Finish Line Speed Shop Builds to Give Back
You could make the argument that all of us should give back to our communities, even if it’s just a little bit. Most of us would like to, but the execution sometimes goes by the wayside. How can we contribute? What can we do that can make a difference? In the case of Lyon and Jennifer McClenahan, owners of Finish Line Speed Shop in Bremerton, Washington, the answer was simple: build a car. But wait, this is Street Trucks, right? Don’t worry, we’ll get there.
Back in 2015, the husband-and-wife team decided that they wanted to build a charity car for the SEMA show. They heard the story of Steve Connor, a disabled veteran who dreamed of building a ’67 Dodge Dart, so the couple worked their magic and made it happen. They built a killer car, debuted it at the 2015 SEMA show, and then gave it to Steve. Everybody was happy, and it was a great time. Lyon noted that the process restored their faith in humanity.
One of the builders on that car was Mark Cain, who suffered from ALS. For the uninitiated, “ALS” stands for “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” but it’s more often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the famous baseball player who suffered from the condition. It’s a 100% fatal disease, with no known cure. So when Mark was diagnosed, he knew the end result; nevertheless, he pressed forward. He built the headers for the Dart, and just a few weeks after the show, he succumbed to his illness.
The idea to build something in Mark’s honor didn’t come right away. Lyon needed time to process what happened, and building a SEMA truck is no small feat, particularly if you’re starting from scratch. But the team decided that doing it again would be a good experience for everyone involved, so they reached out to some of their sponsors from the Dart project to see if anyone was interested. The positive feedback was tremendous, and Lyon soon realized that he could make it happen. That’s when the plans for the MC-10 were set in motion.
There are a lot of square-body trucks out there, as Lyon is well aware. But for the past few years, he’s had a ’75 long bed with 75,000 original miles. He had tentative plans to make it a short-bed and drop an LS engine under the hood. Now it would be the basis for the new project, but Lyon still wanted to do something different. It was important that the stance was right, and the right motor was a significant requirement. But there were other things that they had to do to stand out; he just had to figure out what they were.
By the time the job was done, there were two major things that put this truck in a class of its own. First, the trim was color flipped. If you look inside the body moldings, instead of being black on the inside with chrome on the outside, it’s the exact opposite. The remaining trim that was chrome has also been blacked out to maintain the theme throughout. It’s a nice touch that’s both subtle and impactful.
The second is inside the bed. When you lay out a truck, you either have to raise the bed floor to cover the notch, or cut out the bed for the frame to come up through it. In this case, Lyon and his team did both. They raised the bed floor to help, but they still wanted to keep access to the chassis in case they had to make repairs. The resulting fix was a stroke of genius that came to fruition just two weeks before the 2016 SEMA Show.
First, the floor was raised, as we already mentioned. In its place went the stainless steel trim panel that some Chevy truck models have along the tailgate, just underneath the handle. In fact, they kept the Chevrolet badging and the tailgate handle in this setup, which looks odd until you figure out what it’s for. Then they took two 1975 Chevrolet hoods and combined them to form a cover over the notch. That cover is hinged just like a stock hood, and to open it, you use the tailgate handle in that stainless steel panel. It even uses the original hood latch. We’ve never seen anything like it before, and it certainly stands apart from the crowd.
When the build was done and the truck was taken to SEMA, it got a ton of attention, and did its job to help raise awareness for ALS research. After taking it to a few shows across the country and appearing on PowerNation TV, they put it up for sale at the Mecum Auction, and in the end they gave a big check for more than $15,000 to the ALS Association, Evergreen Chapter.
With two builds down, the question is obvious: Will they do it again? Absolutely. Their latest project will be ready for the 2017 SEMA Show, and it already has the support of many of their sponsors. In fact, more than 15 from last year’s build have returned, and 10 have been onboard for all three. It’s just more proof that giving back is always a good thing. Sometimes all you have to do is build a truck.
Truck Specs
Owners:
Lyon and Jennifer McClenahan
1975 Chevrolet C-10
Bremerton, WA
Engine:
Finish Line Speed Shop, Bremerton, WA
2006 5.3l Chevrolet LS V-8
2007 4L65E automatic transmission
Mishimoto LS dual pass radiator
Porterbuilt Fab motor mounts
Hedman C-10 LS swap headers
Black Widow dual exhaust with polished mufflers
DC Power, Inc. polished aluminum 270-amp XP alternator with billet rear frame
Mishimoto electric fans with shroud
Airaid U-build it cold air intake and air filter
Poweraid throttle body spacer
Vintage Air AC compressor relocation brackets
Russell Performance hoses
Painless Performance LS standalone harness
Painless Performance chassis harness
Eddie Motorsports billet hinges
MSD Ignition coils
Stage 8 locking header bolts
Russel Performance plumbing
Driven Racing oil
Ididit steering column shifter cable kit
Energy Suspension motor mounts
Tanks, Inc. gas tank from Summit Racing
POR-15 black engine paint
12-bolt Chevrolet axle
3.73 rear gears
Eaton Detroit Truetrac differential
Chassis & Suspension
Finish Line Speed Shop, Bremerton, WA
Porterbuilt Fab Level 3 front Dropmember
CPP Modular 2.5-inch drop spindles from Summit Racing
Dominator 2600 front airbags from Summit Racing
Porterbuilt Fab 1-inch narrowed control arms
RS502 QA1 adjustable front shocks
Porterbuilt Fab Level 3 rear Dropmember
Porterbuilt Fab rear bridge with inboard ’bag mounts
Porterbuilt Fab 4-link
F9000 rear airbags from Summit Racing
RS504 QA1 adjustable rear shocks
AccuAir Switch Speed air management system with ENDO-VT
Two VIAIR 444 Stealth black air compressors
Master Power Brakes Pro Driver series 13-inch front rotors with four-piston calipers
and 12-inch rear rotors with four-piston calipers
Master Power Brakes vacuum power booster
Wheels & Tires
22×9 Centerline California Smoothie wheels from Summit Racing
House of Kolor Blood-Orange-painted centers with polished lips
#CapClips clips for 1975 ¾-ton 12-inch hub caps
265/35R22 & 285/35R22 Toyo Proxes STII
Body & Paint
Finish Line Speed Shop, Bremerton, WA
Painted by Jeff Rider at Details Details Details, Bremerton, WA
House of Kolor BC26 White with Ice White Pearl
House of Kolor S2-LE03 Limited Edition Blood Orange over KD3004 Red Sealer
House of Kolor Red, White and Black pinstriping by Ron Wall at Off the Wall Kreations
Brothers Truck Parts paintable front and rear bumpers, painted black
Brothers Truck Parts door handles, painted black
All trim, bolts and grille blacked out with brushed inserts
Slosh Tubz inner fenders and fillers
Raised stock bed floor
Custom notch cover made from two 1973-80 truck hoods and original latch assembly
Custom cut-out for accessing and viewing the suspension
United Pacific LED headlights
United Pacific taillights with black-painted trim
Billet Badges custom Strike Out ALS ribbon badges
Prevision Replacement Parts weather-stripping
Interior & Stereo
Finish Line Speed Shop, Bremerton, WA
Work performed by Josh Kalalau, Brendan Greene, Ryan Reid and David Boehl
Rostra Precision seat warmers
GM vinyl with suede inserts
Original bench seat
Brothers Truck Parts black carpet kit
Brothers Truck Parts interior door handles
Original headliner recovered in black GM cloth
Original dash pad dyed black
Custom CON2R Pomona steering wheel
Ididit tilt steering column
Dakota Digital HDX gauges
Vintage Air AC kit
Door inserts painted House of Kolor Blood Orange
Custom lower door panels to hold Kicker component speakers
Kicker IQI Bluetooth Interface
Two Kicker 6.75-inch components, Q Class mids and tweets
Three Kicker 8-inch L7 Q Class subwoofers
One Kicker IQ500.4
One Kicker IQ1000.1
Kicker amp installation kits and speaker wiring
XS Power Vintage series battery
Rostra Precision backup camera, front parking camera and rearview mirror system
Boom Mat by Design Engineering, Inc. sound deadener
Special Thanks From the Owner: “Covercraft Car Covers; West Hills Auto Plex; Haselwood Chevrolet; Quick Trick Alignment; all of our partners; our entire Finish Line Speed Shop, Project Giving Back Team and their families for all the time, passion, love, effort, hard work and long hours they put into the Strike Out ALS MC-10 truck build. Thank you Brendan Greene, Jeff Rider, Ryan Reid, David Boehl, Daniel Veach, Connor Veach, Aidan Veach, Kevin Veach, Chuck Russell, David Sanders, Ron Wall, Tony Beeler and Josh Kalalau. My kids Masey, Colby, Brody and my amazing wife, Jennifer, who is the glue that holds everything together in the middle of the SEMA crunch.”
Captions:
The 5.3l LS V-8 found in the truck came from a 2006 Chevy, and it runs just as reliably as you’d expect.
Square-body trucks look so good laying on the ground, and they can tuck 22s like it’s their job.
The interior is stock, with just a touch of custom, like the steering wheel, painted door panels and suede inserts on the stock seat.
A trio of Kicker 8-inch L7 square (naturally) subwoofers is tucked behind the factory bench and provides the boom.
That tailgate handle in the gap created by the body-dropped bed opens up the hood that covers up the notch. Now that’s cool.
That notch cover isn’t standard work. It’s made from two square-body hoods and uses the factory latch to lock everything in place.