Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Straight off the onion farm in Vidalia GA .. I dont think this truck was used a lot. It stayed in a covered and concrete floor garage for most of its life. There wont be any repairs necessary in the air box, firewall, toe kicks, etc.

Dad and I are still working on the front end. I have a Hotchkis 1 7/8 front sway bar for it, quick ratio steering box. LS mounts, 4L80e trans cross member going in very soon. We replaced all the steering components, Inner / Outer rod ends, adjuster sleeves from Ridetech. The cab comes off next week sometime hopefully so we can finish detailing the frame, run fuel lines, brake lines and get it wrapped up.

The goal now is to get the trans cleaned up and painted, stall converter in and the engine / trans bolted back together. I'm going to sit the engine and trans over into the frame rails for good (hopefully) and start body work. The cab is going to be converted to a high hump floor for the 4L80e.

This truck wont take much work to be laser straight. It's all original rocker, cab corner, mounts and braces.

I'm going to take the cab and sheet metal for media blast and bring it all the way back up with quality primers and several coats of Marina Blue / white top and rockers. It's not a CST truck but I'm going back with all the trim and emblems from MarK.

I'm building this one to be driven. No billet wheels this time, they're just too much trouble to keep them looking nice. I may change the wheels at some point but the Ramblers look fine for now. Stay tuned.

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Awesome looking truck!

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Looks awesome Chad

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Nice work so far y’all, look forward to seeing more!

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

We have one head ported and polished with new valve springs and keepers installed. Chad is working on the other head then we can start finishing up the top of the engine.

A Corvette water pump has been installed and we detailed the engine brackets. I can't wait until we can fire this bad boy up!

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Any other engine mods???

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

A few.. bunch of TSP parts, cam, LS7 lifters, Pushrods, 2x titanium springs, retainers, trunions, some secret head work, LSXR on the way, etc.

:burnout:

Should be a handful.. I'm trying to build it more for bottom end and midrange power than all top end drag race motor. It wont see big rpm, a good street motor needs to live in the lower rpms most of the time. The converter will flash about 3k, 3.73 posi, 224/228 @ 110 LSA. She should be pretty nasty.

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

This is a cool build

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

It's been awhile since I have checked in but I have been working on our new Key Parts radiator support this week.

I had my buddy Dan at ProMetals in Chattanooga TN media blast, prime and powder coat it and a few other parts. It turned out awesome. They used Satin Black that closely matches the original GM color.

I have had the headlight buckets, windshield washer jar, hood latch and radiator hold down bracket restored for awhile, so I bolted them on.
New headlights, headlight adjusters, hood adjustment bumpers and a new washer jar finished it up. I used some new phosphate bolts left over from our last build.

It looks like it's smiling.

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Chad and I worked on the engine that will be going into his truck yesterday and made some progress.

He had researched performance LS heads and decided to go with a cool set from Gibbons Motorsports in Mooresville, NC. They flow like crazy and the quality and engineering in these heads is incredible. Chad can chime in with the specifics of the heads, valve springs, etc.

The Corvette LS2 intake looks right at home and really cleans up the top of the motor.

Next step is to mate up the engine with the 4L80 transmission and stall convertor and drop it into the truck.

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

We accomplished a lot yesterday on Chad's truck. A little bit sore this morning, but progress is a good thing,

We watched a video online with instructions on how to build a cab lift that works with an engine hoist. The cab lift worked perfect and I want to thank Paul at Paulk.com for providing spot-on dimensions. Our version is shown below.

After disconnecting everything from the cab, we separated the cab from the frame to get it ready for Vapor Blasting. The fenders, hood, bed panels will be blasted and sprayed with a good coat of Epoxy Primer.

The cab dolly was welded together from scrap metal tubing. We bolted the cab to the dolly using the original rubber cab mounts and bolts. It is super easy to roll around the shop with one person.

To open up some room at Chad's I will be bring the chassis to my house for complete prep and detailing. Stay tuned...

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

So, the wooden beam pushes up against both door openings? and the lift attaches to the two pieces in the center....?

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Yes, the lift attaches to the TOP of your engine lift. I found the measurements by watching a video titled "Removing a Truck Cab By Yourself (Part 1 and Part 2) at paulk.com. I'm not too computer savvy so I don't know how to include the link to the videos, but a Google search will get you there.

We did some additional things that are not mentioned in the video. We left the original rubber door mouldings and added some sections of a Pool Noodle to the top of the cab doors. You have to build the lift to the width of your engine lift arm because they do vary. The key is to get the pivot points (the 2 x 4's) EXACTLY centered. Then when lifting the cab make sure there is the same amount extending past the cab on both sides. This is very important to keep the lift even. It's also important to keep the lift as far forward as possible because the front of the cab is much heavier than the rear.

If we can help you more, let me know.

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

I built one of those cab beams last year. Works like a charm.

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Yes sir - that cab lift worked really well. It's was the first time we have pulled one off the chassis and it's really not that big of a deal. (We bought the gold 68 with all this initial heavy lifting already done)

But I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Now off to media / vapor blast. I have to break the doors down, pull the cab glass and final stuff of course. But now we can make some progress for sure.

Dad is going to finish up detailing the chassis and put the new 4l80 cross member in it. We'll go from there I guess. The motor / Trans / conv is almost ready to bolt together and I'll take it over to Pops and sit it in the chassis. I have already spoken with PSI about the chassis and LS harness. Well wire it all up before the cab goes back on.

The new Boyd tank is at Pops, I'm sure he will run the lines and stuff too.

But yeah .. it's going to start moving again now.

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

The frame is loaded and on its way to my house. We have a Hotchkis front sway bar and an LS 4l80 transmission mount to install once the frame is detailed. The Boyd's Welding LS gas tank is ready to go in too.

Stay tuned.

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Nice progress fellas!

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Great build guys...

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Thanks fellas. I appreciate you following along. The plan is to get the chassis pretty much done, painted and detailed then drop the engine and Trans over in the frame rails. Get it wired, all the harness planned out, fuel and return lines, brake lines done and ready when the cab comes back from paint. Maybe around fall 2022 she will see sheet metal again.

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Looking good, Chad.

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Hi Ed (niped)! It's been a long time my friend. Probably Good Guys Nashville a few years ago. Your build is looking killer too young man. Great work.

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Some progress over the weekend. After wearing out 4 Flap wheels on the grinder and assorted grits of sandpaper, the frame was pressure washed one last time.

After a lot of research we decided to prime and paint the frame with a new product from Eastwood Company. My air compressor is too small to keep up with Chad's paint gun, so we ordered Eastwood 2K AeroSpray Epoxy Primer. It is a true 2 part solvent/catalyst spray paint in a rattle can.

After wiping down the frame with grease/wax remover I suited up in Chad's Paint Respirator, Safety Glasses, and Neoprene Gloves. THIS STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT.

Then I applied a base coat of the Epoxy Primer. After 48 hours cure time, I added a second coat of the Primer. The spray pattern was great and easy to apply without runs. Turned out really nice.

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Some progress today. I sprayed 2 coats of Eastwood Extreme Chassis Satin Black. Turned out really nice! We are going to install a cool Porterbuilt Trailing Arm Cross Member, an LS transmission cross member and new pre-bent stainless brake lines from SS Brakes.

After some detailing here and there we are going to set that monster 6.0 between the rails. The trailing arms will go out for media blast and powdercoat.

POP

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Looks good Pop!

Re: Another one underway! Meet project Savannah
 

Thanks young man!