Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/255292
A fter 35 years running long-haul, Napoleon Leiva started driving locally in the Dallas area. Five years ago, he picked up a beat-up '99 Freightliner Century with 1.5 million miles. "The interior was destroyed, the motor wasn't good," he says. "It was a piece of junk." Besides using it for everyday work, Leiva also wanted the rig to compete in truck beauty shows. "People said it was a waste of money to fix a 1999 truck," he says. "I wouldn't take any excuses for not doing it. That's why I named it No Excuses." Leiva began by painting the exterior, changing air and fuel lines and adding chrome. He then stretched the frame to 310 inches and repainted it millennium yellow and pearl black. He also overhauled the transmission. Other exterior additions include a 22-inch bumper, a chrome grille, chrome brackets for 8-inch Lincoln exhaust stacks and chrome panels for headlights and back-of-sleeper United Pacific T-bar lights. The truck also sports a fabricated set of Talladega County fiberglass low-cut rear fenders. On the interior, Leiva and crew installed a small-square tile floor, a diamond-pattern leather dash, door accents from Grand General, seats, an elongated gearshift, a wood and chrome steering wheel and a Rockwood instrument panel. 46 | Overdrive | February 2014 CUSTOM RIGS CUSTOM RIGS CUSTOM RIGS No Excuses: Texan turns Freightliner into rolling art Exterior modifications to the No Excuses '99 Freightliner Century included fabricating Talladega County fiberglass low-cut rear fenders. Napoleon Leiva and Jaime Jimenez matched the exterior colors of millennium yellow and pearl black when they transformed the No Excuses interior, including installing a small-square tile floor. Photos by Bruce W. Smith No_Excuses.indd 46 1/28/14 11:17 PM