It Was in the Cards for Jason Watts to Complete His C/K

People often have no intention of doing a full build-up on a vehicle, but they get roped into it anyway. Frequently it’s because the owner is a true enthusiast and does a few simple things like installing a static drop kit and rims. That’s when to take their build further until it escalates into a whole ordeal that even culminates in a magazine feature if everything is done right. For Jason Watts, of DJ Customs in Cedar Park, Texas, he only decided to build his ’96 GMC Sierra because of a series of events that just fell into his lap.

Although Jason admits to getting into the truck scene back in ’89 by way of mini-trucks, he has never owned a truck of the same caliber as his Sierra. When he first started he didn’t even have a job, but he racked his brain to figure out how to get one related to custom trucks. He wound up scoring a gig at Tasco Auto Color delivering paints to various shops, which Jason always suspected would lead him to picking up a set of spray guns and learning to lay down a wicked paint job. He recalls going into a shop one Monday morning and getting ready to spray a vehicle in a booth. Jason had an epiphany that day. He dropped his guns and immediately went home to tell his wife Michelle that he was going to open his own shop. To his surprise, she said, “You go do what you feel you need to do.”

At the time he only had $800 to his name, but he still scoured Craigslist for a place to set up his business. As luck would have it, he discovered a space that had just opened up, and the rent was $800 a month. Everything fell into place from there.

Fortunately Jason also had in his possession a completed ’00 Honda Prelude on hydraulics with a complete fiberglass interior and good paint job. He sold the import and purchased this C/K, a simple truck with Ridetech components and a clean set of wheels. Jason, his wife Michelle and friend Kevin Schroder flew from Cedar Park to Leeds, Alabama, to pick up the truck and test-drive it on the return trip home.

The truck was a clean daily driver and Jason was completely content with his purchase with no intentions of tricking it out. Unfortunately fate wasn’t completely on his side; four months later the truck was involved in a rearend collision and was pushed under another vehicle. The reckless driver fled the scene, and Jason was left to haggle with his insurance company to save his truck. Ultimately he got to keep his ride and received enough cash to fix it and then some. Since he was still trying to expand and promote his shop, DJ Customs, Jason decided to polish his daily to show-scene level.

One of the most important things to tackle is the stance, so Jason decided to lay the frame of this beast flat on the pavement. The truck had been airbagged, but it wasn’t low enough to hang at the shows. To get the truck lower a set of Choppin’ Block upper and lower control arms bound together with a set of Bell Tech dropped spindles and Slam Specialties RE-7 airbags for lift were added. In the rear, Jason made a custom-triangulated 4-link with another set of Slams. To step it up, Jason boxed the back-half frame, notched it, and made a custom bridge with a 5-gallon air tank welded in place. To top off the stance, it was all made to set down over a set of Raceline Explosion billet wheels, 20 x 9 in front, and 20 x 10 1/2 in the rear. They are wrapped in Nitto NT555 tires, 255/35R20 in the front and 275/35R20 in the rear.

Of course, because of the accident the exterior needed help, and Jason fixed the problems with new replacement body panels, including a billet phantom grille kit, Street Scene bumper and Goodmark cowl hood on the front. For the rear, new bed sides were added and a replacement tailgate was installed once the handle had been shaved and relocated inside. Then the body was shaved smooth by removing the antenna, door handles, cab seams, stake pockets and the fuel door. On the back, the bumper was swapped for a Sir Michaels roll pan that was molded to the bed sides and includes a set of molded in 10.5-inch AVS LED taillights.

For extra kicks Jason tubbed and smoothed the inner bed and mounted the factory fuel door toward the rear so gas can easily be poured into the custom aluminum tank mounted on the frame. The bed floor also has a large gap in it to showcase the smoothed and painted rear frame section. After the body was blocked straight, Jason decided to lay down Crystal Claret from a C6 Corvette. Then, as he rolled in a single color, his son Donovan said, “Daddy, you need to put some flames on that truck.” So he did as he was told and laid down some sick licks in Corvette Atomic Orange and had “Kool-Aid” Randall stripe it in House of Kolors Orion Silver. To finish it off, Von Otto airbrushed some skulls and other demonic creatures over the truck’s surface.

The interior was transformed with the help of Brent Davison of Sculpt Garage in Round Rock, Texas. Brent redesigned the interior for a street rod look. While doing some fiberglass work, he created new door panels, kick panels, a headliner and a trick center console. All of these pieces are covered in sand-colored leather with King Ranch leather and aluminum trim accents. New, matching carpet was installed, and all remaining plastic pieces were dyed to match. For the sound system, a JVC touch-screen head unit sends signals to four sets of 6.5- inch MTX components and four MTX 12-inch TS-85 square subwoofers that are located in the blow-through box in the bed. Three Alpine amps mounted in a custom, under-the-seat rack are combined with a Kinetik HC1800 battery to power the entire system. Jason also shaved the dash, smoothed it out and painted in to match the body. For the topper, the factory seats were cut down and upholstered in King Ranch leather by Austin Auto Interiors in Round Rock, Texas.

A 350-cid Vortec V-8 lurks under the hood. A York compressor supplies the suspension with plenty of air, and the beast is boosted with a Spectre Performance intake and custom exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers. After the computer and ABS were relocated, a set of wheel tubs was fit to complete the truck. Though Jason didn’t initially intend to bring his truck to this level, he definitely shoes it with pride. He would like to thank his wife Michelle and kids Taylor and Donovan, Albert Garcia and Brent Davison, all of whom Jason told us had input into this ride’s development. ST

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JASON WATTS
1996 GMC SIERRA
CEDAR PARK, TX
NEGATIVE CAMBER

TRUCK SPECS

ENGINE

• VORTEC V-8 350
• SPECTRE INTAKE
• CUSTOM FLOWMASTER EXHAUST

SUSPENSION

• CHOPPIN’ BLOCK CONTROL ARMS
• TRIANGULATED REAR 4-LINK
• SLAM SPECIALTIES RE-7 AIRBAGS

BODY

• PHANTOM BILLET GRILLE
• SIR MICHAELS ROLL PAN
• PPG CORVETTE CRYSTAL CLARET AND ATOMIC ORANGE
• GODDMARK COWL HOOD

WHEELS

• 20X9 AND 20X5 RACELINE EXPLOSION BILLET WHEELS
• NITTO NT555 255/35 AND 275/35 TIRES

INTERIOR

• SMOOTHED AND PAINTED DASH
• KING RANCH LEATHER
• CUSTOM CONSOLE AND PANELS BY SCULPT GARAGE

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