Now that the New Year is here we are finally getting started with our new racetruck build. I had coined the term Project S-10 The Sequel but that is just too much of a mouthful. I had forgotten that Chevrolet had called one of their S-10 trucks the Xtreme until I was writing my 1320 Pit Bits article. So the title of the new project is Project Xtreme and extreme is what it will be, from the RJ ProFab chassis to the trick components and ideas that will feature heavily on the project.

Other than the RJ ProFab chassis the other major ingredient of the project is the body. The previous S-10 featured a fiberglass body that was a replica of a road going truck. That had its drawbacks. So we looked at our options and came up with the solution from Advanced Fibre Glas Concepts of Homosassa, FL. The proprietor is none other than noted racer Richard Earle who is also famous for his Suncoast Race Cars concern. With Richard being a racer and a chassis builder his bodies, are more suited to drag racing than our previous version and a lot of thought has been put into their construction to make them user friendly. Without being overly heavy, all AFGC bodies are strengthened in the required areas, Richard knows what tire shake will do to a car and the bodies are built to withstand it.

If we look at the reasons we made the move to the AFGC body I have to start out with the look. The new body looks just like a Pro Stock truck body with the extended cowl and raised bed sides. When we originally started Project S-10 there was no AFGC option and had to go with what was available at the time. The new look basically moves back the cab area by extending the front clip in the cowl area and shortening the bed sides to maintain the 125” wheelbase. This helps us by being able to move the motor back further and still have room for headers and mufflers. The other modification is the raising of the bed sides to allow for the fitment of taller tires without having to fit “bubbles” in the bed to accommodate the tire growth. The tailgate has in integral roll pan built in along with a cutout for the wheelie bars. All we will have to do is butt our tinwork up to the flange on the tailgate for a nice professional finish. The cab comes with all the windows “in fiber glass” This allows us to trim the cab and make the window flanges the exact size we require. The dash area is molded complete and will make a strong mount for the lower portion of the windshield. There are also plenty of flanges available for mounting the internal tinwork when we get to it. The doors come with the windows cut out of them. You can either make a cutout to install factory door handles or leave as is and have internal levers or pushbuttons available both inside and outside. The internal face of the door is flat with a relief for an internal panel. You can make cutouts in the sloping areas of the doors to allow for mounting of hardware (see shaded area in the door photo) and then cover it up with some nice aluminum or carbon fiber panels positioned in the relief. The other big plus to the AFGC body is the reliefs in-built to accept the lexan windows. They are all set up to provide a flush finish once the lexan has been fitted, something we were not able to do with the old truck. The hood, front clip and doors come oversize so you can trim them to suit your needs. It means a bit more work but for those of us obsessed with looks it allows us a lot more flexibility.

The first thing we are going to have to do is cutout some of the window areas to give us some light inside the cab so we can see what we are doing when we start throwing pipe. We will then cleco the bedsides to the cab and tailgate together and set it on the jig at our three inch ride height. There will be another article when we get to that stage, we just have to get a jig cleared off at ProFab and we are away to the races as we say.

Project Xtreme is supported by some of the best companies in the automotive world, we would like to thank them for their continued support.

RPM Magazine - RJ ProFab, ProCar Performance - Suncoast Race Cars / Advanced Fibre-Glas Concepts – JRP Online – Moroso - Joe’s Transmission – Scott Jahren Paint - Harlow Racing Tires and Wheels – The Performance Cellar – J&J Performance – Leaf Racewear – Scott Brown Graphic Designs