badhombre

iTrader: (4)

finally decided to start a project thread here. this is the only place the details of this build will be published though since it will be intended as a local grudge racer. the idea is simple, old raddy truck, low budget, no frills, go fast as possible, but keep it as low key and unsuspecting as possible. all parts will be sourced from a chevy truck of some year, so I can honestly say it is all chevy truck parts. I just won't mention the turbo . in the end, my idea is to be able to replace ANY major component of the truck with readily available parts, and for less than $500.

I started with a 68 chevy c10 that I pulled from a field a couple of years ago



and the remnants of my dad's old toy, a 72 c10 with all the desireable suspension stuff like power disc brakes, hydroboost, 12 bolt posi 3.73 rear, 5 lug etc.



so I stripped both trucks down to bare frames. decided to use the 68 frame instead of cutting down the longbed 72 frame. had the frame sandblasted and painted, and set it on the 72 suspension





had to deal with a little rust on the cab. cut out and replaced the inner rocker, part of the floor pan, and the outer rocker, and replaced them all with new sheetmetal. painted the underside of the cab floor and it was ready to go back on the frame with some new bushings



then I got bored one evening and mounted up my radiator, taurus e-fan, and made a custom overflow from a period correct budweiser can I found while working in an old house. it is mounted there so it is visible through the grille. adds to the theme IMO



then stuff got interesting. I bought a PCM and truck harness from a member here. then picked up a complete 5.3 with a 101 day warranty from a local junkyard for $450





I also have, but haven't gotten pictures of, a Muncie HM290 5 speed. the predecessor to the nv3500, got the complete pullout with driveshaft, clutch hydraulics and all from an 89 chevy truck for $250 and got to drive the truck with the trans before it was pulled to know all gears were good. so let's go over my price breakdown:

truck cab and chassis- $400
complete 5.3 engine-$450
5 speed truck trans- $250

so far I'm doing good. I need to get a 4.8 clutch assembly so I can mate the engine and trans and begin test fitting. I will be painting the inside of the cab and the firewall soon as well. it will look like a POS on the outside, but be show quality underneath and inside. I will be adding an 8 point rollcage also which posed a major problem to my idea. how would I explain/hide the 2 bars running through the back window into the bed? the idea came from my son while watching the movie "Cars". he saw Tow Mater and said "daddy's truck" then it hit me. I will add a fake tow hook arrangement tied off of the bars to give me an excuse for having them there. plus still fitting the theme

I am also looking at running one of the On3 Performance 76mm units in a single front mounted setup off the truck manifolds. I have PLENTY of engine bay room, so routing shouldn't be an issue. I will just have to get creative about keeping the whistling and "pssshht" sounds quiet. since junkyard 327's don't normally make those sounds lol

ttranssam

iTrader: (10)

badass i like the idea!!! ive wanted to do a "junker" for some time

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

thanks. the funny thing is, everyone knows my trans am. so I will start talking alot of $*it about it and bring it out on a trailer behind the truck. then laugh at people when they challenge me and say they can't even beat the truck I towed it out there with lol. they'll never see it coming. 9 second truck towing a 12 second car haha

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

made a little progress lately. got the cab painted inside and out. just a quick no prep spray job, yet it came out fairly well I think. I was actually hoping the paint was justa base coat but it ended up being gloss single stage. oh well. then I got the engine and trans set into place and got my mounts fabbed up. re-assembled all the dash and interior pieces and the truck's wiring harness. next will be making the 5.3 harness connect to the truck's harness. PCM will be mounted inside the cab under the dash, and wiring harness will pass through the factory clutch rod hole. I got the hydraulic clutch master cylinder mounted and connected tot he pedal, and cleaned up and installed the hydro-boost system as well

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

also replaced the passenger window regulator so both windows now operate smoothly. got the shifter location marked out, just wanting to be sure of everything before I make the big dreaded cut in the floor. also made a firewall block off for the heater core

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

got a little more done last night. sorted out the wiring harness. removed all the unnecessary pins from the PCM and removed them fromt he harness. then located my PCM and ran the wiring accordingly and started retaping and looming the harness to fit. still have a few connectors that I can do away with and a little more sorting out, but I wanted to get everything pretty well in place so I knew what could go and what needed to stay

RedRocketZ28

iTrader: (19)

Nice work. This will be awesome when it's done.

02anti_vnm

iTrader: (32)

I like this, cant wait to see the finished product!

RacerXLs1

iTrader: (14)

Love it, my dad is hell bent on a old school ls1 truck

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

thanks for the encouraging words guys. when all my friend asked me why I chose an old truck for my build, I told them I didn't want to have fitment issues or engine bay constraints. well now they are starting to appreciate that as they are running into problems with their builds. I was amazed how the motor sat right in place. I fabbed up mounts on the factory crossmember so I can use the stock 5.3 truck mounts. the stock truck oilpan clears perfectly too. haven't taken pics last couple days because I have been playing with wiring still and running new fuel lines, brake lines etc. things that don't have much visual representation. still gotta do another once-over on the harness and clear out some more unneeded things. I was just afraid to strip out too much. now I am able to put the harness on the engine and see where all my hookups are that I know I need, and I can weed through the rest. so, still more wiring in my future but I still think it will be worth it. oh one more note is that I will be using the factory truck gauges. only one I won't be able to make work unfortunately is the speedo because it is cable and the trans I have was only available in electric. I know there is a company who makes a converter box for this, but that may be a later purchase. I want to get the thing running first

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

well, got the truck about 90% assembled to get an idea of how it will all look when it's together. I say, it is about the last thing you would expect to find a turbo LS motor hiding in . started the rollcage as well, going to talk with a local chassis builder monday to answer a few questions I had about what I can and can't do before I get too in depth into it though

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

little update here. finished all the wiring, put power to it yesterday to test out a few things. picked up the fittings I needed to finish plumbing the fuel system. also picked up a starter and alternator for it. tomorrow I need to get starter bolts, finish up a couple connections, then put some fuel in it and see if it starts. should be an interesting day!

a4ls2goat

VERY nice .

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

^ GTFO spammer

any ways, haven't messed much with this last few weeks. been dealing with some personal issues that may unfortunately force me to sell this. but for now, I did get it to crank and run, albeit for just a few seconds because I forgot to have the VATS tuned out. I have a friend coming over to put his HP tuners on it and get around it and set a baseline tune. it is setup to run open loop speed density so it will be ready to accept lots of boost when the time comes

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

progress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G24S...ature=youtu.be

Verz

iTrader: (21)

Goodness gracious great ***** of fire haha. Congrats on getting it fired up

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

lol, it surprised me a little to say the least. got a few bugs to work out of it, but it has been a huge motivation to work on it again just hearing it run

Rickys S/C Z28

iTrader: (13)

hell yes man!!! bad ***

KILLER-LS1

iTrader: (18)

for keeping down the turbo noise... run the wastegate dump tube back into the downpipe. On the BOV, you can run a recirculating BOV, or if youre using a vent to atmosphere BOV, you can put a wrist sweatband around the BOV to keep the niose down, although this will hurt the flow a bit. Also locate the BOV where is is hiddne to muffle the niose (behind bumper or fender, etc.)

also, a short tube between the turbo and the air filter will help a little bit, and you can hide the filter like the BOV to keep the spool sound quiter!

Good job on the project so far!

badhombre

iTrader: (4)

thanks for the ideas. have already been considering some of those things. I helped my friend build a nasty turbo geo and used alot of those same tricks. he even went as far as to tuck the intercooler behind the bumper and paint it, the couplers, clamps, pipes and everything black. so standing in front of the car looking at it you can't tell. he hid his AFR and Boost gauges as well. it is a money maker for sure. same idea going into this one, just a little more extreme