Well, where to start.

1989 Chevy shortbox stepside. 2wd. my father bought this truck brand new. this truck now has 440,000+ kms on it. Now lets back the story up to around three years ago. It would apear the truck was going to get sold. I didnt want this to happen so i picked it up just to have around as a spare truck or if we needed an extra vehicle. Well i continued to use it as any normal Chevy truck owner would for the first summer...






Hmmm, low and behold the transmition started to slip and soon failed completely. This is where the 4kruzn in me kicked in. the engine has 440kms on it... what would the point of putting another old transmition in. So. i found a friend who had parted out a 2wd 2001 Chevy 3/4 tonn 2wd. I picked up a complete rolling frame and power plant from him. the frame came with wheels and tires and a 4:11 locking diff! eventually this will all be a big part of my 1/2 ton

As this was happening, i purchased a 07 dodge deisel, and started to do some bolt ons. changed out the factory 4" mandrel exhaust for a magna flow 5".... hmmm the cat back of fthis dodge is also from a short box. So, I put it aside for the project short box chev

I didnt really plan on a build thread so i really dont have alot of pics so, first things first. the old, tired, and very greassy 350 chev motor came out along withthe broken 700r4, the drive shaft wouldnt work so it came out too.

then a 50.00 set of bolton adapter mounts and in went the LQ4 6L. then. the truck sat like this for nearly two full years. well this spring i decided that i really really needed to do something with this truck. So, I start talking with Ryan amore and seeing if he has time to do the harness and hook up the electrical and get this truck fired up.

well, Ryan had plans for his rx7/lx car this summer and needed to spend alot of time on it. One day at the drag strip Ryan says... hey you should buy my ls1 heads for your truck...Hmmmmmm, so i started to research that abit and i liked it. Boom, i had LS1 heads, well then it was a cam shaft, headers, exhaust.... etc.









So, you get the picture. engine is looking good and i nearing completion. Lets skip back to june ish again. I kept looking at the frame and the diff from the 3/4 tonn and saying to myself, I really really want those big brakes... the 4:11 diff would be nice too. so i pulled all the parts from the old frame and started to see what would fit and what might not.
first i jumped right in with the front brakes. you will notice this is a function build and nothing at all has been polished up or painted fancey.

Gotta love gmc!!! 1989 chevey 1/2 ton and a 2001 chevy 3/4 ton and the front a-arms and spindle are a bolt in swap!!! woot. only difference is the brake lines had to be modified.





Notice the new bolt pattern on the wheels. The new oversized brakes are on a massive in comparison to the origional.
then onto the rear diff. i figured this would have even been easier but the spring mounts were a bit off and had to be cut and rewelded for a perfect fit.






While the box was off, 2" lowering shackels and air bags were added as well as a set of 8 way adj Rancho shocks.






And we cannot forget the fuel system. the factory engine ran a throttle body and around 180hp... the new engine is direct port and hopefully will make over 400hp! so a new pump was required. Aeromotive 350lph will do. but the factory 23 year old pump and lines were too rusty. well warehouse services to the rescue and a new pump assembly was in and ready. to hook the pump to the new engine i adapted to an6 and ran up to the lq4 factory fuel system.



then the exhaust.... well this is awesome. the factory dodge 5.9 cummins cat back fit nearly perfect!!!
So i started to fab up a y pipe from the headers to the dodge muffler!



Shoenfeld headers make the ls-89 chevy truck headers so there a perfect fit. 3" vbands welded to the headers and then on goes the y.

a 4" vband connects to the rest of the system. In cse you hadn't fgured it out this build is meant to be as "cheap" as possible without compramizing the potential too much.

a new repro grill...




and now its ready to fire up. I could not be Happier with the results!

VID-20111224-00002 - YouTube


well, More to come as the project continues!!!

basic recap of specs so far

1989 chev sbss
lq4 with ls1 heads
4l80e trans
comp cam
shoenfeld headers
3" y pipe to single 4"
big brake kit aka 2001 3/4 ton brakes
Rancho shocks
hotchkis swaybar kit
rear air bags
slight lowering kit
17x9 wheels with 265/60 front and 285/60 yokahama avs sport vr rated tires

cant wait to take it out for a spin...

 

Looks good. Keep making progress like you have, and that'll be a solid little truck to run around in. Also like the RX7!

 

awesome build... but sweeet baby jesus at the blue FD!!! i have a sweet spot for rotary power

 

I would say you woke that old truck up a little bit!

 

I likely wont get to drive it for another month or so but i cant wait... We will be taking it to a shop for a full dyno tune once i have a chance to get it out. with the mods that are done to the engine they guestimate around 350 rwhp. i think that the little white truck will be a whole lot of fun with that...


The RX7 pic was from the first season i had it running. these are the way it runs now!

Enjoy.

 

Both of your vehicles are very coll

 

Very cool project. I appreciate the good work on a budget. I have never seen an timing chain cover with engine turning, neat.
What cam is in it?

 

It is a relatively mild cam. i want to be able to tow and not have to buy a new torque converter. for now.

 

Well another 10 months have gone by and the truck is now snuggly parked away for the winter.

BUT!

just before the snow fell we had it in at the local dyno shop and tuned her up a bit...

truck made 356 RWHP and 362lbft tq. i am extremely happy with this. truck feels like a beast.

 

Love the build.

Where are you at that its that rusty? Id have been into a frame off just to take care of the rust. Id be afraid of it litterally rusting in half.