10-4 Magazine October 2020

or upgrade to make here).” In the end, they spent over a year, working when they could, to complete the entire project. Although this truck looks simple and stock, many changes were made that the average eye might miss, like lowering the battery boxes three inches and then installing bigger air tanks under the doors, rolling the front fenders back a bit, switching out the original dual round headlights with dual squares and mounting them about an inch lower, rebuilding and re-skinning the doors (the peep hole was removed from the passenger side door), and installing a Gen 3 air-ride system from 12 Ga. Customs on the front. They also filled in the front fender brackets and made them 12 10-4 Magazine / October 2020 Purchasing the 1984 Peterbilt 359 from Abe in April 2019, it was not Tyler’s intention to completely rebuild it, but that’s what happened. Fitted with a freshly rebuilt 425 Cat hooked to a 13-speed, the truck was mechanically sound, but when Tyler and their mechanic Charlie went to change out the rear suspension for a newer model, they found cracks and corrosion under the bolts. Charlie said, “If you were ever thinking about stretching it, now would be a good time.” So, they stretched it out from 250” to 272” and then installed that newer suspension. And that is how much of it went – a common saying around the shop became, “Well, you’re already here, so you might as well (insert some specific rebuild smooth, filled the five holes on the air cleaner bracket bases and made them smooth, added two extra cab lights (for a total of seven), and mounted two extra-long horns on the roof, a few inches forward, so they would hang over the edge more. Then, they had Rick Arnett cut the 26” diameter fuel tanks shorter. When it came time to paint, after changing his mind several times, Tyler settled on metallic charcoal gray with a turquoise metallic chassis, which Pat, their paint and body guy, sprayed. Once the painting was completed, they started adding the accessories, like 6” Lincoln Chrome exhaust, a 20” Valley Chrome bumper, Hogebuilt long-drop stainless rear half fenders, a stainless RLK Services visor and rear light panel mounted behind the sleeper, 3” blank body drop panels from 12 Ga. Customs, a functional Merritt deck plate, and plenty of hidden lights, including under-glow lighting. They also had custom bus glass made by a local guy, installed a filler panel between the fuel tanks from 12 Ga. with lots of lights, and mounted new Vortox air cleaners and tops they got from the Velasquez Brothers (Henry, Alfred, and Oscar) in Los Angeles. Most of the accessories and all the lights were purchased from Nick at Amcan Truck Parts in Pewaukee, WI. All the lights are Peterson or Grand General, except for the headlights, which are LEDs from Truck-Lite with smoked lenses. And, remember that box of parts from Mickey’s first truck that he put aside? Well, the slightly modified hood ornament (from an old Peterbilt), the billet aluminum foot pedals inside, the horn covers, a chrome fire extinguisher (mounted on the floor inside the cab), and a few other miscellaneous items came out of that box. Like I said, the Gwillims are very sentimental. Moving inside the truck, the entire slate gray interior with teal stitching was done by Brad Barrentine of Truck’n Awesome Restorations in Bogata, TX. Some of the other neat additions inside include a chrome tilt steering column out of a 362 Pete cabover (another piece acquired from the Velasquez Brothers in Los Angeles), cruise control, Bostrom seats, a “retro” 3-spoke SCI leather-covered steering wheel, painted (metallic charcoal gray) dash panels, and one of the very last available sets of original 359 Peterbilt rubber floor mats. Tyler also modified crystal doorknobs for inside a house and made custom air brake valve knobs. As mentioned before, pinstriper Van Gogh painted “Image is Everything” on the back of the visor and flanked it with the Thrush Exhaust roadrunner on the left and the Mooneyes logo on the right, to complete the retro vibe in the cab. Another unique feature about this build is that none of it was financed. Tyler personally bought the truck himself and has a payment on it, but the entire build was paid for as he went along. There is some pressure to live up to the