The Working Man’s Diamond in the Rough

Everyone has a story. They might not even know it (and sometimes it has to be pried from them), but it’s there just waiting to be told. The tale of Jamie McBride and his first cover build goes back more than 15 years, and some might not believe it by looking at the very humble beginnings, including a forgotten little Ford Escort GT.

Jamie happened to get bit by the car bug early on, thanks to his dad, who was into racing and modifying Corvettes. Although, Jamie was drawn into the car world when he was a kid, he felt that something was missing. He wasn’t really satisfied with simple stock rides and bolt-on go-fast goodies. As soon as he hit the employable age and started to earn some extra coin, Jamie was off to the races modifying anything he could get his hands on. Eventu- ally his ride of choice was a poor ol’ Escort GT that underwent some minor mods here and there as his paychecks would allow. Jamie recalls seeing a custom mini-truck in the parking lot of Stater Bros. grocery store one day with a Severed Ties logo plastered across the back window—and that was all she wrote. Jamie was hooked and found his niche in the automotive world, join- ing the ranks of the ST crew in the early days (1994 to be exact).

Fast forward 15 years, and as you can see, Jamie’s been around the block once or twice, but he’d never quite realized his goal of building a full show-truck. After a couple of mini-truck projects, an Impala wagon and some miscella- neous rides here and there, he decided to step up to the big leagues and began to hunt for a crew cab dually. Jamie came across a pretty beat up old work truck, complete with cowboy running boards and a boomerang antenna, back in Feb- ruary 2007. At first he told himself that he just wanted a clean and simple tow pig, but we all know ex- actly how that goes! Yup, it didn’t last long at all, especially with fellow Severed Ties roommates like Marlon Winik in the ranks who happened to keep dropping some not-so-subtle hints by randomly placing sawzall blades in fun to find places all over their house and in the cab of Jaime’s dually. A guy can only take so much before giving in to the siren song of the sawzall.

So that next week, some of the Severed crew came together to give the crew cab a much needed alti- tude adjustment. Marlon, Scott and Kevin cut, ground and welded the Chevy down to a much more re- spectable height, and soon enough some 22-inch Alcoa wheels wrapped with Falken tires found there way under the massive dually fenders. Up front, custom control arms with uni-balls were made to accommo- date ¾-ton hubs.

Suspension duties were also han- dled by fellow Severed members in the home garage, proving that cover trucks aren’t always the product of high-dollar shops. Sometime, with the right friends, a clean and simple suspension setup and cut-floor body drop is exactly what the doctor ordered and is also much more wal- let-friendly. After friends did their duty and chopped up the dually all proper like, it was time to get it back on the road to put the newly installed air suspension to the test. Back together and clocking some miles, Jamie was saving up and plotting the next phase. Knowing that he’d already passed the point of no return with a bodied dually on 22s, thoughts of a full interior and custom paint swirled in his brain, but how does a working man go about dumping boatloads of money into his daily- driven ride? Jamie knew the next part of the equation would involve calling upon another Severed buddy.

Aaron Iha from Chassis By Aaron was called on to add a little extra cus- tom flair to the laid crew. Aaron was enlisted to suicide the rear doors, work up the custom bed floor and flush Kinetik battery mounts, and spice up the engine bay with Spectre Performance goodies, custom air intake, hidden wiring and a hydro-boost, adding some much needed character throughout the dually to separate it from the other custom tow pigs out there. With the right amount of subtle custom touches it was time for what is quite possibly the worst job of all, massaging a 21- foot fat-fendered dually for some col- or. Luckily, a talented body/paint guy happened to also be part of the Severed SoCal crew: CJ Fenton to the rescue. First, a Grant Kustoms Cali combo and taillight fillers were added, the bed was raised and every- thing was shaved smooth except for the cab lights. They were saved for the dually look, and the upper body line was extended all the way around before Chassis by Aaron Iha suicided the rear doors. CJ began the long, grueling task of straightening and blocking out the fat-bottomed truck, getting it ready for the spray gun. Again, no fancy paint booth or big paint shop here. CJ not only did all of the bodywork in his home garage, but he also sprayed and painted the dually in PPG and House of Kolor paints right in his driveway, with Kent Garcia handling the flame and pinstriping duties—shhhh, don’t tell the EPA.

Taking a step back and seeing what a slow and steady couple of years had done for his pride and joy, Jamie finally realized just how close he was. The dually was almost ready for a respectable debut. Hitting For- bidden Fantasy and a few other shows felt good after a long build process, but there were still some fi- nal details to wrap up. So a few final favors were called in from another close friend. James O’Neal knocked out the stereo and interior, and did a 1995 dash swap to update and modernize the interior. He also built custom door panels and a center console that flows through the front and rear bucket seats. Upholstery treatments of blue and gray faux suede came compliments of Cali- fornia Upholstery. A Severed Ties wheel and mirror from Colorado Custom were added along with Swiss Audio, and Rockford Fosgate audio was added to finish things off. With the interior completed and the rest of the little details dialed in, Jamie says, “I’m happy with how it turned out, but it’s time for the next project.”

If you know Jamie like we do, and if this flamed blue beast is any indi- cation of what’s to come, then we’re all just as excited to see what heads our way next. It certainly takes a vil- lage to build full-custom trucks of this magnitude and see them through to completion. So until next time, take a page from Jamie’s book: Gather your friends and get to cutting! ST

JAMIE MCBRIDE
1993 CHEVROLET C/K DUALLY
BREA, CA
SEVERED TIES

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