Napolean Leiva’s 1999 Freightliner CenturyClick here to see more photos below of Leiva’s ’99 Freightliner.
After 35 years running long-haul, Napoleon Leiva started driving locally in Texas. So four years ago, he picked up what was at the time a beat-up ’99 Freightliner Century with 1.5 million miles to make runs in the Dallas area.
However, Leiva also wanted to compete in truck beauty shows with the rig.
“When I got the truck it was in bad shape,” Leiva recalls. “The interior was destroyed, the motor wasn’t good. It was a piece of junk. People said it was a waste of money to fix a 1999 truck. 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 on the exterior. 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-in. bumper, chrome grille, chrome brackets for 8-in. 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, diamond-pattern leather dash, door accents from Grand General, seats and elongated gearshift in millennium yellow and pearl black to match the exterior colors, wood and chrome steering wheel and Rockwood instrument panel.
Napoleon Leiva matched the exterior colors of millennium yellow and pearl black when he transformed the No Excuses interior, including installing a tile floor.
Napoleon Leiva matched the exterior colors of millennium yellow and pearl black when he transformed the No Excuses interior, including installing a tile floor.
