"The Ayatollah of Rusty Hole'a 1987 SWB 6.0 4L80E

[Gordonr1973]

Lots been happening the last few weeks and time has been tight...so I've been doing things instead of updating this build thread.

First is I got my frame back from the sandblaster.

I think it looks pretty good. I still need to pull apart the front axle and get some of the pieces touched up before I prime and paint it....

[Gordonr1973]

Oh, I forgot to mention....my motor and tranny showed up the other day.

Do they look familiar to anybody? Anybody??

Both are 2003's...Tranny has 14,000 miles on it, motor has 40,000 miles on it so I'll freshen them up only, no total rebuilds on these needed yet.

[nbpro]

sweet looking project man. like the way you showed attention to detail, very nice work.

[89muscletruck]

that is effin sweet, 6.0L?

[Gordonr1973]

Originally Posted by 89muscletruck

that is effin sweet, 6.0L?

You betcha!

LQ9 6.0L & 4L80

We are going to see exactly how much these swaps cost in Canadian dollars....

[89muscletruck]

Be sure to post lots of pics for the engine swap! Going to be living vicariously through your build, I so want to do this in my 94 one day.......
In the mean time It will definitely be a good thing to know the cost in CDN$
Where did you score the engine from, and what was its original home?

[80chevyshortbox]

awsome build! good to see another canadian on hear to hahah. what are you thinking for ride hight are you going lower or stock?

[Gordonr1973]

Originally Posted by 89muscletruck

Be sure to post lots of pics for the engine swap! Going to be living vicariously through your build, I so want to do this in my 94 one day.......
In the mean time It will definitely be a good thing to know the cost in CDN$
Where did you score the engine from, and what was its original home?

I got it through a wrecker in my hometown outside of Edmonton that I've dealt with in the past. It came out of a 2003 Chev SS truck but I don't think he had the truck on site as it took a while to get shipped in. I did call around though and most places had the LQ4 which is similar, but I wanted the LQ9 which has a bit more HP and I wasn't looking to do any power improvements to the truck yet --- I just want to get it together and painted, then finish my '98 next summer.

I'm keeping a list of my costs on this and where I got everything from, so at the half way point I'll post it and then again at the end when its done.

[Gordonr1973]

Originally Posted by 80chevyshortbox

awsome build! good to see another canadian on hear to hahah. what are you thinking for ride hight are you going lower or stock?

I had a set of 3" front drop spindles & 4" rear shackles and hangers on my parts truck that I'm going to clean up and use on this one.

I do not want to do a flip on this truck --- I 'll see how it lays and then I might pull the overload leaf out too for another 3/4 inch drop. Will see how that goes.

[Gordonr1973]

I finally feel like I'm done the first chapter of this build --- tear down is now complete (other than the front axle).

It is down to the frame which will get primed tomorrow if I can get the temp up in the garage. The photo is on my deck and that's what we are getting up here today.... it's -15'C here and dropping ---- don't ask me what that is in farenheit cuz I have no clue! Around 5 to 10'F ????

[Gordonr1973]

Little bit more done today....got the frame in primer. Looks okay....

And the tires showed up! Thank you TireTech.com!

Bought online for $91 & $92 apiece, up here they wanted $192 & $211 apiece, plus install & balancing!

Crazy price differences between the States & Canada!

[80chevyshortbox]

Originally Posted by Gordonr1973

I had a set of 3" front drop spindles & 4" rear shackles and hangers on my parts truck that I'm going to clean up and use on this one.

I do not want to do a flip on this truck --- I 'll see how it lays and then I might pull the overload leaf out too for another 3/4 inch drop. Will see how that goes.

ya i love the look of just a hanger/shackle combo there is a truck just down the road from me with a drop like this and a nice little spoiler on the front bumper all have to snap a pic and post it up. its kinda sad tho he parks it out side all winter.

[89muscletruck]

Originally Posted by Gordonr1973

Little bit more done today....got the frame in primer. Looks okay....

And the tires showed up! Thank you TireTech.com!

Bought online for $91 & $92 apiece, up here they wanted $192 & $211 apiece, plus install & balancing!
Crazy price differences between the States & Canada!

nice steal, how much was it to get them shipped up here as well?
It seems that every time I find a deal like that the shipping makes the cost of buying the part from a local store nearly the same as the internet deal....
Plus this last snowfall has taught me that it is time for new tires! I almost didn't make it up the 105th street hill last night.

[Gordonr1973]

Here's what I did today....good news is the old bushings came out after only about 4 or 5 minutes in the fire so the metal wasn't too overheated....and everything is going back to the sandblaster tomorrow to get cleaned off!

[Gordonr1973]

Originally Posted by 89muscletruck

nice steal, how much was it to get them shipped up here as well?
It seems that every time I find a deal like that the shipping makes the cost of buying the part from a local store nearly the same as the internet deal....
Plus this last snowfall has taught me that it is time for new tires! I almost didn't make it up the 105th street hill last night.

Here's the total from the invoice:

Tires: $366.00
Prov Tire Tax: $16.00
GST: $20.10
Brokerage Fees: $20.00
Freight: $140.57

Total: $562.67 USD

Installation at the shop I go to: approximately an additional $125 to the tire cost, so all in all, I saved about $300 over buying the tires here.

[Gordonr1973]

Lots been going on the last few weeks...including being out of commission with a bad cold / flu this week.

But, I still got some things done. Finishing up painting the frame and alot of the bits and pieces. Some things arrived in the mail like my speaker holders, gauge brackets and my engine mounts from Dirty Dingo.

Will take more pics but the goal this weekend is to get the painting finished and bolt on alot of this stuff so I get some room back in the garage to do work!

[Gordonr1973]

Been doing a bit on it this week:

- bought some used rust-free powered doors that are pretty good shape
- got most of the major bits and pieces finally painted, so as soon as they get bolted back on I'll have more space around the garage
- Got the rear axle bolted on, started putting on the front axle

tbc...

[Gordonr1973]

... and:

- painted my power steering box the same way most of you on the board seem to paint yours ---- peer pressure got to me!

AND, I bought a set of used Foose rims. They are 22's and the tires are pretty good shape still, but may need to replace two of them.

They need a real good clean and polish, and I'm planning to get to them as soon as I can. I don't know if I will use them on this truck....If I do I'll definitely have to upgrade to a big brake kit and that's big $$$ out of the budget.

But what is really testing my patience is trying to get these Energy bushings back into the control arms.

I have a press, vice, sledge hammer, and nothing seems to be moving the bushings into the upper control arms.

I called a shop I dealth with in the past, they said they might be able to do them for me Friday, but I'll give it another go tomorrow just to see.

Any helpful hints on this?

[89muscletruck]

cool progress, and nice score on the doors. Those are some weird mirror extensions though.

[justpball]

looking good bro!

[Gordonr1973]

So, I got a bit more done....I had to clean the rims better, so into the tub they went when my wife was at work Thursday!

Don't tell her about that though!

[Gordonr1973]

Then today, I was trying to get alot done...

It's very hard to compress the springs to get the spindle on when there is no motor for weight on the frame!

Don't try this at home.

[Gordonr1973]

But then I got the spindles on and the brake covers too.

[Gordonr1973]

Next was the Belltech front and rear sway bars...not the easiest things to get on by yourself but they did get bolted up in the end!

[Gordonr1973]

Got the steering box bolted on too...and then I called it a day for today...

Going to be working on the transmission tomorrow!

(I'm a few bolts short for the front shocks and a couple other things, will get those on Monday and finish the suspension then)