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BY Fuelish Mediaou hear the term “back in the day” thrown around a lot, but for those who grew up in the pre-Internet era, things were A LOT different—especially for those who were into building custom vehicles of any kind. Charlie Taylor of Fountain Valley, California, can definitely attest to this, as he got his start working in the wireless trenches as a teenager. That’s not a nod to WiFi or Bluetooth, he just grew up, like a good number of us, without the convenience of asking Google’s advice for every little thing. “I learned the ropes of teardown at a wrecking yard when I was 15,” Charlie says. “You had to try a lot harder to make things happen back then, that’s for sure.”
It’s this “old school” mentality that shaped the way Charlie approached any new project as he started to get older. “I’ve always loved cars, and once I got more experience with them, I gravitated toward ’60s/’70s Chevys,” he adds. Having grown up in the ’80s mini-truck scene in Southern California, Charlie developed a taste for a lowered stance, larger wheels, and nice paint. Also having built a ’64 Impala wagon after his days at the truck runs, he was just itching to get back into a pickup—something within his wheelhouse.
While Charlie’s latest ’71 C10 acquisition didn’t come with many parts or extra components, it did come with too much bed length—nothing a shortbed conversion and some chassis trimming couldn’t fix. While Charlie was working on altering the frame, he made sure to make the most of his time by installing a Porterbuilt front crossmember with rack-and-pinion steering, a centersection frame stiffener, and a back-half four-link with Watts link setup, all controlled by an AccuAir e-Level setup for convenience.
To take full advantage of the much lower ride and park height, a set of 24×9 and 24×15 Budnik Muroc IV wheels was ordered up with the appropriate amount of rubber to complement them in the way of 225/30-24 and 405/25-24 Pirelli tires. Yeah, the oversized wheels and tires did add quite a bit of additional mass, which is why a full arsenal of upgraded braking components from Classic Performance Products (CPP) was assembled and installed shortly after the decision to go big was made.
Next came the time to whip the C10’s outer façade into shape. To do this, Damion of Pete Santini Paint and Body began massaging out all the kinks and dings from the C10’s exterior metal panels, as well as shaving off some original body features clean from its surface. Sean Ramage of Empire Fabrication was then sourced to handle all the custom sheetmetal work, wheeltubs, and other welding found throughout the truck. To seal and dress the fresh metalwork, the truck was sprayed with a custom-mixed PPG Blue paint while in the care of Santini. Bolt-on accessories like the HRI Customs grille, LED headlights, engraved door handles by Engrave It, and one-piece windows from Glass Brothers go a long way in creating the overall dapper appearance of Charlie’s ’71 Chevy.
Inside the cab, Charlie had a vision of a clean interior without going over the top. To assist in achieving his goal, Alan at 714 Motorsports was brought in to reupholster the seats in black leather skins with multicolored plaid cloth inserts. The factory door and dash panels were also covered in leather, and black Bentley carpet made for an ultra-plush addition to the cab space. Dakota Digital gauges, Vintage Air climate control, and a Budnik steering wheel were next to be added to cabin, as well as a full audio system featuring high-quality components from JL Audio and Focal were wired up by sound specialist Justin Eccles.
While this ’71 C10 is very much a product of modern custom truck building, the state-of-the-art products along with valuable hands-on skill, knowledge, and networking came through for Charlie big time with his project. “Over the years, I’ve learned to map out a project like this by getting all the parts and talented shops lined up to avoid unnecessary time delays,” Charlie says. “Also, I can appreciate the grind that we had to develop during the old days, but today’s social media experience can truly become the best tool in your box. Communicating with likeminded folks who are into builds like these is such a cool part of staying involved in creating these heavily customized classic trucks.”
