‘87 Chevy V20 - “Heavy Duty Stock” My Daily Build

[FoxCustom]

Hey guys,

First a “thank you” to this forum! There is a ton of great knowledge, cool reference photos and good help on here! Such an awesome resource while troubleshooting fuel injection, figuring out that exact spring / tire setup, what to do and what to look out for on drivetrain experiences, etc.

I’ve had my ‘87 for just over a year a half now and I’ve become quite (VERY) obsessed with it! I wanted to start this build thread to document the current status of the truck and all the big and little steps we’ve gone through in between! (And there are still plenty of things on the list!) But keeping it on the road as I maintain and improve the truck is the main priority.

I’ve always had a soft spot for squarebodies as my Dad had several half tons and a nice Suburban when I was a kid. Now, wanting a REAL truck, 4wd and a daily with some good character led me to my ‘87 3/4 ton. (A few years ago, I had a ‘84 C10 in this exact color combo and it was stolen... so when I saw this truck pop up for sale, I knew I had to have it!!!)

This truck lived its life in Lyle, Washington - I bought the truck from a dealer in far-eastern Ohio who had just brought it in from out west. Fortunately, they did some of the basic tune up work before I bought it. The Friday before Christmas, my Mom and I drove down to Ohio and I cruised it all the way back home to Michigan (roughly 5-1/2 hours). Made it home A-Okay aside from the exhaust cracking and falling down on I-75 and losing a Cotterpin in the shift linkage.

Upon getting the truck home, I had come up with an overall look I wanted to shoot for with the build - “heavy duty stock”. Basically, tall and skinny tires on fresh white wheels, a solid and reliable drivetrain, bed mounted spare and a clean interior.

This top photo is how my pick em up is sitting today!

The middle photo was taken the day I brought it home.

The last photo shows the most recent (and biggest) modification I’ve done on it:
replaced the th400 / np208 setup with a tight ‘78 SM465 that I went through and cleaned up and mated it to an NP205 built by OffRoadDesign. I couldn’t be happier with the swap!