One Man’s Dream a Long Time Coming

REALIZING ONE’S DREAMS IS ONLY HALF THE BATTLE, THE REST OF THE CHALLENGE IS REACHING THEM. For Dermie Close of Henderson, Nevada, he realized long ago that his dream was to own a custom classic Chevy pickup one day, but it wasn’t until recently—nearly 20 years after he started his fateful build—that all his hard work and perseverance finally paid off.

Dermie’s first vehicle at age 16 was a ’50 Chevy pickup that he drove until the transmission gave way. Then he swapped in a Chevy 350-ci engine and a 350 turbo gearbox before selling it to a local Snap-on tool dealer. Many years later, while working at an Oldsmobile dealership in Las Vegas, Dermie came across another classic Chevy pickup at the tire shop next door, this time a ’48 3100 model fit his criteria for the ultimate build. That was 1995, and while it took Dermie 20 years to build in his spare time, the truck is now complete and absolutely gorgeous. Talk about being worth the wait.

DERMIE’S AN ARTISTIC PERSON, SO DESIGNING THE ULTIMATE TRUCK WASN’T OVERLY DIFFICULT. WHAT WAS DIFFICULT WAS HONING ALL OF THE INSPIRATIONAL BUILDS HE’S SEEN…”

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Dermie’s an artistic person, so designing the ultimate truck wasn’t overly difficult. What was difficult was honing all of the inspirational builds he’s seen throughout the years, including masterpieces from builders like Foose and Trepanier at SEMA. This meant coming up with plenty of custom flare for the truck, but not going too over the top. It also meant teaching himself how to do the things needed to create some of the custom components that make builds truly stand out, including TIG welding, bodywork and developing an eye for hot rod design. From there, it was all about putting together the project.

IT TOOK DERMIE 20 YEARS TO BUILD IN HIS SPARE TIME, THE TRUCK IS NOW COMPLETE AND ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS.”

Knowing that the base of any good build is a good chassis, Dermie turned to Art Morrison to start the build off right. The custom chassis came with a custom triangulated four-bar rear suspension system, modified C5 Corvette front suspension system and Strange Engineering 4.11 posi-traction rearend, as well as air shocks and 14-inch Baer brakes. With the ultimate performance suspension system handled, Dermie took some inspiration from one of his hot rod idols, Chip Foose, and ran 18- and 20-inch Foose wheels finished in chrome and wrapped in sticky Toyo rubber.

With the ground gear in tip-top shape, an equally performance-driven power plant was needed. A Hotcams 6.0L LS3 crate engine was just the ticket, and Dermie wasted no time making it his own. In addition to all of the goodies already poured into the engine thanks to GM, Dermie added Spal fans, a Howe aluminum radiator and guides, Vintage Air water pump and alternator, custom intake system using a K&N air cleaner, hand- built headers with a ceramic titanium finish, custom Clayton Machine Works valve covers, and a custom 2 ½-inch exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers and a custom tip. The result is right about 500 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque to the crank. Backing the engine is a modern 4L70e transmission with a TCI shift kit and 2,500-stall converter.

DERMIE DIDN’T WANT HIS TRUCK’S PERFORMANCE TO OUTDO ITS AESTHETICS, SO HE FOCUSED A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT INTO MASSAGING THE TRUCK’S BODY INTO THE MASTERPIECE YOU SEE HERE.”

Dermie didn’t want his truck’s performance to outdo its aesthetics, so he focused a lot of time and effort into massaging the truck’s body into the masterpiece you see here. Chevy certainly did this truck justice when it rolled off the assembly line, but Dermie stepped it up a notch, extending the cab of the truck 6 inches through the doors, chopping the roof 3 ½ inches, building a completely custom bed with a white oak floor, pie-cutting the hood and finishing it off with unique touches, like custom bumpers, modified Rock Valley running boards, vintage GM car door handles, Cadillac taillights and Mercedes E-Class headlights. The truck is topped off with PPG Lexus Desert Sand paint and polished to a remarkably deep shine.

The interior of the truck is just as impressive, featuring a custom- stitched leather bench seat and matching door panels, a custom wraparound dash with Auto Meter custom shop gauges and AC vents for a Vintage Air air-conditioning system and a custom body-color center console, which Dermie crafted himself. The truck is also fitted with a full Kicker sound system and a number of SoCal and Autolock switches, adding to the modern flare of the custom truck. With such an amazing build in his stable, we can’t help but wonder if there will be another from the talented hands of Mr. Close in the future. Regardless, this custom Chevy 3100, dubbed Project Dream, is certainly living up to its name.

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNERS

Dermie Close
1948 Chevy 3100
pickup Project Dream
Henderson, NV

ENGINE

• 6.0L LS3 V-8 Hotcam crate engine
• Howe guides
• Vintage Air water pump
• Howe aluminum radiator
• K&N air cleaner
• Hand-built intake (owner)
• Spal 16×2-inch fans
• Hand-built headers with ceramic titanium finish (owner)
• Custom 2 ½-inch exhaust with custom tip (owner)
• Magnaflow mufflers
• Custom-built motor mounts (owner)
• Custom Clayton Machine Works valve covers
• Vintage Air drive accessory/pulleys
• Custom hoses
• Hand-built injector covers
• 500-plus-hp/475 lb- ft torque
• 4L70e transmission
• TCI shift kit
• 2,500 stall torque converter
• Strange Engineering steel driveshaft
• Engine assembled by owner

SUSPENSION & CHASSIS

• Art Morrison chassis
• Strange Engineering 4.11 Posi rearend
• Strange Engineering axles
• Custom Art Morrison triangulated four-bar rear suspension
• Modified C5 Corvette front suspension
• Air shocks
• 14-inch Baer brakes
• ABS brakes booster/master cylinder
• Performed by Art Morrison

WHEELS & TIRES

• Chrome 18-inch (front) and 20-inch (rear) Foose wheels
• 225/50/18 and 265/50/20 Toyo tires

BODY & PAINT

• Chopped 3 ½ inches
• Cab stretched 6 inches through the doors
• 1 ½-inch pie-cut hood with custom internal brace
• Hand-built front and rear bumpers
• Stock grille with no marker lights
• Custom-fit windows
• Custom truck bed
• White oak straight- grain bed floor
• Hand-built tailgate
• Stock fenders bolted on to fit custom bed
• Aircraft fuel filler in bed
• Modified Rock Valley running boards
• 1955 GM car door handles
• 1999 Cadillac taillights
• ’90s Mercedes E-Class headlights
• Painted PPG Lexus Desert Sand
• Hidden third brake light in paint
• Bodywork by Close Fabrication (owner)
• Paint by Close Fabrication (Joseph Torres)

INTERIOR & STEREO

• Leather bench seat
• Custom wraparound dashboard with AC vents (owner)
• Auto Meter custom shop gauges
• Modified 15-inch 1955 GM steering wheel
• Vintage Air air-conditioning
• Hand-built console (owner)
• SoCal and Autolock switches
• Modified Lokar shifter with custom knob
• Interior by William Paiz Custom Interiors and owner
• Kicker PXIBT502 head unit
• Kicker QSS67 speakers
• Kicker CompR 10- inch subwoofers
• Kicker KX800.5 amplifier
• Optima Yellow Top battery
• Dynamat/Dynaliner sound deadener
• Stereo installation by owner

SPECIAL THANKS FROM THE OWNER: “Todd Gartshore, former VP at Baer Brakes, he was the first to sponsor the truck, with the help of AL Unser Jr. Al was my next door neighbor for over 10 years; he went to SEMA two years in a row and helped me promote the truck—huge help. Gabi Baer from Baer Brakes, Steve Lehner from PPG, Paul McMillion from Lizardskin, John Meadows from Ridetech, Jeanette Ladina from Flaming River, Eric Saltrick from Steele Rubber Products, Charlie Mallory from Dynamat, Kris Carlson from Auto Meter, Greg Goeders from Spal, Roger Demaree from Kicker and K&N filters.”

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