Finding Beauty in Utility

Even though Brook Allmaras refers to his ’68 Chevy C-10 as his “farm truck,” there’s no way he’d ever let his baby get anywhere near a dusty, dirt road. Actually, that might not be entirely true. When he first began piecing his project together, it started. Brook didn’t even give himself a head eater with the hope of salvaging the majority of it and scrapping what he couldn’t use.

“Now, to fully comprehend the craftsmanship that’s gone into bringing this project to fruition, we must go back 27 years when Brook first started dabbling with paint and bodywork.”

It all started with a frame, followed by a pile of stock body panels, and from there, everything else just fell into position. When the truck was first assembled and running, Brook drove the crap out of it. that’s what a truck’s for anyway, right? So when it was blasted apart again for the final build phase, Brook swore that he would once again battle the meanest of potholes and the fiercest of gravelly road conditions no matter how immaculate his truck. So to say that he would avoid routes off the beaten path might have been a bit of a premature assumption. Surely, his pedal foot must have been itching to slam the hammer down while his C-10 was being built back up.

Now, to fully comprehend the craftsmanship that’s gone into bringing this project to fruition, we must go back 27 years when Brook first started dabbling with paint and bodywork. this is the foundation that made a build of this caliber possible. “I used to own my own shop where I built custom mini-trucks back in the late ’80s/early ’90s,” Brook says, reminiscing of his years spent building trucks. “this C-10 is the first custom truck I have built in 20 years.” two decades is a long time to take a break from anything, especially when it comes to a passion. When life happens, and adult responsibilities take precedence over everything else, other interests sometimes get forced to the back seat. But with the seed planted deep in Brook years before, the network of roots was able to take hold deep enough to withstand the years of sporadic upkeep. his main line of work these days is collision repairs, which easily pays the bills with lots to spare, but Brook’s first love has always been custom stuff. And boy, did he make up for lost time once he got started on his C-10.

“The year I spent collecting parts bled right into the time we actually started putting all the pieces together.”

Brook picked up exactly where he left off two decades earlier without a hitch. once he started seeing real progress, the thirst to see even more developments became almost unquenchable. “I built this new truck from the ground up. the year I spent collecting parts bled right into the time we actually started putting all the pieces together.” the new short bed and original body panels didn’t even have enough time to collect dust in Brook’s garage. he’d been running at full tilt ever since the gate opened. If you’ve been sensing a homegrown, organic air surrounding this build, you have keen intuition. Brook didn’t do any of the fabrication in some fancy, high-tech shop with every luxury tool at his disposal. he kept it old school with very little outside eyeballs spying on his progress. “the truck was built right at home in my two-car garage by myself, my brother and a couple of close friends.” It’s not unheard of for weekend tinkerers to slowly chip away at a project, but it’s quite another thing to see this level of execution from a homebuilt project. “I did have a little outside help, but a solid 85% of the truck was built steps from where I sleep.” Well, that explains the exceptional level of quality control.

The almost three-year creation of the C-10 wasn’t a random creative outburst, however. Brook had a master plan and the truck was merely a springboard. “I had a vision to build a stock- looking truck on air ride, which I’ve accomplished. My ultimate goal is to open up another full-time shop of my own where I can build custom cars and trucks.” Collision work has been a lucrative business move but after spending so much time fabricating and shaping his own truck, Brook can’t stop remembering what it was that got him hooked so many years ago. “there isn’t a whole lot of money in building custom cars; I know this. It’s a luxury item, where the collision stuff is much more constant and pays so much better. But there’s still the value of being able to be creative over carrying out repetitive, mundane repair work.” With his truck looking the way it does now, it’s highly unlikely any potential customer could deny Brook’s quality fit and finish work from bumper to bumper, inside and out.

“…Brook is finally able to kick back and do what he intended doing all along, drive the crap out of an even better version of his truck.”

The custom shop is still in the idea phase at the moment, but Brook isn’t letting the bubble burst anytime soon. even though an inevitable pay cut will no doubt make the jump a bit unnerving, the ability to create for a living will help seal the deal. With the 20-year itch scratched and satisfied for the moment, Brook is finally able to kick back and do what he intended doing all along: drive the crap out of an even better version of his truck. he commutes to work in it, cruises it on the weekends and leaves it parked outside when he gets back home. the way he sees it, he spent all of that time and money building a custom vehicle, not a trophy. What good would all of that effort have been if its true purpose wasn’t fulfilled in the end?

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BUILD SPECS

OWNER

Brook Allmaras
1968 Chevrolet C-10
Gresham, OR

ENGINE

• 1994 Camaro Z28 350-ci V-8 with AC
• K&N air filter
• Z28 radiator and cooling fans
• Porterbuilt motor mounts
• K&N air intake
• Mid-length Hooker headers wrapped in heat shield material
• Magnaflow stainless steel mufflers with mandrel-bent exhaust
• 1994 4L60E auto transmission
• 20-gallon BD Racing aluminum fuel cell
• One-piece driveline
• Optima battery

SUSPENSION

• Porterbuilt front and rear Extreme drop members
• Stock 1987 C-10 spindles
• Porterbuilt tubular control arms
• Porterbuilt C-notch
• Front Slam Specialties SS-7 ’bags
• Rear Firestone sleeve ’bags
• KYB shocks
• AccuAir e-Level
• Two Air Zenith OB2 compressors
• Corvette C5 Z06 brakes
• 1968 Corvette brake master cylinder
• 12-bolt rearend narrowed 4 inches
• Dutchman axles

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8.5 and 22×10 Raceline Static 5
• 255/35/20 and 295/30/22 Continental Extreme Contact DWS

BODY & PAINT

• Shop: Brook’s Garage
• Spies Hecker Sage Green and White
• Porterbuilt hood hinges
• Slosh Tubz
• Raised wood bed floor
• Shaved gas hole in-cab and stake pockets
• Shaved front and rear bumper bolts
• Everything else stock

INTERIOR

• Shop: Sunrise West Upholstery
• Stock bench with 1958 Chevrolet fabric
• Factory AC
• ACC molded carpet kit
• Dynamat sound deadening

Special Thanks From Owner: Rob Rolph and my brother Tony Alcorn