At car
shows all over the country, during a show season or sometimes even longer,
enthusiasts see the progression of many vehicles starting at mild-custom
and building until they have a finished show vehicle. Edgar Hernandez has a 1981
Chevrolet C-10 that I have seen in several stages of it's build process. When it
first made appearances at shows it was a one-color bright yellow truck with no
interior. Edgar didn't have to show it in that stage of it's buildup but he
enjoyed going to shows and letting people see the progress he had made with his
Chevy. It was brightly colored so he chose the custom license plate, YA LOW to
signify the Yellow tone, and yeah "ya" it's definitely low as well.
Getting his ride down to the pavement was no easy task to begin with but Edgar
wanted his truck to be lower than most of the vehicles at any show he attends.
Brian Jendro and Alex Anderson quickly got a hold of Edgar's truck and started
the process of making it as low as possible. After performing a 3-1/2-inch body
drop, they brought the rear of the truck down using Air Wave air bags, a chrome
custom 4-link, GC Valves, and two chrome 5-gallon air tanks. The rear frame was
boxed in and a bridge was built to accommodate the air bags and allow for the
height adjustment. The front was a little easier to modify so they used 2-inch
drop spindles and air bags while also boxing the frame up front. The frame was
then powder coated yellow to match what would be the truck's initial exterior
color. The wheels that tuck under his truck are 22-inch Martin Brothers
Dragontail wheels wrapped in Nitto tires.
The
exterior of Edgar's ride was in need of some modifications to smooth out over 20
years of wear and tear on the truck. Many items were removed completely and
replaced with patch panels to fill the holes. Albert Designs in Temecula,
California shaved the door handles, gas door, rain gutters, taillights, side
marker lights, and molded in a tailgate skin. The front grill was then molded
into the wheel tubs and the inner bed was smoothed out. Albert Designs then
covered the truck with several layers of paint including three styles of flames,
some skulls, red pin striping, and a lot of shading. The bed was coated with
Line-X to keep it protected and looking clean.
After seeing
the interior gutted for the first show I saw Edgar's C-10 at, I was pleased to
see the amount of progress that was made in the cab as well. Contrasting the
bright paint is a set of black leather racing seats that fit nicely inside with
a host of other major modifications to make it nothing like it was when it came
out back in '81. The factory carpet was thrown out and replaced with black
carpet to match the seats. The custom dash and console are home to Auto Meter
gauges, the stereo head unit, a DVD Player, a 10-inch monitor, a B&M Shifter,
and Edgar's air-ride controls. The steering column was replaced with a chrome
column and a custom steering wheel was installed also. Custom door panels were
constructed using fiberglass pods for the midrange speakers/tweeters and the
rest of the panels were covered in black leather. There are a total of six
Scoshe EFX subwoofers in Edgar's truck including two built into the console and
four in a custom box in the bed. The amplifiers are mounted under plexiglass on
the passenger-side floor.
Edgar's truck is no slouch in the power department. His 388 cubic inch small
block Chevy has a T3 turbo and 150 shot of NOS. Along with that power producing
trio is a Holley Carb, World Product heads, Gibson Headers/Exhaust, and a
3:73 posi-traction rear end. His truck can burn through tires in an instant with
all of this power and it did leave quite a nice rubber pile before we were done
shooting.
Edgar would like to
thank all of the sponsors and companies that helped him get his ride from start
to finish including Line-X of Temecula, Shear Speed, Holley, ViAir, GC Valves,
Gibson Exhaust, Auto Evolution, Top Line, Precision Powder Coat, Martin Bros
Alloy, EFX, Nitto, and Albert Design.