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You can’t completely redesign a vehicle’s cab without massaging the rest of the body as well. The doors were suicided and the bed was completely smoothed inside and out with a Grant Kustoms full- skin combo and custom cut ///RA tail lights. A custom metal filler piece was also crafted by Grant to replace the factory plastic piece under the front grille so that Perkins could mold it to the fenders. The firewall was tubbed and smoothed while the rest of the body became as smooth as the bed by shaving the door handles, lower body line, 3rd brake light, and gas door. Of course, one of the areas that Perkins had to improve upon was the engine bay so he decided to ditch the factory motor for a Chevy 350 with a turbo 400 transmission. A special set of valve covers with matching air cleaner were designed to have a Nissan/Chevy bow-tie emblem milled into them whereas Edelbrock provided further shine with their Endurashine carburetor, water pump, and intake manifold. Hedman headers coupled with a Flowmaster 40 series dual exhaust allow the truck to breathe a little easier while two Kinetik 2000 power cells and a Powermaster alternator provide ample spark. With time running out for SEMA once more, the truck was sprayed orange and the windows were heavily tinted to hide the lack of interior. However, between the lack of care by the Nissan employees and his general disregard for the orange after having sprayed it, Perkins knew it was time to finally finish the truck. Going all out on the interior as well, Perkins took 1965 Mercury dash and narrowed it to fit in the truck, stripping all of the chrome off it and rechroming everything. A steel headliner and door panels were fabricated while a new smooth floor was installed, even rounding all of the corners. Zx2 bucket seats were reworked and wrapped in grey leather by Rob’s upholstery while a chrome Helix steering column and flamed steering wheel round out the interior after eight long months. Finally finishing all of the fabrication work, Phil Amborn painted the frame Chevy ‘91 Arrival blue while the suspension was painted BASF Nissan K-12 silver. As for the rest of the truck, Jones Paint Innovations took a cue from the original silver and blue paint job but with a twist, using the same colors found on the frame and suspension along with pinstriping in process blue, back dropped and shadow airbrushed. Everything that could be sprayed was, including the entire interior of the cab. With the truck finally finished, Perkins would like to thank all of the sponsors that have made his dream come true, including Grant Kustomz, Suicidedoors.com, Kinetik, T.I.S., Pirelli, T-Rex billet, PIAA Viair, Hoffman Group, Baer brakes, Oil Filter Service, Completely Nuts, and BASF. A special thanks goes out to his wife and daughter for all of their support, everyone in the Northwest “Because we can hang with the rest of the country!,” Mike Amborn, his President Justin Rainwater, Chris Spear, Josh Jones, Dick Prewitt, Rob House, Eric Stanton, Patrick McKay, Mike Alexander, and everyone and anyone who helped along the way, including everyone in the Big Bang ///RA Gang! Although Nissan has yet to embrace this “Irregular” cab concept, this “subtle” modification will and should provide inspiration for years to come…as long as people finally start to notice it.
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