A Penny for Two Thoughts

Sometimes, the best laid plans are the ones someone else started before you. After all, two heads are better than one when it comes to creativity. Tavo Cano grew up idolizing his older brother Jay Martinez, who was a truck customizer in the Fresno, California, area. 

“Jay built some of the baddest trucks I had ever seen,” Tavo says. “I knew that one day I would have something that cool.”

As Tavo became a dreamer watching his brother create masterpieces, he began searching for a suitable truck to begin his journey.

Tavo had seen a 2005 Chevy Silverado owned by Scott Vann in Fremont, California, about five hours away. The truck spoke to him as he’d always loved the style that Scott put into the custom pickup. The Chevy was custom painted, and the bodydrop was performed on the Silverado so the starting point was already completed. Because Scott owns and runs the body shop called Clean Concepts, all the work had been done correctly. Scott put the Chevy up for sale because he was looking for a new project. As soon as Tavo saw that ad, he made the call.

“I don’t think the sales ad was online for longer than one hour before I told him I wanted it,” Tavo says.

SUNROOFS AND STEREO

After making the 10-hour round trip to pick up the Chevy and take it home, Tavo noticed that he could upgrade the new purchase. The paint had some cracks but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. The interior was stock and not one bit of audio had been working. The process began with Tavo bringing the Chevy to Japs Sunroofs in Selma, California, where Sylvester removed the headliner and began chopping it up to create double sunroofs in the Chevy. Sylvester tapped into the main power source and custom switches were created to control the movement on the new sunroofs.

The process of Saasss Nasty was the combination of two different ideas and two different styles. Those two styles brought together a level that one man might not have been able to achieve. 

We all have many options when it comes to paint and body, but because his brother had shown him how custom vehicles were built and painted, Tavo knew the next step was to have his brother Jay put his touch on the Silverado. Jay went through the entire body, fixing each and every crack and paint error that he saw. After the paint correction and a quick buffing, the Silverado was ready for the next step. Raffa Felix was enlisted to add custom graphics throughout the body, including some 14-karat gold leafing to set the design apart from the rest.

Now that the exterior was completed, Tavo turned his attention to the stereo install because, as we all know, music is an important aspect in all builds. The Silverado was brought to Porterville, California, to a professional audio installer where only the best was mounted inside the Chevy. Four 10-inch Sundown subwoofers were added inside a custom center console for the groundbreaking thump, and Sundown midrange and highs were installed throughout the bare cabin. An iPad 3 mini was mounted into the dashboard at the helm of the music controls.

SAASSSY INTERIOR

Now that the interior was in process of its transformation, Tavo wanted the vehicle to stand out. With Chevy Silverados becoming the norm at truck shows, Tavo knew that he had to create something so unique that it would rise above its competition. The interior was bone stock aside from the audio that had just been added.

The Chevy was brought back to Raffa Felix at Custom Interior N Paints in Kingsburg, California. Raffa explained that this wasn’t going to be a fast or cheap job stating, “Cheap isn’t good and good isn’t cheap.” The first step was adding four bucket sport seats and wrapping them in marine vinyl for weatherproofing. A one-piece headliner was added to better showcase the sunroofs. The carpeting was redone in brown carpeting with custom floor mats. Because the doors were all smoothed and custom, the door locks, windows, and mirror controls were relocated to the side of the center console.

The process of Saasss Nasty was the combination of two different ideas and two different styles. Those two styles brought together a level that one man might not have been able to achieve. Tavo wishes to thank his wife, Blanca, for letting him spend the money (he lied about the actual cost) on the build. A special thanks goes to his brother for not only helping him with the paint correction but also for bringing the custom truck passion to his heart. Lastly, Tavo wants to thank Scott Vann for starting the original build on the truck and making it a perfect canvas for his own ideas to come to fruition.

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Truck specs

Owner
Tavo Cano

Parlier, California

Year/Make/Model: 2005 Chevy Silverado
Club Affiliation: Ground Zero
ChassisFront Suspension: Airlift Dominator 2600 bags, Clean Concepts front kit, flat plate arms with uniball joints
Rear Suspension: Wishbone 3-link, flat plate I-beam lower links, bag on lift bar, Airlift Dominator 2600 bags, dual Viair 480 compressors, Little Shop Mfg engine-driven compressor, 5-gallon tank, Accuair E-Level air management

Drivetrain

Engine: 5.3L, K&N air filter
Transmission: 4L60e transmission
Rearend: Narrowed, 12-bolt, Dutchman axles

Body/Paint 

3-inch traditional bodydrop, Audi Ipanema Brown with House of Kolor Pagan Gold Kandy, PPG clearcoat, paint and gold leafing done by Rafael Felix in Kingsburg, California, frame powdercoated Audi Ipanema Brown, full skin Cali combo, raised sheetmetal bed floor, tubbed firewall, shaved antenna

Interior

Brown bucket sport seats in marine vinyl, modified door panels, custom made center console, custom one-piece headliner, hand-turned chrome accents all around, custom built and wrapped floor, two-tone browns, orange accents, relocated lock and window switches to center panel, all done by Rafael Felix at Custom Interiors and Paints in Kingsburg, California

Stereo

iPad 3 mini, Sundown components, four 10-inch Sundown subwoofers, 3000-watt and 2000-watt Sundown amplifiers all installed in Porterville, California

Wheels & Tires 

Wheels: 26×9 and 28×10 US Mag Desperado 6
Tires: 255/30ZR26 and 255/30ZR28 Pirelli tires

Special Thanks 

My wife, Blanca Madrigal, for all her support and love to help me spend the money to build this truck, my brother Jay Martinez for his guidance and support through the process, Scott Vann for allowing me to take over this truck and make it my own, Bobby Frotner for pulling through for me and helping me put the Chevy back together