Swiss army Chevy

[Whitbread]

So I already had this super nice post all typed up and when I hit submit it said I needed to login again. Of course I lost it all . So lets try this again.

I'd rather not deal with special people on pirate telling me I should just buy a one ton and a build a buggy. Only have room and budget for one truck. I've been collecting parts for way too long to turn back now anyway .

I need a heavy hauling truck for my fabrication business and pleasure, but I also miss having a truck to play off road with. I bought an 87 K10 silverado the day I turned 16 and I just can't toss it away on craigslist. So it's going to donate whatever good parts are left to a just cause.

Parts list:
4-53 detroit with ddec swap and compounds
RTO610 trans
203/205 doubler unless I find a kodiak divorced np273
Dodge kingpin 60/70 rear with 3.55's
3 link front/rear on air
Scratch built frame with longbed wheel base
Aluminum flat bed
37" hummer MTR's


Now that all the big parts were collected, I didn't have anywhere to start the project. My small shop was overflowing with customer work and I didn't have a garage at home. So, I moved to northern michigan and built a shop in the woods on a lake this spring. I did all the work except erecting the structure and pouring concrete.














Donor C10 with no powertrain bought for $500, sold bed for $400, sold rolling chassis for $500. Kept cab, doors, fenders, hood, and core support


Axles and 205


Driptroit


After some QC coatings magic


On the stand awaiting crank to come back from balancing


Air starter because my motor didn't come with a starter and it was $65 on ebay


Greasy compressor met the solvent tank




RT610 and divorced 203 rangebox for $250 from toothless hillybilly junk yard


My skinny ass on a 6ft cheater wouldn't break the yoke nut, so out came redneck engineering


Mainshaft apart for OD kit install


OD kit installed on mainshaft and countershaft gears flipped


Rest of the guts after cleaning





This is going to be a somewhat slow build as progress is between customer work, finishing touches on the shop, cash flow, and cutting wood to feed the boiler. The goal is to have a rolling chassis with a motor/trans in it by the time the snow melts in the spring.

[firehawk]

Awesome shop but why the bunker inside the garage? Noise control?

You seem to have a meticulous approach to what you do, I like that and will be following along.

[Whitbread]

Originally Posted by firehawk

Awesome shop but why the bunker inside the garage? Noise control?

You seem to have a meticulous approach to what you do, I like that and will be following along.

Thanks! It's not a bunker, just a second story for parking. By doing 3 levels, I have 3600sqft in a 1750sqft footprint. The building is built into a hill and there's a door at the top of the hill to drive in.

[Hoss Blazer]

Toothless Hillbilly Junk Yard...you mean Swainies?

[Whitbread]

Originally Posted by Hoss Blazer

Toothless Hillbilly Junk Yard...you mean Swainies?

Bahahaha, yup. One strange but awesome place for sure. He originally wanted $500 for the trans, but after hanging out with them for half a 30 rack, the price was open for negotiation

[BigBlockBlazer]

Originally Posted by Hoss Blazer

Toothless Hillbilly Junk Yard...you mean Swainies?

Funny ive been there and this is true.

[BigBlockBlazer]

Originally Posted by Whitbread

Thanks! It's not a bunker, just a second story for parking. By doing 3 levels, I have 3600sqft in a 1750sqft footprint. The building is built into a hill and there's a door at the top of the hill to drive in.

Now i get it, was kinda confused on the setup before that pic. Nice setup for sure.

[bbaXJ]

Badass shop, and look forward to seeing what looks like some impressive skill and attention to detail.

[mtnbikinbryno]

Wow, nice shop.

[Hoss Blazer]

Originally Posted by Whitbread

Bahahaha, yup. One strange but awesome place for sure. He originally wanted $500 for the trans, but after hanging out with them for half a 30 rack, the price was open for negotiation

Beer is key when ya go there, it's a major selling/buying bargaining chip!

[ostaar08]

Wow what a badass shop! You just gave me some ideas when I build my barn in the future

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[JohnnyJ]

Wow. That is a sweet setup.

So what kind of power will the diesel make?

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[CJoe7]

Wheres the alh with twins?! You are the tdi guru, only seems fitting

[Whitbread]

Originally Posted by ostaar08

Wow what a badass shop! You just gave me some ideas when I build my barn in the future

Thanks! I've been in alot of shops over the years and figured out what works and what doesn't for my uses. Since this is my business facility, I figured if I'm going to build it from scratch, I'm doing it right. All lighting is LED, indoor wood boiler heats the shop and house, steel sides and roof, and I insulated the hell out of it.

Originally Posted by JohnnyJ

Wow. That is a sweet setup.

So what kind of power will the diesel make?

Thanks! I've spec'ed air and fuel for 600hp/1200lbft at the crank and the motor is being built to spin 5k rpm. My 4-53 was originally mechanical unit injection which means whatever you set the timing at covered idle to fuel cut off. Problem with that is it's just like running a 350 with the vacuum advance unplugged. You either tune it to scream up top or pull down low. Since I want an idle to 5K powerband and prefer electronic to mechanical diesels anyway, I'm going to retrofit the DDEC gen 4 (Detroit Diesel Electronic Controls) ECM and electronic unit injectors. It's a really simple system to retrofit; injectors, cam/crank tonewheels, coolant temp sensor, electronic gas pedal, and a map sensor. This way, I have fully variable timing up to about 30 degrees of advance and an easy way to control fuel vs boost to keep from blacking out the road rolling into the skinny pedal.

Originally Posted by CJoe7

Wheres the alh with twins?! You are the tdi guru, only seems fitting

Hahaha, I'd have to put 3 ALH's under the hood to get the torque I want. There probably is enough room under the hood of a 81-87 K truck though....

[Jrgunn5150]

Wow, nice truck, very interesting build.

[Whitbread]

Originally Posted by Jrgunn5150

Wow, nice truck, very interesting build.

Thanks! I enjoy the strange :D.


Fixed my beater shop truck and took the trans cases over to get hot tanked finally.


Whipped up a cam bearing driver so I can knock the cam bearings in tonight

[Whitbread]

Spent the evening on the trans and it's well on the way back together!

Trans used to have a horrible redneck pto mount that attached to these studs with 6" long tube spacers. The bracket flexed so much the surface of the case was pretty worn from the 1" tube beating on it, so I popped it on the mill. I'm not going to use these stud holes at all, but they're tapped all the way though the case so I need to be able to seal them with a bolt and copper washer.


Aux box back timed up


The hilarious size of the output


Main box timed


Top on!

[SHARPMACHINE]

Nice work, and shop! ! !

[CheapThrillB2]

@Kyle M.

[Whitbread]

Stood the trans up to drop the aux box on and whipped up a pair of pto cover plates. I plan on running a hydraulic pump off the 6 bolt pto for a hydraulic winch eventually, but for now I need to keep the dust out of this thing. Gotta grab an out put seal and a few more bolts from town and it'll be totally done and ready for the shelf.


Put the tool I made to use and knocked the camshaft and idler shaft bearings in. Of course, the oil holes don't line up 100% in the bearing shells so I'll touch them with a die grinder. Grrr....