Truckin’ – October 2019

Busted Knuckles

• TRUCKIN.COM [2 0 ] OCTOBER 2019 -

G

ordon Williams has a long lineage. He’s the third, with

his father being Gordon Williams II. Gordon’s father

raced boats and motocross, and together they enjoy all

the competition and building of custom machines. At

16, Gordon’s interest shifted to trucks, and when he moved to Searcy,

Arkansas, he enrolled in automotive classes to home in on his passion.

His vehicle was a Chevy Tahoe, but he lost control around a tricky

corner and totaled it. His insurance company wouldn’t pay to replace

the truck because all he had was liability, so he ended up scrapping it

for $600 at a junkyard, which left him with a very limited amount to

purchase a new vehicle. Luckily, one of his classmates was selling a

’95 Nissan D21 that wasn’t running for $500. Gordon quickly snatched

the truck up and started diagnosing the issues. Once the Nissan was

running, he began making plans to make it unique.

Gordon started building a new back half by doing some welding

himself, although the first couple of attempts were pretty bad. “I

definitely bit off more than I could chew,” Gordon tells Truckin. “I had

visions greater than my talents.” Well, his talents started getting better,

as he began converting the Nissan to a dualie. The original idea was

to build a dualie flatbed with welding equipment so he could repair

other vehicles on the spot, but when Gordon’s father was in a serious

dirt bike accident and eventually passed away, the Nissan was put

aside for a year.

Gordon was later introduced to William Crandell who had just

as much interest in custom trucks as he did. After looking at Gordon’s

Nissan D21, William convinced him to get back on track and fix

it up. “I learned quickly that William was a top-notch fabricator,”

Gordon adds. “I had the vision and he had the talent.” The duo

spent many long nights coming up with ideas, and William con-

vinced him to lengthen the wheelbase and narrow the rear end.

The Nissan still wouldn’t lay frame due to the 20s in the front

hitting the firewall, so a couple of nights were spent getting it

trimmed until the frame finally laid on the ground.

The next step was building the suspension with new control

arms and a triangulation kit. The compressors were mounted and

the brackets were built along with the new axles that incorporated

the dualie hubs and adapters. The battery was relocated to inside

the cab along with the air tanks. Gordon’s wife, Amber, is a huge fan

of purple, so the black paint was stripped off and replaced with flat

purple coating to make her happy. Trying to incorporate a rat-rod

style, Gordon fabricated a steering wheel and a hatchet shifter for

a steampunk look. When he was hired on as a welder for a com-

mercial plumbing company, Gordon began working extensively

with copper pipe. He fabricated some into manual valves for the

air ride and used wrenches to open and close the valves to the

suspension.

Under the hood, Gordon added a long-tube header for a 240SX

and built a custom breather for it. A custom exhaust was built to make

it work. William and Gordon went in together on an ’86 Chevy 1-ton

that was used as a propane tank service truck. William removed the

bed and tanks for his truck and Gordon is currently working on trans-

ferring the larger 350 into the engine bay of the Nissan.

The Nissan needed that extra boost from William, but both came

together to design and create something unique and impressive.

Gordon wants to credit his work ethic and perseverance to his late

father. A special thanks go to his wife, Amber, for her support and un-

derstanding that the truck lifestyle plays an important role in his life.

Chasing his dreams wasn’t an easy path or one without problems and

obstacles but, nevertheless, Gordon is proud and looks forward to

finally finishing his project.

TEXT AND PHOTOS: PHIL GORDON

III Sides of

the Story

$500 and a Good Friend