10-4 Magazine December 2024

12 10-4 Magazine / December 2024 in buying it before, the owner gave him first dibs. Not knowing exactly why, Delton agreed to buy it, and then told Blayne to go pick it up in Lynden, WA, and bring it back to Idaho. All the trucks Blayne ever drove were sor t of attached to someone else – they were either his dad’s trucks or the previous owner’s truck, but either way, none of them seemed to be “his” trucks. Blayne wanted something that was his, and after he found out how much the cabover was going for, he went to the bank, took out $5,000, and then headed to Lynden, but not to pick it up for his dad, to buy it for himself. When he got back with it and told his dad what he had done, Delton was okay with it, saying, “I probably didn’t need another project anyway!” Although the truck didn’t run and nothing on it was shiny when Blayne brought it home late in 2019, it was still in pretty good shape. The 1996 Peterbilt 362 with a 96” cab still had its faded but original factory five-color paint job, a drop axle, a blown-up Cummins N14, an 18-speed, a long wheelbase, and a Pete Low Air Leaf rear suspension. The truck was originally bought by MCM Construction in Sacramento, CA to haul bridge beams, so it was ordered with a 265” wheelbase. After changing hands a couple times, Blayne became the rig’s four th owner. After finding a new engine and getting it ready to install, Blayne took a week off in December 2019 to make the swap. Replacing the dead Cummins N14 Celect with a 500-hp Cummins N14 Celect Plus, many thought it would not work. Blayne was prepared to change out the computer, if necessary, but he didn’t need to, because it worked. However, the truck was still not roadwor thy, so Blayne spent the next few months working on it, licensed it in the spring of 2020, and then hit the road. He probably should have waited a bit longer to drive it full time, because that first year was kind of tough, with a lot of roadside repairs being done along the way – and so began the “rolling restoration” mentioned at the beginning of this story. Over the next few years much was done to the truck to get it to where you see it now. Some of those things include lots of buffing and polishing, repairing and repainting the roof cap, relocating and replacing the horns and cab lights, and repainting the frame. He also added a stainless steel 8” exhaust, mounted to a custom bracket made by Selkirk Fabrication in Bonners Ferry, and fitted it with a custom bead-rolled pleated stainless steel plate, mounted in the center, to look cool and hide the hole in the back of the cab for the engine. This piece, which puts off a starburst glare and reflection, was made by Ron at Allen-Jac Inc. in Sandpoint, ID – a welding and fabrication company that makes and repairs aluminum fuel tanks and straps for trucks. Some of the other modifications Blayne made to his cabover include installing all glass LED watermelon lights, an 18-20” tapered bumper from Valley Chrome, a custom steel deck plate with a recessed connection box, made by Selkirk Fabrication, with a light box mounted on top with three lights facing back and one facing forward toward the pleated stainless steel plate. The fuel tanks, air tanks, battery box, spotlights, visor, and fans (mounted in the cab) are all stock and original. Stainless Hogebuilt half-fenders cover the drive tires, but Blayne modified the brackets to make them fit better around the wheels, which also allowed for a watermelon light to be mounted on each bracket. Inside the cab, in addition to the ceiling fans, the dash and gauges are all original, but much of the interior has been modified and upgraded. All the interior upholstery pieces were replaced with new black leather pieces with red stitching, including the entire sleeper por tion of