An Isuzu Mini Built With a Lot of Help From Some Friends

Kris Smith of Pickering, Ontario, Canada is one of those guys who got into custom trucks because his friends owned cool trucks and he read a ton of custom magazines back when he was in high school. It wasn’t long after graduation that Kris built a mild custom ’90 full-size Chevy, and later, a ’91 Chevy S-10. Kris’s big dream had always been to build a full-custom, ’90s Isuzu mini after being inspired by Chris Gaddie’s Isuzu. His dream became reality when he heard that his friend Justin had an Izusu for sale, and soon after he got the truck back home.

Kris is an airplane maintenance engineer, so he’s no stranger to using his hands and working with tools. He began the build himself, but soon discovered that he had to enlist the help of some close friends in order to complete such a big project. Luckily they were all ready to get involved. They started by hand-building a new ¾ frame from the firewall back out of 2×4 square tubing. The front quarter of the frame was retained but narrowed and a set of one-off lower and upper control arms was installed. The rear of the frame got a custom wishbone suspension mounted to a Toyota rearend, and a stainless steel fuel cell was installed at the tail end of the frame.

The original bed was in bad shape, so another bed in better condition was located in the U.S., and Kris had it shipped to Canada. A pair of new-old stock (NOS) fenders was used to replace the old ones and many other NOS parts were installed throughout. The rest of the body only needed some minor work including some modifications before it was ready to be sprayed in Dodge Viper Red. Once the body was mounted on the frame, the team moved on with the installation of the rebuilt engine and transmission that had been dressed with powder-coated accessories, and the entire truck was rewired. Final exterior pieces included the installation of NOS Isuzu Rodeo headlights and taillights.

The truck was shipped to Maryland so that the interior and stereo system could be installed. The interior got a dash from an Isuzu Rodeo with custom wood grain inserts. Intermittent wipers were wired in and some of the factory dash switches were used for other functions like air compressors, air ride, horn and electric fan override. The cab was lined with sound-deadening material before the carpet and Rodeo seats were installed. The stereo system consists of a Clarion head unit, Clarion space saver amp, shallow mount 10-inch sub and Focal separates.

The truck was complete and Kris was ready to show it off to his friends. He headed down south to Millington, Tennessee so he could debut it at the Relaxed Atmosphere All Star Event, but not before a complete interior and paint detail by Justin Baltimore of Word of Mouth Detailing was done. According to Kris, Jason took the body and paint to an entirely new level. Kris was seen grinning from ear to ear all weekend because his dream of owning a full custom show truck had finally come true. When asked about the experience, all he could remember was that if it wasn’t for the help of his new bride Ashley and his close friends, he couldn’t have done it at all. ST

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNERS

Kris Smith
1991 Isuzu Pickup
Pickering, Ontario,
Canada Relaxed
Atmosphere

ENGINE

• 2.3lL four-cylinder, rebuilt, sanded, smoothed and painted gloss black
• Ported and polished head
• Five-speed manual transmission painted gloss black
• Weber Downdraft carb with K&N air filter
• NGK ignition
• GT custom stainless steel exhaust
• Flowmaster muffler
• Kinetik HC2000 battery mounted in the bed
• Jay’s Chop Shop custom fuel cell

SUSPENSION

• Custom-built 3/4 frame painted gloss black
• Paul Horton Welder Series frame curves
• Limitless Designz lower control arms
• Twisted Metal Works airbag plates, gussets and 4-link tabs
• CCF Customs flat plate upper control arms
• Custom upper wishbone for rear suspension
• Toyota Belltech drop spindles
• AZ Compressors
• Stock floor body drop
• Toyota rearend with modified Chevy disc brakes

WHEELS & TIRES

• 18×7.5 & 18×8.5 Intro Custom Wheels Hammer
• Falken tires

BODY & PAINT

• Painted by Smallwood Rod N Custom
• PPG Dodge Viper Red
• Shaved tailgate, antenna, firewall, mirrors and back of cab
• Stainless steel coolers sunk into the bed floor
• Grant Customs roll pan
• Raised bed floor
• Line-X spray-in bed liner

INTERIOR

• Shop: Driven Fab & Upholstery
• Peanut Butter Ultra Leather
• Isuzu Rodeo dash, seats and door panels
• Clarion and Focal audio system
• Custom wood-grain dash inserts
• AccuAir controller

Special Thanks From Owner: To my wife Ashley Smith for being so understanding; Bill Bourne and Neil Lafortune, they were there almost every day; Jason Smith at Limitless Designz; Jay Howes at Jay’s Chop Shop; Jordan White at Twisted Metal Works; Jas Chohan at CCF Customs; Ken Graham at Graham Racing Components; Tony Todaro at High N Low Suspension; Ryan Gibson at Smallwood Rod & Custom; Mike “Midnight Mike” Nunes; Aaron Bradshaw; David Mackinnon at Wirez and Clarion Canada; Brad Wurzbacher at Driven Fab & Upholstery; Matt Morgado at GT Custom Exhaust; Erik Harbour at Kinetik; William Salazar; Mike at Amara Powder Coating; Mike Fancey at Superior Tire; Kyle Vitez; Justin Baltimore at Word of Mouth Detailing; Kevin Crowhurst at Airassisted.com; Blair Taylor at Taylor’d Customs; my new family, Relaxed Atmosphere and finally to those that maybe just stopped by to bring coffee or energy drinks, came to help move the cab and bed, folks on the Isuzu forums and boards who provided info and those who simply stopped by to keep me company.

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