May 2020 • By Tony Thacker and Nester Cabrera

When Jimmy shine took over his new building at 867 N. Commerce St, Orange, CA, the previous tenant Dave Keister left this ’65 C10 Fleetside in a corner saying, “I’m busy, why don’t you finish it off for me?”

Narrow gauge, straight axle gassers are all the rage as are C10s of almost any shape and size so it was a no brainer for Shine and his team of craftsmen including Paulo Dosdoglirian and Branden Johnson who took the lead on this build to dive in.

The first generation C10s were a step up for truck owners as their drop-center ladder frame with coil-spring suspension (from ’63), air conditioning from ’64 and low-profile seats made them ride more like a car than their predecessors. The addition of an optional 220 hp 327-ci engine for ’65 clinched the deal.

Dave already owned a rad, street driven ’66 that he built himself when work began on the gasser and he knew exactly what he wanted. The stock frame was retained along with the rear trailing arms but the front suspension was swapped out for a straight axle, parallel leaf spring kit that had to be heavily massaged to handle the power and the weight.

Dave had previously purchased an assembled engine based on a Dart Big M cast-iron block from a friend that he turned over to Jim Guthrie Racing, Whittier, CA. Jim, who specializes in boat engines and Chevys in particular, went through the assemblage, changed up a few components and dialed in all the clearances, etc. This 572 incher produces 902 hp and looks every part the gasser.

Its sounded wicked too as we rolled into Irwindale Raceway/Drag Strip for a semi-private shakedown session. After a thorough check by Jimmy and Branden they gassed up with VP C15 and Dave cranked the starter while son Sage watched on. Fuel is pumped from the bed-mounted fuel cell up to the Moon sump tank and then to the mechanical Crower stack injection. With only a couple cranks the engine cracked into life and sounded sweet. Dave turned it off and everything was checked again before he lit it up and headed for the strip.

First time tests are always tricky, you’re itching to get on the gas but you have to hold back and make sure everything works before you hit it hard. Everything tracked well; the truck launched hard and ran straight. On the second run, Dave dropped the Deist and again all was well.  It was time to get on it and he made six or seven trouble-free passes with a best for the 1/8-mile of 6.37 at 107 mph. Pretty good for a 55-year-old truck.

Vehicle: ’65 Chevy Fleetside

Owner: Dave Keister

Builder: ShineSpeedShop.com

Powertrain

Engine: Big-block Chevy / Builder Jim Guthrie Racing
Block: Dart Big M
Capacity: 572 ci
Crank: Scat
Rods: H-Beam
Cam: Comp Cams .830 lift / Pistons JE, cr 14.2:1
Heads: AFR ported and flow tested
Valvetrain: Jesel
Belt drive: Comp Cams
Oil pan: Moroso deep sump
Induction: Crower mechanical 8-stack injection
Fuel pump: Holley Blue primary feeds sump tank then Hilborn 80-A mechanical
Water pump: Meziere electric
Balancer: ATI
Headers: Custom by Shine Speed Shop
Exhaust: Magnaflow 3-1/2-inch blow-through muffled system
Radiator: US Radiator
Fans: Spal electric fans
Clutch: 3800 stall
Trans: Turbo 400 by Dana Sniff Racing Transmissions

Interior

Steering wheel: ’65 Chevy with Sweet Manufacturing quick-release
Instruments: Stewart-Warner
Tach: Moroso
Shifter: TCI Outlaw
Seats: Kirkey
Safety harness: Crow Enterprises

Chassis

Frame: Modified stock
Front springs: Parallel leafs
Front shocks: SO-CAL Speed Shop
Steering box: Ford
Front axle: Speedway Motors
Spindles: Speedway Motors '49-'54 Chevy
Front hubs: Wilwood
Brakes: Wilwood discs
Master cylinder: Wilwood
Rear axle housing: Fabricated Ford 9-inch by Currie
Location: Modified stock trailing arms
Panhard bar: Custom by Shine Speed Shop
Anti-sway bar: Speedway Engineering
Driveshaft: Drivelines Inc.
Rear springs: Coil-overs
Rear brakes: GM Metrics by ABS Powerbrake
Fuel cell: Tanks, Inc.
Fuel tank: Moon 3.5 gallon
Float bowls: Holley
Fuel: VP Racing C15
Chute:  Deist
Wheels: American Rebel 15x4.5 Kidney Bean front,  16x13 Champ rear
Tires: Michelin 165/SR15 front, Goodyear 29x12-15 rear