FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO BEING THE GO-TO SHORTBED CONVERSION AFICIONADO.
If you’re a classic Chevy or GMC truck enthusiast, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Kyle Oxberger – founder and owner of Metalox Fab, a custom fabrication shop located in Peoria, AZ. While Kyle can fabricate anything under the sun, his claim to fame came when he started doing short bed conversions on C10 trucks – a popular modification sought after by many enthusiasts. Kyle was getting so much short bed conversion work which led to him leaving his 9-5 job, opening up his own shop, and doing custom fabrication full-time.
The 2 nd Gen C10 in the photos – aptly named “The Grinch” played an important role in the inception of Metalox Fab. The Grinch’s owner – Cameron Kotowski owned a tint shop location next door to Kyle’s old job. However, Cameron didn’t need that much space at that particular location at the time, so he offered Kyle to lease a portion of the shop to start Metalox and the rest is history. As the years went by, Kyle went on to convert countless long bed C10s into short beds and helping classic Chevy & GMC truck owners build their trucks with any custom fabrication needs.
Cameron also owns the blue 2 nd Gen C10 AKA Moody Blue. While it may look like any ordinary work truck – upon closer inspection, the truck is fully decked in from the ground up. Kyle and Cameron both worked on the truck – upgrading everything from the engine, chassis, and suspension. And to top it off, a brand-new set of UPcarparts LED headlights were installed. The white 1 st Gen C10 belongs to long-time enthusiasts and a friend of ours – Morgan Youngberg. If you’ve been following us for some time, then you’ll recognize Morgan as the owner of our SEMA 2019 build – Money$hot. Kyle teamed up with his best friend Johny G of Johny’s Garage to complete the project. Again in 2021 for the SEMA Show, both Kyle & Johnny joined forces once again to build John Oro’s K5 Blazer named “Prom Queen”.
The C10 cab sitting on a stand inside Kyle’s shop belongs to Johny G. The truck is a 1968 GMC C10 that used to belong to Ronnie Wetch of C10 Talk until he recently gifted it to Johny on April Fool’s earlier this year. As soon as the C10 was handed over, Kyle started working on the cab and chassis with any necessary fabrication to get Blue Bunny ready for its very first public debut at Dino’s Git Down next month. As usual, the C10’s been LS swapped and will host a variety of products from UPcarparts like LED headlights, LED side markers, LED tail lights, and more!
While Kyle has primarily worked on Chevy & GMC trucks, he plans to build a C10 and Honda K Series swap it. I don’t think anyone has ever K swapped a C10 before, so this just might be an industry first that will definitely rattle many purists out there. We’re all for being different and innovation, so we can’t wait to see this crazy build come into fruition!
