" Real pieces of bamboo were used to accent the dash, door panels, and under the front bumper.
"
Owner: Kevin Rost
Ride: 1986 Mazda B2000
Hometown: Puyallup, WA
Club: Twisted Creations
One of the first times I travelled up to the Northwest for Sittin’ Pretti’s Summer Slam, I met a small group of guys wearing black shirts, black socks, and camouflage shorts—a slight deviation from the normal “minitrucker uniform.” Across the front of each of their shirts in red letters was Twisted Creations—the name of a club that I hadn’t heard of before. Over the next 10 years of visiting the Great Wet North, I would come to consider them friends.
The guys from Twisted came in all shapes and sizes, and I was introduced to a rail-thin dude named Kevin, who I later learned had been building a Mazda B2000 for the longest time. Richy Strong had initially ’bagged, ’bodied, and shaved the truck at Bruno’s House of Hack; however, as time progressed, the Mazda was stripped back down. The suspension was reworked, the frame was painted, and a new firewall was fabricated.
Kevin would show up to Summer Slam each year and just sit back and watch his friends’ finished trucks get shot for features. This exclusion helped push him through the tough times when, like a lot of us stuck in long project builds, he wanted to throw in the towel, give it the finger, and walk away. He pushed through that frustration and found a light at the end of the tunnel.
First and foremost, Kevin decided that he wouldn’t change the truck to cater to current trends. Big wheels, bead-rolled panels, dimple-die-punched inserts, and skulls are all fine and good, but they weren’t going to be found anywhere near his build. With help from Josh Jones of Jones Paint Innovations, the two took a simple two-tone paint scheme and expanded on the idea until the Twisted Tiki theme was sketched out as a full rendering.
This new game plan was like a direct adrenaline injection into the slowly beating heart of a tired project. Over the next several months, Josh airbrushed the bamboo split between the two-tone paint and added tiki-themed pieces to the bed and inner fenders.
The interior was recreated outfitted with fiberglass and torch-red vinyl by Stitches Custom Upholstery. Real pieces of bamboo were used to accent the dash, door panels, and under the front bumper. Speaking of which, you may have looked at the custom front bumper and scratched your head a bit. Richy and Kevin used an ’02 GMC bumper, flipped it over, and worked a little magic to create the unique nose.
Kevin, Twisted Creations, Jones Paint Innovations, and Stitches Custom Upholstery created a tikified piece of rolling aloha, and for those of you keeping track at home, that’s another point for the Northwest.
" Big wheels, bead-rolled panels, dimple-die-punched inserts, and skulls are all fine and good, but they weren't going to be found anywhere near his build.
"
The Lowdown
Rolling Attire
Wheels: 20x8.5 Rozzi Octane
Tires: 255/30/20 Toyo Proxes 4
Chassis Modifications
Suspension (front): Slam specialties SS-6 ’bags, five-lug Toyota spindles, custom tie rods
Suspension (rear): Toyota Supra IRS custom control arms and Firestone 2,600lb ’bags on a cantilever setup
Control Arms: Customized factory upper and lower arms
Shocks: ’67 Monroe VW Bug shocks
Compressor(s): Viair 380c
Air/hydro Accessories: Two three-gallon tanks, GC 1/2-inch valves, KP Components 200-psi gauges
Frame Mods: Front frame recessed so ’bags can sit farther in, custom 2x3 tube back half, fuel tank moved to rear of frame, frame smoothed and painted Dodge Silver
Brakes: Stock Toyota front and rear, Wilwood proportioning valve, custom steel-braided lines
Performed By: Owner
Body Modifications
Shaved: Handles, locks, emblems, antenna, cab and bed seams, cowl, gas door, top of bed
Bodydrop: 3 inches
Body Mods: Grant Kustoms full-skin combo, taillight fillers, blow-through from cab to bed, custom firewall and inner fenders
Bolt-ons: ’02 Ford Ranger headlights, custom bamboo ragtop in canopy, 2600i bubble hood, T-Rex billet grille insert
Misc.: Custom fuel filler access box behind fold-down license plate; customized ’02 GMC front bumper
Performed By: Owner and Richy Strong
Paint
Brand & Colors: PPG Lamborghini Orange on bottom and custom-mixed red on top
Misc.: Custom-airbrushed bamboo two-tone splitter and tiki-themed airbrushing on bed and inner fenders
Performed By: Jones Paint Innovations
Interior
Seats: ’02 Chevy Cavalier seats wrapped in torch-red vinyl
Dash: Custom fiberglass wrapped in torch-red vinyl
Gauges: ’05 Mini Cooper speedometer
Misc.: Custom fiberglass center console, fiberglass door panels and fiberglass panels behind rear seats accented by real bamboo pieces, Klassics Inc. billet steering wheel, Grunion Fab tiki shift knob painted by Josh Jones, torch-red ACC carpet
Performed By: Owner, Josh Jones, and Stitches Custom Upholstery
Engine/Performance
Engine: 2.0L
Camshaft: Stock
Intake: Weber carb
Header/exhaust: Pace Setter aluminum-coated header and custom exhaust
Transmission: Stock
Rearend Type: Toyota Supra limited-slip differential
Detail Work: Everything is painted or chromed, red wire loom, and steel-braided fuel, vacuum, and radiator lines.
Misc.: Red Taylor 8mm plug wires
Performed By: Owner
Special Thanks From Owner
“I want to thank Richy and Kenny Strong for taking me under their wing and really getting me into building trucks. I have to give a huge thank you to Josh Jones for a killer paintjob and really helping me get the truck finished in the last couple of months. I also want to thank my beautiful girlfriend Jenny who has stuck by my side throughout the build and who has encouraged me to finish my dream once and for all. Thank you to everyone who has lent a hand in the build, and thanks to Twisted Creations.”