Owner: Brian White
Ride: '87 Chevy S-10 Blazer
Hometown: Conway, Arkansas
Club: Kontradictions
Unfortunately, more then just a few buildup stories begin like Brian White's '87 S-10 Blazer. The Cliffs Notes for the story go something like this: man sees truck, man buys truck, man falls in love with truck, man dumps tons of money into truck, and then some uninsured idiot hits truck. Rather disappointed, Brian piled his truck in the backyard and let it sit. The truck bug had already dug its teeth into Brian, though, and he couldn't go without a sweet ride. He went shopping for a new truck and picked up an '01 Silverado Extra Cab that he began customizing. The entire time he worked on and drove his fullsize, something just didn't feel right. The poor Blazer sat for a couple of years, dreaming of the day Brian would come back into its life. Sure enough, Brian realized that he had to pick up where he'd left off. He was compelled to return to his roots: mini-trucking. So he sold the fullsize and began to put his Blazer back together, one piece at a time. As you can tell, he went all out the second time around and left nothing to chance.
Brian's Blazer now sports a frame-laying drop up front, thanks to Chassis Tech upper and lower control arms, Belltech 2-inch drop spindles, and 2,500-pound Firestone airbags. Out back, Brian and his buddy Barry Wiser of Wiser Suspension notched the frame, built a custom-linked cantilever setup, and installed Belltech shocks to ensure that the rear end was firmly planted to the pavement. The Blazer airs out via 3/8 Parker valves to help tuck the 18x8.5-inch Billet Specialties Shadow wheels wrapped with 235/40R18 Sumitomo HTRZ II rubber deep into the fenderwells.
The Blazer wears a Reflexxion steel cowl-induction hood, an FBI phantom grille, and Street Scene signal mirrors. The molded ground effects, front bumper, and roll pan add to that clean look Brian wanted. The door handles, tailgate handle, emblems, antenna, wipers, body lines, gas door, taillights, roof rack, and door jamb seams have all been smoothed over, hence the name "Clean Shaven." Brian's Blazer sports a huge 67-inch hole in the roof, also known as a ragtop, that he installed himself. Some other nice little touches are the flush-mounted LEDs in the front bumper cover. Brian opted for '90 Cadillac taillights mounted diagonally in the tailgate to let people know he was stopping. Brian, Jay Lucey, Jack Jumper, and Nate Garraputa executed all the body modifications before Jeffrey Bryant got a hold of the paint. The two-tone paintjob is a combination of '02 Volkswagen Silver and '02 Subaru WRX Blue, with custom-mixed green and orange graphics splitting the lines.
Now Brian turned his attention inward to finish off this seven-year trek. The dash was smoothed and painted by Jay at AC Sport. The rear seats were ditched and the front seats were replaced with a pair of Recaro Racing seats, which were wrapped in suede and tweed by Buddy's Upholstery. After adding a Billet Specialties Meteor steering wheel, a Trenz billet mirror, an FBI billet dash kit, and a painted steering column, Brian wrapped the rest of the interior in gray tweed and suede leather. When Brian finally got a glimpse of his finished truck, we're sure he was very pleased that he decided to ditch the fullsize and come back to his ever-faithful Blazer. Don't you think he made the right decision?
The Low Down
Wheels/Tires 18x8.5-inch Billet Specialties Shadow wheels / 235/40R18 Sumitomo HTRZ II tires
Chassis/Suspension Belltech 2-inch drop spindles / Chassis Tech tubular upper and lower control arms / 2,500-pound Firestone airbags up front / 2,600-pound Firestone airbags out back / 3/8-inch Parker valves / custom cantilever-link setup in the rear / step-notched frame / Belltech shocks in the rear / total lowered height: 9 inches in the front, 14 inches in the rear
Body Modifications Reflexxion steel cowl-induction hood / Street Scene signal mirrors / 19-bar FBI phantom grille / headlights recessed 1-1/2 inches to fit phantom grille / '90 Cadillac taillights mounted diagonally in the tailgate / flush-mounted LEDs in the front bumper cover / molded ground effects / molded roll pan / shaved door handles / shaved tailgate handle / shaved emblems / shaved antenna / shaved wipers / shaved body lines / shaved gas door / shaved taillights / shaved roof rack / shaved doorjamb seams / 67-inch sliding ragtop / fuel door relocated to inside of truck under the old jack cover
Custom Paint Two-tone using RM Diamont Standox paint in '02 Subaru WRX Blue and '02 Volkswagen Silver / custom-mixed green and orange graphics
Engine/Performance GM Delco 3.08 ring-and-pinion / 150 amperage Stinger alternator / chrome and billet dress-up accessories / Optima Yellow Top battery relocated to rear of cab next to the air tank / Magnaflow exhaust system
Interior Smoothed and painted dash / Recaro Racing seats wrapped in suede and tweed / removed rear seats completely / upholstered headliner in gray tweed / wrapped all interior panels in gray tweed / painted steering column / billet dash pieces from FBI / Trenz billet mirror / Billet Specialties Meteor steering wheel
Special Thanks Jay at AC Sport / Jack and Nate at Street Sweeper Customs / Jeff at McCormick's Body Shop / family and friends for all their help and support