“JUXTA” – Hammer Fab’s 1966 GMC C10
We’ve all heard advice about making lemonade when life gives you lemons. Levi Green and his team at Hammer Fab decided to heed that advice and make the most of 2020 – a.k.a. the “here’s some lemons” year – by building this bitchin’ ’66 GMC called “JUXTA”. Levi says he considered it “an alternative way to advance Hammer Fab during uncertain times.”
The truck started as a 3/4-ton long bed with just the right amount of weathering. “I appreciate the beauty of patina,” Levi says. “My goal was to build a high-end patina truck that appeals to people who love patina, but hate the undesirable characteristics such as rot, chalky paint, ugly engine bays, poor suspension, etc.”
To that end, the team employed a new Choppin’ Block Extreme Air Ride chassis outfitted with a GearFX center section in the 9-inch rearend, big Baer six-piston brakes, and Ferrada 20- and 22-inch wheels. They complemented that with some extreme power – a 660hp Don Hardy-built LS3 detailed like a classic small block with orange paint, an old-school air cleaner atop the Holley EFI unit, a Billet Specialties Tru Trac accessory drive, and GMC V6 valve covers dressed in a plaid finish. It’s backed by a Bowler-prepped 4L80E and surrounded by a custom firewall and inner fenders crafted by the Hammer Fab crew.
Hammer Fab hosts regular metalworking seminars and used one of them to shorten the truck’s bed with no visible scars (a video will soon be up on YouTube). Similar tricks were used in converting the small back window to a big window using a conversion panel from Classic Parts of America. The custom bed floor was designed in SolidWorks, with parts laser cut and CNC bent by Topper Industrial. All body rust and damage was repaired without using filler and finished with faux patina to match the pickup’s natural weathering before being topped in satin clear epoxy from Squeeg’s Kustoms.
The team went all out inside, building a custom roll cage, under-dash panels, bezels, and other small parts. Vastine’s Paint Garage applied fresh fawn-colored paint, while Jay Schluter upholstered the modified bench seat using Relicate distressed leather. The Ididit tilt column looks right at home, as do the Dakota Digital RTX gauges in a bezel from Arizona Pro Performance. Wires by Myers connected everything using an American Autowire harness.
Finished just in time for the Goodguys 1st Meguiar’s All-Star Get-Together event, JUXTA turned plenty of heads – and even carved a few corners on the AutoCross track. It’s the embodiment of the notion that “it’s all in the details,” and proof of how cool those details look when you put them all together.
Photos by Steven Bunker & Todd Ryden
