Building a Gem from Scratch

Sometimes the gems you find aren’t in the dealership or rotting away on an old farm. No, sometimes they are your friends’ gems waiting to be discovered. 

Nicknamed “Choppa” as a child (he’s not even sure why), Dwane Breaux has been into trucks since a very early age. His mission has always been to find that one build that would fully inspire his creativity. Luckily, that gem of a find came when he was walking through his good friend Anthony Noto’s shop.

“I remember like it was yesterday,” Choppa tells Street Trucks. “This bright yellow ’54 was just sitting there begging me to get it.”

Purchasing vehicles from Anthony wasn’t anything new for Choppa as he had bought a ’54 Bel Air from him, also.

Of course, the bright yellow ’54 GMC 3100 wasn’t something most people would invest in. There was rust, and pieces were missing from all over the body—but below the surface, Choppa saw the potential. The asking price from his friend was a mere $1,200. Deal done.

His mission has always been to find that one build that would fully inspire his creativity. Luckily, that gem of a find came when he was walking through his good friend Anthony Noto’s shop.

WORK BEGINS

Almost immediately, Choppa replaced the cab corners, door bottoms, and all four fenders. The truck was originally a longbed, but he replaced it with a shortbed. The cowl and cowl vent had to be replaced, with the entire bodywork and sheetmetal repair taking around a year to complete.

The first step after the body was back to solid was getting the classic to running order. Because the truck didn’t have a working motor when Choppa purchased it, he had an open canvas for a solid powerplant. He found a ’97 Chevy 1500 from a junkyard with a working 5.7 Vortec and had good friend Jim Dupey rebuild and add some performance parts. The 700r4 transmission was added, along with an EZ wiring harness to complete the motor work. The next step was paint, and this is where Choppa came to a road block when trying to decide what color to paint the GMC.

Originally, he planned to go with a Nardo Gray, but when Choppa tested a sample on the truck, his wife, Donna, said, “Absolutely no!” The search was back on as he tried to find something that would be unique enough to stand out and also please the wife. The final choice was a mixture blend starting with a ’50s style Sherwin Williams Volkswagen color and mixed with tan and beige. The wife agreed, and finally Kerry “Duck” Cunningham—a good friend who had painted his fair share of feature trucks—did his magic on the classic GMC.

FINAL ADJUSTMENTS

With the body straight and painted, the suspension portion was next to follow. Anthony had a ’98 S-10 extended cab chassis sitting in the garage, and Choppa used that but modified it by shortening it to a 115-inch wheelbase. Choppa hand-built the body mounts, running board mounts, and custom C-notch. A custom radiator support had to be built to fit the S-10 chassis. Once added, the full Accuair E-Level was added to adjust the ride height.

With only the interior left to bring back to life, Choppa found a 15-passenger Dodge church van sitting in the junkyard and removed the bench seat for his GMC. The original dashboard was replaced and all the door panels were reworked. The interior was painted factory blue to break up the lighter exterior color. Dolphin gauges were added to the dash, and a custom center console was built between the bench seat on the floor. The very last step to stain the board in the bed with the leftover blue paint from the interior.

Choppa’s creation may not have been a big-budget build in and out of large, reputable shops, but we believe the outcome proves that it doesn’t need to be.

“It was a very low budget build,” Choppa says. “I didn’t want to entrust other people to make my creation, so I was hands-on throughout the entire process.”

The final paint color, Choppa renamed “Donna Brown” to symbolize that this was the only color combination that his wife agreed to on the GMC. After all, happy wife, happy life. 

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TRUCK SPECS

OWNER

• Dwane “Choppa” Breaux 
• Year/Make/Model: 1954 GMC 3100
• Club Affiliation: Negative Camber

CHASSIS

• Front Suspension: 
• Firestone 2500 bags
• Belltech 2-inch drop spindles
• Custom built
• Rear Suspension: 
• Firestone 2600 bags
• Dual Viair 480 compressors
• Two 3-gallon tanks
• Pete & Jake’s triangulated 4-link
• Accuair E-Level air management system

DRIVETRAIN

• Engine: 5.7L Vortec 350 built by Jim Dupey
• Holley 650 carburetor
• Comp cam
• Custom Thrust exhaust and mufflers
• Transmission: 700 r4
• Rearend: S-10 4×4

BODY/PAINT

• Sherwin Williams Volkswagen Tan and beige, custom mixed
• All bodywork done by owner and Kerry Cunningham and Travis Chauvin
• Paint by Kerry “Duck” Cunningham
• ’37 Ford taillights
• Earlier model grille
• Mar-K bed wood kit with stainless strips
• ’65 Mustang gas tank
• Custom louvered rollpan by Kenny Emberley

INTERIOR

• Seats from Dodge 15-passenger van
• Custom sheetmetal console built by owner
• Stereo: Kicker Bluetooth stereo

WHEELS & TIRES

• Wheels: 15-inch Caprice Street Wheels; rear wheels have center cut to make deep dish
• Tires: 205/75/15 Coker white walls

SPECIAL THANKS

My wife, Donna; my kids, Paisley and Cruz; my mom and dad; Anthony Noto for selling me the truck; Kerry “Duck” Cunningham for all the help with paint and bodywork; the crew, Val, Joe, Alex, and Jimmy; and Mar-K for the awesome products.

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