At some point in our lives we have all heard those famous words, "don't mess with Texas," whether it was on a bumper sticker, in a movie, or in a George Strait song. Although some might take the saying as fightin' words, all it refers to is the pride Texans take in themselves and their state. Jeff Spencer of Beaumont, Texas, is no different than most Texans, and like so many others before him he decided there is no better way to show one's self pride than in a man's automobile, or, in Texas, his truck.
With 10 years of experience and several Chevy trucks under his belt, he decided to get the ball rolling on his 1984 Chevrolet C-10 pickup. The first decision Jeff was faced with was whether he wanted to go up or down with the truck. He made the decision, the right decision, to put it on the ground. He then decided that if you're going to drop it, why not slam it, and things just snowballed from there.
The next order of business was to determine what would take place under the hood. Jeff chose to stick with the stock 350 and a GM 700R transmission, but he decided to give the 350 a facelift. He had the block bored .30 over and installed forged flat-top pistons, which left the motor with a compression ratio of 10 to 1. Next, he followed these upgrades with a Competition hydraulic camshaft. The next batch of parts installed, all from Edelbrock, were an intake manifold, 650 carburetor, air cleaner, and valve covers. To top it all off, he added a set of Hedman headers and Flowmaster mufflers.
With the engine underway, Jeff began working on the truck's chassis. Since he wanted the truck to be literally on the ground, the only option was airbags. He equipped his Chevy with Firestone airbags in the front, and a custom two-link spring setup with bags was installed in the rear. In order to achieve the on-the-ground look he was striving for, the truck still required some major adjustments to the chassis. Jeff turned to the boys over at Ekstensive Metal Works. The frame was Z'ed two inches in the front, and out back a step notch was built into the frame. They also hooked Jeff up with a custom-built steering set-up and a set of Belltech front drop spindles. The completed package gave Jeff the stance he desired, yet still to come was his decision on what wheels and tires to go with, because let's face it, even the right stance can be ruined by a poor choice of wheels. Jeff chose to accompany his newly built suspension with 18-inch Budnik Raptor wheels and a set of Nitto tires.
 |  Tucked up into the fenders...  Tucked up into the fenders are 18-inch Budnik Raptor wheels wrapped in Nitto rubber. |  The 350 small-block has been...  The 350 small-block has been decked out in various Edelbrock performance products for some added enjoyment. For eye candy, several of those products have been painted Electric Blue. |