68' GMC Build from Sweden

[LowLifeS10]

Originally Posted by Delmo

Cool truck, nice clean work.

Thank you!

I followed your built and its really looking good! Your wheels inspired us to go with smoothies. Like that alot
Posted via Mobile Device

[ramega]

Love those wooden whells

[LowLifeS10]

well, something happend...

lil work was made on the cab...








The engine sits wery well in its place.




the front cross sill was cleaned up and then we made new brackets for the bed sides and it also got some sheets on it.






Body work (hate it)




Right now we´re making some mounts for the air tanks

[dmw319]

very nicely done! love watching the progress

[chevynova22602]

Keep up the good work its looking good. That's all so a nice looking dime in the background
Posted via Mobile Device

[LowLifeS10]

thanks guys, happy that you follow this build and like what you´re seeing. Response is allways good!!

One more update for today...

[LowLifeS10]

the air tanks brackets are done.



[IMG][/IMG]


And here you can see the trac bar in place.




And here you get the whole picture.

[duallyjams]

nice progress

[LowLifeS10]

I always get to lazy to update the progress. Its a slow going project cause everything take its time and orders and deliveries to sweden can take loooong time, especially when you order one thing and gets something else.

Anyways. I'll post some progress pics (may not be in right order).

Fuel cell in place.

Mounts for the compressors.





Headers from Hooker:


Serpentine kit from March Performence:


Started with the exhaust:








But the thing is, we're looking for an LS1 5,7 instead so all this chrome and so will be put aside.

[LowLifeS10]

Got the Porterbuilt hood hinges installed yesterday

[LowLifeS10]

Got an high hump instead of the original one we had.

[LowLifeS10]

Got a bracket made for the Accuair valve and then welded on to one of the air tanks:







couple of more holes to fill.



Rust:






A box of goodies came in one the.

new 13" disc brakes and a pair of 2.5" dropped spindles (and ofc they sent us wrong ones.)




chrome power steering pump

[LowLifeS10]

We've also started with the dash. This is just a template made off aluminium, I'll get one in metal tomorrow with a few changes.










We also going to put an iPad mini in the dash.

random pics:

[LowLifeS10]

And we wanted to have a clean cowl (not finished yet)







And of course we wanted the one piece windows.





New chrome bumpers and wood floor.






This is the wheels we going to use. 20/22" combo centerline smoothis.



This is where it all slowed us down, cause we're not in the states everything takes its time to arrive here.

We make the order, through the place who ships our stuff to sweden. They call Centerline who needs 3 weeks to make the wheels and deliver it, then it takes 7-8 weeks to get to Sweden and 1 more week until we can get it.

When we at last gets the wheels, it has 5 lug instead of 6 lug that we need and to top it of, wrog tire size ^^

[LowLifeS10]

This is some of our latest progress on the truck. We hope to have it ready for next summer.

[LowLifeS10]

Im in search for an LS1 engine. Im no einstein when it comes to the engine side.

What would sit best in this truck with all porterbuild stuff and BD?

LS1 5,7l/53l with an 4l60e. From what car/truck should I get one off? Whats a great deal if I want one in good condition?

[67cheby]

Man, this is a beauty, I like what you are doing with it !

[LowLifeS10]

Originally Posted by 67cheby

Man, this is a beauty, I like what you are doing with it !

Thank you...its going too slow for my like, but I'll guess itll be finisihed sometime, hopefully next summer


your truck is truly amazing, I follow your builds and the new one is just awesome and you're working fast

[67cheby]

we will look forward to watching the progress ! And Thank you !

[Bigblueburban]

Originally Posted by LowLifeS10

Im in search for an LS1 engine. Im no einstein when it comes to the engine side.

What would sit best in this truck with all porterbuild stuff and BD?

LS1 5,7l/53l with an 4l60e. From what car/truck should I get one off? Whats a great deal if I want one in good condition?

Either the 5.3L from any of the chevy/GMC pickups or the 5.7L LS1 should work. The 5.3L was in I want to say the 01-06 chevy/GMC Silverado/Sierra and the 5.7L LS1 came in the 98-01 camaros and Trans Ams along with the 05 pontiac GTO. The 06-07 GTO had the 6.0L LS2. Ive seen the LS1 anywhere from 1000$ USD with transmission and up depending on the mileage. The 5.3L from the truck you can usually get for cheaper with transmission because they were out of the trucks, I almost bought one without an intake for 600$ USD. With a cam and the larger Intake manifold they can make a great amount of power.

This is an absolutely gorgeous build and I will definitely be following along.

[67anthony]

Great work

[Jon01]

Love the build!

A 5.3 is a truck motor, they came in any 1/2 ton GM truck/van from 99-present.
There are many varieties - iron block/aluminum heads, aluminum block & heads, different head castings, etc...
Best 5.3's are 05+ aluminum blocks out of Envoy/Trailblazers or 1/2 tons with the L33 option as they have the 799 heads(LS6).

5.7 is the aluminum LS1, it came in 98-02 F-bodies and 97-04 Corvettes.
There are some differences year to year, 97-98's have oddball computer/harnesses. Mid 01+ had LS6 intakes out of the gate which is worth 20rwhp.
There was also the 5.7 LS6 which came in 01-04 Z06's, 04-05 CTS-V's and 04 GTO's. LS1/6 are very similar short blocks but the heads/cam are different pieces. Due to the camshaft and cylinder head differences LS6's are a little soggier down low but really come on strong above 3,500rpm.
If you go with an LS1 I would recommend a 01/02 F-body setup due to the LS6 intake and improved electronics.

6.0 iron blocks were truck motors - LQ4/LQ9 and newer varieties of different designation.

6.0 aluminum blocks were LS2's - 05/06 GTO, 05-07 Corvettes, 06-07 CTS-V's and SSR's. These have LS6 heads, 90mm DBW t/b's and a few other minor tweaks.

6.2's are the latest generation of LS motors. They have rectangle port heads and a different intake design to support the new heads. These intake systems flow staggering amounts and can make some really good power #'s with mild additions.
The truck version (L92) came in the 07+ Escalade, Denali, Tahoe and some 1/2 ton trucks. Car varieties (LS3) are in the Camaro and base model C6.

More info is available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_LS_e...0.93present.29

Pricing - you will likely have to import a motor/trans from over here. I would suggest buying a very complete pullout with harness, accessories and all of the electronics(ECM, pedal, TAC module, all sensors, etc...) simply due to the distance and shipping cost issue.
You can get 5.3's for under $1,000 pretty easily but the newer models with more power can cost more.
350-375rwhp is about the most power you can get out of one of these motors.
You won't find an LS1 with reasonable miles complete with harness, accessories, etc...for under 2k unless there's something wrong with it.
I had one out of an 01 C5 with 80k on it, just a bare long block(no intake, covers, wiring, sensors, etc). I sold it on Craigslist for $850 within 3 days of listing it.
420rwhp is about the max you will get out of a stock headed LS1.
LS2's are pricier and harder to find. They do perform better though. It's easy to attain 450rwhp out of a cam/intake/exhaust LS2.

6.2's are the most expensive but give the most performance. 500rwhp is easy to get with the basic mods if you start with one out of a car(LS3) as the truck intake doesn't flow enough to support high rpm power.

I'm not going to get into the boosted motors that come in the ZL1, CTS-V and ZR1 as they are quite expensive.

One thing to keep in mind, the truck intakes are ugly unless you run the original covers on them.
To switch to a car intake requires car accessories($450-$500/set) plus the intake, plus the injector connectors, plus the fuel rails. It is about a $1,000 proposition. As such, it almost makes monetary sense to buy a car motor(LS1/2/3).
Also, F-bodies have a different accessory drive than Corvettes and CTS-V's.

If you're thinking about doing the swap I would recommend doing some reading over on LS1Tech in the conversions section. There is a lot of good information available in there as well as in the swaps section of this board.
In my opinion a Gen III/IV swap is a no brainer. Power, reliability, drivability and economy all far beyond what a 350 will give.

What to do really depends on your power/performance goals for the truck.
Are you going to be happy with ~350-400hp or do you want something that really moves out when you step on the happy pedal?

[LowLifeS10]

Thank for the comments

- Jon01

The main reasons why we want to change are to get an engine that's more reliable, runs cheaper and bit more hp than our 350 (160hp). 350hp is enough for this build so an LS1 5.7L will be great And we want it to look as clean and nice as possible so if I understood you right, an LS1 from a car is the best/cheapest way to go?

And thanks for all the info

[Jon01]

Glad it was useful!

If all you want is 350hp then an 01/02 F-body LS1 would do just fine and be very affordable while leaving you room to grow.
You could probably get a complete motor/trans dropout for around $2500, maybe $3000 depending on miles and if it has anything done to it.
I found one for a friend 2 winters ago out of a 99 with ~ 100k on it but 30k on the trans for $1800 but that was a screaming deal.

One out of an 04 GTO would work as well, they are LS6's so higher output and a slightly improved trans(4L65E). They can be harder to find but are about the same $ and have sometimes had easier lives...GTO's don't appeal to teenagers as much as F-bodies do.

Were I you, I would watch LS1tech for a complete pullout to come along. Get lots and lots of pictures and post them here for us to critique. The last thing you want to be doing is chasing small odds and ends when you're 1/2 way around the world!

[LowLifeS10]

Okay, we'll try to find one from an 04 GTO first and post pics if we find something interesting Thanks again.