For as long as we can remember, we've always heard baseball is America's pastime. We've come to the conclusion that it's competition in general that Americans so commonly enjoy. Whether it's the Sox and Yanks, Michigan and Ohio State, or even Democrats and Republicans, there is nothing more satisfying than watching your nemesis humiliated and sent home with his tail between his legs. It's the reason why we buy oversized houses and diamond jewelry, all for the gratification of simply saying "mine is better than yours."
In the world of custom trucks, this passion for competition lives on through a series of rivalries. One of the most prominent amongst truck owners is the battle between longbed and shortbed owners. One of the newest members of this rivalry, Donovan Melonson, stumbled into battle nearly by mistake when he needed a new truck. By the luck of the draw, his new ride came in the form of a 1984 Chevrolet C-10 longbed. What started out as a simple utilitarian daily driver quickly began flirting with a newfound status as trailer queen.
Donovan started with a small upgrade that has nearly become the norm for almost every truck owner these days, and the project snowballed from there. He decided the stock 16-inch wheels were just not going to cut it. He immediately replaced them with a set of Boyd Coddington 20s in the front and 22s out back.
After upgrading the wheels, Donovan wanted a new stance, something a little more flattering for the Chevy. To achieve the height he wanted, he added some drop spindles in the front and cut out a notch in the rear, bringing the truck almost four full inches closer to the pavement. The next victim was the stock 305. Donovan upgraded the mediocre underachiever with a 383-stroker powerhouse. He then slapped on an Edelbrock intake manifold along with a Holley 650 carburetor. The finishing touches to the engine were a set of Hooker headers and a Ken Xtreem air cleaner. Donovan then turned to his neighbor to build him a beefed-up TH350 with a shift improvement kit. After that, he unloaded the truck on Houston Drivetrain to install a posi rearend with a set of 4.10 gears. The combination resulted in an impressive 420-horse performance on the dyno and turned in a time of 8.17 in the eighth-mile.