1965 Chevy Turbo LS Project Ahead, Need Advice

[zghorner]

howdy everyone, needing some guidance on turning my '65 chevy into a street terror. Posting this here because my questions are mainly about improving the brakes and suspension, not so much the LS swap (although any input there is more than welcome).

A little history -> my grandpa gave the truck to my dad who did his best to hotrod it in the 80's. It got parked in our driveway in the early 90’s and thats where it sat nearly my entire childhood...except when it snowed he would fire it up and take us kids to an empty parking lot for some donuts haha. Anywho, my dad gave it to me about 8 years ago and I got it running and driving…it’s a ton of fun, 283 sbc and a 4 speed Saginaw transmission out of a camaro. I blew out reverse one winter and it has been parked now for around 5 years. I recently sold my ’87 buick grand national and #1 I miss having a fast toy, #2 its been a long time coming to get this truck back on the road.

I was planning on buying another G-body and doing a junk yard turbo LS / 4L80E swap…but I have made my mind up to do the transplant in this truck. Luckily I have a good friend that happens to have an 8 sec turbo ls fox body and incredibly knowledgeable with these motors as well as a local speed shop that specializes in tuning LS stuff.

This is going to be a budget street truck, not a pro tour show truck. Its ugly rusty green and I plan on keeping it that way exactly. Goal is to have 700whp and be able to hop on the highway and cruise for an hour.

What I am looking for mainly is any advice on simple junk yard type upgrades for the suspension and brakes. Any later model stuff that easily bolts onto these trucks that would be an upgrade from the original ’65 equipment? What would you guys recommend I do with the factory 12 bolt rear end? Replace it or rebuild for limited slip? Also looking to lower the truck a bit so any advice there is also appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone I appreciate any help.

[chevy_mike]

Cool story and welcome to the forum. Great group of guys and gals here.

My suggestion is to go through the FAQ thread first. This will likely answer a ton of your questions. If you have questions you find aren't really covered post them up. Much of what you have asked has been talked about over and over so the FAQ really is a great resource. Also, post some pics up, everyone likes pics!

Link to FAQ - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=646002

[zghorner]

Thanks for the welcome and sorry to everyone for being "that guy" who jumps on a forum and asks the same questions that have been answered a hundred times.

With my GN, searching for specific answers was a lot easier...all I had to do was google "turbobuick brake upgrade"...and very specific info popped up. When I type in "1965 chevy brake upgrade" I get more info on chevelles than trucks . Maybe if I replaced "chevy" with "c10" I would have better luck.

I appreciate the link, I am going to get a fresh cup of coffee and start reading

[Clyde65]

I second the welcome and the use of the search feature for the forum. Lots of knowledgeable folks here as well. Also check out the race forum here as well, even though your going street terror, 700rwhp isnt a normal street truck and toy.

Brakes would be my concern as well with that much powe, i would also suggest looking at some of the sponsoring vendors for suspension and brake upgrades, lots of good folks there as well.

Good luck and be sure to post some pix of your soon-to-be terror so we all cam salivate over it. Most of us are picture whores so....

[urmyboyblue]

Brakes from a 1972 -1987 GM pickup will bolt on. If you are truly going for 700HP, either you can change the 12 bolt out now or when it lets go. The truck 12 bolts are not the same as a car 12 bolt, so at least swap for a car 12 bolt and upgrade it.

As for a junkyard 700HP LS- you can for a while, then you can sweep up the remains. (Yes, I have read about so and so and their 1 million HP LS and seen the mags make 1000HP out of one from a junk yard- but how long did they do it? Do you want to work on it or drive it?) Go to BBC and enjoy some torque for about the same money.

[zghorner]

Originally Posted by urmyboyblue

Brakes from a 1972 -1987 GM pickup will bolt on. If you are truly going for 700HP, either you can change the 12 bolt out now or when it lets go. The truck 12 bolts are not the same as a car 12 bolt, so at least swap for a car 12 bolt and upgrade it.

As for a junkyard 700HP LS- you can for a while, then you can sweep up the remains. (Yes, I have read about so and so and their 1 million HP LS and seen the mags make 1000HP out of one from a junk yard- but how long did they do it? Do you want to work on it or drive it?) Go to BBC and enjoy some torque for about the same money.

Thanks for the advice. Could I not just get a new carrier and axles for the 12 bolt and be good to go? little things like that are what I am stressing about. unfortunately I don't have a wealth of car knowledge but I have a decent amount of local support...my dad is an ASE mechanic and able to fix anything...most of his experience is with fixing something back to factory standards though not swapping this and that for the best bang for your buck or hot rodding etc...

I understand your reasoning for going BBC but my mind is made up there...I am 100% convinced turbo LS is the way I want to go. I have seen with my own eyes a good friend of mine drive his LS fox body an hour to the track, run mid/low 8 sec passes, then drive home getting 20 mpg on E85. I know that is an extreme example and rare to accomplish (and I am not looking to go near that fast) but I want to use his abilities and ingenuity on this truck. Also their is just something about that turbo spool that turns me on, cant explain it.

The last thing I want is this to turn into a BBC vs turbo LS thread...I'm not saying its better, its just what I want to do.

[padresag]

they don't just bolt on. there is some very good info in the FAQ
ron

[zghorner]

Below are some pics of "Simple Green". Dragged it out of storage today and put it under my car port. LOTS LOTS LOTS more rust in the floor pans and rocker panels than I remembered. As of right now I am planning on fixing the rust while I have this thing tore apart because I know I'm not going to want to do this again. Then Ill clear coat the entire truck so it stays lookin nice and ugly haha.

As usual this project is growing in difficulty by the hour.

Called a local differential shop today and he recommended I go with a ford 9" instead of building the 12 bolt...been researching which 9" to look for but its hard to pinpoint what I need, any advice there is appreciated.

[BR3W CITY]

FWIW, we do have an LSx swap section if you haven't ventured over there yet. Most of the LS-related technical stuff ends up over there.

[Captainfab]

The 12 bolt can be built to handle a fair amount of torque. The problem arises when you get the tires to hook.

There is no perfect application for a 9" to fit these trucks. Just get a housing and have it shortened to accomodate the tires you plan to run. If you want an original width differential, Speedway Motors sell 9" housings the correct length for a 62" WMS to WMS for the '63-'70 trucks.

I would recommend checking out the 'Racing and High Performance' section of this forum and see what those guys are running for differentials.

[PGSigns]

You mixed budget and 700 rwhp in the same sentence. After racing for close to 40 years I can tell you the budget will be pretty good size. Here is a suggestion. Get the truck cleaned up and do the front disc brakes and rebuild the suspension from front to back replacing all the bushings, ball joints etc, get a 3.40 gear and a posi and put it in the back, get a rear mounted gas tank (I like boyd welding and it can be efi ready). Find a 6.0 LS and a 4l80E from a truck and put a mild cam in it and build the truck. I think you will find it both fast and fun to drive. And then go turbo if you want. And go ahead and order the AAW classic update wiring harness and do that now as you will need it to support all the other updates.
Jimmy

[urmyboyblue]

No more comments about the LS from me. As for the 9"- determine what you want width wise and order one from Moser (like hitting the easy button). If you run the stock trailing arms, you will have to put perches on it. If you run a 4 link or ladder bars, I believe you can get them to put the plates on wherever you want. Other than a little cruising, what ET do you want to run at the track? That should be the starting point- then select the drive train to stand up to the HP required. I believe 700 HP is out of the range of most differentials so you may have to go to spool in the rear end. Any rear end supplier can help you on the selection. Keep in mind that 700HP in a 4000# truck is not going to be easy on anything in the drive line.

If you have never read up on Hot Rod Magazines Drag Week- take a look at those guys to see what kind of drive lines they run. The manage to run awesome ET's and make the cars and trucks live on the highway.

[zghorner]

great suggestions guys thank you so much. And you are right PGSigns about budget and power. The illusion or trick is that it is cheap to make 700 reliable horse power out of a turbo LS (compared to most performance setups)...but the other things are whats adding up fast...brakes, suspension, trans work, converter, rear end set up, wheels, tires, gauges, fuel cell/tank, pump and lines, shifter, seats, seat belts/harness, steering components...

I will admit I got overexcited and in my head I was just about to slap a new drive train in this ol gal, put some cheap junkyard disk brakes on and rebuilt the rear dif and start mopping up the mustangs around town haha.

Step 1 will be stripping it down and repairing the rust. I plan on my kid getting this truck and his kid too so that is priority right now.

In the mean time I have the feelers out for a wrecked van or truck with the drive train I want so I will have the complete vehicle to rob parts from.

Ive done the research on brake upgrades and it looks like i should either go with a complete crossmember swap from an 87 or older truck or a bolt on kit. Time vs money here...not sure if its worth finding a used front end that needs everything replaced anyway and all of the trouble hunting down the line and fittings needed. I'm kind of thinking a kit will be the way to go for this one. Really feeling the same way about the rear end as well.

If I was a little more organized and knew exactly what I wanted and was doing I would say this should be moved to the build thread lol.