Just less than two years ago, Jimmy Boykin stopped wrenching on cookie cutter, race-style compact cars and turned his attentions toward custom trucks. After having a customer sell a clean Hardbody to him, he began building an incredible example of a custom mini-truck for himself. Today, that truck is insane!
To fully understand just how much work went into this truck in a year and a half, you have to be able to see it in person. By crawling around the truck and taking it all in, you are able to fully appreciate the lengths Jimmy and his shop AutoWerks went through to build such a ride. Because most of us aren't planning on visiting Columbus, Georgia, anytime soon, we have a load of photos and plenty of dialogue to lay it all out for you. So kick back and check this bad mutha' out! Check out the current issue of Mini Truckin' Magazine for the full story.
Owner: Jimmy Boykin
Hometown: Columbus, Georgia
Ride: '94 Nissan Hardbody
Shop: AutoWerks
Club: Acrophobia
the lowdown
Wheels/Tires:
20x8.5-inch Hp Onyx wheels with 245/35ZR20 Nitto tires
Suspension:
Airbagged at AutoWerks using 2500-and 2600-pound Firestone airbags. Up front, Chassis Tech spindles were used, along with Toxic shocks and DJM lower control arms. Once the firewall was tubbed, the truck lays frame with up to a 20-inch wheel/tire combo. In the rear, a Chassis Engineering ladder bar setup was used, along with a diagonal Panhard-style link.
Chassis:
The truck's frame was made to allow a huge wheel and tire to sit within its confines by a notch built by Robert Smith and installed by Jimmy Boykin. In the bed, through a custom sheetmetal bed floor, the crossmember has been cut out of plate steel in the shape of tribal flames.
Engine/transmission:
Equipped with an '85 1.1L Mazda RX-7 rotary engine and a '91 Mazda RX-7 transmission. The engine was painted using Harlequin paint for show appeal. The truck's exhaust is composed of 2-1/2-inch tubing that's downsized to 2-inch, and uses a polished stainless steel Magnaflow Muffler. Columbus Custom Exhaust built the truck's exhaust system, but Robert Smith made the truck's custom exhaust tips.
Interior:
Smoothing and painting made a huge difference in the truck's stock dash. A set of Auto Meter gauges was installed for simple readout of the truck's running statistics. Original bucket seats were reupholstered without their headrests to clean up the interior even more, and with a bit of color bought in from the exterior graphics, a very clean interior was created. Sound comes from an Alpine head unit, and an MA Audio monitor resides center stage in the dash.
Body Modifications:
'00 Nissan Frontier front end with shaved everything, including the rooflines in the truck's cab. The only thing we can think of that wasn't shaved is the truck's bodyline and even that was modified to make the Frontier front end work with the Hardbody doors and bed of the truck. The rear of the Nissan has been outfitted with LED taillights and turn signals for a stealthy look.
Paint/Graphics
Painted at AutoWerks. Forty-five different hues of House of Kolors paint were used to paint the truck. In all, the truck's wicked paint scheme took about 160 hours.
Special Thanks: John Gamache from PTAP for helping with all accessories, wheels, tires, and airbag parts; William Boswell for his never-faltering talent and dedication to the shop; Robert Battle for helping with the engine swap and helping to run the shop; Robert Smith for all his crazy fabricated parts; Mike Mock at the Parker Store who helped with all the stainless air lines and Parker Gold valves; Ant Prater, who cleared the truck at 3 a.m. Thursday before NOPI, even though he had to work the next day at 7 a.m.; Robert Cunningham, who Jimmy tricked into wiring up the truck with the Painless wiring harness; Steve Boykin (Jimmy's father), who helped Jimmy buy the truck because of the potential he saw in AutoWerks and in Jimmy; and Mack Folds, Tommy Miller, Justin Shepard, and Jimmy's wife Shannon and daughter Alley for having to deal with never seeing Jimmy because he's home late and up early everyday.