Beginning with a Chevy

OPENING  a custom shop isn’t for the weak. It requires a drive to succeed and the passion to create rolling art. Our friend Chris Stafford over at Stafford’s Garage had been building and modifying vehicles in his spare time for a while but recently decided to take on the adventure of going full-time with it. Luckily, he had already lined up a 1957 Chevy 3100 pickup to fully revamp and knew it would be a good first vehicle to come out of the shop. This would be just the beginning of what’s to come, hence the truck’s name— Genesis. This truck belongs to Odie Hughes from Bogalusa, Louisiana, and Odie was excited to have his truck be the flagship for what will be a long line of custom vehicles to come out of Stafford’s Garage.

Stepping back three years, Odie dropped the truck off with Chris for what would be one heck of a transformation. He had a 1957 Chevy truck before he and his wife Deborah had children, and after retiring, his wife told him to build the truck he always wanted. So, teaming up with Stafford’s Garage to showcase Chris’s talent was an easy choice for Odie. The first thing to do was to line out a game plan to ensure the finished product would not only be a fun drivable truck but to serve as a high-caliber example to set the bar for the shop and make a statement on the show circuit. Odie trusted the vision Chris had for the truck, which was to blend both off-road and hot-rod styling to create a clean classic pickup. When asked about why he gave Chris full control of the build, Odie said, “I never saw anyone win the Kentucky Derby by pulling back the reins. Let your builder express their vision regardless of the time or cost—it pays off.” We know that isn’t always doable when building a classic truck, but if you step back, roll with it, and do it right the first time, you will only have to do it once.

Seeing the condition of most of these body style trucks was disheartening when trying to find a base truck to start the project with. So many of them are rusted out beyond repair, and the amount of work to get it done right would be terrible. To bypass this hassle, they ordered a new cab from Premier Street Rods. This way, the entire cab was brand new with no rust or damage right from the start. They then hit up Auto Metal Direct and picked up the rest of the panels needed to complete the body. To make these aftermarket parts fit better than NOS parts, Scooter Modica and Eric Alexander of Scooter’s Paint Works in Slidell, Louisiana spent time gapping and body working every panel to be even better than it would have been fresh off the assembly line in 1957. The drip rails were molded into the cab, Kindig It door handles were added, and all the door edges and bed corners were radiused. Once the body was perfect, the PPG Clearwater Blue Pearl paint was flawlessly sprayed. Joe Vincent of Vincent Dezigns in Baton Rouge, Louisiana then hand-lettered the tailgate. The color and the all-new Auto Metal Direct chrome bumper and new wood bed floor really make this truck stand out. AMP Research Power Steps were also added to make getting in and out of this truck much easier. Lights from Holley and Greening Auto Company keep things lit up nicely at night as well.

With such a flawless body, it was important to have something better than a stock chassis under the truck. Just like the body being all new, the entire chassis is brand new as well. A call was made to the crew at Roadster Shop in 2022 to order one of its RS-4 custom chassis. It is loaded with Currie Dana axles front and rear, Fox coilovers, front and rear splined sway bars, a Roadster Shop fuel tank, and a Borgeson steering box. The chassis was powdercoated with a mixture of satin and gloss black powder while the tow hooks, link bars, jamb nuts, and bump stops were anodized. There are 16-inch rotors and color-matched calipers from Little Shop MFG used at all four corners for not only great stopping power, but plenty of looks as well. Stainless brake and fuel lines run from front to rear on the chassis to make sure fluids flow correctly. Greening Auto built a set of one-off 20×12.5 wheels that were wrapped in 35×12.50-20 BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM3 tires.

Before the new body and chassis were mated together, there had to be a drivetrain to make it all work. For this, a new Chevrolet Performance LS3 crate engine with a Holley Terminator X Max PCM, wiring harness, and mid-mount serpentine system, and a PRC LS aluminum radiator ensure a ton of power is put down to the wheels. The GM Performance cam, Holley intake, and long tube Ultimate Headers help boost that power. All of that is paired to a Gearstar Stage 4 4L65 transmission, controlled by the Holley Terminator X Max trans controller. The shift kit linked to the Lokar shifter is from Gearstar, while the Atlas transfer case and custom driveshafts are from USA Driveline. The intake casting and lettering was smoothed out before everything was painted to match by Scooters Paint Works. Cleaning it all up is the custom engine and valve covers, which was a collaboration between Stafford’s Garage and Zeigler FabWorx. The Hart Fab inner fenders make sure those big BFG tires don’t sling any dirt on this jewelry box. Popeye’s Rod Shop built the 3-inch custom exhaust using Stainless Bros components. Wiring expert, Mike Swan, was recruited to help with the harness, which utilizes Mil-spec style connections that are completely removable.

The only thing left at this point was the interior, and you know with this much work done, the truck had to have a full custom interior to make everything flow correctly. The seats are Slosh Bucketz from Slosh Tubz that provide the perfect seating arrangement for the cab. Chris built a custom dash extension to house the Restomod Air unit. The custom door panels, kick panels, and seats were all wrapped in Relicate Leather by Mike Sullivan of Sully’s Stitches in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who also put down the square weave custom carpet kit. Chris smoothed over all seams on the cab and welded up the glove box and ashtray. Looking through the Sparc Industries’ Truss steering wheel, you can see the new Dakota Digital RTX gauges.

The truck was completed and debuted at the 2024 SEMA show in one of the feature spots for Precision Replacement Parts. To step things up a notch, Odie and Chris entered it in the Battle of the Builders, where it finished Top 12 overall and placed Top 3 in the off-road category. That is a great turnout for the first full build out of a shop. We will have to keep an eye out for this truck at shows just to get another glance at it.

 

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TRUCK SPECS

 ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN

• GM Performance LS3 crate engine
• Holley Terminator X Max PCM and trans controller
• PRC LS swap aluminum radiator
• GM Performance cam
• Ultimate Headers long-tube headers
• Custom 3-inch stainless exhaust with Stainless Bros parts
• Custom fuel rail covers and engine cover
• Holley mid-mount serpentine system
• Intake smoothed and painted
• Gearstar Stage-4 FL65 transmission
• Master overhaul kit
• Raybestos GEN 2 friction filters
• TransGo programming kit
• Lokar shifter
• Derale trans cooler
• Atlas transfer case
• Custom driveshaft by USA Driveline
• Currie / Dana 9-inch rearend
• 4:56 third member with limited slip and locker

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION

• 2022 Roadster Shop RS-4 chassis
• Fox coilovers
• Satin and gloss black powdercoat
• Borgeson steering box
• Front and rear spline sway bars
• Stainless brake lines
• Removable harness with Mil-spec plugs
• Built by Stafford’s Garage
• Wiring by Mike Swan

WHEELS, TIRES & BRAKES

• 20×12.5 Greening Auto one-off wheels with 4-inch backspace
• 35×12.5-20 BFG Mud Terrain KM3 tires
• Little Shop MFG 16-inch brakes

BODY & PAINT

• Premier Street Rods cab
• AMD bed and front clip, chrome bumpers, glass, and trim
• Molded drip rails
• Kindig It door handles
• Radiused edged door and bed corners
• PPG Clearwater Blue Pearl paint
• Custom AMP Research side steps
• Holley Retrobright LED headlights
• Greening Auto taillights
• Slosh Tubz inner fenders and radiator cover
• Paint by Scooter’s Paint Works
• Tailgate lettering by Vincent Dezigns

INTERIOR

• Slosh Bucketz seats from Slosh Tubz
• Custom door and kick panels
• Custom square weave carpet kit
• Grey Relicate Leather
• Dakota Digital RTX gauges
• Custom Autosound MFG USA-740 stereo
• Dash extension to house HVAC
• Restomod Air
• Sparc Industries Truss steering wheel
• Shaved interior seams, glovebox, and ashtray
• Built by Stafford’s Garage
• Upholstery by Sully’s Stitches