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Its a start. Busted nuckles, and dirt in my eyes

C

crazyorigin

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Aug 9, 2008
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Location
Upstate Ny
Here are a few shots of my project so far. I live in upstate New York, and i kidnapped this truck from its original owner in South Carolina. My dad has a shop in NC, and he picked up the truck for me, i found it on Autotrader. compared to trucks in NY, when i look at this i feel like i have gone back to 1988, when i was 5! haha. Its an 87 1/2 ton, 4x4 shortbox GMC Sierra. I plan on a building it into kind of a hot rod/4x4 over time. I have the engine built, this winter it is nesting in the frame backed by whatever i decide for a tranny. i am thinking now about a 5 speed swap. The engine is a 400sb, bored .030 over, with E-Tec Edelbrock Pro Flo MPFI 100cfm throttle body. E-Tec 170 aluminum heads, forged rods and pistons, an Edelbrock "400" profile cam (cant remember specs, it was advertised as the 400 cam) a Mallory distributor, and electric water pump. I am setting money aside now for the cooling system, exhaust pieces and drivetrain freshening or swaping. also in the works is better lighting for my 110+ year old garage =P







Stock it had a 305 tbi, and 700r4, i havent decided if i want to keep the 700 or switch it out for a 5 speed for the sake of gearing, and rowing gears being fun. The pics are a bit crappy, but when i get the garage cleaned up, and some new lights up i'll post some new pics. I pulled the nose off the truck to make the work i need to do easier.
 
What part of upstate are you in? I grew up in Oneida. :D And I love living out west. "Rust" here is NOTHING like NY rust.
 
That motor looks BADD A$$. You are going to have an awsome looking truck. Keep the pics coming.
Tarey
 
Thanks guys. I dont imagine i will have anything firther done minus stripping the rest of the ac out, and cleaning up the firewall for painting until after Christmass. Hopefully i will be getting some goodies for the truck as gifts however. Last year my parents got me a steel cowl hood, which i was blown away by. I plan on hooking up a custom airbox to breathe thru the cowl and attaches to the firewall and is easily removed.i am stoked to be gaining some ground on this after it sitting all last winter and this summer, more pics will come, i am gonna be building a cradle for the trans and t-case soon so it is supported and easily moved. The couple of cans of rattle can paint realy made a big visual impact on the engine, it should look good under the hood, it will definetly be a lot cleaner (clutter wise) under the hood than it was before.
 
Here are some pics of the chassis i picked up. Forgive the colors, but it does help to see evreything. The nuckles on the front look to be some type of enclosed unit. I am pretty sure its a D44 front, and 12 bolt rear, i just dont know what year or anything. The leave springs on this look to be prety low use items too, and the leaf spring brackets and plates look to be realy beefy cast units, any info anyone can give me on these pieces would be great, i gotta climb back under there and get all the casting numbers off them again, i mist have thrown away the scrap paper they were wrote on before.






 
holy old batman! that front axle is weird, and the spring mounts and whats on the back of the frame? im sure some older guys here can tell u what that thing is...
 
from what i'm told the frame is a 74 blazer frame, and it has a 66 Chevelle frame welded to it, someone built a Muscle Car/Truck....... The guy i got it from bought it for body parts on the Chevelle, and the engine+trans. It also has a big whacky hitch welded on it, it doesnt appear to be very strong to me, i'de break it. it also has some heavy duty custom crossmembers, the blazer frame itself is super solid, no rust at all realy. Also, the t-case in this is a Rockwell T221.
 
Wow...that sounds like a heck of a combination.

If the front axle is closed knuckle than it's not much of a bonus. A 12 bolt is also a bit small for what your engine sounds like it's capable of. 3/4 tons are cheap and easy on these trucks.
 
o wow... weird frame set up, not to be a jerk but i would try and find a "normal" chassis that hasnt been messed with that much. and as for the axles. u can find a 14bff for pretty cheap. i dont no how good that front is really so i cant say much on that.
 
i just read that the blazer frame is solid, do u plan on cutting everything off and trying to get it to a normal looking/functioning chassis?
 
if these axles turn out to be not that great may upgrade to the 14bolt/60 combo, but it will be a while before i swap out the 10bolts, probably another year. I have my dad looking for something in NC that is affordable (IE, cheap =P) I picked the chassis up for $300 which i figure its was worth, if i dont end up using it i know someone who wants the rear axle, and i can get most of my money back just from that. What are the disadvantages of the closed nuckle design? hard to get parts for, or is it just weak?

Maybe if i dont end up wanting to use these under my truck, i may make a buggy out of it to just rhomp on, we will see, its gonna be a good deal of time before i get to the axle upgrade, i need to figure out my transmission setup, cooling syatem and exhaust.
 
The closed knuckle axles are old school. Small axleshafts with low spline counts and small u-joints. A 28 spline 10 bolt from the 80's is better.


A 12 bolt's just on borrowed time behind your engine in a 4x4.
 
i had planned on beefing these up with aftermarket components, but so far evreyone on here seems to be telling me they are not worth it, maybe i will just start looking for a 14bff, and d60 combo. I didnt realy want the extra weight, but maybe i'de better over beef than under. I would like to maybe ocasionaly pull this in a truck pull, there is one literaly rite next door to my house, the 14b, and d60 would be much better suited to that, and if i ever want to maybe run some big ole rubbers under this truck i'de already have some stout axles. Thanks for the input guys, i really appreciate it...... Maybe i'll throw some 5ton rockwells and 70" tractor tires under it, hahahah j/k (not this truck, maybe the next, that would need a big block)
 
crazyorigin said:
i had planned on beefing these up with aftermarket components, but so far evreyone on here seems to be telling me they are not worth it, maybe i will just start looking for a 14bff, and d60 combo. I didnt realy want the extra weight, but maybe i'de better over beef than under. I would like to maybe ocasionaly pull this in a truck pull, there is one literaly rite next door to my house, the 14b, and d60 would be much better suited to that, and if i ever want to maybe run some big ole rubbers under this truck i'de already have some stout axles. Thanks for the input guys, i really appreciate it...... Maybe i'll throw some 5ton rockwells and 70" tractor tires under it, hahahah j/k (not this truck, maybe the next, that would need a big block)
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i wouldnt worry about weight, i dont think anyones really thought about it, im not making fun of u but, ur in an old truck, with a built motor and want to go out and play, its never going to get the gas mileage of a civic and some extra weight never hurt,ull do better in the pulls. having a 1 ton truck is the best part! beast the snot out of it and drive home happy with no worries. plus because everything is bigger, it will last longer over the years. less wheel bearing changes etc.
 
Definatley a 67 or older truck frame, not a blazer. Looks very similar to a 67 K-20 that i had awhile back. Same front axle, which is no good to build, rear is hard to say, if its 6 lug i dont know about that probably a swapped in 12 bolt, mine had the eaton rear end in it but it was a 3/4 ton. Same for the rockwell t-case that was in mine also behind an sm420, blazers did not ever come with them.
 
i'm not realy trying to keep weight down for mileage or ride comfort, more for the power to weight ration than anything. If these axles arent gonns be worthwhile to put under my truck then i'm not gonna waste my time with them, i appreciate all the input and i have decided to go with a 60/14b. Thanks for your help guys, i realy do appreciate it. I lvoe it that my old truck rides rough, that is part of the character of these old GM trucks, their tough, not Cadillacs. If i wanted nice ride and mileage i'da picked up a newer wimpy IFS truck that i wouldnt even like at all realy.
 
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