Mr. ’60-’66 Does it Again

CHANCES ARE YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNEW WHO OWNED THIS TRUCK BEFORE YOU STARTED READING THIS ARTICLE. It’s not like Dino Battilana is shy about his builds, nor should he be. If you spend even a little time hanging out on the web and love Chevy trucks, you’ve seen one of Dino’s many rides. Much like Pavlov’s dogs at the sound of a bell, you can bet that we drool whenever Dino tells us he has something new to show off.

So you can imagine how stoked we were when we spotted this ’63 crew cab dually. You don’t just go cruising Craigslist and pick out one of these trucks (although it almost seems like Dino does). The truth is Dino was just doing Dino things when he found it, which in this case was cruising a show in San Diego in his ’63 Pro Street Chevy. A dude named Dustin approached Dino and said, “Hey, I know where there’s another crew cab just like the last one you built.” People know Dino, and they know his trucks.

Those particular trucks were distributed by a company named Stageway and built by coachbuilder Armbruster, and they’re about as rare as hen’s teeth. Dustin offered to get more info on the truck, and within a few days Dino was on his way back to California to tow it home to Arizona. Most of us can only dream of finding a project like this, but of course, Dino has owned two of them.

We all know that stock just isn’t an option, and just because this truck is rare doesn’t mean it was immune to the devilish thoughts that Dino had lurking in his brain. For those of you who feel the slightest bit sympathetic toward the truck, put down the pitchforks and torches. Dino assured us that it was in pretty bad shape and had enough rust to coat a handful of trucks. In fact, three additional truck cabs would end up being sacrificed to replace all of the rusted panels on Dino’s ’63.

He didn’t waste any time tearing into the crew cab and had it stripped down and ready to rebuild right away. With some help from his buddy, Joe Casillas, a new ’bagged chassis was built to turn this ex- fleetside into a dually. Once Dino had the cab and chassis in order, including having bolted on the shaved 22-inch semi-truck wheels, he sent the long-bed over to Nick at Hubcaps Hot Rod Design to scratch-build the dually fenders. As you can see, these fenders are works of art in and of themselves.

Dino admits that the project did stall for a while due to an unnamed shop not holding up its end of an agreement, but once he dug the truck out from the back of that shop, it found its way to Seth and Jason at Switch Suspension where they got it roadworthy. The pair ran all of the suspension’s stainless hard lines and made sure the air management system was absolutely dialed in. They also set up the brakes, including a McGaughy’s power brake booster/master cylinder, and added more stainless steel lines. Dino’s dually also received a completely new steering setup while at Switch, from the steering column down to the steering box, as well as all new wiring and an awesome Dakota Digital VHX gauge cluster.

While the crew cab was getting even more of the Switch Suspension treatment, like a trick set of C- 10-specific custom hood hinges, Dominic at Custom Interior Fab took the front and rear bench seats (from a 1998 Chevy truck) and reshaped and recovered them in leather and cloth. The column was dressed up with a wood- rimmed steering wheel, and the rest of the interior will be revisited at a later date.

The truck was finally ready to take its maiden voyage on a late-November morning, just in time for Dino’s own Git- Down event, a pre-show to the Goodguys Southwest Nationals. Since then, Dino has been working on finishing the dually, but then there’s that C-60 that’s been keeping him busy. Stay tuned.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Dino Battilana
1963 Chevy C-10 Crew Cab
Dually
Phoenix, AZ

ENGINE & TRANSMISSION

• GM 350 crate engine
• Edelbrock carburetor
• Polished Speedway headers
• Flowmaster mufflers
• Champion aluminum radiator
• GM Turbo-Hydramatic 400 (TH400) transmission
• Dana 70 rearend
• Tanks Inc. fuel tank

SUSPENSION

• Stretched Porterbuilt upper and lower control arms
• Drop spindles
• Heavily modified rear trailing arms
• 14-inch frame notch
• Slam Specialties airbags
• Accuair air management
• Stainless steel air lines
• Gas-charged shocks front and rear
• Dino-designed pancaked front cross member
• McGaughy’s 7-inch booster/master cylinder
• Stainless steel brake lines
• Front disc brakes

WHEELS & TIRES

• Custom 22.5-inch Alcoa semi-truck wheels shaved down to 22s
• 255/30R22 Nexen tires

BODY

• Work performed by Switch Suspension and Hubcaps Hot Rod Design
• Cab straightened and patched as needed
• Custom one-off dually fenders
• Switch Suspension inboard-mounted hood hinges
• 1967-72 C-10 rear bumper

INTERIOR

• Work performed by Custom Interior Fab and Switch Suspension
• 1998 Chevy truck bench seats front and rear with leather/cloth upholstery
• Leather headliner
• Dakota Digital VHX gauge system
• Wood-rimmed steering wheel
• Custom wiring harness by Switch Suspension
• Kinetik battery

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: “Seth and Jason at Switch Suspension, Nick at Hubcaps Hot Rod Design, Dominic at Custom Interior Fab, Kurt at Moose’s Garage, Jeff at The Chrome Guy, Accuair, Todd at Lowboy Motorsports, Jeremy at Tre 5 and Joe Casillas.”

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