(Image/Summit Racing)

Steve Pazmany is a gearhead who wants to start his own hot rod shop. He’s got the funds, he certainly has the passion, but he needs some help getting the shop up and running. Fortunately Steve’s got Uncle ″Bird” Betts, an old-school rodder who happens to be the nephew of pinstriper and customizer Kenny Howard—the legendary Von Dutch. Add in the occasional helping hand from guys like Chip Foose, some cool vehicles, and a couple of TV cameras and you’ve got “Fully Torqued” on The History Channel.

If you have cable and get The History Channel, you can watch “Fully Torqued” for free on History.com.

The vehicle projects you’ll see on “Fully Torqued” cover the spectrum from classic Mustangs and Chevy trucks to Lamborghinis, first-gen Broncos, and even a Buick Grand National with an LS swap.

Episode: Lucky 21

Here is the 1971 Chevy C-10 as it arrived at the Fully Torqued shop. It was a good runner with a lowering job and a set of nice 10-spoke wheels. Underneath the three-tone and primer paint was a solid, rust-free body. (Image/Summit Racing)

Steve’s friend Mike has a mostly-done 1971 C-10 Cheyenne short bed that he wants the Fully Torqued shop to finish. The truck is a family project, so Steve has Mike’s son, Brennan, work with Chip Foose to design a killer custom truck.

The twist? Mike is actually having the C-10 built for his son’s 21st birthday, so Brennan is really designing his own truck.

Under the hood sat a small block 350 with an Edelbrock AVS carburetor on an aluminum intake, headers, an HEI distributor, and finned aluminum valve covers. There was probably a mild cam in there, too. Judging from the state of the vacuum booster and master cylinder, the C-10 came from the factory with power disc brakes. (Image/Summit Racing)

Chip and Brennan came up with a two-tone black and white paint job, and the Fully Torqued team swapped out the truck’s small block 350 and Turbo 350 transmission for a Chevrolet Performance 452 horsepower 6.0L crate engine with FiTech Ultimate LS fuel injection and a Summit Racing™ GM 4L60E automatic.

Much better. Fully Torqued replaced the 350 with six liters of Chevrolet Performance LS crate engine. Rated at 450 horsepower, the engine features LS3-style rectangular port cylinder heads and an LS6 hydraulic roller cam with .550″ of valve lift. Fully Torqued added a FiTech Ultimate LS EFI system, a Holley accessory drive system, and a bunch of Summit Racing parts including a Pro LS oil pan, conversion radiator kit, and valve covers; cast iron exhaust manifolds; high-output ignition coils; and ignition wires. Backing the LS is a Summit Racing 4L60E automatic with a Pro LS torque converter. (Image/Summit Racing)

The C-10 was set up with an airbag suspension and a set of custom-made Foose 20 inch wheels on Michelin Pilot 4 SUV tires. The interior was upgraded with a Vintage Air climate control system, Intellitronix digital gauges, and plenty of Dynamat and Dynaliner to keep the cab reasonably quiet.

Quite a transformation, isn’t it? Brennan and Chip knocked it out of the park with that paint scheme, and the 20 inch Foose Nitrous wheels on Michelin Pilot 3 rubber complements it nicely (these Foose Legend Series Wheels are a close match to the Nitrous wheels). An airbag setup provides the proper attitude. The 2.5 inch exhaust system peeking out from in front of the rear wheels was built using Summit Racing stainless steel Rod Builder and H-pipe kits and Magnaflow mufflers. These Vibrant Performance exhaust tips are dead-ringers for the ones on the C-10. (Image/Summit Racing)

Look over the parts list below and watch the episode to see what Steve and Bird put together for a well-deserving family.

The C-10’s interior follows the exterior paint scheme. The stock gauges were replaced with a full set of Intellitronix analog-style digital gauges set in a replacement panel. That’s a Summit Racing billet aluminum steering wheel sitting on a factory tilt steering column. (Image/Summit Racing)

“Fully Torqued” 1971 Chevy C-10 Parts List

Drivetrain

Chassis

Interior

Paint & Coatings

Keywords
C-10, Chevy, feature vehicle, Fully Torqued, History Channel, trucks
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Author: Alan Rebescher

Editor, author, PR man—Alan Rebescher has done it all in a 37 year career in the high performance industry. He has written and photographed many feature stories and tech articles for Summit Racing and various magazines including Hot Rod, Car Craft, and Popular Hot Rodding, and edited Summit Racing’s Street & Strip magazine in the 1990s. His garage is currently occupied by a a 1996 Mustang GT ragtop.