Visitors to Southern California usually have a few places on their list they must see while in the area. This list can include tourist attractions like amusement parks or beaches. Mike Thomas is a laid back guy that lives right near a local beach. The City of Dana Point, California is an area well know for surfing and a relaxing atmosphere. Mike is a member of Relaxed Atmosphere car & truck club and it seems that his location, choice of club, and general attitude about custom vehicles all fit together. His 2001 Chevrolet Silverado is a great example of a clean truck with some cool ideas into it's design. Those design came from a neighbor of Mike's, Dan Ward. Dan works at Truckin' Magazine and noticed his neighbors truck was air bagged on 20-inch wheels. After a few conversations, Mike agreed to let Dan use his truck for a series of tech articles that would transform it into what you see here.

   Mike's truck was originally modified by the crew at Devious Customs in Ontario, California. They set the truck on the pavement using air bags in the front and rear, custom 4-link, Belltech Spindles, and was set up to fit the 20-inch wheels it had when Dan first saw it. In their plans for the truck, a set of 22-inch wheels were going to replace the other wheels so the truck was taken to GO-EZ Customs in Placentia, California. The GO-EZ plans were simple. The goal was to get the truck to lay out on 22-inch wheels. They installed wheel tubs in the rear and built custom inner front fenders to fit the new wheels. They also added a new Air Zenith compressor, Advanced Flow Engineering intake, and Powerslot brake rotors with Hawk brake Pads. The hweels are 22-inch DeModa Concept DF-1 wrapped in 265/35/22 Continental Tires.

   One of the major changes to Mike's truck is the 2001 Chevy front end was modified with a custom grille but the new plan was to remove it and replace it with a 2003 Silverado frontend conversion from Late Model Restoration Supply. The new front end swap was completed at 714 Motorsports and also included a Street Scene SS bumper cover and Speed Grille insert. The rear end had a minor swap of it's own and the taillights were tossed out in favor of some 2004 Chevy taillights.  Todd at 714 Motorsports also began to smooth out parts of the truck. The rear was the receipient of a combo rollpan and tailgate skin as well as  the door handles being removed and the factory holes were shaved shut. The truck was ready for some color and the job of transforming a factory white truck into a show truck was handled by Kelly & Sons in Bellflower, California. They completed the remaining bodywork and prepared the truck to be painted. The top section of the two-tone paintjob was laid down in PPG Crystal Black with the bottom section in Vibrance Sunset Orange. The colors were split up by hot rod style flames in Vibrance Silver Star with airbrushed shadowing. The flames were pinstriped in black along with the hood and tailgate receiving some artwork.

   The interior was lacking any kind of style compared to the way Mike's truck was looking from the outside.  The 714 Motorsports guys got back into the truck and started to craft an interior. the factory seats were cut down, reshaped, and wrapped in black leather. The headliner, dash, and door panels were all wrapped in black suede. A few smaller additions were needed to spice the interior up a little and these parts included a Billet Specialties Fast Lane steering wheel, Us Speedo gauge cluster, and Hurst shifter. The truck was dropped off at Beach Audio in Huntington Beach, California for a new Alpine head unit and 10-inch Diamond Audio subwoofer with box located behind the seat.

   Mike would like to give a special thanks to PPG,  Dan Ward,  Jeff Davy at Devious Customs, Art Gomez at GO-EZ Customs , and his club Relaxed Atmosphere.