“The idea of this build was to bring to life a truck that looked as if it should have been built by GM,” Mike Rutter, owner of Rutterz Rodz in Bristol, Tennessee, tells us. “The color schemes were thoughtfully chosen to reflect the packages that GM offered in 1979. The ‘Crew Chief’ idea came from thinking of how the truck could have been used back in the day … We envisioned maybe this truck would have been seen working on a NASCAR track carrying a crew to a crash for cleanup.
“Every area (interior, exterior, engine compartment/components) of Crew Chief was carefully planned to reflect a stock but extremely refined GM truck. We could have built a smoothed, no door handles, custom body side molding, no trim, smoothed cowl, fabricated inner engine/fender covers, but this is not what we wanted. We wanted to hold true to the heritage of the 1979 Chevy Squarebody style and design,” Rutter says. Mission accomplished, fellas!
To be honest, when I first stumbled upon Rodney Harris’ 1979 more-door back in 2023 at the inaugural Triple Crown of Rodding, the first thought that crossed my mind was, “Why didn’t GM build this in the first place?!” Rutterz Rodz, joined by Built by Ricky with the incredible interior, literally knocked it out of the park with this one.
Originally, the Harris Square started out life as a 3/4-ton longbed, but Rutterz Rodz carefully dissected the heavy-duty and replaced it with a GSI front frame section (now equipped with GSI’s 1/2-ton coilover suspension) and shortened the rear and subsequently spring-flipped the 12-bolt. Wilwood discs at each corner and a Flaming River power rack round out the lighter-duty chassis components. Drivetrain-wise, Crew Chief is now powered by an LS Classic-outfitted (including the big-block style valve covers), Holley EFI’d LS376 with a 4L70E overdrive.
With the wheelbase cut down, Rutterz utilized a factory 1975 shortbed box instead of cutting down the stock one, as well as a 1975 hood for its “smooth front lip reveal.” After Johnathon Tolley tightened up all the gaps and perfected all the Chevy’s sheetmetal, Rutter sprayed the Crew Cab in Axalta Code 26 Dark Blue and Code 17 Silver, while Dan’s Polishing handled all the brightwork, including refinishing the OE grille. Rutterz added some subtle, yellow-accented graphics on the hood as well the custom 3+3 Crew Chief emblems on the C-pillars—and you can’t help but notice the yellow-striped Diamondback Classics wrapped around the quartet of Billet Specialties 20- and 22-inch Bonnevilles!
Finally, Ricky Howard (Built by Ricky, Kellyton, Alabama) did his thing with the Crew Chief’s extended cab internals. Using Moore & Giles blue leather with plaid inserts, both front and rear bench seats were hand built over original base frames (notice the modern contouring rather than the flat, utilitarian stock look!), while all interior trim was custom-made. A GM Comfort Grip wheel, leather-wrapped by Ricky, and Flaming River tilt column replace the factory steering components; the leather-topped dash is updated with a Classic Instruments, Vintage Air A/C, and an R&B Audio factory-style radio—all adding to the “looks like it oughta have in 1979” theme!
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