TEXAS HEAT | 1972 Chevy C10 Built Right

Family Fun Done Right

People build their custom rides for a lot of different reasons. For some, being cool is enough. For others, the reasons can get rather complicated. Andy Rubio has built quite a few custom vehicles throughout the years, many of them falling into the previously mentioned “because it’s cool” category. This time around, however, Andy had different motivation.

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After taking his family to countless shows over the years, he wanted everyone to have a hand in the next build, offering their input on how it would turn out. What the Rubio family ended up with is a showstopper that left the crowds slack-jawed when it debuted at this year’s Lone Star Throwdown.

After taking his family to countless shows over the years, he wanted everyone to have a hand in the next build, offering their input on how it would turn out. What the Rubio family ended up with is a showstopper that left the crowds slack-jawed when it debuted at this year’s Lone Star Throwdown.

Now, while everyone reading this obviously already loves C10s, we all have to admit that there’s a certain formula that has become popular over the last few years: stock-bodied C10 + popular air-ride kit + popular wheels = done. Before anyone gets mad, we follow that same formula all the time, but Andy and family decided to go a different route altogether and go as custom as they could with this ’72. That meant no kits, and a ton of body mods!

Andy called upon his buddy Adrian Lopez to handle all the cutting, smoothing, and painting on the truck, and one look will quickly prove that he was the right guy for the job! A molded and raked front end, shaved drip rails, reshaped rear roof section, shaved and molded bed, and modified ’67 Camaro bumpers are just a partial sampling of the body mods, which were eventually covered with custom-mixed silver paint.

The chassis retains portions of the factory frame, but Adrian modified it extensively with a custom notch and 4-linked air-ride setup out back, and a fabbed front air suspension as well (all controlled by Air Lift’s 3H air management and a Flo Airride tank) . He also completely smoothed and boxed the frame before blowing it all back apart for paint. Brakes are 14-inchers from Wilwood front and rear, which are hidden behind 22×8.5 and 24×15 Schott Tomahawk billet wheels and Pirelli P-Zero tires.

Every square inch of this build is as clean as the exterior—you can eat off each and every custom bolt both top and bottom!

The truck was now really beginning to come together, and the decision was made to bless the truck with something a bit more exciting than a common 4.8 or 5.3L swap. Instead, Andy found a 2015 LS3, which he took to Kahlen Koch for some work. A potent Texas Speed cam was installed, and the original manifolds were ditched in favor of an Edelbrock EFI intake manifold and Doug’s headers, leading back to a pair of Borla Attak mufflers exiting through Lokar tips on either side of the bed. Shifting is handled via a 4L80 transmission built to Stage 3 specs by Kyle’s Transmission, which spins a custom aluminum driveshaft fitted with Moog U-joints. With everything finally in place under the hood, the custom sheetmetal panels could be installed and the truck moved over to Sublime Heights for the interior work.

While at Sublime Heights, a fresh Snowden bench seat was fitted with custom-shaped foam padding and upholstered with Relicate leather. Of course, a matching headliner, console, and door panels were a must, each with custom Dotlow Rides stainless steel inserts to match the Dotlow grille and other pieces installed throughout the truck. The custom steel dash was then fitted with Dakota Digital HDX gauges, and a Billet Specialties Fury steering wheel was bolted onto the steering column. The icing on the cake is the JL Audio-based sound system, which probably doesn’t get used as often as it should due to the LS3’s own beautiful sound.

Now completely finished, Andy and family have been taking the C10 to lots of shows in and around Texas, where it picks up trophies left and right, which is just about the perfect family fun night if you ask us! The only thing left now is to decide what the next family project will be!