Awards

The Mallett team headed to the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas Nevada this year. We showcased our 800hp, retro-designed Chevy Silverado in the Kooks Headers and Exhaust display booth.

It all began with a phone call to General Motors to order a ’14 Silverado 1500 Z71 4WD double cab in factory red. The plan was to build a lowered truck, but the only way we could get the larger Silverado motor – the 6.2L V-8 – was to get a 4WD version. We would have to fabricate needed parts in-house at the shop. We were going for a ’70s-themed truck that would have the classic two-toned look, combined with modern luxury and performance.

Lowering this 4WD was a challenge at first, since no one made a lowering kit for the new body style 4WD and the 2WD version wasn’t an option for us. We took a McGaughys 2WD front drop kit and machined it to fit the 4WD truck.

In order to get a retro-looking wheel to complement the look we were going for, we chose a set of 22-inch Centerline Smoothie wheels that were painted red to match the truck and wrapped in 285/40/22 Yokohama tires.

A set of ’55/’56 Chevy repo hubcaps were machined by Bob Temple to fit the new wheels and were mounted on custom tabs. Under the truck, the entire frame was cleaned and sprayed with Dupli-Color bedliner.

Now that the truck sat in a lowered stance and the rolling chassis was ready to go, it was on to the body. First we removed the plastic caps on top of all the bedrails and the top of the tailgate. Jim Callaro at Metal Masters in Mooresville, North Carolina, welded in metal replacements for the plastic panels. This gave the bed a smoother look and allowed the paint to carry over the top of the bed. The next step was to completely rebuild the front and rear bumpers to remove all the plastic pieces and make them match the look of a ’70s Chevy.

There were more than 200 hours in custom fabrication in both of the bumpers. Sun Stoppers Chrome Wrap and Window Tint in Cornelius, North Carolina, wrapped both bumpers in chrome. To continue, the Mallett team built custom side trim moldings to resemble the old Chevys. We used 3003 sheer aluminum that was bent on a break, welded and hand-filed to mimic the ones from 1972. Then, they were masked off and a black center was sprayed to complete the look.

For the tailgate, a retro “Chevrolet” center plate was made. Then, the truck was off to Lake Norman Paint & Body in Cornelius, North Carolina, where Mike Pelusi painted the center of the truck PPG Summit White and painted over the new bodywork on the bed, finalizing that ’70s look.

Once painting was completed, final touches like the custom egg crate grille insert made from welded aluminum plate and the chrome bezel taillights from Razor Auto were bolted on.

Now it was on to bring the retro look into the interior as well. The factory black leather seats and door panels received houndstooth inserts, thanks to Robert McCarter in Harrisburg, North Carolina, which mimics early ’70s Chevy. All of the dash and door trim pieces were sprayed chrome to complete the retro look.

Saving the best for last on this build: the performance add-ons.

Starting with the factory 6.2L V-8 engine, the block was fully race-prepped, balanced, and blueprinted. A Callies billet crankshaft, 6.152 Ultra I-beam billet rods, Wiseco Gen 5 LT1 10:1 pistons and JGK 4.065 rings made the bottom end of an already beefy engine bulletproof.

A COMP Cams custom cam was ordered to allow better fuel flow. The motor was ported by Advanced Induction/Cylinder Head Development in Concord, North Carolina. ARP head stud kit and wrinkle black valve covers wrap up the top end of the motor.

To spit out the spent exhaust gases, a set of Kooks long-tube headers and a complete Kooks 6.2L cat-back 3-inch exhaust with custom tips were bolted on.

Next we added a Whipple 3.0L supercharger with 13 pounds of boost along with a custom ECM tune that was done in house. A set of Accel Extreme 9000 Ceramic plug wires round out the performance additions.

A 6L80/6L90 was built by RevMax in Charlotte, North Carolina, to get all that power to the ground. Speaking of power, with all the internal upgrades along with the blower and new exhaust, this truck puts down right at 800hp to the rear wheels.

All the attention to detail in the build was rewarded, we were very proud to win the highly sought after GM Design Best Truck award at the 2014 SEMA Show. This truck is now at its new home, and we have already started on our ’15 Chevy Colorado project for the 2015 SEMA Show. Stay tuned for more!