2010 Sema Show Truck Build Up

Welcome to my cheap early 90's layout for my 1994 Dodge Ram Sport!

This is the entire build up from start to finish!
(Links are at the bottom)

Back in 1994...

When I was 12 years old  my dad purchased this truck when it was brand new back in 1994.
He promised me that if I worked hard the truck would be mine after I got my drivers license!

My parents taught me the value of earning and respecting my own things and making sacrifices by working hard at a very young age.
I remember earning an allowance by taking out the trash, cleaning my room, and mowing the yard just to save up to buy my own toys.

The first toy I ever bought with my own money was in 1989 (7 years old). I bought a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pizza Shooter Machine for $20 from Wal-Mart.

Once I found out what Lay-A-Way was all about, I was taking on more chores just to make extra money. Do you remember those awesome snap together play sets for Micro Machines?
After I got my first one in 1992, I didn't stop until I had the whole city! I always go "all out" when it's something I'm really into.

I also learned that it is very important to have patience.

These are the actual pictures of my old toys. Everything I have is still in great shape! I hope to save these for my own kids someday.

Sometimes Parents Just Don't Understand...

Anyways... Many years later I turned 16 and I got my drivers license but I wasn't really interested in a beat up Dodge Ram work truck.
I wanted a 1969 Dodge Charger! That's right I wanted a General Lee.

However, my parents didn't like that idea and after a few days of driving the Dodge Ram around, I was sold!

The Truck That Got Me Started!

Until I got my first truck I had never even looked at a custom truck magazine or knew anything about them. So as I was flipping through a custom truck magazine I came across a 1996 Super Charged Dodge Ram owned by Kyle Patrick of Spring Texas.
After I searched his name on the internet, I found his personal webpage and I began emailing him and asking him questions about his truck and how much it cost to build one etc.
We exchanged emails for awhile and I knew it was going to take some major sacrifices in order for me to afford my own.

Sadly though... Kyle told me that he sold his truck to a guy in New York and the engine caught fire and burned the truck completely to the ground.

Wreck = Invention

After 4 months of driving my Dodge I had my first fender bender after I hit a sheet of ice and my brakes locked up. I rear-ended a 1997 Cadillac Deville
heading to school late one morning. Shortly after that accident, I got the image in my head of adding a "trunk" style bed cover to pickup trucks.
This is how I got my idea for Tonneau Gate and this is when "Jance Customs" first started...

Building Up My Dreams!

Looking through more magazines I came across a custom body shop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I took a road trip to check out this shop and to get some quotes. I remember I had some major body mods on my list. Their estimate was around $30,000 to complete my dream truck.
With that quote in my head I knew it was time to go to work!

My parents owned a lumber yard so after school and during the summers I was at work trying to save some money to fix up my truck. I remember I was only making $5 an hour cash when I first started... Even though "my" truck still belonged to my parents I was told I couldn't make any changes to the truck because it was on a lien with the bank. One of my co-workers had a custom stereo system and I really wanted to get one but my parents told me not to get one.
So after working my first summer, I bought my first system!

Panasonic Head Unit, One Chrome 350 Watt PPI Amp, One Chrome 100 Watt PPI Amp for the JL Audio 6 x 9's in the door with two JL Audio 10W3.
(Bass tubes were cool back in the day...)

This system hit pretty hard and sounded great. This is half the reason why I can't hear anything today. I would usually crank up the system to some old school Jay-Z (which was new at the time) and rattle the walls and windows when I was rolling up in the school parking lot late every morning with the windows down.

I still have the CD player, the 6 x 9's and 100 watt amp.

Do Work!

Working at the lumber yard sometimes required using my truck for whatever reason. I remember loading up boxes to haul them to the dumpster.
When I was backing into the garage I heard a loud screeching sound! I backed in at an angle and hit the side of the door opening!

Shortly after that happened, my dad widen the door for easier access... Thanks Dad that really helps me out now!

I found it a lot easier to use the forklift to pickup the dumpster and bring it to me! (The garbage man seemed a little put out though.)

Since I'm using the forklift might as well see what my truck looks like lowered!

I don't recommend using bags of concrete to lower your truck, especially when it rains!

I found out that using several gallons of paint cans worked a lot better.

So since my truck was on a lien with the bank, doing small simple things that could be swapped out was all that I could really do to the truck at that time.

So being a fan of the Dukes of Hazzard I had a Dixie Horn installed!

I had the Dixie horn on my truck for a few years and I ended up selling it to a guy in my class that just "had to have it". He installed it on his Cadillac.

You could hear that horn from over a mile away! Seriously it was that loud!

Car Shows in Oklahoma!

I remember heading to various shows across Oklahoma such as LowDown ShowDown in Noble, Slamboree at the Fair Grounds in OKC, and Spring Bash.
Back before digital cameras were available I used my moms 35mm camera to take pictures of everything. I have stacks and stacks of old show coverage that I
have taken since I was 16. It's funny how things work because now I know a lot of the people who owned the vehicles that I was taking pictures of. 
But I definitely don't miss paying to have the film developed!

I remember seeing a little mini truck known as the "Time Machine" and I was blown away with the detail and the designs of this truck!
Something tells me that I need to start going to car shows more often! This stuff is too cool to miss! I was hooked!

It was brutal having to wait out the cold Oklahoma weather just to see some cool trucks again!

I had it figured up that if I saved my money and made sacrifices I would be able to afford that $30,000 custom truck by the time I was 20.
I couldn't wait to graduate so I could start working full time to start making a decent paycheck!

I focused more of my attention on cleaning up my truck. The Dixie horn was sold and the engine was cleaned up a little.

Since I wanted to have a custom interior I removed the center console for a "custom" look.

And don't forget the flamed floor mats that went with nothing else on the truck!

I never really even tried to customize or work on my truck because it wasn't really "mine", plus I am going to be paying to have everything redone.

I spent my time working and saving money and just cruising the truck around the local drag with friends. You know, just the typical high school stuff.

Click for page 2.

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10 | Page 11