The Inner Workings of a Custom Classic

WE’VE HEARD STORIES LIKE DON GREENMAN’S BEFORE, BUT IT NEVER GETS OLD. In need of a work truck for his business, Pacific Coast Locators, Don had his feelers out for something he could use to haul equipment. It wasn’t long before he came across a ’66 C-20 service-body truck on his way home from work. The only problem was Don wasn’t quite ready to pull the trigger on anything yet, because he was still saving up for the purchase. He decided to stop and take a look anyway, and after talking trucks with owner Sandy Sanderson for a bit, Sandy decided to let Don make payments. As it turned out, Sandy was the original owner of the truck, which he’d purchased at Bell Chevrolet in Tujunga, California, in 1966. To say the truck held a special place in Sandy’s heart would be an understatement, since he used it for decades for his electrical business.

THE TRUCK SERVED DON WELL FOR MANY YEARS, TOO, BUT IT WAS EVENTUALLY RETIRED UNTIL HE COULD GET AROUND TO GIVING IT SOME MUCH-NEEDED LOVE.”

The truck served Don well for many years, too, but he eventually retired it until he could get around to giving it some much-needed love. That time finally came in 2013, when Don decided to give back to the truck that had delivered him to countless jobs and helped his business grow. However, Don wasn’t interested in doing a simple restoration job on the truck, especially with his cousin Travis Pruis as an influence.

Travis is no stranger to the pages of Street Trucks. As a former fabricator at IF Customs, as well as the owner of CTP Concepts and what was for years recognized as the world’s lowest C-10, Travis knows C-10s inside and out. He knows them so well, in fact, that Don didn’t hesitate in recruiting him to tackle the build from beginning to end. Those of us who know Travis know that he just can’t do a mild C-10 or C-20. If he were a microwave, he’d burn your frozen burrito at 50% defrost after a minute. Poor comparisons aside, Travis took possession of Don’s Chevy and got right to work tearing it down to the frame.

The plan was to build a clean custom that looked almost stock at a glance. Mods were subtle, except for the slammed stance and big 22-inch Delmo Specials, but astute C-10 lovers can pick them out in a second. Things such as a shaved dash with added bodyline and Vintage Air AC vents look factory original, yet they took Travis many hours to craft and install. Travis’ dad, Butch, sprayed all of the interior metal with Gold Fawn paint. The rest of the interior received just as much love, with a vinyl and factory GM cloth seat stitched up by Robby at Atomic Upholstery and Woodward series gauges from New Vintage USA.

While the truck is obviously not on the road yet, it’s well on its way thanks to the numbers-matching 327, which has been rebuilt by Douglas Auto Machine and updated with a FiTech fuel-injection system and Billet Specialties serpentine belt bracket setup. A 700R4 takes the place of the worn-out original tranny, which will give the truck plenty of gear for highway cruising when the time comes.

Travis has modified plenty of suspensions to get trucks to sit as low as possible, but this time he decided to save some fab time and used a Porterbuilt front cross member with built-in airbag mounts. Classic Performance Products drop spindles add the couple of inches of drop necessary to lay out over 22-inch tires. The Porterbuilt kit also made it easy to add disc brakes, and the incorporated rack-and-pinion steering simplified things even further by eliminating the need for a gear box.

The rear was set up with a CTP Concepts 2-link and another pair of airbags for a simple yet functional suspension, and a step notch gives the narrowed rearend plenty of room to roam and tuck the 10-inch- wide rear wheels. For the ultimate in precision ride-height adjustment, Travis installed a complete Accuair E-Level system and fabricated a custom controller mount in the factory ashtray.

Now that the Pacific Coast Locators truck is officially retired from work duty, Don and Travis plan to fire it up and hit some shows, and we’re sure Sandy is going to want to take her for a spin as well.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Don Greenman
1966 Chevy C-20 Service- Body Truck
Gardnerville, NV

ENGINE & TRANSMISSION

• Work performed by Chris Borrowick at Douglas Machine
• Original rebuilt 327 small-block Chevy
• World Products cylinder heads
• Edelbrock intake manifold
• FiTech throttle body fuel-injection system
• Billet Specialties serpentine belt system
• FlowTech ceramic- coated headers
• Custom exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers by CTP Concepts
• Be Cool radiator and fans
• American Auto Wire wiring harness
• 700R4 transmission
• Two-piece driveshaft built by Driveline Services

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION

• Fabrication work by Travis Pruis of CTP Concepts
• Porterbuilt front Dropmember with airbags
• CPP drop spindles, disc brakes and master cylinder
• 2-link rear suspension with airbags
• Accuair E-Level air management system
• Bilstein shocks
• Step notch
• Axle housing narrowed 6 inches by Driveline Services
• Chassis components powder-coated by Carson Valley Welding

WHEELS & SUSPENSION

• 22×9 and 22×10 Delmo Specials
• 255/30R22 and 285/35R22 Nexen tires

BODY & PAINT

• Work performed by Travis Pruis of CTP Concepts and Butch Pruis
• Service bed
• Bedwood wooden bed kit
• Custom inner wheel tubs
• Custom radiator shroud
• Shaved firewall
• Shopline Blue paint

INTERIOR

• Work performed by Travis Pruis of CTP Concepts and Butch Pruis
• Center of dash shaved, bodyline added
• Vintage Air vents molded into dash
• Switches and ignition moved to lower dash area
• ididit chrome steering column
• New Vintage USA Woodward series gauges
• Interior metal painted Gold Fawn
• Seat upholstered in vinyl and factory Chevy cloth by Atomic Upholstery

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: “I’d like to thank Butch Pruis, Travis Pruis, Matt at Accuair, Russ at Nevada Cerakote, Brunch at Golden State Pickup Parts, Josh at Carson Valley Welding, Jared Hyatt, Sandy Sanderson, Brad Clark, Bobby Everett, Jon Yefima and Lincoln Young for all of their hard work, help and support. It takes a village!”

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