Cruisin' down the boulevard, with the wind blowing in his hair, and the tunes blasting in his ears has always been a vision for Mike Fusco from Porterville. Mike, who is a physical education teacher in Visalia, California, owns a very successful auto detailing business, Fusco's Detail Shop. He has always liked the straight and clean bodylines of the '67-'72 Chevy/GMC trucks.
Mike's buddy Mark McDonald, who's also from Porterville, has a hammered '69 GMC pickup. Never one to replicate others, Mike decided to build a Chevy two-door Blazer, which he named FATT '70. After meeting with custom builder Bob Grant from Grant Customs in Oroville, they discussed Mike's vision to transform his Blazer into a radically modified custom roadster.
After removing the Blazer body from the frame, the rails were boxed to add strength and rigidity. Then, the rear portion of the frame was C-notched. Brett Grant at Kutrus in Porterville lowered the nose by installing a pair of Early Classic Enterprises 2-inch dropped spindles, Slam Specialties pneumatic 'bags, and Belltech gas shocks. Out back, the factory trailing-arm rear suspension is activated with a pair of Slammed Specialties 'bags and KYB gas shocks, allowing for extreme rear-vertical suspension travel. A pair of Early Classic Enterprises 12-inch cross-drilled slotted rotors, with four-piston calipers provide instant stopping power up front. Early Classic Enterprises hard and soft brake lines link the four brakes to the master cylinder and booster, which were mounted under the floorboard to keep the firewall smooth without any barnacles.
The rear suspension uses factory drum brakes with Early Classic Enterprises brake shoes. To achieve the critical tire and wheel sizes with correct backspacing measurements, Mike turned to Ken Esajian at Esajian Wheels in Torrance. A pair of 20x8-1/2-inch front wheels with 5-inch backspacing and 22x10-inch wheels with 4-1/2-inch backspacing Intro Pentia aluminum wheels were wrapped in Nitto 255/35ZR20 NT555 in the front, and Nitto 285/35ZR22 NT555 rear rubber.
Chris Edwards at Edwards Automotive in Porterville refurbished the '99 Chevy Vortec 350ci V-8 engine with cast-iron block and aluminum cylinder heads. An Edelbrock Performer polished intake manifold with an Edelbrock RPM Quadra-jet 850cfm carburetor mixes and disperses the fuel and air mixture. A MSD HEI distributor and MSD 8.5mm ignition wires distribute the electrical charge to the Champion spark plugs. A variety of Billet Specialties engine eye candy was bolted on, including billet aluminum pulleys, air cleaner, valve covers, and breathers. The Cool Flex dual-fan system keeps the water temp in the normal heat range. Elroy Newberry at Newberry's Muffler in Visalia, California, installed the Sanderson block hugger shorty, Cermachrome coated headers. He then bent up the 3-inch custom exhaust that flows into the two Coffin mufflers. A GM '99 700-R4 automatic transmission received a B&M shift kit to develop firmer shifts. Pearson Alignment in Bakersfield measured, cut, and balanced the driveshaft, thereby linking the torque and horsepower to the GM 12-bolt rearend, which was stuffed with 3.08 gears.
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