Photos & Words by Logan Wade
Chase Heath of Knoxville, Tennessee is no stranger to the custom truck scene. As a young kid, Chase was engulfed into the custom car world. He even attended Mini Nats when it was still held in Pigeon Forge. “I don’t remember exactly what year it was, but I just remember that was the first time I had ever seen a lowered dually much less one that laid on the ground.” Turns out, that truck was Jerry Lewis’ blue dually. Chace sold his 3rd Generation Camaro and picked up his first mini truck, a copper 98 S-10 on 17” Centerlines with a 3/4” drop. Unfortunately, that truck was totaled but Chase replaced it with a 99 Stepside Sonoma that his Dad, Jeff Heath, helped him lower. By this point, Chase was hooked – he went to work at a custom shop that built mostly mini trucks right out of high school. Chase originally built this 1998 GMC Sonoma for a close friend, Jason Hamby, who passed away in 2010. He spent his time rebuilding the truck over the last 13 years to make it his own but all in Jason’s memory.
For Chase, “the simplistic but subtle details, down to the fasteners and washers, is what makes my truck unique. I wanted a timeless truck that I wouldn’t have to redo in 5 years to keep up with the Jones’s.” Chase was able to keep the stock frame but made several modifications. As a welder and CNC operator, Chase got to work fabricating the parts necessary to get this truck on the ground. He dropped the frame horns, notched the tie rods, and then fully shaved, smoothed and painted the frame. He knew he wanted to add some big wheels to this build so he went with 4×2 notches that are set up to lay a 29” tire. Chase also had to fabricate the exhaust hangers, 4 link bars, bar gussets as well as the crossmember. He then installed a set of Slam Specialties RE-7 bags in the front and rear along with a set of stainless Pete & Jakes shocks in the rear. With the frame modifications completed, he moved on to the rest of the truck.
NXTYEAR was starting to turn into “This Year” as Chase got to work moving the cab back 3/4” in the floor to center the front wheels and tighten the bed gap. He hand made the rear wheel tubs and then used GM bed sides in order to fabricate the rest of the bed. Chase installed a Grant CaliCombo, as well as a set of AVS flush mount LED tail lights. To keep the simplistic but subtle appearance, he fully shaved the handles, antenna, third brake light, b-pillar seams, fuel door, tail lights, and then slightly extended the rear lower bedsides. As with most builds, there are always a few problems that come up during the process.
Chase told us “it always seems that after parts are painted or polished they don’t want to just fall into place like they did in raw form.” However, Chase wasn’t going to let these issues stand in his way of finishing the truck and debuting at Mini Nats 2023. Chase spent long days and nights in the barn working on the truck, but luckily had his fiancé Stephanie right by his side throughout the entire process. With the problems fixed, he trimmed and braced the wheel arches and then fabbed up some sheet metal wheel tubs for the front. He then added a GMC grille as well as a GMC Envoy bumper with T-Rex billet inserts. With most of the body modifications done, Chase could finally start figuring out which set of wheels he wanted to put on the truck. After a lot of back and forth, he purchased a set of Intro Exposed Vista 5’s in a 20×8 in the front and 20×10 in the rear which would tuck hard when he laid the truck on the ground.
The next step was to complete the engine swap which was no easy task. Chase started by picking up a 1967 Chevy V8 that began its life as a regular 67 Corvette 327 but was then bored and stroked to 357ci. The block was decked, the crank was polished, and he even added a ported Edelbrock intake. Chase then installed a Quick Fuel Technologies Black Diamond 650cfm carburetor as well as 1.5” Patriot headers. Wanting even more power out of this motor, he installed a NOS wet fogger shot with WOT switch.
With this much horsepower, he knew he needed a hefty transmission. Chase purchased a TCI TH350 from TCI Automotive out of Ashland, Mississippi. In order for this to bolt up, he had to fabricate a transmission mount with Energy Suspension mounts. He installed a TCI shift kit along with a Lokar shifter. Since this truck was hooked up for nitrous, he installed a B&M Nitrous Hole Shot torque converter. Putting down this kind of power meant changing out the driveshaft and brakes. He installed a Knox Driveline driveshaft, a set of Corvette C6 calipers with 14” rotors in the front and Blazer disc brakes in the rear. Chase swapped out the OEM master cylindar for a Wilwood large bore master cylinder. Unleasing this massive V8 down the roadway, Chase wanted to make sure it sounded good too. So, he installed a Borla Pro XS exhaust system which would be music to our ears! With the engine swap complete, he could finally start up the motor for the first time and put the pedal to the floor!
To really make this truck stand out, Chase knew the paint job had to be perfect. Luckily, he knew just the guys for the job. He took the truck to Tim McMurray and Todd Faulkner who laid down the PPG Infiniti jade green paint. When the truck rolled out of the paint booth, Chase knew he had made the right decision on the color. Next up, it was time to get started on the interior. Chase called up Chris Pearcy and David Corn over at East Tennessee Stitchworks who knocked it out of the park! They installed a custom made bench seat wrapped in a distressed brown leather. They also custom made and wrapped the dash and door panels in the matching distressed leather. A subtle detail Chase added was a set of 1966 Mustang door handles with Billet Specialties handles and matching window cranks. Chase went with a set of Dolphin gauges which fit perfectly with the overall style of the truck. Chris and David then embroidered the OG Relaxed Atmosphere logo into the back panel. Chris and his crew fabbed up a custom console to hide the emergency shut offs and activation switches. They installed a set of OG MB Quart Formula 6.5” components in the doors and B-pillars. To finish out the interior, they installed some German square weave carpet which matched the distressed brown leather perfectly. As the final touches were added, Chase could finally jump in the driver’s seat and get this truck out on the road.
NXTYEAR had finally become a reality for Chase. During the build, Stephanie and Chase welcomed their little boy, Rhett, to this world and to the minitruckin’ scene. “I hope my son Rhett enjoys his inheritance that’s featured here” explained Chase as we sat back and talked about this entire experience. All that’s left is for Chase, Stephanie and the family to hit the open roads and enjoy what they have built together.
