The Journey HQ's Wild, Custom Twin-Turbo C10 Shop Truck

Features
7 minute read

There’s a certain kind of truck that pulls people in—not because of its looks, or its stance, or even the sound of it—but because of the story behind it. For automotive YouTubers Chase Calloway and Russell McClendon of Palestine, Texas, their 1983 GMC C10 known as "Old Mac" represents decades of shared experience with a single vehicle they each have unique connections with. That connection is not just between the two of them, but the people, places, and machines that shaped them. That truck isn’t just something they built, but something they’ve lived with, both literally and figuratively, since their teenage years.

The truck was originally sold at Conard Thielen Motors, Chase’s grandfather’s dealership, which operated in Palestine from the mid-1960s through the 1990s. Back then, it was just another long bed GMC with a modest future. That changed when it became the first truck driven by Russell’s best friend in high school. They ran the backroads in it, learning cars, growing up, figuring out the world one mile at a time. Nearly 30 years later, a neighbor, now in his 90s, offered the truck to Chase, unaware of just how deep its roots ran. When Chase brought it back to Journey HQ, he and Russell knew the project was personal.

Journey HQ itself is an extension of that mentality. It started as an idea. “We thought, what if we filmed what we already loved doing? What if we built cool stuff, showed it to the world, and did it on our terms?” So Chase convinced Russell to leave his job as a full-time body man and join him as a content creator. The two set up shop in a warehouse, began filming their work, and started publishing content. They’re not open to the public or taking customer builds. It’s just them, a fleet of trucks, and a camera.

“We just wanted to create content and show people what we’re already doing,” says Chase. “It’s not a business where people bring us trucks to build. It’s our stuff, our way. That’s what makes it fun.”

Old Mac evolved in three distinct stages over three years. When they first got it, they lowered the stance and threw some wheels on. It was going to be the shop truck. But a burnout session in the warehouse killed the original engine. That’s when the build took its first real turn. They pulled the motor and dropped in a 5.3-liter LS from the junkyard, added twin VS Racing turbos, and started to shape the truck into something far more aggressive that it was ever intended.

Perhaps its most distinct and head-turning feature of the C10, the turbos exit directly through the hood, and the exhaust dumps out of the original fuel doors. Neither feature is subtle, and both were originally discouraged by their friends. “Our friends told us not to run the turbos out of the hood or any of that. But that’s what makes it ours,” Chase said.

Once the LS was in and the truck was running, it attended several events in relatively mild trim. It still had stock brakes, stock rear end, and rode on modest wheels. But in 2023, everything stepped up. The QA1 C10 suspension package—including front crossmember, double adjustable coilovers, and a truck arm rear setup—transformed the way the truck handled. Baer 6P brakes were added at all four corners. JTX 24-inch rear and 22-inch front wheels filled widened tubs and gave the long bed C10 an unmistakable stance.

SHOP C10 TRUCK SUSPENSION

To make it all work, the rear end had to be custom-built. Chase and Russell teamed up with James Lafitte of Lafitte Fabrication to design a 9-inch housing that could handle the wheel and tire combo while still clearing the brakes and fitting the QA1 suspension geometry. The result is a C10 that looks like a showpiece but drives like a more refined, racey machine.

“It’s the best engine I’ve ever had,” Chase says, referring to the junkyard 5.3. “That thing’s probably got 300,000 miles on it. We cleaned the cylinders with sandpaper, put a cam and springs in it, and sent it. It’s never missed a beat.”

The engine build is as unpretentious as it gets. Summit camshaft, Trick Flow valvetrain parts, stock crank, pistons, and rods. They used aftermarket gaskets and head studs to seal it up, dropped in a Holley intake, and let the Holley Terminator X Max handle tuning and management. Power output isn’t precise—right now it’s on 7 psi of boost and estimated to belt out around 500 horsepower—but the truck has already clocked a 13-second quarter mile, and the goal is to get it into the 10s.

The interior is a mix of hot rod flair and DIY ingenuity. Stock seats wrapped in vinyl and Hobby Lobby fabric match custom door panels and a headliner stitched to fit. A cow-print dash cap adds some humor, while a full Memphis Mojo Pro audio system with four 6.5-inch subs, mids, and tweeters gives the truck a serious voice at shows.

“It’s our shop truck,” Chase said. “We drive it, we take it to the store, we take it to shows, we drag race it. It’s just fun.”

That’s been the consistent theme. Fun. They’ve taken Old Mac to LS Fest, C10 Nationals, Goodguys events, and have even routinely entered it in burnout contests, changing wheels to smaller tires just for the smoke. They’ve hit the autocross at LS Fest despite running massive wheels not ideal for tight courses (it also inspired them to build another truck, a 1976 short bed C10 focused on autocross with 18x11 wheels and the same QA1 gear underneath, which we'll share in the near future). Still, the truck held its own.

Old Mac may have started as a long bed with family history, but it’s now a versatile machine with unique features like a modern drivetrain, big wheels, and a patina finish that showcase all that's great about the hot rodding hobby. And more importantly, it's symbolic of what JourneyHQ is all about, which is building what you want, showing off the work, and having a good time doing it.

“You’ve got to do what makes you happy,” Chase said. “That’s it. That’s the whole reason we do this.”