Upon high school graduation, John Balleras originally wanted a motorcycle as a gift from his parents. That request soon changed to a truck after a tragic accident on a motorcycle took the life of a family member. The 2001 Chevrolet S-10 started its life from the factory as a brand new Xtreme S-10. His cousin, who got him into customizing trucks, convinced him that the body kit had to go. After tossing the side skirts in the dumpster, John took the truck to get ‘bagged. He soon realized that he knew more than the installer while helping him with the suspension setup. Christian at The Shop set about correcting the errors after a mishap on the freeway and helped to get the truck driving safely again. Drawing from lowrider and classic car influences, as well as the fact that John had an S-10 and not an Impala, he set about customizing the modern truck in a clean and classic style. Custom-fitting a 1962 Impala dash and steering wheel was no easy task with the dash having to be sectioned and molded to fit into the smaller truck. Keeping with the theme, the bench seat was replaced with one from a 1966 Chevelle. Chuy’s Upholstery in Carson, California, wrapped the door panels, seats and custom sub enclosure from C&D Audio with white vinyl and bright red piping accents. To showcase the beautiful candy apple red paint on the S-10, every accessory was shaved and smoothed. No corners were cut in the bodywork, rather they were rounded and molded to give the cleanest possible finish. Sheet metal was added to the bed to smooth it out, rounding and molding edge. Josh Franklin at Extreme Kustoms finished the bodywork and laid down the red and white paint. Josh took the truck in as the first to be painted and completed when he opened up his shop four years ago. His first love is mini-trucks, but he has sanded and sprayed everything from hot rods to imports; even spending a few seasons building projects on the “Overhaulin’” TV show. Since completing this and many other vehicles, his shop has built vehicles for everyone from football players to hip hop stars as well as mini-truckers alike. John and Josh have taken a truck already considered customized by the factory and transformed it into a unique S-10 that blends classic styles and parts from lowrider cars of the past. Show comments (0) - Add comments to this article: |
