rcfatcats 78k5- Boostedk5 2.0

[rcfatcat]

rcfatcat submitted a new Build:

rcfatcats 78k5- New build name "boostedK5"

ok here is my build. it has been slowly ongoing for about 4 years now since the end of my junior year of high school. As i have learned more and more and have slowly become addicted to offroading it has undergone many changes. Started off as my high school daily and has now been a straight trailer queen for about a year. ill let most of the pics do the talking but here she is.
The start

first face lift went from 85 front clip to a 78

interior

this is how i drove the truck for two years in highschool playing in the mud and being a kid who didnt know any better. the truck did have some hidden rust but it was fun for me.
here is the start of multiple changes that it underwent to get where it is now.
When i moved out here to ohio for school is when everything went "downhill" so to speak. i was opened up to the world of offroading, true offroading such as rock crawling and trail riding. i was instantly hooked.
She got some new shoes

and some new body work too

half doors

and i started getting ballsy with it too leading to more body damage.

the truck saw parks such as badlands offroad, haspin acres, bundy hill, big rock, and more all leading up to making it look like this.



then surgery began.... more to come later tonight

View attachment 230266

Read more about this build here...

 

[y5mgisi]

Bad ass truck!

 

[K5 Jess]

 

[rcfatcat]

first major project on the truck was to dove the nose in six inches on either side pictured here(sorta crappy but the only two i had of the first attempt)

as you can see the fenders where rough and i didnt get anything to line up right but i left it for a bit.
i then went and started my boatside project( which is still in the works)

each side has 8 by 2 box tubing across the top and 2x2 quarter wall as the supports i am in process of adding in more supports and working with the design a little bit until i can afford the amount of 1/4 plate needed to plate the boatsides.
i then went and redid my front dove nose with new fenders.

 

[rcfatcat]

i then started work on the hood after obtaining a new one.

im currently still working on the body work for the hood sanding bondo by hand is a royal pita.
i also did a truck tailgate swap. soooo much nicer then the blazer tailgate and ten times lighter.

 

[rcfatcat]

next up was building an engine cage as a start and later moving on into an internal roll cage.
this is a pic of how bad the frame was flexing before the engine cage and a good example of how bad it needed one.

here are the pics of the cage

and that is where she is at now.
as you may have noticed i have not really shown any drivetrain upgrades or anything of that nature. the truck currently has a 14 bolt ff in the rear with welded spiders

in the front a king pin dana 60 with an open carrier. currently has the drw hubs on it but i am waiting to get time on a lathe to convert them to srw.
unfortunatly i dont have pics of the install of these axles.

ok so that is where she is at now. here is the list of things to come. some in the immediate future and other items will be a little while.
ord shackle flip
np203/205 doubler
interior roll cage
cross over steering for the 60
shortening the removable top
long term items:
front 3 link with coilovers
5.3 or 6.0 swap
new tires
so all opinions or ideas welcome and ill be updating as much as i can.

 

[rcfatcat]

just a few more random pictures.

 

[78SWB]

Looks like you've got some pretty sweet wheelin' spots. Nice rig.

 

[stan1688]

Nice build.

Have you wheel'd it much with the engine cage? Just curious as to if you can notice a difference with it.

 

[rcfatcat]

Nice build.

Have you wheel'd it much with the engine cage? Just curious as to if you can notice a difference with it.

Not yet just got the cage in it last weekend but the schools offroad club that i belong to here at the university of northwestern ohio has a small offroad "hill" that i will be testing it on this weekend. i got a few things i will be working on today that i will have more pictures up later tonight.

 

[rcfatcat]

got flex?

ive had the truck at school in the shop all weekend and have been getting a decent amount done. lots of little stuff like sealing exhaust leaks, checking steering linkage, engine tune up, and so on. i was able to get the rti ramp out last night and see the difference with the engine cage and it was very noticable ill let you compare the before and after pics here
before

after

then i decided how much more flex i could get out of the suspension so i unfolded the front spring "wraps" and put her on the ramp.
this led to having to unbolt the front shocks because they where limiting the travel. guess its a good time to build some shock hoops into the engine cage.

i know that this probably isnt the greatest for the leafs but im planning on running it for a while to see how they react and if anything happens i have spare spring packs to go in.

 

[rcfatcat]

i did notice that the rear frame is still flexing a bit but im not to worried bought that for now the interior cage ill be installing later on should fix that.

in the end through the cage and boatlsides the body will be solid with the frame essentially creating a unibody style design. now today i added some support to the boatsides and tied the engine cage to them. i forgot to take pics but will have some up tmw for you guys. gotta say having easy acces to an rti ramp is a huge help in discovering little flaws and sometimes big ones.

 

[1BEATK5]

Sm465 for the win.

 

[stan1688]

Looks good. Looks like the engine cage really helped.

How did you tie the engine cage and boatsides together?

 

[wage92]

sweet progress man, what you going to school for?

 

[rcfatcat]

Sm465 for the win.

yes love wheeling a manual! and the 6.55:1 first is awesome

Looks good. Looks like the engine cage really helped.

How did you tie the engine cage and boatsides together?

the boatsides angle into the frame behind the front tires so i ran a bar down from the cage to them dont have pics just yet but i will post em asap

sweet progress man, what you going to school for?

im going for automotive tech/ high performance dual major its a great school and ive learned alot.

 

[wage92]

4 year school or 2? Im in auto tech right now thats a 2 year program

 

[rcfatcat]

It depends on the degree you are goin for but I'm in a 2 1/2 year program for my associates

 

[rcfatcat]

Looks good. Looks like the engine cage really helped.

How did you tie the engine cage and boatsides together?

passenger side

driver side

more

here are the pics you asked for still have to finish this up but i have to wait to get her back in the shop for access to a proper welder. couple little things to do such as capping the boatsides and front and rear bumpers, add reinforcment to the boatsides with more 2x2 and then hopefully plate them here soon and then as soon as money allows i will be making an order from ruffstuff for some ubolts, springplates and couple other odds and ends for the 14blt so more to come!

 

[rcfatcat]

o and before anyone goes commenting the truck is a wiring nightmare i plan on cleaning that up as i go. and as far as battery cables both being red... the neg cable came apart on the trail during a trip and a red one was what i had so thats what got used and just havent changed it out yet.