Stock to Not: Inside the Final Push to SEMA 2025

AS SEEN IN OUR APRIL 2026 ISSUE – Buy Now!

Knocking Out a 50-Day Build with the Boys

If you’ve been around for the past couple of years, I’m just preaching to the choir, but if you’re new this month, we’re finishing up our project build, Stock to Not, where we’ve done just that with this 1994 12-valve. From a cheap Marketplace find in 2023 to a full-blown show truck that we debuted at SEMA 2025! The truck makes 700+ HP and has been a daily driver throughout the entire process!

Refinish Before the Finish Line

In the last update on this truck, we had just dropped the truck off from doing bodywork with our buddy Devan (editor of our sister magazines, Tread and F-Series Builder’s Guide), who is a master metalworker and craftsman. We then dropped the truck off to Phat Albert’s to spray and assemble the truck. We’ve gone back with the original two-tone PB7 white/PS2 silver on this unit, and Albert and the crew put some big time into this job. The original idea was to have S2N wrapped because of a time crunch by one of the best shops in the country (shoutout to Lopez Creations), but I’m a paint guy at heart, and Albert had some extra time to get the truck through to make our project really hit my personal goals. We appreciate the Phat Albert’s crew getting us through on such short notice and giving us the opportunity to document them doing their thing for this article!

Frame Meets Body

After getting the body back to the Diesel Shop, the rolling chassis came the day after. Look at that paint shine! The product of the wire tuck was ready to go to its final home as well, and Tyler spent all that time fitting and hiding in the mock-up body we were using. Next, the sound control mat from LMC and Thermo-Tec went in, and the LRB Speed metal dash was next in line to get installed. We took extra time to make sure the interior was 100 percent ready to get carpet and the seat before the body went onto the new chassis. The last couple things that needed to be finished were the Polar Diesel stainless exhaust, fitting of the Thunder Muzzle, and undercoating on the bed and cab. All of this was happening so fast it was difficult to document, especially being about a week and a half out from transport to Vegas. Luckily, I have some really dedicated friends who spent their own time to get this truck where it needed to be to make it to SEMA under its own power.

Body Meets Frame, For Real

It is finally time for the fresh body to meet the frame we’ve been working on for the past almost two months—consecutively. With a few close looks and a few sets of eyes, quick work was made to get everything set in place for final assembly. Stock to Not is finally coming together! One of my favorite pictures is this one with the body down on the new chassis with the wiring and harnesses laying out of the front of the truck. It was the first time we had seen the two together for the first time, and it meant we were almost there… to transport, at least. The next few days were spent plugging in wires, buttoning up the engine, and getting it running again. We were also painting interior parts, installing our beautiful TMI Products bench seat that matched our factory Mist Grey interior along with the PRP body seals, and making sure body gaps were set correctly. Shout out to Tyler, Daniel, and Randall for taking the time to get this truck done and ready for one of the biggest opportunities I’ve been able to be a part of in my life so far. Without them this would not have been half as cool and would not have made it in the required timeframe.

Making the Show

After an early morning rip in Jan (you may have seen this 7.3L a few months ago getting some Riffraff jewelry under the hood) to meet up with our friend transporting the truck to Las Vegas, off she went! It was like I was sending my kid off on their first day of kindergarten. We met the truck the next day in Sin City! It was such a glorious feeling after getting the truck into the Liberty Forged booth after two years of wrenching on it in the driveway and driving it all over the country. It was an unforgettable feeling to be showing off our skills and work at the biggest aftermarket automotive trade show in the world. What a dream come true!

The End of an Era

If you haven’t caught my drift yet, this is the final entry in the build process for Stock to Not. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end this editorial build than to spend two months straight with some of my best friends working with my favorite companies and their awesome products for the past two years. I appreciate the massive amount of support we’ve had behind this Diesel World editorial build process. It’s been a great way to connect with hundreds of people at shows and to be able to show our readers that working on your diesel can be done in the garage with the right parts and a little elbow grease.

I want to give a special thanks to the following people and companies for supporting us throughout this build process no matter how big or small their part in it was. Smeding Diesel, FASS Fuel Systems, Nick’s 4×4, Jake Ure, Northeast Diesel Service of Missouri, Dynomite Diesel Products, Blessed Performance, ARP Bolts, Belltech Suspension, Evil Energy, Precision Replacement Parts, LMC Truck, Thermo-Tec, Get Real Graphics, Fullhook Performance, Austin Ouellette, Glory Days Speed Shop, Polar Diesel, Far From Stock, Liberty Forged Wheels, Phat Albert’s, Toyo Tires, SPF, AlphaRex, Miller Built Diesel, FTI Performance, LRB Speed, Myer Stump, PDD, RevMax, Delta Speed Shop, John Muldoon, TMI Products, Classic Dash, DTD Powder Coating, Zack Corter, Amsoil, Randall and the Diesel Shop for the space and help to facilitate and perfect the truck, Jon Daniels, Janeway, my girlfriend for putting up with me through this build, and Tyler Doublehead for literally quarterbacking this whole truck from the ground up and teaching me how to do it right without cutting corners. It was an unforgettable experience.

Thanks for sticking along with us. See you on the next build starting soon!