"We can take and recreate anything," says Jeff Gregory, owner of GB Customs in Corbin, KY. Anything? Well, anything that has four wheels and requires a driver's license. He and his buddies Jeff Ball and Justin McPhearson built this '05 Scion tC to compete with the top tuners across the country and show off what their shop can do.
While there's a lot to check out how Gregory and his crew completely modified the interior, the exterior will stop you in your tracks. For GB Customs, "custom" doesn't just entail a new paint job and shaved door handles. Gregory chopped the top to make this a full-time convertible roadster throwing on GT factory gullwing doors and a custom widebody kit. Some shaving took place in the door handles and antenna as well as the entire rear end, which also had a one-off spoiler thrown on top. Fun stuff includes CryO2 bottles that slide in and out on a tray by remote, the carbon-fiber hood and the LED light bar for the rear indicator lights. But the real exciting stuff is inside.
Dash
The team constructed the dash from fiberglass. A double-DIN Panasonic navigation unit serves as the audio and primary video source (a PlayStation2 is the secondary, built under the cushion in the passenger's seat and a Monkey Video MBUC1 is the tertiary). The head unit's 6.5-inch touchscreen is also the first monitor in the vehicle. An iPod hooks up to the rear AV1 input and music plays from a total of 18 Memphis Car Audio speakers installed throughout the tC. The first two 6.5" Power Reference speakers were built into the dash itself along with a 15-MS84D 8" sub.
Door Panels
Eight more 6.5" Power Reference speakers follow up in the new door panels built from fiberglass, Duraglas and MDF rings. The panels hold separate enclosures, built from fiberglass and deadened with R-Blox sound damping material for the speakers themselves. Allen keys keep the speakers from jiggling loose when this baby gets pumping, while more sound deadener on the floors, interior panels and firewall keep unwanted resonance down.
Rear Speakers
With six rear speakers sharing space between two different enclosures, Gregory downsized from the 6.5" speakers to 5.25" Power Reference. Each chamber was mounted in the best location for aesthetics and rear fill efficiency.