miSSed opportunity

[68 TT]

I bought a 1990 454 SS new and really liked it for a little while but it just wasn't very good at anything except spinning the tires. Having owned real muscle cars that truly performed at the same time it left me wishing Chevy had put a little more effort into the package. The things that were the worst about it were the anemic HP, average brakes, handling like an ocean liner, a ride height that made it look like a 4x4 and tires & wheels that belonged on a tractor just to get the list started.

I addressed all of those in spades in a ground up creation I built from scratch on a short bed regular cab 4x4 torsion bar chassis that eventually will get the front IFS reinstalled to make it selectable AWD or 2wd once I find a good Eaton E-locker for the 9.25" IFS and modify the headers to clear it. No point in having AWD if only one front tire spins or you don't have the power to do it.

I nicknamed this creation "miSSed opportunity" since I built it out of parts GM used on other trucks or SUV's of similar vintage that were close enough to the 1994 model year that they would have been at least in development at that time. I picked 1994 because 1993 was the last year for the real 454 SS truck.

The down side to this creation was that it still looks like a couple million other trucks on the road, just a whole lot lower, faster, better handling and stopping.

She is not finished yet but once I find the body pieces I need in good enough condition to use I will get the paint work done in classic 454 SS black and make it look the part. I will add 70 Chevelle style SS hood stripes to the cowl hood like are on there now but in the dark gray to match the 454 in the 454 SS bedside decals.

I never put together a build thread for it while I was building it initially but I still have plenty to do so there is lots left to document. I will post up what I have done so far as I have time.

Here is what it looks like right now. Just waiting for the engine & trans rebuild to be done (this winter hopefully) before I start in on the paint & body.