McClinton Auto Collision’s Head-Turning Service Provider

When you hear the words “shop truck” it’s pretty typical to conjure up images of a well-worn pickup with a bed filled with dents and scratches and an oil-burning engine that’s logged more miles than a village bicycle. Most shop trucks get driven hard and put away wet, put through the wringer day in and day out to keep whatever business they serve running. Slamming the pedal down hard all week to deliver parts takes its toll after a while, and soon the delivery driver has to start keeping a few quarts of oil behind the seat. Like the plumber with leaky pipes and the detailer with the dirty truck most paint and body shops have a vehicle in the parking lot that gets used for damn near everything and it usually isn’t all that pretty to look at. For Aaron McClinton of Albany, Oregon, building a truck to promote his family business, McClinton Auto Collision (MAC), had been a goal for quite some time. Aaron wanted to show customers what they could really expect from MAC, and he knew that if he found the right truck, he and the build team would have to go all out to make it shine in fabrication, fit and finish, paint and, not to mention, that indefinable “wow” factor. In essence, they’d have to break the typical shop truck mold.

Aaron started with a short-bed shell after spotting it piled on top of some other parts while hunting for sheet metal treasures with a friend. After shelling out $175, he had the motivation he needed to build a cool 1967-72 short bed. He was only missing one important ingredient, the rest of the truck! Like most who dive into a classic truck project with scarce original parts, Aaron was forced to follow Johnny Cash and got it “one piece at a time,” making for an interesting assemblage of donor parts from multiple pick-ups. However, the donor cab and long-bed chassis are from a ’67 long bed with a big back window.

To get the build started on a cool note, Aaron and good friend and fabricator Ryan Hausmann went to work on the chassis and suspension. The factory long-bed rear frame section was hacked off and a custom back half was built from scratch and saddled with a GM 10-bolt filled with 31-spline Dutchman axles, 3.73:1 gears, a Strange spool and 9-inch outer flanges. Now that it was ready to accommodate a short box, the $175  original  short  bed  was hoisted in place for mock-up. The distinctive sloped nose was brought down to earth with an ’80s C-10 cross member Z’d 3.5 inches coupled with Belltech 3-inch dropped spindles, airbags of a custom wishbone-style 3-link cantilever, airbags and Fox reservoir 5.0 shocks. A Corvette master cylinder feeds disc brakes up front and drums out back. To set the tone for the retro build approach, 15-inch steelies were painted in cream and finished off with chrome lugs and nipple caps and Hurst Cheater slicks.

HE KNEW THAT IF HE FOUND THE RIGHT TRUCK, HE AND THE BUILD TEAM WOULD HAVE TO GO ALL OUT TO MAKE IT SHINE IN FABRICATION, FIT AND FINISH, PAINT AND, NOT TO MENTION, THAT INDEFINABLE ‘WOW’ FACTOR.”

Under the hood Aaron planted a 600-hp/550 ft-lbs of torque tire-fryer in the form of a Chevrolet 400 small-block. Carquest, in Albany, performed the machine work, and the mill was screwed together by Justin Brenneman at B&B Speed Shop. Displacement is now a beastly 412 cubes filled with a Scat crankshaft, Scat rods, TRW pistons, Comp solid roller camshaft, high-volume oil pump and AFR aluminum cylinder heads. Smith Brothers 5/16-inch push rods stab Comp roller lifters and are topped with Comp rocker arms all stiffened by AFR springs and guides. An Edelbrock water pump, custom aluminum radiator and Flex-a-lite cooling fans keep things chilled, while an Edelbrock air gap intake manifold topped by a 750 Holley delivers the juice. Custom fender well headers coated in classic white send the air and fuel mix packing through a custom stainless 2.5- inch exhaust tipped with a duet of Flowmasters belting out the pavement-ripping small-block’s mechanical heartbeat. Backing up this neck-snapping horsepower is a massaged TH350 prepped by B&B and fit with a 10-inch Continental 3500 stall speed converter and a Cheetah manual valve body. The transmission and rear differential are linked through a custom two-piece driveshaft.

LOOKS LIKE AARON AND THE CREW WILL HAVE TO LOOK INTO BUILDING ANOTHER ‘SHOP TRUCK’ BECAUSE THIS C-10 IS WAY TOO NICE FOR TYPICAL SHOP DUTIES.”

With the mechanicals solid Aaron turned his attention to his shop’s area of expertise: the paint and body. Aaron, Drew Jensen, Mark, Travis and Tyler McClinton got to work filling every ding and making the truck laser straight. The mirrors were deleted to smooth out the midsection, but the emblems, chrome, antenna and wind wings were left intact to keep the truck looking factory. The custom twist comes in the form of the hand-built rear bed rack and the blanket of PPG Olive Green sprayed over the metal masterpiece To pull the eye a bit, the roofline was sprayed in custom cream with the shop logo lettered on the doors by Bob Johnson. After the clearcoat was laid down Aaron and Mark Wygant from MAC cut and polished the truck to a diamond-fine shine.

For the cruising chamber a combination of tweed and vinyl were joined on the cut-down factory bench seat. Loop saddle-colored carpet sits atop the floor-boards. A factory gauge cluster holds Auto Meter instruments in front of a 1966 Nova SS steering wheel. To bring the exterior to the interior the gauge bezel was smoothed and painted, as were the glove box, kick panels and inner fire-wall. For a bit of low-rolling entertainment Aaron installed a Custom Autosound head unit backed by Alpine Type-R speakers, a 10-inch Alpine subwoofer and a two-channel Alpine PDX amplifier. An Optima battery provides the juice, while Dynamat throughout the cab keeps unwanted noises out.

Aaron McClinton, with the help of many dedicated and talented individuals, has built one impressive classic C-10 capable of pulling trophies at the shows, pulling jobs into the shop and turning heads on the street. He’s quick to point out that the build wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of friend and fabricator Ryan Hausmann, his parents Mark and Wanda McClinton, his roommate Drew Jensen, Mark Wygant, Bob Johnson for the lettering and striping, Justin and Adam Brenneman from B&B speed shop for doing their magic on the motor and transmission, and his brothers Tyler and Travis McClinton. Looks like Aaron and the crew will have to look into building another “shop truck” because this C-10 is way too nice for typical shop duties. ST

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

Aaron McClinton
1967 Chevrolet C-10
Albany, OR

ENGINE

• 412-ci small-block Chevrolet
• 600 hp/550 ft-lbs
• Scat rotating assembly
• TRW pistons
• Comp Cams solid roller camshaft
• AFR aluminum cylinder heads
• Smith Bros/ 5/16-inch pushrods
• Comp Cams roller valvetrain
• Edelbrock Air Gap intake manifold
• Holley 750 double pumper
• Custom white fender well headers
• Custom stainless exhaust, Flowmaster mufflers
• Finned aluminum valve covers
• Moroso air cleaner, K&N filter
• Stainless AN hoses and fittings
• Flex-a-lite electric fans

SUSPENSION

• Custom back half
• 3-link wishbone cantilever
• Z’d ’80s front X-member
• 3-inch Belltech dropped spindles
• Airbags front/rear
• KYB front shocks
• Fox 5.0 reservoir-style rear shocks

WHEELS & TIRES

• Factory 15-inch
• steelies Hurst 215/70R15 cheater slicks

BODY & PAINT

• Shop: McClinton Auto Collision
• Shaved factory mirrors
• Custom-built bed rack
• Custom PPG Olive Green and custom-mixed cream

INTERIOR

• Tweed/vinyl on cut-down factory bench
• Loop saddle-colored carpet
• Painted dash and headliner
• Auto Meter gauges
• 1966 Nova Super Sport steering wheel
• Smoothed and painted gauge bezel and glove box
• Custom Autosound head unit
• Alpine Type-R speakers
• Alpine 10-inch subwoofer
• Alpine two-channel PDX amplifier
• Dynamat

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