Goodguys 2025 Goolsby Customs Next Generation Winner!
Congratulations to Ramsey Sexton for winning the Goodguys 2025 Goolsby Customs Next Generation title with his 1986 Chevy K20! We’ll see him and his truck in Scottsdale, Arizona November 21-23 at the 28th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals!
The great thing about old pickups is that they’re rarely thrown away. They might get parked behind the barn or put out to pasture when they’re older, but that just makes them more plentiful as project vehicles. This fact isn’t lost on the younger generation of hot rodders and gearheads, many of whom favor vintage trucks for their first projects. This includes 27-year-old Ramsey Sexton, who just became the Goodguys 2025 Goolsby Customs Next Generation winner with his high-riding ’86 Chevy K20 four-wheel-drive pickup.
Ramsey was just 15 when he found the old truck slowly deteriorating under a pine tree in an older couple’s backyard near his home in New Freedom, Pennsylvania. “The truck was rusted out, covered in pine sap, and had a 305 in it,” Ramsey says. “I bought the truck for $600 and brought it home and tore it apart.”
Like any young enthusiast, Ramsey was filled with excitement as he dove into the project. And with a lot of hard work, he got the truck’s first rebuild done in time to drive it to high school his senior year. It was red, lifted, had a cowl induction hood, and was a high-riding standout in the school parking lot.
In typical hot rod fashion, though, Ramsey envisioned his squarebody truck being so much more and embarked on a more ambitious rebuild a few years ago. This one involved pulling the body off the chassis and stripping and smoothing the frame before painting it bright red. An 8-inch lift kit was part of the rebuild, along with Fox shocks, Lugnut 4×4 disc brakes, steering updates from Offroad Design, a 14-bolt rearend with 4.10 gears, and 15×15-inch Real Racing wheels wrapped in chunky Interco 35×16.50-inch tires. He also added a fuel cell between the frame rails.
Ramsey may be young, but he likes old-school power – in this case, a 427c.i. big block outfitted with AFR aluminum heads, a Holley intake and carb, MSD ignition, CVF Racing accessory drive, and Mad Dog headers. A Champion radiator keeps things cool, while a TH400 transmission with a TCI converter transfers power.
In true DIY fashion, Ramsey tackled the metal work, bodywork, and paint himself. Metal mods included a shaved firewall, filled stake pockets, shaved tailgate handle, rolled rear pan, and a 4-inch cowl-induction hood supported by billet hinges. “I quickly learned painting a vehicle black is challenging,” Ramsey says, but his long hours of bodywork and block sanding paid off with a slick PPG Nocturnal Black finish that’s smooth, straight, and glossy. He built brackets to install the AMP PowerSteps that make it easier to enter the cab.
The inside of the cab is updated with a Painless Performance wiring harness, a Flaming River tilt column topped with a RBZ Billet wheel, and Lokar pedals. Ramsey installed the new black vinyl and cloth upholstery on the factory bench seat himself and retained the original gauges and dash. The ashtray is now home to extra accessory switches in a custom panel.
Ramsey brought his tall K20 out to Columbus this year for the Summit Racing Nationals presented by PPG and ultimately earned the Goolsby Customs Next Generation Award for the event weekend. He was evaluated against award winners from across the country this fall and rose above the competition to become the 2025 Goolsby Customs Next Generation winner! Congratulations, Ramsey! We look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale!
Photos courtesy Ramsey Sexton & Goodguys
