Bagged 82 from New Zealand

[NZSquare]

I thought Id better do a build thread, most of the info I got was from this forum and has been a massive help, so if someone reads this and learns from what I copied off others job done.

So I got me an 82 longbed c10, brush painted with red-oxide primer and a thrown together 350 in it, I was overseas at the time so my cousin went to look at it and when I called him to see what he saw he had bought it.




It was going to be a few months before I got back to NZ and hes an engineer/ hot rodder so he started it, my instructions were bag it and 4 link it, it needs to be low and sent him some pics, after a year or so I got back and he had it looking like this:

[NZSquare]

I was super happy with the work, they had pulled everything off it and it drove awesome, fully rebuilt the motor and all but it wasnt low enough for me so I re-did the back :

[NZSquare]

Few more shots of the back



extended and raised the guards



and slapped them in



covered the notch



SO it sat like this for a while ( a month )




more to come !!

[NZSquare]

So then it was time for a sectioned front crossmember, I had looked at the bolt in route but couldnt justify the expense (shipping near doubled the cost), I didnt have a problem with my steering or track width, and didnt need to lay out on a 22" wheel. So I went with Captain Kaos's instructions and they worked a treat. I should add the main reason I went for this and not a Z is I will probably go the bolt in option one day.



I used steering Universals sent from Scotts Hot Rods, pic taken before the bearing support went in



The only issue I really ran into with the crossmember was the lower arms, Ive heard of people on here trimming them for clearance but in my opinion the amount required would render them unsafe so I sucked it up and got some CPP tubular arms and am stoked with them



I trimmed the bumpstop mount pad down about 3/4" from stock, to allow them to sit flatter and me to run a decent height bumpstop



they sure fixed my steering/ arm clearance issues.

[NZSquare]

So then to the donk (engine in NZ not monte carlo on 28's as it is there I guess)
My plan from the start had always been to go diesel, we have a bunch of cheap used import engines that make good power and I want to have a crack at refining my own fuel for it, the rebuilt 350 in the truck was great fun and sounded fantastic but I never used all the power it had.
The engine I went for is a toyota (remembering duramax's are made by Isuzu) 1KZTE, 3.0 litre turbo 4 holer. I ripped all the electrickery off and had a guy build me a mechanical fuel control which allows for more tuneability and power increase, without being to fussy on what sort of fuel you're running through it ( diesel, kerosene, waste oil, biodiesel etc)
Stock the power numbers are pretty pitiful but they go good, it'll still do burnouts. torque and HP is identical to 6.2 chev at 500 rpm higher or something. With the mods this one will make a fair bit more.
Gearbox is a 3 speed with OD, factory toyota box which they use in the twin turbo supras etc, and same as the a340LE in jeep cherokees. It is normally controlled via the engine ECU so I made a control box and now its manually shifted through the chev column shifter



My cousin wasnt to happy but I'll keep the 350 for a boat.

New box crossmember



Here she is all done with york mounted



ALl I have to do is add an electric fan and an intercooler which will clean the engine bay up a heap, I dont like that intake crossover pipe

[NZSquare]

I dont have any decent photos but I also put a 16 gallon summit fuel cell between the frame rails at the back ( Like how the performance online ones sit) after my stock tank had an argument with a rock and lost. I also added and accuair vu-4 to replace the POS chassis-tech manifold that was in there, gone from dropping 10psi in 5 minutes to losing 5 overnight, its a very nice bit of gear that vu-4.

So then on went the wheels, 20" dodge steelies I got from Ebay, shipped them to a wheel builder here in NZ and he cut the centres out and made and fitted new ones with the right hub diameter, BCD and nut taper, they came out fantastic in my opinion, just the look I was after



The truck is still sitting about 1" high out back and 2" up front, when I get to it I'll install the drop spindles and it'll lay out front and back no problem.

I may get the tyres striped to, what do you guys reckon ?



Overall Im real happy with how its coming along, its drives awesome and stops traffic, there's nothing like it round where I live.

Once again thanks to all those who have posted on this message board for all to see, I'd be lost without your guidance.

[NZSquare]

What did I do to get thumbs down ? man tough crowd, or did I mash the keys wrong ?

[Restrorob]

Not a tough crowd at all, You clicked on the thumbs down below your first post reply box..... Contact a moderator and they can change it for you.

Nice job and good looking rig !!!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by NZSquare

What did I do to get thumbs down ? man tough crowd, or did I mash the keys wrong ?

I fixed it for you. Nice project for sure. Keep the pics coming...

[NZSquare]

Thanks N2trux,

and I saw your rig in the NZV8 mag dr damage, amazing pics, I love how people assume the bay is all filler, must be hundreds of hours in it. Hows it running ? I was going to get up to beach hop next year but getting hitched instead so maybe year after.

Anyway got mine all legal and put some miles on it, worked a couple of bugs out, one being a broken hose clamp on a fuel line which took some swearing to figure out, then took it for an 800 mile trip last weekend, went great, was getting around 28mpg with my foot up it.

Only drama was about 10pm last friday night driving along and hear a bang and rumble in the back, then get out and see the wheels have shifted back in the wheel wells and the pumpkin pointing skywards, turned out to be a broken rod end at the front of my 3-link, it was mild steel and should never have been in there but I missed it/didn't know as did 2 certifiers, anyway replaced all 3 with chromoly ones and that was that. I was able to strap the wishbone to the crossmember underneath and nurse it to the next town where they had a stockcar race supplies shop.



also put an intercooler up front, I cut too much out of the grille so will get another one and do that again but it sits in there good and I can feel the difference in power ( if thats the word for this engine ). Also made a new inlet etc to get rid of the unused throttle body and crossover pipe.





so heres how she sits now, the whitewalls are gone but the height Im happy with, bumpstops are set so it'll drive if a bag or line blows but it will lay flat if I pull them out







so its done for now, our summer. Over all Im real happy with how it drives, engine Im stoked with, its no fun to drive though, it goes great and I can still pass cars and drag off trucks up hills but with the flat torque curve of the diesel its just all noise, sounds like a big angry vacuum cleaner.

next on the list is just pick away at tidying the engine bay, make some decent inner guards and get rid of the a/c etc. The maybe hardline it next winter.

[NZSquare]

Well Ive put some miles on this thing, its the middle of summer here in New Zealand so took it to a show, Muscle Car Madness just out of Christchurch, hell of a weekend, 3 days of camping on site.



No major developments, I got rid of the a/c exchanger in the engine bay which cleaned it up a bit, just made a shroud for the heater fan. Before and after:





ANd also had the all too familar bang rumble rumble as I had with it a few months back, last time it was a mild steel rod end giving up, this time it was one of the welds on the wishbone, I did a bit of digging and this is the only part left in it that wasn't built for it.
It came out of a kit from the states, the wishbone just had nuts welded onto the ends of some pipe sections and the wleds had'nt come close to penetrating. So it failed and I made another one with some proper threaded bungs and got it TIG welded by a local outfit, hopefully that'll be the last I hear from it.

Other than that its been running like a champ, drew more than a few puzzled looks at the show, mainly because of the height but also the engine, but generally everyone I talked to loved it.

[bondo510]

Nice truck! I like what you have done!

[Pop's C-10]

plus ypu posted in tha middle of tha night..not much traffic around here @ 2 a.m.

[menace121978]

nice build bud! heck of a transformation

[lolife99]

COOL truck!
Totally different from trucks here.

So,... what's next?

[babyJay]

Nice. Is that a naked girl in the truck?

[harnalien]

Looks great. I like the wheels a lot!
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[bharrison1]

Very cool!!!!!

[54Caddy]

nice i say get the stripes on the tires it looks clean. good work man.

[tazman87]

some nice thick white walls would do the trick.

truck looks amazing good job!

[NZSquare]

Thanks guys,

I drive the thing a fair bit and didn't want to have to worry about the paint to much hence the black (its a PPG 2 pack satin), I may spray it the factory brown one day like that 'brown bag' truck was.

And yes she does look naked, but I think shes just wearing her bikini.

That shot is from a govt subsidized biodiesel pump we have in town, its a publicity gimmick but I care not as the fuel is alot cheaper than from the gas station, we pay around $5.75 US a gallon for 96 octane, diesel about $4 US a gallon.

As far as next goes I need to tidy up the engine bay, remove the a/c, make some better inner guards (just trailer ones in there now), but I need something fast to tow behind it, and am think a turbine powered drag car, Im a helicopter engineer by trade and am alot more comfortable working on turbines than on piston engines.

[thirdstreettito]

Awesome truck! Lovin the Dodge steelies!

[mooseknuckles]

awesome truck.....very cool build!

[3r!c84]

looks good man!!!

[kev2809]

i like it! def stripe the tires. what did you use to paint the rims?