97 sas'sy Sierra/ 80 Cheep 10: tales of a phat block

[Bowtie85]

Bowtie85 submitted a new Build:

97 sas'sy Sierra build: Cali-lean.....we rollin

View attachment 229946

my 83 k20 that initially started out as a budget build, not so much anymore. figured id post up some pics/specs. this is my first 4x4 build i started when i was 17, currently im 22 and have learned a ton and am always learning.

started out with a bone stock k20 that i picked up for $800 that was rusted out 6 ways from sunday. specs were as follows:
built 350 with around 350 horse, motor had maybe 10k when i bought the truck.
sm465/np208./ 10 blt front/ 14blt s.f with 3.73 gears and both open.


after my cheap body swap, cab recieved new rockers, inner rockers, cab supports, corners etc. put a set of used fenders, doors, hood, box. than i put on some 33x13.50x16 tsl ltb on 16x10 eagle 186 rims



took the truck out for the first time, realized a winch and proper tow straps were going to be next.



around the same time i put a warn 8274 and homebuilt bumper up front, painted it green, splurged on a 4 inch pro comp lift with blocks out back, a set of pro comp brake lines as well. put a 670 street avenger on it as well and a cheap mr gasket dressup kit.

Read more about this build here...

 

[Bowtie85]

than i got the great idea to put a 3" body lift in it for some reason.

than realized the 33s were to small and pick up some 13/38 tsl bias tires. put on a set of bushwacker cut outs up front, they work great for keeping mud off my hood. the best pic i got before the box got taken of.

my one box side was right full of bondo, so off it came in favor of me building a flat deck. so we made a simple design, put a small 45 degree corner on the back.

framed:

i picked up a diamond plate tool box and mounted that, we used 3/4 fur for decking. I built a simple 2x6" tube rear bumper with reciever hitch. put some led trailer lights as well.

than i wheeled it like this for a couple summers

well the 38s quickly started to kill my balljoints, so i figured tons was the way to go. i picked up a 60/14 blt f.f out of a 3+3 for $600. specs were open front, 4.10 gears and gov lock rear. put the front in, turns out my drive shaft was to short. so i put in a zero rate and moved the front axle ahead 1.5". i kept the stock push pull steering for a while, but had the intent on doing x over.

and as it turned out the rear spring perches needed to be moved, so i bought some perches, ORD shackle flip and went to town. plumbed in new brake lines, re located shock mounts as well.

 

[Bowtie85]

wheeled it a couple times, than my front driveshaft fell apart. so i got one off a 88 up chevy with a single cardan joint and did away with the cv joint. i had to have it lengthened and a different yoke put on. i had to do some heavy clearancing though to make it work. but it works extremely well.

i than changed the stock rear shackles to a set of lowering shackles for a 88-98 chev. they look way stronger than the stock ones and are half the price of some aftermarket ones.

In late october we went wheeling and i dropped it in 4 feet of water, filled the motor with water and front end. my inspection plate got ripped off and got the clutch wet. it was not a fun ordeal getting it out.

 

[Bowtie85]

that leads me to where it is currently at.

current list of problems:

-rear bumper sticks to far out and hangs to low
-front end needs pinion bearing, seals, u joints, x over steering
-exhaust is falling off
-engine/ engine bay needs to be more water proofed

I had gotten motivated to work on it a couple weeks ago. so off came the rear bumper and 4" of frame was removed and i moved the bumper ahead. i used the top spring hanger bolt as a bumper bolt, re drilled a few holes and its just as solid as it was. im still debating how or whether i should re attach the rear deck mount.

before:

after:

piece removed:

 

[Bowtie85]

the headers were rotted out as well as everything else but the tailpipes which were like new. so i ordered a new set of hedman's, some purple hornies and a dynomax dual exhaust kit. once i shoe horned it into my dads garage i went to work last weekend. i wanted my tail pipes up high, so we ran them above the rear bumper.

old stuff:

new stuff

once that was done i got bored and figured id bolt my highsteer arm on that id had sitting around for the past year. so next thing i knew, the steering box was removed and i welded in my frame brace, installed my 2wd steering box i got for free, changed the pitman arm and installed x over arm.

and the obligatory poser pic.

after driving with the x over i cant believe how great it works. with the stock push pull it didnt work great at all compared to this. i wish i would have put it on when i got the stuff from ORD last year

 

[Bowtie85]

next up on the list is the following:

front axle rebuild, seals, brakes, bearing re pack, lock rite, 35 spline upgrade(planning on warn hubs and yukon stub shafts)

rear axle will eventually be disc'd and a locker but that all depends how my money situation ends up.

sorry if this all seems kind of mixed up, this has taken place over the last 5 years.

 

[Bowtie85]

Just put a order in from ORD.........

 

[dirtygoat]

Just put a order in from ORD.........

Hmmmm.....

 

[andyblack]

I'm diggin' it

 

[COCHEV]

I'm diggin' it

X2!

 

[magik235]

Nice. I like it.

 

[76zimmer]

That crossover, and reinforcement kit is going to strengthen things up....nice job.

 

[Bowtie85]

thanks guys. guess my order just crossed the border. still will have to source a lock rite from somewhere. Randy's ring n pinion still seem to be about the cheapest next to ebay though.

 

[offroadblazer764x4]

kool adventure you have gonna through you got a bad ass truck already. get it back out there.

 

[Bowtie85]

Just showed up:

35 spline warns, yukon stubs, master install kit, stub shaft seal kit, and 14 bolt disc kit.

 

[rob h]

I heard alot lately of people having problems with yukon, make sure their us made. Prob are by now but double check, there braking easier than the 30 splines.

 

[Bowtie85]

I heard alot lately of people having problems with yukon, make sure their us made. Prob are by now but double check, there braking easier than the 30 splines.

thats what Ive heard, we will see

 

[Bowtie85]

Well nothing much to add. Went home last weekend and played around with the truck a bit. set the carb up and re set timing, it now has no dead spot just off idle anymore.

Ordered a lock rite today.

Dunno when Ill get time to work on it again, Im currently trying to get the motor built for my car and installed.

 

[Bowtie85]

Well got my car running a couple weeks ago. My lock rite also came in a couple weeks ago as well. Gonna go hard this weekend on it and see what I can get done.

 

[Bowtie85]

Well the front end is pretty much buttoned up. Pulled it all apart, turns out its been rebuilt once for sure. it had koyo pinion bearings and tyson carrier bearings. the axle tubes were packed full of sand, the axle seals were completely destroyed as well. The roll pin that holds the centering pin in was broke in 2 places, how it never fell out ill never know.

So in went my parts. Went to put the hubs on, I was shorted the outter locking rings. So i have to phone warn and get a set now. I picked up new brake pads, went to install them and the calipers are siezed and wont let me spread them, so i left the worn out pads on there for now. Any who, on with the pic's: