the front. We are sure getting the body line matched was a chore in itself.
6. Bed Games
Inside the bed is a great place to add some custom bodywork, like Mike Finnegan had done to his C10. The crew at Scott's Hot Rods not only raised the floor to smooth it out, they also added a little trapdoor for storage. If you've dropped your truck so low that the axle encroaches into the bed, raising it is a great option. Also, look at the wheelwells. Instead of being replaced with round aftermarket pieces, these are the factory units that have been lengthened and raised. Keeping some factory lines next to your custom ideas is a sure-fire way to be called cool.
7. Get Some Implants
Dru's '91 Silverado not only shows what a full rear skin looks like, it also proves that taillights can be a factory piece used in a custom way. You can get combo skins (tailgate and roll pan in one) for some of the more popular trucks from companies like Grant Kustoms. These require a lot of welding. The Chevy's taillights are from a Range Rover. They fit nicely, and they show that adding parts from a different make can be cool if done tastefully.
8. Shave-'N'-Weld
Here's a good example of removing a body line. Lee from No Limit Customs in the greater Vancouver area of British Columbia shaved the upper body line from his dime. There are two ways to attack this mod. You can do it the simple way by just filling the line with body filler, but that could fall off. The second and much better way is to cut sheetmetal and weld it in the line and then use filler to smooth that.
9. Lose Your Top
Here is a good mod for the beginner who really wants to set himself apart. Cutting off the roof will be the easy part, making the filler pieces to cap the ends can be done by making simple patterns from cardboard and then transferring them to metal. Welding in the caps will take awhile, but if you take your time and stitch-weld them as opposed to welding in one pass, warpage will be minimal.