THE CL1 C-10 | A LSA Powered Chevy C-10

When Camaro Meets Pickup

Hey guys, meet Chris Porter’s CL1 C-10. Now, you might be asking yourself, “What the heck does CL1 even stand for?” Well, since the drivetrain from a ZR1 Camaro has been incorporated into this pickup project, and the truck just happens to be a C-10 model, the title CL1 naturally came to be. Clever, right?

Apparently, Chris isn’t new to this whole go-fast thing. He and his father, Tim, have been building custom vehicles under the name Porter’s Toy Barn for years now. So far, they have built a killer ’62 Impala, a ’63 Nova and several C-10s, with the CL1 being the latest one to roll out of their garage.

“We usually only take on one project at a time, but we are always up to something,” says Tim about the cool father/son collaboration the Porter family has going for them.

Since C-10s have been a majority of what the guys have been focusing on, Chris began seeking out a fresh one to cut and do up the Porter way.

“I purchased this C-10 from Indy car champion Paul Tracy”, he says. “Paul had already had the truck’s interior handled in Arizona, and had it lowered by Grunion Customs in Phoenix. The Grunion guys had done such a great job, and definitely allowed us to rest easy about the reliability of the suspension work while putting effort into areas where it was needed more. We were really looking forward to focusing on making this truck go fast, but it did take some time to get to that point.”

Days after purchasing the truck, Chris was dead set on getting some road time in with it. Since he wasn’t really in the mood to roam aimlessly on the highway, he thought the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville a far better destination.

“The drive to Kentucky went just fine, but on the way back home from the show, the transmission started acting up,” Chris says. “I figured the problem wasn’t all too abnormal, so I planned to just rebuild the tranny after I got back. Well, that snowballed into a full engine swap, which lead to a complete rewiring of the truck, which then lead to additional chassis and body modifications.”

Things like this happen for a reason. That fateful transmission rebuild opened up a whole new world of possibilities for Chris and Tim.

“After riding in my friend’s ZL1 Camaro, I’ve been hooked on big power,” Chris says. “A few weeks after starting the tranny work, I came across a low-mileage LSA drivetrain out of a ZL1, so I bought it and began making it my own. This would be my sixth LS swap I have done with my dad, and we were looking forward to giving the truck better performance gains.”

To start beefing up the newly found LSA power plant, Chris and Tim began by going with a smaller blower pulley, so they installed a Concept One billet pulley system with a Brian Tooley Racing Stage 3 blower cam. The guys even changed the entire fuel system to be E85-compatible to keep up with the better-performing engine. The guys kept plugging away on the engine before getting it to fire at nearly 700 hp. Yeah, that’s just insane, but that’s just how the Porter men like their trucks.

The next step of the truck is one that is still in the planning phase. Now that the truck is equipped with the right amount of brute strength, the guys want to channel that power in the form of improved suspension handling.

“The best and easiest parts of building up this truck so far was  swapping out its old components for  newer, more reliable  technological efficiency.”

“We are looking into a full-on coil over chassis redo that we can take to autocross the heck out of this thing”, Chris says enthusiastically. “Every Goodguys event I go to, I realize that I should be out there doing the racing rather than just sitting over in the show field.”

This truck is sure to be the catalyst to incorporating better all-around performance into this determined father-son duo’s list of upcoming projects. You might have to check the track to find this truck next show season, because these guys might just spend their winter wrenching on the ‘ol CL1.

Although the progress on the CL1 is impressive to say the least, it has surely plateaued in Chris’ mind. That’s not saying that it will remain that way for good—quite the opposite actually. Once the truck is back in the Porter’s barn, lots of improvements will engage and then be debuted when the time is right.

“The best and easiest parts of building up this truck so far was swapping out its old components for newer, more reliable technological efficiency,” Chris admits.

Although the air ride system is simply awesome by today’s standards, we’ll be the first to express increasing interest into seeing just how the guys will transform this frame-laying C-10 into a respectable corner-eating track star. It’ll happen—hopefully sooner than later.

Stay tuned to see what’s in store for the CL1 C-10 from Porter’s Toy Barn. Good can always get better, and in this case, the guys will sure be unleashing a definite beast onto the streets. Be on the lookout, because this is certainly one to watch.

OWNER

Chris Porter
1967 Chevrolet C-10
Saint Clairsville, OH

ENGINE

• Shop: Performance Off-Road, Shadyside, OH
• 2013 Chevrolet 376 6.2L
• 700 hp
• PSI conversion harness
• E85 fuel compatible
• 8AN fittings
• Stock LSA connecting rods, pistons, ported heads
• Brian Tooley Racing camshaft
• Stage 3 blower
• 617/595 lift, 231/248 duration
• LSA supercharger
• Fast 90 injectors
• Hooker LS Shorty headers
• Stainless Works 2.5-inch exhaust
• Concept One billet pulley system
• Airaid intake
• Deatschwerks 450L fuel pump
• Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator
• 2008 GM Performance 4L80 transmission
• Circle D billet torque converter
• Derale 8-inch transmission cooler
• Eaton limited slip 12-bolt rearend

CHASSIS & SUSPENSION

• Shop: Grunion Customs, Phoenix
• Front Thor Bros dropmember crossmember
• Rear Thor Bros 4-link with 12-inch notch
• AccuAir e-Level
• Slam Specialties SS7 ‘bags
• Belltech shocks
• Dual Viair 480 compressors
• Two 3-gallon tanks
• Boyd’s Welding fuel tank
• Mustang 2 rack
• Thor Bros stabilizer
• Wilwood front 6-piston, rear 4-piston 14-inch brakes
• Wilwood master cylinder
• Hydratech Hydroboost

WHEELS & TIRES

• 20×8 and 20×11 American Racing Daytona wheels
• 245/40/20 and 285/35/22 Nitto NT555 tires

BODY & PAINT

• Shop: Rick Stokes at Rick’s Atomic Garage, Shadyside, Ohio
• PPG Jeep anvil gray
• Stock grille and bumpers
• Slosh Tubz inner fenders
• Raised bed floor
• Shaved mirrors and moldings
• Brothers Trucks cowl hood
• Munssey Speed smooth cowl

INTERIOR & STEREO

• Shop: The Wizard, Phoenix
• Custom seats
• Grey leather and suede upholstery
• Dakota Digital DHX gauges
• Billet steering wheel
• Vintage Air A/C and heat
• Pioneer head unit
• Rockford Fosgate P1000 amplifiers, two P1 12-inch subwoofers, 6.5-inch T1 component speakers