LIFES A Beach, and then you get to drive this 1965 Chevrolet C10. When I asked Chad Spragg to answer some questions I had about him and the truck a couple of answers made me chuckle. Chad says he is just a basic dude building a clean simple truck and that he initially called the truck “basic bitch” but only to himself.
Chad initially bought the truck 11 years ago from his brother who had planned to build it. He always liked the first generation C10 and wanted to build something different but since he started his build in 2016, the popularity of this generation has skyrocketed. It was a long tough road to get this truck to where it is today with a lot of ups and downs and with the cost of parts it can be hard to stay motivated and I think we can all agree with that, especially here in Canada where there is always the extra fees associated with shipping, boarder crossing, customs, and exchange rates. Luckily for us Chad and his father spent a couple nights a week and weekends building this truck and didn’t give up.
His father has been building some badass hot rods his whole life and was a huge part in doing this build. With out him the cost of having a shop do all of the work would have bankrupted Chad before it was done. Even if he could afford to pay a shop to do it, the quality family time spent on building the truck together was worth every late night.
That being said, Chad and his father couldn’t do everything alone and did enlist the help of Sam and Ray at Epic Rod and Custom to rebuild the 6.0l LQ4, 4L80 transmission, and rearend, and for tuning the engine at the end which was bored .030 over and has a Trick Flow Cam and 2800 stall converter all making a healthy 325hp to the wheels dyno’d by the LS knowledge powerhouse that is Dario at Infamous Racecraft.
Another familiar name on the project was Steve from Federal County Customs who sprayed the factory color onto the truck.
Chad also got his wife involved with the interior of the truck and is most proud of it. She was supportive and understanding through the entire build and then used her incredible sewing skills to come in clutch at the end. We are shocked to find out that this was her first interior.
To dial in the stance to absolute perfection, Chad is running a factory chassis but with a Porter Built extreme front drop member and rear c-notch. The trucks suspension is taken care of by Slam Specialties bags all around with Ride Tech shocks controlled by an Accuair E-level system and pumped up by dual 5 gallon FLO air tanks.
The brakes are OEM Chevy brake master and calipers but he plans to upgrade to a Baer brake system over this winter.
All over the exterior you catch subtle hints of the immense sheet metal and body work that has been done to create an overall and overwhelming sense of “clean”. Forever moving forward the soap emoji on Instagram will make me think of this truck as it is exactly that, clean. On the inside the truck has a full Bluetooth stereo all hidden from view and you wouldn’t even know it because the radio delete panel makes it appear as if there never was a stereo.
Speaking of the “Metaverse” building the C10 has allowed Chad to connect with a lot of new people who are part of the culture especially through Instagram and he has now collaborated with a lot of people in Canada and across the US. He has taken the truck to shows as far as Glendale Arizona for Dino’s Git Down and Scottsdale for the Good Guys 26th Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals where he took home Chevy Truck Pick.
On top of the previously mentioned people and shops, Chad Spragg would also like to thank his brother for starting the project, giving advice and mechanical support over the years, and a few friends who helped along the way including Brandon, Tony, and Al.
Article by Brian Holzli
Photos by Travis Roe (TDR Photography)
