At a Moment’s Notice, it was Go Time

TAKING ON A project truck is the start of a journey into the unknown. For most of us, this is the moment when the vision starts, but we usually don’t know when we will arrive at the finish line. Not all of us have the ability to turn around a project in a short amount of time. For those who do, sometimes it comes down to being too busy working on other people’s rides to finish their own. Whatever the struggle is to complete a build, sometimes all we need is a little push, which is how things went for this ’69 C-10.

For Raymond Greenlee Jr. this truck was a long time coming since his passion for working on vehicles developed in his high school shop class. Back then, Raymond started hanging out with Lee Milinich, who’s name should be familiar to C-10 enthusiasts. If you don’t know, Lee had one bad-ass ’68 C-10 built several years ago. It appeared on the cover of Street Trucks (Dec. 2010). Lee’s father Lewis owns Lewis Milinich Body Shop, and the father-and-son duo has been whipping out mean rides for quite some time.

When Raymond was a senior he enrolled in a work program where he could leave school at lunchtime to work at a part-time job. Wouldn’t you know it, Lewis Milinich offered him work at his shop. Raymond discovered his passion there and has been busy working on project after project ever since. He even finished a few of his own, including a ’92 Silverado that was also featured in Street Trucks.

Five years ago, he purchased this ’69 C-10 from a friend when it was still a long-bed. Lee’s father-in-law caught wind of the truck and had to have it for himself, so Raymond sold it off. Later, Raymond picked up a ’77 C-10. Apparently Lee’s father-in-law had a third gen C-10 in high school and he had to have the new truck, too. So, Raymond traded him the truck to get the ’69 back and started working on it in his spare time. The truck eventually got a short-bed conversion, and the suspension was modified to lay flat on the ground.

For Raymond, this was a crazy ordeal. He didn’t have any plans to finish the truck, and then all of a sudden, it was finished in record time for the biggest automotive show in the world.

For anyone who works in or owns a shop, more often than not, it’s their own projects that get left by the wayside. Such was the case for this truck, which sat longer than it was worked on. Raymond just hoped that he would eventually finish it. As luck would have it, an opportunity came along to finish it and fast. Justin “Pony” Carrillo had planned to bring three vehicles to SEMA, but he ran into some issues with one of his trucks. He had already promised to deliver a truck to the show, so he had a bit of a situation on his hands.

Pony reached out to Raymond for a solution. Since Raymond’s truck was already a work in progress, it was the perfect candidate. There were only a few months before the show and there was still a lot of work to be done. Raymond was given the green light and it was all hands on deck. From there, Lewis built a big-block Chevy engine and planted it in along with a Turbo 400 transmission and Ford 8.8-inch rearend.

Then it was on to the body, which was brought back to life with LMC Truck bed sides, doors and a 1967 front clip. A Grant Kustoms rear tailgate skin was used and a raised wood bed floor was made from scratch. The body was worked perfectly straight and painted original light green. A set of 24-inch Raceline Burst 5 billet wheels completed the look on the exterior, while the interior was sent to Central Valley Upholstery. Afterwards, the truck was quickly assembled into the gem you see here. The crew loaded it up and headed for Las Vegas.

The truck was displayed on the infamous sidewalk in front of the convention center where show-goers passed by as they walked in and out of the show. For Raymond, this was a crazy ordeal. He didn’t have any plans to finish the truck, and then all of a sudden, it was finished in record time for the biggest automotive show in the world. It just goes to show that sometimes all you need is a little push to bite the bullet and finish a project.

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BUILD SPECS

OWNER

RAYMOND GREENLEE JR.
1969 Chevrolet C-10
Hanford, CA

ENGINE

• Shop: Lewis Milinich Body Shop
• 1973 Chevy 454-ci big-block engine
• Crane Cams camshaft
• Edelbrock 750-cfm carburetor
• Speedway Motors 1951 Cadillac air cleaner
• Billet Specialties serpentine kit
• Replacement radiator
• Old Air Products dual electric fans
• Custom stainless headers
• Dual 3-inch exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers
• American Autowire wiring harness
• Turbo 400 transmission
• 2800-stall torque converter
• Ford 8.8-inch rearend
• Ford Racing posi
• Strange Engineering 31-spline axles
• 4.11:1 gears

SUSPENSION

• Shop: Lewis Milinich Body Shop
• Front cross member raised 2 inches
• Frame shortened to SWB
• Choppin’ Block control arms
• Early Classic Enterprises dropped spindles
• AVS rear parallel 4-link with pan hard bar
• Airlift Dominator airbags
• AccuAir e-Level air management system
• CPP brake master cylinder
• Lincoln Town Car rear brakes

WHEELS & TIRES

• 24×9 and 24×10 Raceline Burst 5 billet wheels
• 245/25R24 and 265/25R24 Toyo Proxes 4

BODY & PAINT

• Shop: Lewis Milinich Body Shop
• LMC Truck replacement short bedsides, doors and 1967 C-10 front clip
• Shaved firewall
• Custom raised wood bed floor with Classic Industries strips
• Grant Kustoms tailgate skin
• Custom smoked LED taillights
• Stock rear well tubs raised and widened
• Porterbuilt hood hinges
• Axalta paint matched to original light green
• Steele Rubber window seals and weather-stripping

INTERIOR

• Shop: Tony and Jonathan of Central Valley Upholstery
• Factory bench seat reupholstered in leather
• Billet Specialties steering wheel
• Retrosound radio head unit
• Kicker speakers
• Zapco amplifier
• Audio installed by Bill Lynch Custom Rods

SPECIAL THANKS FROM OWNER: “Lewis Milinich, Lee Milinich, Bill Lynch, Steve Jacento, Ray Greenlee Sr., Shane Milinich, Canaan Smiths, Central Valley Upholstery, AAA Muffler, AccuAir, Raceline wheels, everyone at Lewis Milinich Body Shop, my daughter Makenah Greenlee and son Brennan Greenlee and Justin ‘Pony’ Carrillo.”

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