Project: Overkill (1998 GMC SAS3500 on 40's)

[Devillusion]

Well, I guess I should have started this thread a long long time ago as that is when this project started. Rather than starting all these little threads about what I am up to I think I'll just start from the beginning and try to get things up to date as soon as I can as the truck is near 99% complete now.

I'll try to give as much details as I can remember and go from there. Bare with me as it might take a couple weeks to get up to speed on the project to date.



Pretty much how the truck began it's life with me when I bought it with only 119,000km on it back in 2003. Stock as all can be, though that didn't last long.


First stage...Reflection cowl hood, tonneau cover, wheels/tires, small lift, tint, etc.


Second stage, went to MT Baja Claws, ditched the tonneau, fender flares, and some color matching.


Then came the body lift, 35's, changed out the Rancho lift for a Trailmaster 6"...for a total of 9" of lift. Along with some power goodies etc which I'll get into later.


And last but not least, the way it looked before this final tear down and complete rebuild. SAS in (not functional yet), and driveable.

...and so the build begins.


Started the tear down, stripping out the "uneeded" parts etc.


14 bolt full floater in place, measuring for spring pad placement, front suspension all removed, brackets etc.





Built a new front crossmember so that I can remove the factory one for differential clearance and of course looks as well. Made from 4x6 square tubing, then put 1/4" plate on the ends in a "C" shape to contour to the frame. Welded together, then bolted with grade 8 bolts. More than secure...in fact I can jack up on the passenger side frame rail and the whole truck will lift as one. It is also braced to the original bracketry that resides on the backside to the frame rails. For extra precaution (not like it was needed) I added a brace from sway bar mount to sway bar mount. This will also space down my sway bar so that it is not such a long distance from the intended placement.





Frame all ground down, sanded, 3 coats of "chassis paint" then hit it with bedliner to give it a nice clean texture to it, plus protect it from flying debris off the gravel roads. The chassis paint works amazing and is as good as POR15 IMO, but much cheaper. Paid around $80 CDN for a gallon.



HP Dana 60 from an 88' Ford F350 purchased from a guy in Portage, Indiana. Shipping was a killer but was the only one I could find that was in my price range. Though I did end up buying another one from a 78' F250 with the narrower spring perches (to be explained later).

[Devillusion]

Front differential got the same treatment as the frame, cleaned, chassis paint, rockerguard. Bracketry removed, new calipers, brakes, rotors, and studs all new. Calipers were ground down with a flap disc, die grinder, then caliper paint. Mile Marker stainless steel manual locking hubs, all new wheel bearings, and king pins replaced.


Greasable spring bushings from Offroad Design...nice product.


Cross over steering kit from Offroad Unlimited.





Master cylinder upgrade, ABS delete as it was not being used any longer, replaced all the steel brake lines, and also got some stainless steel braided brake lines from Orme Brothers for all four corners and the main line from frame to differential.


Started out with brand new rear disc conversion kit with the Eldorado rear calipers in which are equipped with an emergency brake. The only emergency that occured owning these was the fact that I was in a panic to replace them as soon as possible. Don't waste your money on this setup. Don't hold crap.......at an idle the truck would still creep. I already replaced them with D44 calipers and will eventually go with a drivetrain brake instead.





Rear differential was treated to a set of 5.13 gears from Yukon, and a Detroit locker to spice things up a bit...Perches welded in place, rear disc conversion on, differential cleaned up same as above and so forth.


Got creative/bored one night and was playing around with my new welder. Something different I guess......lol.


Rear shock mounts and brake hose mounts for the dual rear shock setup.

[Devillusion]

Shock hoops fabbed up and mounted. Used nearly all stock hole locations with exception to a few. In the process of redoing them, for only one reason being that the shocks I ended up going with have 14" of travel and I need to make a set that are extended approximately 4 more inches. Will be selling these shortly.


Swapped out the original NP241 push button for an NP243 manual shift. Got a slip yoke eliminator kit, all new seals, and swapped out the front shaft from the NP241 for a shorter shaft output on the front. This allows for a slightly less degree on the front shaft when all is said and done. Painted it up of course while it was off.


Starting to show some progress......a much needed place to get to at this point. Alot of work done already. Complete underside of the truck was given 3 coats of chassis paint, then rockerguard to it all. Front of box and backside of cab also got the same treatment.



Maiden voyage to a show in Winnipeg "summer shocker" a couple years ago. Got to the show only an hour before trophies were handed out, and pulled off a first place (not much competition was there, I'll admit...but was funny non the less...lol). Truck was only finished 2 hours prior to this picture and then drove it 2 hours each way. No big problems during the trip...was all good.

[Devillusion]

At this point, now I started to tear the truck down all except for cab, engine and transmission. Now alot of the cosmetic items will be getting dealt with along with some other items on my to do list. Long from done, but progress either way.


Front clip, interior, side glass, and door handles off for color change.


Firewall got a couple coats of chassis paint, and then some rockerguard as well. Kept the firewall simple and easy to clean up.



Door jams got the same treatment as everything else, even the rockerguard. Sick of the door sills getting marred up all the time. 2 layers of FatMat on the complete interior, and 4 on the doors....2 on the door panels and 2 more on the door skin itself. What a difference!! Nice stuff to work with and much more cost effective than the competition.



Original paint scheme I was going to go with, but someone else came out with something to simular in the mean time.........so change of plans in the works.







Finally some color on some of it and starting to see some rewarding results.

[Devillusion]

Goodmark cowl induction hood, much better fit than the old Reflexxion version. Like this one much better all around.



Underside of hood, fenders, etc all primed, painted and installed. Pictures REALLY don't portray the color very well, not even close really. It is a very non photogenic color it seems.


...just for you haters...lol/jk


Door handles back in, left out the rubber seal and ground down the mounting tabs so that they would be tight and appear more seamless. Being a daily driver I had no interest in shaving them......though I did at one point consider putting in some F350 handles though, just down lower.



20x12 rockstars, and yes I am fully aware that everyone and their dog has them. I've actually had them sitting here for over a year and a half now, and they will be painted to match with my own touch of modification when they are done, but that will have to wait.


All the glass back in, brand new side glass, new windshield, and all the frames were painted prior to install to be sure no red was going to raise it's ugly head.





Door jams all done, rockerguard, primed, painted and installed some skate board tape to avoid my little ones from slipping and keeps the rockers protected as well.


New carpet installed (pain in the ass!) Had to glue it al down to get it to stay where I wanted it and there are a few small areas that I am still not happy with that the steamer will have to take care of. Summer heat will more than likely help as well.

[Devillusion]

Tripple guage pod, filled with autometer guages.....transmission temp, vacuum, and air fuel.


TRENZ billet aluminum shifter/knob. Will have to modify the knob on it to accomodate issues with the indash DVD player.


All L.E.D. swap....in red.






Some goodies from NuImage....no complaints on these products. Work great no install issues.



Dash surround kit (brushed), from Husky Liners (no longer sell it though). Excellent product, easy install. Missle switches are for my electric fan shut off (deep water), and offroad lights.




2 layers of FatMat on the whole truck, plus an extra 2 layers on the doors. 2 on the skins and 2 on the door inserts with glass.



Billet wheel and adapter


Interior starting to be reassembled....door panels got some simple black inserts.


Manual shifter for the new NP241 installed, found a template to cut the floor with.......nerve racking experience.


Latches n such all blasted, painted and reinstalled.

[Devillusion]

The old bonneville seat swap, went well but FYI if you have the 3rd door you will have to drill 2 extra holes for the front bolts on the passenger side. I don't want to go into large details as I did start a thread on my interior over on the other part of the forum.





Got a buddy of mine to do some airbrushing on the headliner before reinstalling it. Tried to keep it somewhat subtle, but effective non the less. Supposted to represent an airaid going overhead from an old WWII footage or something. Kept it black and white as well to keep it tame.

[Devillusion]

Updated version of my PCM tune from Wester's Garage showed up today. Some minimal tweaking after the truck is up and going should be done within the summer.



Flex a lite dual 15" monster fans. Few minor issues over the years but all in all a nice mod regardless.


Vararam intake plenum


Volant cool air intake.....love this thing. Perfect fit, and seals off nicely.



Transmission got some upgrades as well. Cooler and a PML inc. oversized pan. Also drilled and taped a place for the transmission temp sender.


New fuel pump sender while the box was off, old one had been sounding noisy for some time now. Easier to do it now than later.


Borla single 3" inlet, dual 2.5" outlets, dumps down after the cab. LOVE this exhaust system......perfect sound not to loud or minimal resonance. Will buy again no questions asked.


PML inc. front and rear differential covers with drain plugs. Hold an extra 1.5 litres.


...some other unmentioned components and work are the throttle body ramp delete, MAF screen delete, dual odessey batteries with 0awg wiring throughout, etc.

Well, that is a very quick and rough idea of what I have been up to untill this point. Progress from here on out will be more a less current and will continue to update this thread instead of multiple others.

[Devillusion]

Rims finally done sanding, primed, and painted. Still have to swap out the plastic fake bolts for "something else". Should be able to get rubber mounted up next week sometime.





.50cal replica a buddy of mine did on the lathe........I realize it is not identical, but told him to make it a bit different so that I didn't get so many dumb looks and questions when crossing the border. It will be drilled and tapped to be my 4x4 transfer case shifter knob.



Rear brake calipers swapped out, ground smooth and painted. Brakes bled and now to chuck those F'n caddy calipers in the trash!!!!



"the bomb" is near done, and don't be to harsh on the paint....nowhere near done yet, so bare with me. Still has to be petina'd and stripped with bright red. Then rivets to go in once sub is mounted. I thought it was turning out ok, should turn some heads...lol.





...and of course the sad state the truck is in still. Should be able to hit the booth in a couple of weeks or so....with any luck at all.

[Devillusion]

Some pics of the console/enclosure installed (even though the sub fried....grrrr). Fixable, just a pain in the ass is all.

[Devillusion]

Got the rims n tires back today from the tire shop, mounted (without a scratch I might add (whew!), and powder balanced. Trimmed the center caps down to bring them closer to the wheel so they don't stick out so far anymore, cut down the bolts and threaded up the shaft a bit further as well to keep them tight to the wheel. Needs a bit more lift IMO.....but I hate the stuffed look. Trimmed out the hole in the front ones for access to the locking hubs.

[Devillusion]

Well, finally got the garage door open and decided to get her outside and do a hard core clean up on the shop before I go any further on the truck. Also washed up the truck and got rid of all the dust and build up over the past 6 months or so. Once I stood back and looked at her, I think I will just be leveling it out with a bit of lift in the front and move the axle forward 1-1.5" so that I don't have any rubbing issue. Right now at full turn it is so close I don't think you could shove a pencil between the cutouts and the rear of the tire. Clears the springs fine though....which don't really matter considering I have another 32" perch D60 waiting in the wings to be installed. So that clearance is not an issue what so ever...and even if it was, I'd just 4 link the SOB! lol...

..hope to see a paint booth in and around a weeks time. We'll see how things go.

[Devillusion]

Unlike most, I was not crazy about just chopping off my bumper with a hack saw. So I sectioned a 3.5" piece out of it on the sides and welded it back together. Looks much cleaner, even though it will only be on for a short while until I get my mandrel bender.




Got all the damn buttons for the cutouts mounted on a piece of wood to paint this weekend. What a pain in the arse!


Tailights shaved/sanded smooth. Just going to get them cleared and polish them up. Got rid of all the little edges, lettering etc.


...and though minimal, the tailgate and rollpan are prepped and ready for the booth as well. I can't wait for everything to be one color again.....

[Devillusion]

Well, here ya go gents.........................some progress yet again. But this time some really good progress and we have PICS!!! Bare in mind that we kind of rushed her out of the booth so that we could get the other misc parts in there and sprayed before the days end. She's dry to the touch but just not fully cured yet (hence the shine). It still needs to completely flash off yet so it will get duller as the day goes on. The phone pics show it shinier than it really was as well, and the flourecent lights are a ***** with this paint. It changes color under different light conditions....it's crazy!

...enjoy.

And no that is not me in the pics............just a good friend who lent a helping hand for the day and is toughing it out with me tomorrow as well. "Thanks Doug"!!!

[Devillusion]

[Devillusion]

Ok....here ya go.

Bare in mind that there is still some detailing (painting the frame/undercarriage), assembly and suspension to take care of (zero rates, and spring beef up in the front) This paint is crazy....it changes colors with the light, shade, etc. Pretty wild for a single stage paint. I took a color I kind of liked and modified it from there. Added some more black, more flattening powder, and 40% reducer to flash off a bit faster.









Took a belt buckle I found at a local shop here and modified it to my likeing, then blasted it down to the pewter again, then mounted her up. Thought it kind of went with the theme and looked pretty deadly. Gave the billet grill some added pizaz..lol. And lovin' the yellow'd out Pro Comp lights as well. I think it finiishes off the front end.

What does everyone think about the corner lenses......stay with the clear ones I have sitting on the bench, or go back to the factory orange. I'm seriously leaning back to the factory orange/yellow ones. I think they will look much cleaner...let me know what you think.

[Devillusion]

Went with the orange lenses, sanded them out with 400grit, then polished them with the polisher. Glad I went with these in the end. Needed some sort of contrast to the green.






Got some more pieces put back on as well. Flare gaskets and buttons, mirror trim, cowl inserts, antenna assembly (shortened)

[Devillusion]

[Devillusion]

[Devillusion]

My new POWERTANK setup just arrived the other day...sweet system. Came with a set of 4 monster valves, liquid filled air guage, extension hose, aluminum bracketry, dual guages, tank and gauge covers, etc. This system rocks when you want to air down and fill up in a hurry.


Fabbed up a mount for the bracket to bolt to so that it is kept secure and out of the way when hauling other stuff in the box.


Blasted and cleaned for primer, paint, and bedliner


Holes drilled in bed floor to bolt bracket to, was sure to locate the underside braces before drilling and then finding out I'd have to drill more holes into the bed.

[Devillusion]

Mocked up in place to be sure the clearances are there before doing anything further



Ready to be mounted permanently into the bed.....tomorrow. Time for some sleep tonight!

[Devillusion]

Couple of photos we did for the magazine feature. Not sure what he plans on using but sent him close to 200 pics to choose from. Should be in print by early 2011 or so? Then I guess it will be time to see if I get the cover shot or not......then will be time to tear it down, lower it, put 36's or so on it with steelies, remove box, then backhalf, 4 link, and exoskeleton.

:shortbus:

[Devillusion]

[Devillusion]

And last but not least (or for now anyways), the final product promised all along. The magazine is to come out on Monday I believe (I won't get it for another couple of weeks I'm sure...ughh). Full feature (6 pages I think), and the cover shot.

Made the runner up in cover quest last year, which was cool for me as well and has been in a write up a few months back on a "how to" instal I did with my powertank setup. Has been a great year and I hope my upcoming projects hold a candle to this one or more. Stay tuned cause NOTHING is ever "done".

Might have to turn it into my trail rig now....lmfao!!!!

[Kim57]

Very slick looking.
Kim