Meet Ginger.

[thirdstreettito]

Cool beans man! Like having a new truck.

[Scot_Douglas]

What steering wheel is that? That is one of the nicest interiors I think I have seen. :drool:

[jimmydean]

Originally Posted by Scot_Douglas

What steering wheel is that? That is one of the nicest interiors I think I have seen. :drool:

Thanks! It is a 2008 Cadillac CTS deluxe wheel in Cashmere. The deluxe wheel has provisons for heat/cool, same as the DTS seats I used. But I won't use it (yet?).

[kikkegek]

I read your post on the 7" tablet and I am very intersted. So I am gonna follow your build...

[jimmydean]

Not much progress since I am saving my pennies for my suspension. Big ticket items need to get bought before i do much more, sadly.

I did get my rear end swapped out so I can start laying out the bed floor. Working on a cool idea there.

[Sick5]

Originally Posted by jimmydean

Not much progress since I am saving my pennies for my suspension. Big ticket items need to get bought before i do much more, sadly.

I did get my rear end swapped out so I can start laying out the bed floor. Working on a cool idea there.

so.. whats the plans?
great project. i like what you been doing. keep it up

[McMurphy]

Just finished getting caught up on this build, and I must say what you have done so far is very nice.
Taken you a little over a year so far it looks like ??

[jimmydean]

Thanks!

I think I bought it October of '10, so just over a year. I wanted to be done by now

It started out a lot milder in my head and has kinda gotten out of hand.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by jimmydean

Thanks!

I think I bought it October of '10, so just over a year. I wanted to be done by now

It started out a lot milder in my head and has kinda gotten out of hand.

Funny thing, my wife thought I was just going to shoot some paint and drop in an engine....
I got it thinking "I have 2 years before it has to be on the road...."

What I imagine doing usually ends up as I envisioned, but how I get to it, is ever a mystery even to me....

[jimmydean]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

What I imagine doing usually ends up as I envisioned, but how I get to it, is ever a mystery even to me....

Quoted for truth.

The cause of my spiral is worse today because my best friend just BOUGHT the muse for my truck build. 2005 CTS-V with LS6 and 6 speed manual.

I will post pictures after I chirp some tires tonight.

[jimmydean]

OK, so I haven't made much progress between the weather and saving my pennies for my suspension. But then on Monday I saw a car posted on CL that seemed like a pretty good deal. So quick call to Nate at Porterbuilt to make sure he could build my back half and it was a done deal.







So my plan has changed to include the C4 suspension, brakes, and rear axle. I've wanted to run the C4 Dropmember since the day I saw it, but the Corvette parts seemed expensive. But for little more than the cost of an LS1, I got a '94 that runs like a dream. I can't wait.

[LostMy65]

Wow.... Just Wow!

[jimmydean]

I must say, I hope the truck is half as fun to drive when its done. While I'm not a huge fan of the C4 bodystyle, its a hell of a lot of fun.

[ol_skool_chevy]

is your plan to put the Corvette running gear in your truck?..what ever happen to all your plans to put Daves cross member with disk on your truck?...are you doing all this work in your one car garage?.....
Cool car though....

[DLOE65]

Lookin good JimmyD! That vette rear will be slick!
Posted via Mobile Device

[jimmydean]

Yes, I am going to cut up the Corvette and use that instead of the disc crossmember I got. I also have the original 6 lug rear still as well as a Caprice disc rear I won't be using if you or someone else needs anything. I haven't posted the parts on CL yet.

The Corvette just dropped in my lap when I was looking at motor options for the truck. For less than the cost of an LS1/T56 combo I got the entire C4 with LT1/4l60e with running gear to match.

My buddy upgraded his C6 to use the Z06 brakes, so I will put his 12.8" Corvette script brakes on mine. They just happen to fit behind the 17" Z06 wheels on the Vette.

I will do the frame in the garage, but the truck is going to Albany to my buddies shop. Once the frame is ready for suspension and the body is done with paint, the frame and Corvette go to Albany for one big clusterf*ck assembly mission.

Should be interesting.

[jimmydean]

I only wish I could fit these


:drool:

[jimmydean]

I know most don't see a theme building here, so I will let you all know my master plan.

The plan from the start was to build a Cadillac trim truck. I love Cadillac's and wanted a truck that was plush like one. I didn't care for the Escalade interiors, so I went with the newer DTS as a model for the interior. The plan took a drastic turn when my best friend bought an '05 Corvette with 6 speed. I fell in love.

I started looking at what an LS1/T56 would run. Then a month after he bought the Corvette, he traded his wifes Honda Civic for an '05 CTS-V. If you don't know the CTS-V, it's an LS2/T56 4 door Cadillac with 4 POT Brembo disc brakes (Same as the C5 Z06, I think).

So now you have it. Not only is my goal a Cadillac truck, but a somewhat modified version of a V series Cadillac using Porterbuilt C4 hardware.

66 C10 body + 94 Corvette running gear + 08 DTS interior = My dream old man truck.

Now lets see if I can pull this off.

Thanks all for watching.

I even have my own logo for this build.

<edit>
I also blame Rob at NoLimit for his "Make it handle" thread and Nate Porter for building the sickest suspension system for a truck. I wouldn't try to engineer something like this on my own. This is almost entirely bolt on awesomeness. Driving this C4 motivates me to get the truck built.

[jimmydean]

The auto seems more practacle as a daily driver and if I can keep the ASR sytem, it would be a nice bonus. The Cadillac wheel has pleny of buttons to configure, hands on the wheel traction cotrol seems legit.

Since you have an idea, I will post some renderings later of the vision.

[McMurphy]

Very nice!

I would not hesitate to cut up that year Corvette either.
At some point the American Auto buildiers decided that packing more power into smaller packages at the expense of the general look of the car was Ok.

I could not disagree more.

I sincerely believe that if they had gone with a retro look for the 06 GTO instead of a hopped up Grand AM ~along with~ the awesome power train they put in there something like Ford did the with Mustang, then there would still be new Pontiacs on the road today!

If you succeed in dropping that Vette gear into your truck, you should have a pretty good "screaming meemee" on your hands!!

Good luck man!

[jimmydean]

I am not a fan of this body, either. But the power to weight, the balance, and selctive ride system is awesome. The interior is nice, too. But my DTS interior is nicer.

[Chad215]

Originally Posted by jimmydean

Yes, I am going to cut up the Corvette

You don't see that phrase very often...
Good luck! Should turn out great.

[jimmydean]

Lets face it, the Corvette had a few ugly years body wise. The car has always been a top performer, they just got away from the beauty that started it. I think the 80's in general were an ugly time for us all.

My daughter wants either a C6 or an early C3 with chrome bumpers in 5 years. She LOVE's riding in the C4, though. We did doughnuts in Joe's C6 the weekend he bought it.

Next time we will do doughnuts in the truck.

[creep]

A Caddy V truck would be awesome! Seems kind of a shame to cut up a nice 'Vette but hey, not my project. The new style Cadillacs are some of the best looking vehicles on the road (have to agree about the Escalade though). For the longest time I didn't like the C4 but in the past few years they've kinda' grown on me.

Here's a Hennesey 750 CTS-V coupe from a local cruise in last summer. I offered the guy my left "one" but he politely declined.

[jimmydean]

My brother had an '08 DTS that was loaded and murdered out. It was not an old man DTS and I wanted to have that interior. I'm hoping to redo my center console to support the wood trim DTS center and shifter.