'97 Got a Few New Parts

[Ollie B]

Made a little progress with my '97. Decided to change it up a bit and make it a stepside. The rear end is a 3.73 limited slip 10 bolt. The cab is being prepped now and the engine is on the stand waiting for the tranny to be done.

The engine is a gen 1 5.7 litre 350 - 4 bolt main. .30 over with Edelbrock RPM heads and a Comp Cam hydraulic roller. The intake is a proflo 4 efi setup. The trans is a built 4l60E with 3000 stall and separate controller.

The back tires look small in the pic, but they are 295 65R15 on 10 inch rims.

Thought I'd share a few pics before I install the engine and cab.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Rumorz1]

Love the aluminum slots man!

 

[Ollie B]

Thank you.

The original choice for wheels was Rocket Racing Injector's, but with the shortage of goods they are impossible to get right now. I was going for a vintage look and had many cars back in the day with slotted mags, so...

The suspension has a 4" spindle lift on the front. The back is stock for now but I have a set of Caltacs traction bars for it. The look I'm going for with this build has a lot of ideas from the 1970's. Going to have big and littles kind of like a gasser. Nose high but without the straight bar axle. Might even run a set of fender well headers with side pipes. We'll see after I get the cab back on.

The truck is being built for driving, not racing. No crazy roll bars or exotic frame work. Just a street cruiser that can spin the tires if needed. Engine should be around 430 - 450 HP. (haven't dyno'd it)

The Winter is when I have more "hobby" time. I hope to get it back together in the next few months.

Please be gentle on me with the look I'm going for. This was a $600 truck with over 300K on it. Basically using the cab and the frame. Everything else is new.

 

[Ollie B]

When I first found the truck it was nose down and ass up. Not from modification, not from air shocks. It was raked like an 80's Cutlass with air shocks. lol

When I brought it home and jacked up the front 4 inches with a jack, I could visualize the look I was going to go for.

With all the slammed trucks today I decided a different route. I will either be a trend setter or will be driving only late at night. (fingers crossed)

 

[Ollie B]

I'm definitely no artist, but I doodled this on my phone back in 2016. This is what started this whole project. Crazy how things come to be!

 

[jgreen16]

Definitely nice to be able to have the body off the frame to be able to really clean it up properly.

 

[Ollie B]

Does anybody have recommendations for a serpentine accessory drive system? I hate to hide the "Bling" behind the factory style brackets.

Thanks.