Daniel Cumby’s ’95 GMC Jimmy Overhaul

The Chevy Blazer and GMC Jimmy are nearly interchangeable. Aside from slight trim and badging, Chevy and GMC created an almost identical vehicle. The second generation of the Blazer/Jimmy was so popular that it was given the Truck of the Year nod from Playboy magazine and Motor Trend magazine. 

In the custom truck community, the Chevy and GMC SUV model became extremely popular due to the customizations possible. When Daniel Cumby of Santa Fe, Texas, first purchased a Chevy Blazer, he made it his own by bagging and painting it to his preference. His Blazer was his daily driver and he used it for commuting to work as well as hanging with friends.

Daniel wanted to try his hand in building a full-size truck, so he found a new home for his Blazer. He quickly realized his mistake and began to miss the mini. Of course, he couldn’t renege on the sale, so he set out to find a new one. Looking through ads online, he found a ’95 GMC Jimmy in Holiday, Florida, for sale. It was already bagged but had a primer black paintjob, which he saw as a blank canvas for his creativity. After some quick negotiations, Daniel got his new project to Texas and began the overhaul, or “round two” as he calls it.

Insistent to make it a daily driver similar to his Blazer, Daniel needed to handle some maintenance right off the bat. The first step was adding shocks to the front and rear to make it manageable on the road. Daniel brought in Jesse Humbird to tweak the four-link and bag placement. The top links and slide axle had to be adjusted so the passenger bag wouldn’t rub on the floor sheetmetal. Once the Jimmy was fit for the Texas streets, it was time to start the external transformation.

Daniel wanted to showcase his flair for creativity, so he started with a new front bumper. The bumper started out as an 88/98 full size front bumper. It was cut and sectioned and then notched for the GMC front grille. It was molded into the valance and grafted into the sides of an S-10 fender to make the body line flow. In the rear, the shaver kit was made from an S-10 roll pan that was cut and sectioned. It was cut to follow the body line from the bottom to the tailgate. The flush mounted LED lights were added with a flip-down license plate.

With the help of Jesse, Daniel installed the FiTech fuel injection and fuel pump to the Chevy 350 motor. Now that the motor was running to high perfection, Daniel brought in his friend Gera Llamas to install front tubs for the Jimmy. After seeing a lifted Tundra with a specific color he liked, he asked Gera to match it—the paint code was Toyota Cement Gray—and spray the entire Jimmy in the new color. It wasn’t fitting Daniel’s style just yet, so Gera drew up a couple of graphic options, laid them out and added them.

With the exterior now fitting his style and flare, Daniel began updating the interior. He added a ’64 Chevy Impala dashboard, along with brand new carpeting, headliner and seats. The center console fiberglass was cracking in that Florida sun, so that had to be repaired as well. The air management gauges were mounted under the dashboard to be hidden away. All the holes on the firewall were painted and filled. Zach Hammond came in and rewired the entire truck from front to back to clean up everything just hours before debuting it at Heatwave in Austin, Texas.

For his 20 years in the scene, Daniel Cumby spent the majority in Acrophobia truck club. He finds that the best part of the truck scene is the new friends he meets and surrounds himself with at every local and national event. Not only do they support his creativity, but they also propel him to that next level. Daniel wishes to thank his wife Andrea for always supporting his lifestyle and hobby. It may have taken him until the second round, but Daniel scored a complete knockout in the ring with his one-of-a-kind Jimmy.

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 Owner 

Daniel Cumby
’95 GMC Jimmy
Santa Fe, Texas
Club Affiliation: Acrophobia

Chassis

• Front Suspension: S-10 drop spindles and control arms, 2600 Airlift bags, Little Shop no toe kit
• Rear Suspension: C-notch, four-link, 2600 Airlift bags, two Viair 444c compressors, 10-gallon air tank

Drivetrain

• Engine: Chevy 350, mild cam, Fitech fuel injection installed by Jesse Humbird, custom headers and exhaust, custom radiator cover, smoothed and painted firewall
• Transmission: 700r4 with 2100 stall
• Rearend: Modified Blazer rearend, disc brakes, 3:73 gears and posi

Body/Paint 

• Stock floor body drop done by Ryan Thorp, Toyota Cement Gray paint with graphics in red, black and silver done by Gera Llamas in Alvin, Texas
• Custom one-off handmade front bumper, tubs, handmade shaver kit in rear
• Flush LED lights, billet grille, shaved doors, smoothed cowl and cowl hood, shaved tailgate, shaved fuel door, fuel cell under back deck, ceramic coated by Southern Coast Detailing

Interior  

• ’64 Chevy Impala dashboard, painted red, billet steering wheel, plastics sanded and painted
• Custom front and back seats covered in red leather by Dale Meeks
• Custom door panels and console, Lokar shifter, Fitech control module, interior done by Gera Llamas, Ryan Thorp, Keith and Jon at Epicenter Designs, wired by Zach Hammond
• Stereo: Bluetooth through phone, JL Audio components

Wheels & Tires 

• Wheels: 20×8 Boyd Coddington Turbines
• Tires: P245/35R20 Federal SS 595’s

Special Thanks: My wife Andrea, Gera Llamas, Jesse Humbird, Frank from Southern Coast Detailing, Ben Osborne, Chris Coddington, Zach Hammond and my Acro family