Stitch: Nitrous Outlet’s Procharged Boost And Juiced S-10

Chevrolet’s S-10 has been gaining popularity over the past few years and they’re now a pretty common sight at the dragstrip, with the square body being the most popular. In our opinion, these little trucks make killer-looking street machines when built correctly.

The cartoon character that Stitch is named after has green eyes. Dave thought it would be cool if the headlights had the same effect.

The idea for one of the most unique S-10s that we have seen, now known as Stitch, began several years ago. Dave Vasser, CEO of Nitrous Outlet, loves these trucks and was looking for a good excuse to build one. In 2014, Dave decided Nitrous Outlet needed a “shop truck,” and a cheap first-gen S-10 naturally fit the bill. Dave made a call to Bryan Witherspoon, knowing he could locate one. Bryan and Dave go way back, as his S-10 was used to develop the Puck nitrous system a few years ago. Bryan knew where a work-in-progress was that had a solid foundation. A deal was made and Dave purchased the S-10 for $1,500.

Shortly after getting it back home to Waco, Texas, the fuel pump in the S-10 stopped working. This incident was the defining moment where the “shop truck” plan was derailed. Sure, Dave could have just put another stock fuel pump in the truck and been back on the road in no time. But, since it needed work, might as well go ahead and do an LS swap in it, right? That is precisely what happened.

As we were executing this terrible shop truck idea, we became uncontrollably busy at the nitrous company, and the S-10 got pushed into the back of the warehouse. – Dave Vasser

Dave bought a complete take-out engine and transmission from a Yukon, with the intention of installing the stock engine, transmission, and ECU into the S-10. He knew that the S-10 would be a handful to drive — even with the stock engine — so he decided to add a Brian Tooley Racing (BTR) Stage 4 camshaft with a set of Frankenstein LS3 heads. Of course, his action only makes sense to a true gearhead. The motor was all buttoned up and ready to go, but the project was delayed. Dave said, “As we were executing this terrible shop truck idea, we became uncontrollably busy at the nitrous company, and the S-10 got pushed into the back of the warehouse.”

This truck has all of the right parts and an attitude to match.

After some time passed, Andy Parks from Smith Racecraft talked with Dave about letting him finish the rearend install. The S-10 was loaded up and hauled to Smith Racecraft with an 8.8-inch rearend and a new set of Weld V-Series rear wheels from 1320 Wheels. After Andy had some time to look the truck over, the plan changed drastically.

Andy suggested upgrading to a narrowed 9-inch axle, Strange brakes, Smith Racecraft Assassin Bars, mono-leaf split springs, and installing a set of Santhuff shocks. The rearend was narrowed 3.5-inches on each side for wheel clearance. Without hesitation, Dave gave the go-ahead and turned the boys at Smith Racecraft loose. Incredibly, only two weeks later, Dave got a call from Andy that the truck was ready.

After the S-10 returned home from Smith Racecraft, Dave started hoarding more parts for the little truck. An Innovative Racecraft front K-member was ordered, along with a TRZ steering rack, Strange front brakes, Santhuff front shocks, and a set of TRZ upper and lower A-arms. This build had gotten pretty serious, so Dave decided he might as well go ahead and install a roll cage. The truck was shipped back to Smith Racecraft for the cage work, seat mounts, and a custom set of fender-exit headers.

Stitch is a character in the Disney cartoon called Lilo and Stitch. Stitch can be calm and lovable, or wild and obnoxious. – Dave Vasser

It took Smith Racecraft less than a month to finish the new list, and it was time for paint. Dave decided on a Ford color that’s very close to GM’s Jet Stream Blue. The Ford color has a little more metallic in the paint. J&M Collision took care of the bodywork and paint on the truck and it headed back Nitrous Outlet one more time.

The Nitrous Outlet boys wasted no time getting the engine buttoned up and connected to the Goebel High Performance Transmission-built Powerglide. For the massive task of wiring, Allen Martin of Texarkana Nitrous went to Waco and installed the Holley Dominator ECU, Davis Technologies traction control, RaceWire switch panel, RaceWire control panel, G-Spot shock sensors, laser ride height sensor, and a long list of other electronic goodies.

At this point, the truck was getting pretty close to being done, but Dave had another idea. He wanted to use the S-10 to promote the Boost-N-Juice nitrous system program. This program is designed to spotlight the use of nitrous on boosted applications to increase performance, improve consistency, and lower intake air temperatures. Dave said, “With the PRI Show just a month away, it was the perfect time to debut the truck and our Boost-N-Juice program.” There was just one tiny problem: the S-10 didn’t have any means of boost.

Dave quickly reached out to ProCharger and worked a deal for an F-1A-94 supercharger system. As the Nitrous Outlet crew finished up the build, they decided this impressive machine needed a proper name. So how do you come up with a name in this day and age? It’s simple; you host a contest on Facebook. One of Nitrous Outlet’s customers pitched the name Stitch. Dave explained, “Stitch is a character in the Disney cartoon called Lilo and Stitch. Stitch can be calm and lovable, or wild and obnoxious.”

Stitch made his debut in the Nitrous Outlet PRI booth in December of 2018 and was the center of attention. After PRI, it was time for Stitch to hit the track, and the goal was the annual TX2K in Houston. The truck was transported to LSX Power Tuning for a proper dyno tune; unfortunately, the Magnafuel 650 fuel pump couldn’t support enough volume to support Stitch’s thirst for more of E85 Fuel.

With the fuel system fixed, Dave and Stitch were able to make their first pass at Xtreme Raceway Park (XRP) just a few weeks ago. On its first shakedown pass with only 7-pounds of boost and no nitrous, the S-10 ran a 6.20 in the 1/8-mile at 113 MPH. We have no doubt that this truck will run in the fives at some point. After watching Stitch make a pass, we can say is this truck is rowdy, obnoxiously loud, and a crowd favorite.

Body-

  • Body and Paint by J&M Collision – (Painted Jet Stream Blue)
  • Unlimited Fiberglass – hood is a custom-built bubble cowl hood

Chassis-

  • Smith Racecraft chassis and cage
  • Rear frame narrowed 3.5-inches on each side
  • Smith Racecraft anti-roll bar
  • Smith Racecraft rear-end spring perches
  • Split mono leaf springs
  • Leaf spring sliders
  • Smith Racecraft Assassin Bars
  • Smith Racecraft 9-inch rearend
  • Strange Engineering 40-spline center section with 410 gears
  • Strange Engineering 40-spline strange axle
  • Innovative Racecraft front k-member
  • Team Z steering rack with bump-steer kit
  • TRZ upper and lower A-arms
  • TRZ billet aluminum steering arms
  • Santhuff front and rear shocks
  • Strange front and rear brakes with rotors
  • TRZ master cylinder adapter
  • Strange dual master cylinder
  • Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve

Electronics-

Engine-

  • Stock 6.0L short block
  • ARP hardware
  • Frankenstein LS3 heads
  • Brian Tooley Racing Stage 3 cam kit

Exhaust-

  • Smith Racecraft custom fender-exit headers

Fuel System-

  • 15-gallon fuel cell
  • MagnaFuel Pro Tuner 750 series fuel pump
  • MagnaFuel fuel pre-pump filter
  • MagnaFuel fuel after-pump filter
  • ID2000 injectors
  • Aeromotive regulator

Induction-

  • Frankenstein Low-Pro billet intake
  • AccuFab 102mm throttle body

The ProCharger combined with the Smith Racecraft fender exit-exhaust definitely command attention from spectators.

Interior-

  • Factory interior panels and dash
  • Kirky seats and covers
  • Hurst shifter
  • Innovative Racecraft aluminum steering wheel

Power Adders-

  • Nitrous Outlet direct port system
  • Nitrous Outlet Interspooler system
  • 2 x 12-pound Carbon Nitrous Bottles
  • 2x billet heated bottle brackets
  • ProCharger  F1A-94 supercharger

Safety-

  • White parachute
  • RJS Lock five-point harness

Tires and Wheels-

  • 15 x 10 V Series Weld Racing series rear wheels with bead locks
  • 17 x 3.4 Weld V series front wheels
  • Champion – Billet lug nuts
  • Mickey Thompson – front and rear tires

Transmission-

  • Goebel-built Powerglide Reid case
  • 1.87 gear set
  • Transbrake valve body
  • Aluminum pan
  • Circle D Specialties billet Pro Series 245mm with mechanical diode
  • Carbon-fiber KEG driveline

Current Sponsors-

  • Nitrous Outlet
  • Flo Supply
  • ProCharger
  • Frankenstein Engine Dynamics
  • Davis Technologies
  • Santhuff Shocks
  • J&M Collision
  • Texarkana Nitrous
  • Holley EFI • TRZ Motorsports
  • Mickey Thompson
  • Mad Man and Company
  • Circle D Specialties
  • LSX Power Tuning
  • Smith Racecraft
  • Race Wire Solutions
  • Goebel Transmissions
  • 1320 Wheels
  • Alliance Race Wear 
  • Strange Engineering
  • Innovative Racecraft
  • Be Cool Radiators

About the author

Chase Havins

If you ask his friends about him, they will say he's a speed freak. If you ask him about it, he will tell you that it's just a little more fun when you live at wide open throttle.
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