Dennis Patterson’s 1965 Chevy C10 by Wicked Fabrication
By the time Dennis Patterson was 16 years old he was already cruising around in a ’57 Chevy, but one day he passed an auto parts store and spied a 1965 Chevy C10 pickup parked outside. This simple drive-by sighting fueled his desire to own one someday.
Fast forward four decades and he now owns a ’65 Chevy Fleetside that sets the bar for style and workmanship, thanks to the combined talents of the teams at Wicked Fabrication, Byers Customs, and Stitches Custom Upholstery.
Dennis started with an eBay purchase of an older backyard restoration. “We had to strip it down and do it all,” Dennis says, adding that he’d advise potential pickup owners to start with a nice original truck if they can.
The short-bed truck was massaged by Wicked Fabrication and Byers Customs to tighten the body gaps, straighten and smooth the sheet metal, and perform other subtle modifications like filling the stake pockets in the bed and narrowing and tucking the front and rear bumpers. The team at Byers Customs applied the PPG Frost Green and Greek White finish. The oak bed floor was raised 4-inches, while LED headlights and stock taillights provide night visibility.
A stock chassis was modified to improve the ride and stance. Porterbuilt control arms were mated to Wilwood spindles to adapt 14-inch Wilwood discs. A quick-ratio GM steering box controls the steering. The rear trailing arms were modified to accommodate Ridetech coil-over components. A Strange 9-inch Ford rearend holds 4.56 gears. Boze 18×8- and 18×10-inch Torque wheels are wrapped in Nitto tires.
The highly detailed engine compartment houses a burly Dart 540c.i. big block that produces 736 horsepower. A Holley Sniper Dominator fuel injection system sits on an Edelbrock Super Vector intake, while valve covers created by Wicked Fabrications cover the AFR heads. Wicked Fab also crafted the headers that feed into 3-inch stainless steel exhaust pipes and Dynomax Ultraflow mufflers. A Tremec T56 six-speed is controlled by a custom shifter housed in a small console that includes two cup holders.
In the cab, a stock dash houses Dakota Digital RTX gauges and a Budnik Sport steering wheels sits on an Ididit tilt column. The notched Glide seat is covered with gray Relicate leather, courtesy of Stitches Custom Upholstery. Wicked Fab created the handles, Old Air Products provided the air-conditioning system, and an American Autowire harness directs electricity throughout the truck.
Dennis’s first drive in the truck was through the Goodguys awards presentation in Puyallup. That’s not a bad way to start putting miles on his clean custom 1965 Chevy C10 truck!
Photos by John Jackson
