t’s not unheard of in the classic truck hobby to become close friends with your local sandblaster. Rusty bodies, sheet metal, and chassis and suspension components are common when one is dealing with a 70-plus-year-old vehicle. What happens after the blasting process can be the difference between a sad truck owner and a happy builder. Our 1964 Chevy C10 cab recently visited the local blasting establishment, as it had a combination of patina’d paint, rust, and cancer that needed cleaning. Back in the shop and with fresh sheet metal, we started tackling the big items first (A-pillars and rockers). With a solid cab once again, we could concentrate on the numerous smaller areas of interest. Unfortunately, as we proceeded to make said progress, so did Mother Nature, in the form of surface rust.

This was to be expected as we didn’t put anything on the body to mitigate this from happening. A light coat of primer might have helped but would have still been no guarantee. With not a single panel on the cab that needed to be repaired, it didn’t make any sense to apply primer just to have to remove it later; not to mention the gamble it would be to put our final bodywork and paint over a quick dusting of rattle can primer. Instead, we put our head down and moved forward with the sheet metal repairs, knowing that there are options available to tackle the very situation we found ourselves in.

But treating the surface rust is only the beginning of the finishing phase of our cab. After that’s managed and before we send the cab out for final body- and paintwork, we’re going to address the underside, firewall, dash, and interior surfaces. This will allow us to bolt the cab to the chassis permanently and continue with the build as we save some cash for paint- and bodywork.

uying an old project is exciting; a new project gets your creative juices flowing, especially if it is something you have wanted for a long time. However, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be scratching your head wondering why someone would do something so dumb. Enter our “Kustom” 1957 3200. This truck was built as a Kustom in the late 1970s/’80s, as evidenced by the lack of wire-feed welds on the big mods, such as the 4-inch top chop (looks great but was executed poorly) and suicide doors, which were brazed with brass rod. At one point it had a flip-forward front clip, but that has been welded shut (with the hardware intact), and the fenders welded to the cab. It is a bit of a mess, but we are up for the challenge.

This truck needs a lot of attention. The top chop looks good, but the welds are terrible and they just paved over it with body filler. It doesn’t look as if this truck was ever operational; it has sat in a garage (and eventually a field) for decades, where moisture has crept beneath the filler and caused more issues. That is the first thing we need to tackle: fixing the rust. There are two main areas we are focusing on first: the tailgate and the cab floor.

ou would think, for the most part, that the factory-equipped power steering on your average 1988-98 OBS 1/2-ton would be sufficient for modern, everyday driving. We sure thought so. Then, suddenly, after the success of their bolt-in 1967-72 C10 rack-and-pinion conversion (followed by the 1973-87 version), Flaming River introduces their all-new rack conversion for the OBS (PN FR371KTPWNC) … so we began to wonder, is there room for improvement?

Having installed both aforementioned conversion kits on the C10 and Squarebody, we were quite confident that Flaming River knew what they were doing, so we searched for a conversion candidate and what we came up with was more than we bargained for—in a good way.

Hoping for a superclean yet mostly stock ’88-98 shortbed, we ended up getting Ruben Pina’s insanely clean (more like stunning) ’95 Chevy—recently painted, upholstered, and full Stone Custom Fab suspension with 22-inch Hot Rods by Boyd wheels and Wilwood six-piston brakes, respectively. In other words, seemingly the perfect candidate for a rack-and-pinion upgrade. But, even Pina himself was skeptical at first; not sure why anyone would want or need to perform such an upgrade, but was more than happy to allow us and Flaming River to show him why!

f you love the look of vintage Squarebody GM trucks but want the driveability of a modern vehicle, including four-wheel drive and independent front suspension, Roadster Shop has the answer. Their Legend Series chassis is a direct bolt-in for 1973-87 K10-series trucks. Extensively engineered to accept the original cab, front end, and bed, it also provides a stout foundation for a modern 460hp LT1 crate engine, paired with a heavy-duty transfer case. Roadster Shop recently completed a Crew Cab project using the “HD” version of this platform, using a turbocharged Duramax diesel engine with an Allison transmission. In this article we’ll take a look at some of the details of this impressive build.

A solid truck was sourced with minimal structural damage, but in true Roadster Shop fashion, every component was disassembled, cleaned, and refined, with numerous custom touches added along the way. Although the original truck was equipped with a longbed, the plan from the start was to convert it to a shortbed configuration.

The cab was mounted on a dolly to make it easy to maneuver around the shop, and all holes and dents were smoothed. Special attention was given to achieving precise door fit and uniform gaps. The driprails above the doors were removed for a cleaner, smoother appearance.

s the gates to the Montgomery County Fairgrounds swung open on February 20, 2026, the morning mist was still clinging to the pines of Conroe, Texas. Known simply as “The World’s Best Truck Show,” the latest edition of the Lone Star Throwdown (LST) wasn’t just another event—it was a beacon in the truck scene. According to show cofounder Todd “Radar” Hendrix, the turnout was the best the show had ever seen, proving that the culture surrounding these custom builds is more resilient than ever.