1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build

[my4by2]

Here are pics of my 77 K30 after I purchased it & before any work had begun on it. It's an original CA truck & has been there all it's life - I am the 3rd owner from what I can gather.

[my4by2]

Here are the 3 seperate renderings of my truck I had done by Ryan Curtis of SIN-Customs to see what my truck is going to come out looking like.
The truck is being built by WFO Concepts in Auburn, CA & is getting a lot of custom touches including custom badges from Billet Badges.
I decided to go with a 2008 GMC 6.0L LY6 engine that had only 3,700 miles as well as a new GM NV4500 5-speed rather than the stock 454 big block & SM465 4-speed although both were in tip-top shape.
It's also getting an '05 rear 14-bolt axle with factory disc brakes - 4.10 gears & Eaton posi. The front axle is the stock Dana 60 that has been fully rebuilt & has Mile Marker stainless hubs. Both axles are getting Mag-Hytec covers & full powdercoat (as well as the frame).
I am going back with a Skyjacker 2.5" lift (front & rear replacement springs) over the older Pro Comp 3" currently on it, but getting a crossover steering set-up, Offroad Design shackles, custom built tie-rod assemblies & custom rear torque arms among other things!
It's gonna be my daily driver & one sweet ride!

[my4by2]

Here are some recent pics of the build process. No work has been done on body or interior - focus right now is on frame, steering, brakes & driveline. Rear axle isn't finished in these pics so no powdercoat or new diff cover...

[my4by2]

Oh, we also decided to ditch the factory dual tanks in favor of a custom fabricated 35-40 gallon unit they will install between the rear frame rails. We'll be shaving the current fuel filler locations & installing a late model Suburban gas door behind the left rear wheel well for a cleaner look.

[spudz]

Wow really nice!

[TheWhiteElephant]

Awesome. I saw a similar one on ebay a while back.

[my4by2]

Thanks for the great comments! I am hoping that it lives up to all my dreams of it!!! That may have been my truck you saw on eBay as that's where I bought it from a while back. Never even got to see the truck until I flew out to the shop last month while I was home on vacation. Will be posting more pics as Trevor sends them to me!

[my4by2]

Here's a pic of my new fabricated transmission crossmember test fit prior to going out to powdercoat. This shop has some killer fabrication skills!
Also a few shots of my almost fully gutted interior. Basically everything is getting replaced & going back with a set of custom Corbeau Moab seats in the front then custom covering the rear to match those.
Passenger floor pan had some rust issues due to a poor clean up job from a heater core leak at some time in the trucks history... No biggie though - getting a whole new pan on that side from LMC Truck!

[my4by2]

Here's a pic of the custom billet badge I am having made by Billet Badges (design courtesy of Ryan Curtis) - it's based off of a stock Custom Deluxe badge (also pictured). Billet Badges is also making me a set of replacement badges for the cab side "3+3", but it's gonna get changed to say "4x4" & have polished aluminum accents to match this other badge.
Also included a shot of the Corbeau seats I had made - they are all vinyl as I am not into leather & don't want to worry about stains or the like with cloth! The flooring is gonna be rubber as well so this truck can actually get dirty when it needs too! Of course it'll have a nice layer of Dynamat under it to soak up the road noise a bit!

[my4by2]

Some additional pics of previous progress shots - Dana 60 in process of rebuild, NP205 transfer case after rebuild with billet "goodies", Pacific Fab LS engine crossmember prior to frame powdercoat, initial engine test fit in frame with new Street & Performance mid-length headers installed.

[Pullin81]

he dude thanks for checkin my truck out....that looked like a very clean truck to start with nice find...and nice build so far ill be keeing my eye on this rig..

[Mattman2010]

Definitely going to be following this one. This is going to look awesome!

[thirdstreettito]

Nice truck! Why a 6.0 and not a Cummins or Duramax?

[my4by2]

My original thoughts were to go with a Cummins 4BTA engine - I absolutely love the Cummins engines & actually got rid of an '07 Ram 3500 with the 5.9L to start this truck... Thing is with the diesel is I would have gone back down the same road I did with the Ram - continually modifying it for more power! It's freaking addictive once you start doing all that...
I did do a lot of research on it & it was hard to get a good solid road map as to what I wanted done & to what extent. I have always liked the way the GM 6.0L gas engines drove in the 2500HD trucks & since they are so plentiful and easy to drop in I decided to go that route. And one other added benefit - this engine weighs a LOT less than a heavy Cummins!!!
The engine won't really be "stock" per say though as it'll have mid-length headers, a K&N intake kit & is getting a full custom tune done by a GM specialist that will knock out all the extra BS & emissions crap I don't need on this truck.

[my4by2]

Here's a couple of pics of the gauge cluster I had built out of two seperate clusters by Shannon at Redline Gauge Works. First shot is of the left side of the completed cluster before they got the tach work done - all the gauges have new modern internals specific for the 6.0L LS motor - the clock is an N.O.S. part I scored on eBay!
Second pic is of the finished tach from another cluster installed. It also has all modern internals & was converted from a 4,000rpm diesel tach. I choose this one mainly for the fact that it has the fuel gauge built into it which you really don't see all that much!
All the internal bulbs were converted to LED to match the rest of the truck so it should look really good once installed. Also got an all new bezel from LMC Truck to compliment it. Will post installed pics down the road when we reach that point of the build.

[my4by2]

Here's some shots of the numerous shelves of parts the poor shop accumulated when I went on an ordering frenzy at the beginning of the project... Couldn't help myself & didn't want them having to wait on parts to come in as they went along! Hindsight being what it is, I would've let them order them as they went along, but oh well huh...

[my4by2]

Here's a generic shot of the wheels I am going with. They are Mickey Thompson Classic Lock's. They will have the polished aluminum beadlock rings removed & then be powercoated black to match everything else. Should look hot with the polished rings re-installed as well as the chrome lugs & center caps!!!

[GmtGmt]

Where did you buy thoese poly engine mounts?

[my4by2]

Trevor at the shop ordered them, but if I am not mistaken they came as part of the Pacific Fab LS crossmember kit.

[lolife99]

I'm not a 4x4 guy at all,... but this truck is COOL.

[my4by2]

Thanks a lot man! I somewhat prefer 2WD's most of the time too, but need the capability at times that only the 4WD can offer, so that's what I went with.

[my4by2]

Nothing new to post this week unfortunately.... Last of the wheels should be at the shop come Monday, so hopefully they'll be at powdercoat soon after. Floor pans are in, so that should get done this week as well. Most of the steering linkage is fab'd I am just waiting to get pics of it to post on here...

[Devillusion]

Wow..nice build so far. I'll be taking notes when I build mine. Keep up the great work!

[3r!c84]

build looks great!!!

[nbpro]

WOW sweet build man Merry Christmas to all, and a happy New Year