Super Blue

[Portmod7]

Hi guys!

I've been "lurking" around for a while observing, commenting on the rare occasion that I feel like I've got something to contribute, and finally decided I would put up a build thread. I've learned so much from the people and their builds on this forum, hopefully there is some tidbit of information from what I have done on my truck that will help someone.

I got this truck back when I was in college, Sept. of '05. Bought it on ebay for 3k without looking at it in person. A buddy and I drove to Phoenix to pick it up, and was pretty happy with my purchase. My buddy started calling it "Super Blue", and the name stuck. Somebody did a little body work and paint at some point, not the nicest, but it works for what I wanted. Other than that, not too much had been messed with on the truck which was a big plus for me. I have no idea what the motor was (a smaller V-8 of some kind, may very well be the original) and a manual 3-speed on the column.

I drove the truck the way I got it for a little while. I was away at college, and left it at my parents house. But I was back and forth almost every weekend racing cars and other things. Spring break of '06 came along, and I had no plans, so I buddy and I decided it was time for a motor swap. My brother had a GM FastBurn 385 and TH350 automatic sitting around collecting dust, so I laid claim to those and swapped them in.

The truck stayed that way for the next couple of years while I finished school and continued to pursue a racing career. It mostly sat at my parents house, but whenever I would come home for a day or two, I would drive it. My wife even decided we needed to have it in our engagement pictures. The racing dried up at the end of '08, and I moved home. With nothing to occupy my free time, I decided I might as well do some suspension and drivetrain upgrades to my truck. Before I realized what was happening, I had a bare frame on one side of the shop, and all of the body on the other side of the shop. Then a racing deal I couldn't pass up came my way, and the truck sat and collected dust for two years. At the end of 2011, the racing had dried up again, and my focus has been on this truck.

I knew I wanted to lower it, and put some sort of low-profile wheel and tire combination on it. I also knew I wanted to DRIVE it when I got done, a daily driver was the plan. Because the body is straight-appearing with no real issues (except what appears to be a cheap, faded, DIY paint job), body work and paint was out of the question for me. The hardest part of this build for me was deciding what to do with the suspension. Being a race car driver and very comfortable behind the wheel, I drive my cars aggressively. Not that I speed excessively, or drive like I'm on a racetrack or a maniac, but I do take corners faster than most, shoot tighter gaps, and brake harder for shorter periods of time. So if I was going to build a truck for myself, I was going to keep all of that in mind.

Now that I can see light at the end of the tunnel, I pretty much know what will be on the truck when it's finished. Check my signature for the high points. I'm going to see what pictures I can find of the work I've done, and post them up in chronological order. Just a warning, most (if not all) of them are cell phone pictures, so they suck. But at least I've got SOMETHING, that's a big feat for me!

[Portmod7]

So, when I started pulling the body off the frame, I started with the front clip and bed. I just wanted them out of the way for the suspension and drivetrain work. Well, I got to looking at the floorboard of the cab, and corners, and decided that I needed to do a little rust repair, so it came off too.

The rockers had been replaced at some point, and because of my "no paint" plan, I didn't want to mess with them any more than I had to. With the new complete floors on the market, I decided my best bet was to replace the entire floor of the cab rather than patch in the pieces I wanted to replace. That was my first rust repair adventure, but all in all it went well.

I'll have to look for my pictures, I was sure I had some of the repairs, but right now all I can find is pictures of what needed repaired. I ended up putting a Goodmark floor in, front corners, rear door pillars, and kick panels.

When I was done I sprayed the bottom with AL's Liner to protect it, and also to help keep the cab a little quieter.

[Portmod7]

There was wood in the bed when I got it, but it was just 1x6's laid in, and screwed to the cross sills, no bed strips at all. In that process of pulling the bed off, I learned that the only thing holding the bed to the frame was the step braces in the front of the wheel wells. Looking back, I don't see how in the world it stayed on.

Again, because I wanted a faded out driver, I didn't want "nice" wood in the bed. Before this truck, I had one just like it in high school. I had put new wood in that truck that I tried to put a nice finish on. Well, the finish did no hold up at all, and deteriorated away. I ended up rear ending a lady with that truck, and was so disgusted that I had messed the grille up (couldn't get reproductions at that time) I sold the truck to a friend of mine rather than fix it. Well, when I started working on the bed for this truck, I asked him about the wood out of the bed on the truck I sold him. He had completely disassembled my old truck, but still had the wood sitting around. So I went and got the wood, bought some new bed strips, went and got the paint on the tailgate matched and had some put in rattle cans, and put the sun faded wood in the bed of Super Blue.

The strips have nice shiny paint on them, but since I plan to use this truck as a truck and haul stuff, hopefully the strips won't be shiny and new looking for too long.

[Portmod7]

Originally Posted by MJs69CST

Bed looks great! A lot of hard work so far, keep it up!

Thank you!

I went home and was able to find a few more pictures on another computer. The floor had been patched in the past. My goal for the repairs was to make the cab a little more solid. I should have done more work to make it "right", but I was trying to draw the line somewhere. It really needed rear corners, better repair on the rear pillars, and the cowl needs a little repair too. The cab should be much more structurally solid now, and that's what I told myself the goal was. This really is a let down with out more "repaired" pictures, but I can't seem to locate any. I'll have to try to get a few before I put the front clip on.

[Portmod7]

Here's one of the new floor back in it, before the Al's Liner was sprayed on. It was such a HUGE relief to have this part of the project DONE. I absolutely HATE rust repair.

[Portmod7]

Jerked the motor out too. I wasn't sure what was going back in here at the time, so I just pulled it all. Didn't even disconnect the radiator, which seems really dumb now. I hate draining the cooling system because it always seems like it makes a HUGE mess. As hard as I try, I always end up with a big puddle of coolant under the vehicle, and I didn't want to work in it, so yeah...

[gringoloco]

LOVE this truck! Great work so far- shift linkage, exhaust, and 'watts' link all look good. I'll be watching this one...

Have fun with the MegaSquirt- there's definitely a learning curve, but it will pay off when you can say you did it completely yourself. Really like the direction you're headed with the paint and wood floor, too. What's the plan for wheels?

Sent you a PM for some info

[Portmod7]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

LOVE this truck! Great work so far- shift linkage, exhaust, and 'watts' link all look good. I'll be watching this one...

Have fun with the MegaSquirt- there's definitely a learning curve, but it will pay off when you can say you did it completely yourself. Really like the direction you're headed with the paint and wood floor, too. What's the plan for wheels?

Sent you a PM for some info

Thanks for the kind words!

I am EXCITED about the MegaSquirt for sure. Ought to be a heck of an experience, ha ha.

I am 99% sure what I want for wheels. Going to go with Eagle 225's in 20x8.5. I've always loved the Intro Pentia's, but those are EXPENSIVE. No doubt they are worth it, but probably not for this project. So this is a great alternative for me. The truck below is one of my favorites, and I really like the way the wheels look against the patina. So that's kind of what I'm shooting for.

I say 99% because a small part of me want to run some Coy's or Boss 338's. Also, the Eagle 225's only come in 4.5" and 5" BS. 5" is perfect for the rear of my truck, my rear end is going to end up being 62-1/2" wide, 1/2" wider than the "narrow" rear ends that came in these trucks. Typically it looks like 4.75 BS is what you want, so I should be perfect. But on the front, I'm not sure if the 5" BS is going to get it done. Everybody seems to be running around 5.5 or so. BUT, my front end is different than everybody I've been able to compare to, so I'm just going to have to do some measuring. I know for sure my lower control arms are 1" shorter, and I think my spindles are the new CPP version that are supposed to keep the front end narrow.

Sent you a PM back. Hope it helps. Let me know if I can get you any more information.

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I also made a little progress last night. The MegaSquirt has the option of assembling what they call the "Stimulator" to use as a tool when you are building the main computer. The Stimulator basically simulates an engine with all the O2, Idle Air, TPS, etc. sensors. You plug it into your ECU, then plug the ECU into your computer, and watch how the ECU responds to the input it's getting from the Stimulator. The Stimulator uses POT's to simulate all the sensors so that you can vary the signal back to the ECU to make sure it's responding as it should. Pretty cool!

You build the Stimulator, just as you build the ECU. The kit comes with a clear board, bags of resistors, capacitors, and other pieces. Then you follow the directions to solder the whole thing together. It was really pretty straight forward, and fun. I had never soldered anything before, and starting out was a challenge. But after I had made 10 or so solders, I really got the hang of it, and cruised through the project. I didn't bridge any connections or have to repair anything after I was done. And best I can tell, I didn't get any cold joints either.

So far, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who's got the interest and the patience to do a project like this.

[gringoloco]

Nice work on the MS and I think the 225s will look great- perfect alternative to big$ billets. Pretty sure that Hot Rod City truck is on most people's top 10 list Sounds like the 5" BS will work out well for you, assuming your front track-width is narrowed as much as you think it is. Thanks again for the shock info- I think they will work out for my app. Good luck!

[VA72C10]

Great story and great build! Looking forward to following along as you button it up and get it on the road!

[Tinkermc]

man I'm hooked great build so far and like most all choices, will have to keep watching

[n2billet]

I love the mechanical feel to this build plus all the top notch parts used!

[thor]

very cool!

[72chevynoob]

Awesome transmission linkages! Def. subscribed!
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[Portmod7]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Nice work on the MS and I think the 225s will look great- perfect alternative to big$ billets. Pretty sure that Hot Rod City truck is on most people's top 10 list Sounds like the 5" BS will work out well for you, assuming your front track-width is narrowed as much as you think it is. Thanks again for the shock info- I think they will work out for my app. Good luck!

I've got a friend who is all about the shine of the paint, and I don't think he'd like the Hot Rod City truck at all. Makes me wonder what the heck is wrong with him and how we've remained friends, ha ha! Glad I could help with the shocks!

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Great story and great build! Looking forward to following along as you button it up and get it on the road!

Thank you! It feels like it's so close, then I get done with a days worth of little projects and it seems like nothings happened overall, but it's getting there!

Originally Posted by Tinkermc

man I'm hooked great build so far and like most all choices, will have to keep watching

Thank you!

Originally Posted by n2billet

I love the mechanical feel to this build plus all the top notch parts used!

Thank you! Mechanical is where my mind is for sure. I'm not much of an artist or creative thinker, but when it comes to the mechanical end my mind really gets carried away.

Originally Posted by thor

very cool!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by 72chevynoob

Awesome transmission linkages! Def. subscribed!
Posted via Mobile Device

Thank you! I hope they function well going down the road, it's going to be a blast to drive if they do.

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Not much of an update, but I got about a 1/3 of my ECU built/soldered/constructed. Was able to test the power circuits and everything checked out, I guess I melted solder in the right holes!

I got off work early today, so I'm headed to grab lunch with a friend. Then to the shop I go to hopefully assemble most of the interior. Hoping to have some good progress pictures to share tonight or tomorrow!

[Portmod7]

Alright, I got some quick "after" pictures the other day before I put my floormat in. No more rust in the floor, kick panels, or the front corners of the cab. Mission accomplished. Plus, I didn't have to pull the rockers off, icing on the cake.

As you can see, I put FatMat down and tried to cover the flat portions of sheet metal, as well as some other areas. I've never really messed with this stuff before, and I didn't find it very enjoyable. But, I do want the cab to be as quiet as possible, so I felt it was necessary. My only word of caution is that when you get ready to stick this stuff, BE READY, because it really sticks. I'm not very impressed with the quality of the job I did, but it ought to get the job done and it's under the floormat anyway. I will do one nicer than this one day.

I decided to go with the vacuum molded vinyl from LMC, which comes with the insulation pad you see in the pictures. No pictures of that just yet, I'm still trying to get it to smooth out. What a PAIN this thing was. It requires a fair amount of trimming and because of the way they package it for shipping, it arrives with some serious creases that make it tough to fit it to the floorboard, much less get it to lay flat. My best advice, go to member Bruce88's "It's Just A Pickup" thread and start at post #556. He did an excellent job of explaining how to install one of these.

I also put in a new firewall insulation pad assembly from GMC Paul's while I was under there. The original had been soaked in brake fluid from a leaking master cylinder. This thing would have been much easier to install with the stuff behind the dash removed, but I managed to get it in there.

[Portmod7]

More Pictures......

[67cheby]

WOW....great stuff !

[67swb72klb]

count me in cool 4 speed on the column

[gringoloco]

Rust repairs look good! You're putting in some time, for sure
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[tantrumpipeline]

I'm in to watch this build, cool start

[Bennett68C10]

Very nice, I'm in to see how his turns out
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[TchncnDen]

When I started my build I looked into the Megasquirt and found it really interesting. I really wanted to do a Northstar engine for the wow factor but I decided to go the easy way and through in an LS. Since I went to school for electronics I had to download the source code, schematics, instructions and everything else they have on their site,which is a LOT. It's just so cool I'm sure I'll have to get one someday just to play with.

[JamesRKing72]

Wow, Nice looking truck. Great job on all of it so far. Rock On!

[Tyler71385]

I'm in. Looks great. Love the racing goodies!!