ife’s full of combinations. Regardless of whether you’re rolling through the drive-thru at your favorite burger joint, deciding on just the right balance of colors when repainting your house, or laying out plans for a complete rebuild of your classic truck, the fusion of choices available could fill a small galaxy encompassing everything from a bone-stock rebuild to a mild custom or a hard-core street fighter ready to take on the competition. It’s all about choices and finding that perfect grouping of parts and ideas that will set your truck apart from the rest. The wicked 1965 Chevy C10 laid out across our pages, owned by Dave DeLancey of Middleboro, Massachusetts, is a perfect example of when the planets perfectly align between ideas and a visionary builder.
Dave’s a fan of big-horsepower so when it came time to jettison the tired small-block he went straight to the head of the class by calling Don Hardy Race Engines (DHRE) of Floydada, Texas, for one of their venomous 416ci supercharged LSA V-8s. To start, a Chevrolet Performance LSA cast-aluminum block with six-bolt, cross-bolted main caps was massaged and filled with a 4340 forged steel crank linked to matching 4340 H-beam rods wearing Diamond forged pistons getting bumped by a DHRE stick. Up top, a set of Dart LS3 PRO1 280cc aluminum heads with 68cc chambers make plenty of seamless power, especially when paired with a Holley Dominator EFI system matched to 85-pound FAST Precision-Flow injectors and a Nick Williams Performance 102mm throttle body. The ultimate punch gets delivered through a 2.9L Whipple twin-screw supercharger (in Cobalt Cerakote) to the tune of 950 hp. LS7 coils light the fire with spent gases flowing through custom-crafted headers fashioned from 321 stainless to a matching 3-inch exhaust with MagnaFlow mufflers all by CCC. Power transfers through a TCI Automotive GM 4L80E Street Fighter trans with a Circle D Pro-Series billet converter to a custom driveshaft. Other neat features include a stainless fuel tank from Rick’s Hot Rod Shop with dual Aeromotive 340 Stealth fuel pumps, Billet Specialties LSA Tru Trac serpentine system, and custom-mounted classic small-block Chevrolet valve covers in Cobalt Cerakote by DHRE.