Complete build change. Lifted 2wd

[Devil Pup]

Originally Posted by kehstr

Cool build!! I'm in to watch it, I've never seen a lifted 2wd!!

Ive only really seen this lift method done on the 73-87 body styles. Seen a few 67-72 but no real detail and not great pictures. so hopefully it is as large as I want lol

[Devil Pup]

Got a good amount of work done this weekend so figured id add a little update.
Bolted the crossmember in with some fresh Grade 8 Hardware.


The 73-87 frame i took the crossmember out of had these nice little reinforcement brackets for the crossmember that my 69 and previous 73-87 crossmember didn't have. They look to add a lot of strength so i used them on this frame considering that stress will be added with bigger tires.


ordered a bunch of parts from Rockauto. Shipping was vary fast but i ended up with someones used 88-98 ball joint. They actually fought me a little but took care of it and sent me a new one so no harm.


Installed the control arms, springs, spindles and rotors.


surprisingly had to jack the frame up more than it already was to fit the wheels on for a test fit. The wheel/tire set up is a 265-65-17 so i believe just under a 31.




At first glance i thought the tie rod was going to work with the stock sway bar but when turning i believe it will cause interference. So while i wait to get a reamer to change the tie rod to the top, i tarped the frame in anticipation of this weeks rain.

[Devil Pup]

On Sunday it was too cold to paint and since i still dont have a reamer i figured we could keep moving forward by getting the motor prepped.
Took the harness off to get to the smog equipment I'm going to delete.

There's a lot of wires here. A little overwhelming. Im not a wiring guy by any means so I'm relying heavily on my older brother here.


Used a doorman freeze plug with some silicon to block the EGR port.


The driver side valve cover removed it looked a little dirty to me. This is the side with the PCV valve so maybe thats why? anyone care to shed some light on this.


Passenger side looked really clean.


Plugs to me also looked pretty good. any motor gurus care to share their thoughts?


Took a whole can of degreaser and two of us with a scrub brush about two hours of elbow grease to get this thing clean. Fortunately i have a full seal set that a good buddy of mine gave me so I'm planning to tear it down further and at vary minimum, reseal it, and paint the block.



Still has grime in places i just cant get to with how it is still assembled but at least it is cleaner and i can scrub it as i tare it down bit by bit.



Same buddy hooked me up with a set of Trailblazer SS exhaust manifolds for this swap. I actually like the look of the truck ones better. Is there a performance reason to go to the trailblazer ones?

[NDM]

Originally Posted by Devil Pup

Got a good amount of work done this weekend so figured id add a little update.
Bolted the crossmember in with some fresh Grade 8 Hardware.


The 73-87 frame i took the crossmember out of had these nice little reinforcement brackets for the crossmember that my 69 and previous 73-87 crossmember didn't have. They look to add a lot of strength so i used them on this frame considering that stress will be added with bigger tires.


ordered a bunch of parts from Rockauto. Shipping was vary fast but i ended up with someones used 88-98 ball joint. They actually fought me a little but took care of it and sent me a new one so no harm.


Installed the control arms, springs, spindles and rotors.


surprisingly had to jack the frame up more than it already was to fit the wheels on for a test fit. The wheel/tire set up is a 265-65-17 so i believe just under a 31.




At first glance i thought the tie rod was going to work with the stock sway bar but when turning i believe it will cause interference. So while i wait to get a reamer to change the tie rod to the top, i tarped the frame in anticipation of this weeks rain.

Dang! Figures that the exact info that I have been searching for would be lost in photobucket land.

Can you tell me what you used for this 2wd lifted swap. I am going to do my 2wd ls swap with a l96 6.0 liter and a 6l90e. That means I am saying goodbye to the front diff and 4wd. My goal is the same as yours. Smooth ride, wicked power and lifted for now.

The 4wd ls swap just has too much complication for me. I already did this exact swap in my 76 Buick so I am very familiar with how to do it. I just need to know how you did the 2wd lift.

Thanks and yes I realize that this is an old thread.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NDM

Dang! Figures that the exact info that I have been searching for would be lost in photobucket land.

Can you tell me what you used for this 2wd lifted swap. I am going to do my 2wd ls swap with a l96 6.0 liter and a 6l90e. That means I am saying goodbye to the front diff and 4wd. My goal is the same as yours. Smooth ride, wicked power and lifted for now.

The 4wd ls swap just has too much complication for me. I already did this exact swap in my 76 Buick so I am very familiar with how to do it. I just need to know how you did the 2wd lift.

Thanks and yes I realize that this is an old thread.

The images might be missing but the info & parts used were mentioned within the build thread text.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

The images might be missing but the info & parts used were mentioned within the build thread text.

So I have acquired an entire front 1 ton crossmember from a 84 C20 from a local guy including the steering box. I will have to replace a bunch of the old stuff and get the conversion parts to 6 lug. I have some sand blasting to do and some painting.

My question to you is...Is there anything you regret or would do differently with this 2wd lift? I am about to purchase a 6.6 L8T with a 6l90E and am getting very excited! I am just kind of torn between lifted, stock height or lowered. This beast will be my daily driver when I am done. Should be so much better than the SRT Jeep that I got rid of to get this thing.

Anyways, Any regrets? Anything you'd do different?

[NDM]

If you are still around the forum, Would you mind posting pics of the current fender to ground height for me? Last photo did not have the motor in yet and I could not find any other measurements. I am leaning toward doing the same swap as you did with the 88 up spindles but with my 6.6 liter L8t that I am about to swap.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NDM

If you are still around the forum, Would you mind posting pics of the current fender to ground height for me? Last photo did not have the motor in yet and I could not find any other measurements. I am leaning toward doing the same swap as you did with the 88 up spindles but with my 6.6 liter L8t that I am about to swap.

His last activity on here was May of '23.