Knowing well ahead of time that I’d likely need an escape, I did a little Web search for hot rod shops in the area. When I came upon OutlawKustomsInc.com a mental note was taken. Upon arrival to Albuquerque, I took a chance, called the shop, and received an invitation to stop by and have a look around.

I went there the very next day, met proprietor Angelo Vigil, his wife (and business partner) Crystal, and the multi-talented head fabricator (and more), Daryl Sment. They didn’t seem to mind me hanging around, but like I told ’em: “I’m not used to doing nothing!” Sure, I’m always sniffing around for a tech story, but I’ll put my painterly paws on a project, too.

ust repair is a necessary evil when it comes to building or restoring a classic truck. The likelihood that one’s going to find a completely rust-free truck that’s 70-plus years old is highly unlikely. Even on the most cherry examples, there likely lurks cancer, buried under layers of paint, primer, and body filler, or simply concealed beneath years of dirt, grease, and grime, slowly eating away at the sheetmetal, eventually compromising the cab’s structure.

At first blush, our ’64 C10 cab looked fairly solid, with a few issues in the usual trouble areas. The doors were fairly rough, but the cab, save for the lower A-pillars, appeared to be pretty clean. After a quick wash in the sandblaster, however, the onion was peeled back and the actual extent of panel damage became apparent. Lower rockers, cab corners, and A-pillars, basically anywhere dirt and debris could collect, revealed damaged sheetmetal. Additionally, both doors had succeeded in hiding an even nastier secret, revealed only after sandblasting.

So far, we’ve repaired the lower A-pillars and rockers, which will allow us to circle back to the needed cab corner repairs in the future. As far as the doors are concerned, we decided to shift gears and instead of spending potentially hundreds of hours in labor to repair them, we opted to replace them all together. We’ll be covering all this in the months to come, but while we wait for the new sheetmetal items to arrive, we decide to turn our attention to the firewall, filling the numerous holes and fixing the minor damage that exists.

or many of us, hearing a truck described as “old” conjures up visions of a rusty hulk sitting in a farmer’s field. But today “old” is now included in the term “old body style” (OBS), which is commonly used to identify General Motors trucks produced between 1988 and 1998. The rise in popularity of these pickups is easy to understand as they are new enough that examples in good condition are readily available, they’re affordable, and look great with easily made modifications. All things considered, OBS Chevy and GMC trucks may well be the best bang for your buck on today’s classic truck performance scene.

One of the most common modifications to OBS trucks is lowering the ride height all around. But while dropping these pickups helps visually, handling and ride quality often suffer as a result of lowering done incorrectly. Suspension travel is often reduced, resulting in a rough ride, and changes in steering geometry can lead to vague handling and accelerated tire wear. More than 20 years ago Art Morrison of Art Morrison Enterprises (AME) saw the need for a bolt-on replacement chassis that offered that desirable contemporary stance with sports car–like handling along with full suspension travel for a comfortable ride. Today, under the leadership of company president, Matt Jones, that legacy continues with AME’s expanded line of replacement chassis, which now includes the GT Sport Series for OBS Chevrolet and GMC pickups.

ccording to Johnson’s Radiator Works, “Copper has been, and will be for the foreseeable future, the ultimate material for heat transfer, long-lasting durability, and easily repairable.”

There has been an ongoing debate comparing the effectiveness of copper/brass radiators (copper is used for the fins and brass is used for the tanks) and all-aluminum radiators. The bottom line is this: When comparing the thermal conductivity of the two materials, copper is rated at 398 W/m-K, on the same scale aluminum is rated at 235. That simply means copper conducts heat much better than aluminum. So why do OEMs use aluminum? The primary reasons are aluminum is cheaper and lighter than copper.