[americanmusc1e]

January 2018. I didn't drive the truck for several months. I drove it on my birthday and had a blast. Took a couple of photos.



I took the truck to the track in Feb, 2018. With the stock 5.3, longtubes, the wide-ratio NV3500 and one tire fire 3.07s, the truck did a respectable mid-15 second pass. I went real easy on the NV3500 shifts. I also didn't take a lot of pictures. My cousin brought his LS-swapped 2000 Ford Ranger with a stock 5.3 and TH350 and ran a mid 13-second pass.



Shortly after that, I wanted more power. So i grabbed my Th400 that I've had for a couple of years and tore it down and rebuilt it. I don't remember the exact parts, but for sure a 34-element sprag and a fairbanks shift kit. I also went with a tiny 2400rpm stall converter to try to maintain streetability. Oh and new pump gears because I learned my lesson on my cousin's Th350 that we blew up the 50 year old pump gears in.

I also went with a TCI fast gate shifter. No regrets there.





While I had the Transmission out, I pulled the 5.3 and freshened it up with a good cleaning, ring gap check, new gaskets and a $100 LS2 cam.





My cousin came up and helped me install the motor and the trans. Turns out that I had a super weird early th400 with the small tailshaft and my yoke didn't fit so we found a spare Th400 from some meth head hillbilly on craigslist so I could have a new tailhousing. That was still a weird adventure we talk about to this day.






The next few months were filled with sorting out new transmission problems. I changed the dipstick and the pan to solve some leaks and had to get my hughes torque converter replaced under warranty because it was bad and causing the truck to have no power on take off. I also finally combined the good 3.73 axle parts with a spartan locker and swapped in a lockered 3.73 axle.



I drove the truck off and on through the summer. The fun factor was down compared to when it was a 5-speed. The truck would barely spin the tires and seemed to be lacking low end. Around october I had an answer. I spent $800 on a used GenV 454. The engine was complete and "running when pulled" according to the redneck I bought it from.



I gathered an intake, carb, distributor and basically every part I needed. Then I put the engine on a stand and tore into it a bit. The top end was super clean, but I got a shock when I got to the bottom end. I found multiple spun rod bearings and spun main bearings. I took the block to a machine shop. They said the rods and the crank were no good. I'd need new rods and crank. My $800 engine had snowballed into a $2000+ rebuild that still wouldn't have more than 400hp. I seriously comtemplated a 489, but priced it out and it quickly went above $3k. I started pricing doing a turbo setup on my 5.3 and i figured i could do it for about $2k and easily clear 500hp.