If You Keep Wrenching, You Will Get Better

When Eric Bryant was in his teens he had no idea what he was getting himself into with this ‘87 Chevy S-10. It was the late ‘80s and Eric was going wild over the mini-trucks of the day that were slammed down low and sporting “Local Motion-style” graphics. As soon as Eric was able to get a job and a license, he picked up this S-10 brand new off the dealer’s lot. A few months later, he had it lowered with a set of Belltech dropped spindles up front and blocks in the rear.

Later, Eric joined the Air Force, traveled the world to serve his country, and left the truck on the backburner. He ended up spending the majority of his time stationed in Tokyo. He wound up working at an Orion Car Audio stereo shop in Tokyo during his time off-duty. Eric became very familiar with the company’s products, and when he got back to the States, he wasted no time equipping his S-10 for stereo competitions. He added a camper shell, welded the bed to the cab to make a walk-through, and he set up a wall of stereo equipment. The system was comprised of six 12-inch subs and about 20 or so speakers, which was sufficient to make blood gush from eardrums.

Around the turn of the century, Eric decided to take things up a notch and equip the truck with air ride so it could lay frame. Just when he thought he was the boss with a frame-dragging mini laid out in a parking lot, another dude rolled up and laid the rocker panels of his big, fat C/K-body truck flat on the same asphalt. That guy was Ryan Anderson, and although Eric was jealous of those lows, the two became good friends, and they helped each other with their respective projects.

After a while Eric got involved with a ’69 Camaro build, but before he became thoroughly consumed with the muscle car, he decided he wanted to take the S-10 through one more iteration. The most important thing on his list of mods was to get the body down lower on bigger wheels. First, a traditional body drop was called to order and Eric took 2 inches of material off the frame under the cab so that the floor didn’t have to be raised too much. Up front, the factory arms were shortened and modified to fit Slam Specialties RE-6 airbags. In the rear, the frame was notched to allow the narrowed S-10 rearend upwards trav- el. Keeping it in place is a custom-made 4-link with a Watts link and a set of Slam RE-7s. With the new suspension wrapped up, the truck now lays body over a set of 20 x 8.5 and 22 x 9.5 Rozzi Switch wheels equipped with low-profile Hankook rubber.

Eric knew the exterior had to be overhauled as well, but didn’t want to overdo it. For the front end, he upgraded the grille shell to a chrome version from a ’92 S-10 with a billet insert. On the rear, he shaved the taillights and added a Grant Kustoms Cali-combo with two AVS 10-inch LED taillights molded in. The rest of the body was shaved of door handles, cab seams and emblems. The mirrors were swapped out for a shiny pair originally made for motorcycles. Eric and Ryan did all of the bodywork to the S-10 and covered it in Chrysler’s Intense Blue Pearl.

The truck had been pretty sound-off happy, so Eric decided to tone it down and implement more painted pieces to allow the interior to flow with the body. He smoothed and painted some of the interior plastics, like the dash and part of the door panels. In the center, he created a console that flows from front to back and holds the Kenwood KDC MP-925 head unit, air gauges and switches, the Sony XEC 1000 crossover and an iPod classic. The inside of the bed has been transformed. A custom fiberglass-constructed showcase was built for the six 12-inch Orion subs, 2150sx 600-watt amp, two Kenwood KAC 921 300-watt amps and KAC 941 320-watt amp. A number of tweeters, mids and mid-bass speakers have been sprinkled throughout the rest of the S-10. Eric also added a set of bucket seats from a Nissan 240SX, removed the headrest and mounted the seats. Then Rob’s Upholstery of Portland, Oregon, covered everything in either black vinyl or black tweed. Topping it off is a Colorado Custom steering wheel and a slew of billet pieces.

Under the hood lies the original 2.5L four-cylinder engine, though the block has been bored 30 over and rebuilt. For extra performance, Eric made a custom cold-air intake and added an MSD ignition coil, electric fan and a Flowtech Raptor turbo performance muffler. A York beltdriven compressor was bolted on for the air system, along with a custom- built 200-amp alternator for the stereo. The four-banger is nicely displayed in the revamped engine compartment. It was cleaned up with a smooth firewall and radiator support, and to cover the wheels, custom tubs were made to fit the inner fenders. True fire graphics were added to the fenders, dash and console by Full Blown Kustom of Eugene, Oregon.

This truck has had a long run since Eric first bought it new. It’s been built multiple times to keep current with trends and it looks great as it stands today. The best part is that Eric has made friends through his work on the truck and he’s become very skilled with a wrench. Those things alone are worth the build. ST

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ERIC BRYANT
1987 CHEVROLET S-10
OREGON CITY, OR

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