ONWER: Jeffrey Bryant RIDE:...
ONWER: Jeffrey Bryant
RIDE: '93 Mazda B2200
LOCATION: Jacksonville, Arkansas
Jeffrey Bryant wanted to build a clean truck that he could drive every day and still be very proud of. He started working on his truck back in 1993 and has continued ever since, making sure to keep it on the road and in a driveable condition more often than having it torn down.
Throughout the past 11 years, Jeffrey has learned a lot about what it takes to build a driveable, show-worthy ride. From his beginnings, Jeffrey's always taken a lot of pride in what he builds with his own hands. During this buildup, the only things he entrusted to others were the body drop and air-ride suspension, plus a few interior parts he had upholstered to ensure that the stitching was straight and done correctly.
When Jeffrey wanted his suspension and body drop handled, he contacted Mike White at Barnyard Customs in Texas. Mike and the crew at Barnyard handled the 2-3/4-inch body drop on the Mazda and laid the whole truck out using Firestone airbags all around. When the rear suspension was being built, Mike consulted Jeffrey before hacking off the stock rear section of the frame directly behind the cab and building a whole new rear frame clip. This allowed the truck to be built to lay out without anything standing in the way. Mike was also able to move the gas tank up 2 inches, keeping it from ever contacting the ground when the Mazda is fully laid out. From the sound of the way the truck was built, the amount of time the truck was down for the body drop and airbag suspension was the longest it had been out of Jeffrey's possession.
After the Mazda was laid out low enough to instill even more pride in Jeffrey, he performed the custom body mods he felt the truck had to have in order to reflect his own vision of the best daily driven truck around. After shaving and modifying the truck to his liking, Jeffrey didn't call a painter to spray the final stage of his truck's personality - he did it himself. Since he'd been looking to learn how to paint anyway, he used his own truck as a classroom. Once his own truck was complete, the body shop he worked at began using him as a painter, and he's been professionally painting vehicles ever since.
When Jeffrey felt that his truck was ready to be shown, he drove to each and every event he could get to. We caught up with Jeffrey in Greenville, Mississippi, and he mentioned that he'd seen us at just about every major show he'd been to; imagine his shock when we gave him the opportunity for his Mazda's own month of fame. We can tell this owner takes a lot of pride in his ride, and we look forward to seeing which way he spins his truck next, since no one is ever truly done with their customizing pursuits.
The Lowdown
Wheels/Tires Old-school 16-inch chrome KMCs wrapped in 205/40R16 BFGoodrich euro T/A radial tires
Suspension/Chassis New rear frame clip / forward-facing four-link bars with a Panhard bar / airbagged by Mike White at Barnyard Customs in Rockwell, Texas / gas tank moved up 2 inches using Toxic shocks to control damping
Body Modifications Body-dropped 2-3/4 inches / shaved door handles / 4x4 front fenders / shaved taillights, LED taillights, molded access panel at the rear of the bed, shaved cowl, shaved emblems, and so on
Paint/Graphics 19 PPG colors were used to create the graphic scheme / the coolest thing about it, though, is that Jeffrey laid his own paintwork
Interior Bucket seats reupholstered in blue vinyl and gray tweed / gray tweed used for carpeting and headliner / upholstery work was performed at Buddy's Upholstery in Cabot, Arkansas / the dash and center console were layered and re-worked in fiberglass with graphics flowing into the cab
Stereo JVC head unit / MTX subwoofers behind seats in custom enclosure / mid- and high-range speakers in the Mazda's door panels / Crunch 250 and Crunch 500 amplifiers / all wiring and installation by the truck's owner
Engine/Performance Weber carburetor / Pacesetter header / Flowmaster 2-inch exhaust and muffler