Hometown Heroes | Reader Rides

TALK ABOUT PASSION. Frank Boucher bought this 2000 GMC Sonoma brand new. He instantly started customizing it as a project with his father, Don, who had a wealth of knowledge, mechanical experience and a great collection of tools from his years of building and modifying cars. Their work really took off around 2004. With new-found knowledge of everything air ride, Frank drove up to three hours each way to Don’s house, and the father-son duo combined their skills to make magic happen. By the time the dust settled six months later, the truck rolled out with a bag-over-axle setup, stealth air management, modified front control arms, fully usable bed and a great truck to cruise in. Unfortunately, around 10 years ago, Frank lost his father suddenly. He took it very hard. In recent years, Frank has reworked the rear setup for a smoother ride, swapped in Thorbecke control arms, added a cowl hood, updated to an Envoy bumper with billet inserts and found a Checkmate flush tonneau, which he adorned the large Punisher logo. Other mods include a roll pan, Boss 338 wheels, audio upgrades and train horns for fun Future plans include a five-speed and 5.3 V-8 swap, which he has sitting in wait in his garage, as well as a possible Envoy cladding swap.

MY SON AND I SPOTTED THIS 1957 CHEVROLET 3100 WHILE ROAMING THE FIRST TRI-FIVE NATIONALS IN BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY. Our last names are Sinclair, so we were immediately drawn to it. There wasn’t a for-sale sign and the owner wasn’t around, so we stalked the area until we finally caught the owner’s attention. After some discussion, a deal was struck, and I was on the road. I drove 700 miles straight home and made it in the driveway around 4 a.m. The truck is a frame-off build with a 350ci crate engine, a 700R4 transmission, TCI independent front suspension, disc brakes, 18-inch Boss wheels wrapped in Nitto tires, Vintage Air power steering with a tilt wheel and a custom interior by Ciadella Interiors. The paint is the original (Brewster Green) color. I had intended to change the “Pete’s” lettering to “Tom’s,” but within a week until I noticed people were already calling the truck Pete. It now has over 39,000 trouble-free miles on it since the rebuild. Pete was once featured on an episode of Powerblock with Courtney Hansen, it has won numerous awards, including a Suede & Chrome from Goodguys, has been in numerous magazines including the NSRA Streetscene, Goodguys, Street Rodder, Super Chevy and The American Tri-Five.

1985 Chevrolet C10 SLAYTON HRNCIR PICKED UP HIS 1985 CHEVROLET C10 BACK IN FEBRUARY 2013 IN HIS HOMETOWN OF HALLETTSVILLE, TEXAS. He always wanted to build a sick hot rod, and now was the time. No budget was set as he decided to put the best of the best into it. The first thing Slayton focused on was getting the engine out, torn down and rebuilt. He sent the small block to Arrow Machine Race Engines out of Brenham, Texas. They went with all forged internals, AFR Race Heads, a custom ground Comp Cam 238/244@.050 .604/.614 lift, and other mods that ended up dynoing 581hp with 577 ft-lbs. Next, the Turbo 400 tranny was rebuilt as the rest of the truck was taken down to the bare frame. Getting married in May 2018 helped Slayton kick it into overdrive to get the truck finished. All in all, he ended up putting around $55,000 to $60,000 into the build. “I’ve read Street Trucks mag all throughout the build process and got a lot of tips and ideas,” Slayton says. “I could only dream about being featured in the mag, much less making the cover—but please tell me what you think!”

TRUCK SPECS

• 410 Stroker – 581hp/577 ft-lbs built by Scott Herzog at Arrow Machine
• Scat forged 4340 4.00-inch Crank
• Forged 4340 6-inch H beam rods
• Mahle forged aluminum flat top pistons
• Comp hydraulic roller cam
• Duration @.050-238/244 .604-inch/.614-inch lift
• Crane hydraulic roller lifters
• AFR 195cc race heads 2.08-inch intake 1.60” exhaust 10.1:1 CR
• 1.6:1 Comp Ultra Pro Magnum full roller rocker arms
• Edelbrock Performer RPM air gap Intake
• Quick Fuel Q-Series 850cfm carburetor
• Hooker Super-Comp ceramic-coated headers and 3-inch ceramic-coated exhaust with
• Flowmaster Original 40 Series mufflers
• Turbo 400 built by Circle D Transmissions for 700hp
  3,400-3,500 custom stall converter
• Custom 4-inch aluminum driveshaft built by Northwest Drivetrain
• 3.73 Richmond gears and Powertrax no-slip locker
• Moser axle shafts
• Wilwood disc brakes