Next up was the exterior. Although Jason had always planned on ditching the Stepside's bed, the more Stepsides he saw, the more his imagination ran wild, so he decided to go against the grain and keep the Stepside bed. However, a few things would have to be changed. For starters, the bed stake pockets had to go. Along with that, the bedrails were smoothed, and the tailgate chains were ditched for some custom latches. Because the gas tank was relocated, the cab's filler neck was hacked off, and a '99 Cadillac DeVille electronic flush-mount gas filler door was set into the passenger-side rear fender. Jason also ditched the stock taillights for a set of '38 Ford teardrop lenses. On the doors, the two-piece windows were ditched for Brothers one-piece windows, and the handles were replaced with 2000 Corvette handles. Jason and his dad also replaced the cab corners, floorboards, and rocker panels due to rust. Up front, the grille was replaced with a billet grille insert. Behind the grille sits Corvette backup lights that were transformed into daytime running lights and turn signals. Lastly, the truck was taken to Henry's Restorations in Mesa, Arizona, where he sprayed the truck in Lexus IS300 Intense Blue Pearl. Back at home, the Berlands laid in the oak bed floor.
The last step was to finish the interior, but Jason wanted to keep the late-model theme going in there as well. To accomplish that, they fabbed an entire one-off dash from sheetmetal around a custom billet glovebox, a sectioned '99 Trans Am bezel, and '99 Camaro gauges. For seats, Jason came across a set from a 2000 Silverado, and the carpet comes from a Mercedes. For door panels, Jason and his dad trimmed up a set from a '96 Silverado to fit the '72 door. They also used the Camaro tilt steering column, which still lets them use the creature comforts such as auto-dimming lights and accessory power after the key has been turned off. Lastly, the truck was taken to 1st Upholstery in Tempe, Arizona, where they stitched the interior in gray leather with a suede headliner.
We don't know about you, but we here at CCT wish we had a family tradition like this.