Avoiding the Cuffing Season

THE phrase often goes, “happy wife, happy life,” but sometimes it’s the things that don’t happen that make the biggest impact on your life. Chris Denton from Lewisburg, Tennessee, was saving up money for a wedding that would never happen. Chris was with his girlfriend for four years and had plans to propose to her, but as the time grew closer, their relationship grew further apart. What the girlfriend didn’t know was that Chris had been saving up money for their wedding and hiding it from her. When they both decided to end the relationship, Chris decided to use the money for something he wanted even more.

Chris’ friend, Matthew Anthony, had a ’97 Chevy OBS that had been neglected but had serious potential. Matthew had joked about selling it, and it couldn’t have been at a better time. The truck didn’t run and had been sitting, but with Chris’ talent and expertise, he knew this would be the perfect shell for his ideas. The Chevy was already bagged, but due to sitting, it all needed to be corrected. Under the hood, the motor needed to get back up and running, so Chris brought the OBS to his house to start his project.

Once the Chevy arrived at his house, Chris began working on the most integral part—underneath the hood. The fuel had to be drained and replaced, all the fuel lines were replaced as well as the entire fuel system, a new battery was installed, and finally a tune-up was done to get it running. Once the Chevy was road-ready, Chris turned his attention to the suspension. His friend “Ghost” from Michigan did all the new fabrication work on the frame, and Chris added new control arms, new bags, and compressors and replaced all the valves. The old air management was taken out for a brand-new Air Lift 3P setup.

The truck didn’t run and had been sitting, but with Chris’ talent and expertise, he knew this would be the perfect shell for his ideas.

Since Chris was adding larger wheels, he brought the Chevy to Mike Howe at Howe’s It Doin’ Garage in Dallas, Georgia, to narrow the rear end. Chris enlisted Brittany Beasley at Beezy’s Stripes to add some ghost white pinstriping so subtle that some don’t even notice it. BJ Boden did the masterful work of building a new bed and replacing the taillights with cut-ins on the rear tailgate. BJ built a billet license plate bracket that comes out of the bed since there was no longer an area to put one.

Chris wishes to thank his father and hero, Jeff Denton, for always having him in the shop while he worked on cool stuff. Chris also wants to thank his mother, Angelina Gunter, for putting up with the truck addiction that consumes so many, yet gives back to so many more. He wishes to thank all the OG truck guys who inspired him to work on trucks, including Chad Jessie, Landon Stringfellow, Jeremy Carroll, Justin White, Jimmy Oliver, Michael Rutherford, Oscar Zambrano, Nathan Coker, Daniel Levi, Brittany Beasley, and, of course, Matthew Anthony for allowing him to purchase the OBS.

Although Chris isn’t currently ready to propose to anybody soon, he escaped the cuffing season with enough money to purchase something that will stay with him and his daughter…

A final thanks to Chris’ No Regrets family for always being there for him as well as the hardworking folks at Buddies’ Garage, Air Lift, Coker’s Rod Shop, NFamus Metal, and Howe’s It Doin’ Garage, as well as BJ Boden. Although Chris isn’t currently ready to propose to anybody soon, he escaped the cuffing season with enough money to purchase something that will stay with him and his daughter, Carlee Denton, who can enjoy her time with daddy.

 

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TRUCK SPECS

 Engine & Drivetrain

• Vortec 350
• Polished Hedman headers
• Cold air intake with K&N filter
• 4L60 transmission
• Shift kit smoothed and painted
• 1996 Impala rear end narrowed 2 inches

Chassis & Suspension

• NFamus Metal powdercoated control arms
• Slam Specialties RE7 bags
• NFamus 3-link
• Two 5-gallon aluminum tanks from Lowrider Depot
• Air Lift 3P air management
• Two Viair 480 compressors

Wheels & Tires

• 24×8 and 24×10 Bonspeed Sweep wheels
• 255/30R24 and 295/30R24 Lexani LX-Twenty tires

Body & Paint

• Stock-floor bodydrop
• Olympic White paint
• Pinstriping by Brittany Beasley at Beezy Stripes
• Fully shaved bed
• GrantFab tailgate skin
• Taillight fillers
• Custom Billet Specialties taillights
• Reinforced bed 1/1 square tubing by BJ Boden
• Custom smoothed front bumper
• Shaved antenna, wipers, and badges

Interior & Stereo

• No Regrets steering wheel by Colorado Customs
• No Regrets cut rearview mirror
• Shrunken head shift knob
• Billet dash accessories from Buddies’ Garage
• JVC head unit
• Memphis Audio speakers and amplifier