WAR PAINT

Ready for Battle

- ADAM JOHNSON

MOST WARRIORS GO INTO BATTLE USING SOME FORM OF WAR PAINT. Blake Grogan goes into battle on the show field with his ’86 Mazda B2000 covered in war paint. Blake, whose love for Mazdas began when he was 16 years old, knew he wanted a custom Mazda mini-truck, built from the ground up.

He eventually purchased what he now calls “War Paint” from another truck enthusiast named Jeff Giles. Jeff built this incredible looking Mazda with tons of detail, so Blake knew he was in good company when it came time to swap names on the title.

Jeff’s initial work on the Mazda began with the getting the frame all the way to the ground. With the help of Jeff Greene, they Z-notched the front and installed mounts for 2,500-pound Airlift Dominator bags. In the rear, they used a triangulated four-link setup with 2,600-pound Airlift Dominators and Viair compressors, which supply air to the 5-gallon tank. With Mazda originally being 6-lug, wheel options are few and far between. So, Jeff decided to do a 5-lug conversion before the front hubs were machined, and the rear axles were re-drilled. Now that it’s a more common lug pattern, Jeff was able to order a set of 18x6 Hot Rods by Boyd tri-fan wheels.