truck performance on a real budget

[Fire-medic]

I just got my copy of R&T (Road & Track) and saw some referrals to their website for interesting articles. Well, one caught my eye, because it said, "you don't need $$$ to have a fast, fun street ride, look at this 11 year-old truck a tech guy in PA built, installing a used Chevy 6 litre LS/LQ4 V-8 (w/280K miles on it!), a refurbished 78 mm turbo, and a 4L80-E tranny driving a narrowed Ford rear end."

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27540/regular-car-reviews-ls-powered-chevy-colorado/

Sounds like a great way to have fun and to not break the bank. A great article and it lists the major components. He says he built this daily-driver for less than $9,000, truck included. Like the naval ships masquerading as merchant ships, it's a great "Q" ship, capable of Hellcat-like acceleration performance, but you keep your $ in your account, and don't have to pay a premium due to "limited availability," and excessive profit-taking by your local dealer.

Perhaps a good way to spend winter, once the VMax is done?

 

[dannymax]

Now THAT is cool! :thumbs up:

 

[Dorney]

I just got my copy of R&T (Road & Track) and saw some referrals to their website for interesting articles. Well, one caught my eye, because it said, "you don't need $$$ to have a fast, fun street ride, look at this 11 year-old truck a tech guy in PA built, installing a used Chevy 6 litre LS/LQ4 V-8 (w/280K miles on it!), a refurbished 78 mm turbo, and a 4L80-E tranny driving a narrowed Ford rear end."

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27540/regular-car-reviews-ls-powered-chevy-colorado/

Sounds like a great way to have fun and to not break the bank. A great article and it lists the major components. He says he built this daily-driver for less than $9,000, truck included. Like the naval ships masquerading as merchant ships, it's a great "Q" ship, capable of Hellcat-like acceleration performance, but you keep your $ in your account, and don't have to pay a premium due to "limited availability," and excessive profit-taking by your local dealer.

Perhaps a good way to spend winter, once the VMax is done?

That's all true my buddy's son is real good friends with Matt.

 

[Itgoes]

That's cool......I've always wanted a hot-rod truck as a daily driver. A short bed 2 seater with a bunch of power.

It's just not practical for me though with a family and snowy winters. Once the kids are out though.....I might go for it.

Whatever it is it will be LOUD.....not like my silent F-150.

This was the other day right before driving over to the GoodYear dealer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Tk2tr87CU

 

[Fire-medic]

My daily driver is a GMC Canyon crew cab I bought new under Obama's Cash for Clunkers program. It has an inline-5 cyl aluminum block & head of ~226 cu in and is rated at 242 hp and 242 ft lb torque, 3.73:1 G80 limited slip, I'm happy w/it the way it is, though it does have a speed limiter in the electronic control unit so it won't hit 100 mph. A computer re-program will allow it to hit 125, not bad for a mid-size truck. Tow capacity is 5500 lb. It's 18 mpg around town and 21 highway, but if you keep it at or below 70 you can bump that a couple mpg.

You might consider the crew cab model to mod, it can seat 4 adults and doesn't weigh that much more. I don't think I would do this to mine, but from '09 until they stopped making the Colorado and Canyon in '12, you could order it w/a 300 hp 5.3 litre LS series engine, so if you found one of those, it's relatively straightforward to swap in a bigger LS engine.

The economical route would be to get a 2004-2008 in whatever body style fits you, there's a club cab too. They came w/2.9 L inline 4's and 3.5L inline 5's (later models have the 3.7 L inline 5) so one of the high-miles 4's would probably be really cheap to acquire, and easy to work upon. Remove the front clip, lots of elbow room, the key to longevity in that build I would say is the 9" Ford rear, and the transmission, which is easily capable in good condition of handling the hp.

What's more fun than surprising guys w/a ride that absolutely smokes them in acceleration, that they would never suspect is capable of such performance? And, doing it on a budget, w/reliability?

 

[sdt354]

Years ago my Bro in-law bought a new Ranchero with a 429 in it. Pop in-law was a master mechanic and old school racer. He let Freddy quit school to go pick up the vehicle (got his GED later). Talk about a cool father. I think that's why I married his daughter. He talked us out of dumping the factory manifolds for headers, and wasting money on magazine endorsed ignitions & such. That Ranchero could run, a line lock and some tuning were all that were needed. Our friendly neighborhood rival with his tricked out small block Vet got it handed to him at the track, by the so called sled from Ford. No 10's but lots of fun.

 

[sdt354]

My daily driver is a GMC Canyon crew cab I bought new under Obama's Cash for Clunkers program. It has an inline-5 cyl aluminum block & head of ~226 cu in and is rated at 242 hp and 242 ft lb torque, 3.73:1 G80 limited slip, I'm happy w/it the way it is, though it does have a speed limiter in the electronic control unit so it won't hit 100 mph. A computer re-program will allow it to hit 125, not bad for a mid-size truck. Tow capacity is 5500 lb. It's 18 mpg around town and 21 highway, but if you keep it at or below 70 you can bump that a couple mpg.

You might consider the crew cab model to mod, it can seat 4 adults and doesn't weigh that much more. I don't think I would do this to mine, but from '09 until they stopped making the Colorado and Canyon in '12, you could order it w/a 300 hp 5.3 litre LS series engine, so if you found one of those, it's relatively straightforward to swap in a bigger LS engine.

The economical route would be to get a 2004-2008 in whatever body style fits you, there's a club cab too. They came w/2.9 L inline 4's and 3.5L inline 5's (later models have the 3.7 L inline 5) so one of the high-miles 4's would probably be really cheap to acquire, and easy to work upon. Remove the front clip, lots of elbow room, the key to longevity in that build I would say is the 9" Ford rear, and the transmission, which is easily capable in good condition of handling the hp.

What's more fun than surprising guys w/a ride that absolutely smokes them in acceleration, that they would never suspect is capable of such performance? And, doing it on a budget, w/reliability?

That LS GM engine is no joke. Practically bullet proof. The 6.0 version is used in Marine applications. I can't recall one ever blowing up. The 5.3 in my Silverado has plenty of gitty up.

 

[caseyjones955]

Years ago my Bro in-law bought a new Ranchero with a 429 in it. Pop in-law was a master mechanic and old school racer. He let Freddy quit school to go pick up the vehicle (got his GED later). Talk about a cool father. I think that's why I married his daughter. He talked us out of dumping the factory manifolds for headers, and wasting money on magazine endorsed ignitions & such. That Ranchero could run, a line lock and some tuning were all that were needed. Our friendly neighborhood rival with his tricked out small block Vet got it handed to him at the track, by the so called sled from Ford. No 10's but lots of fun.

The 385 series Ford Big Block jumped into my head when I read this, you'll probably never see a 370 but 429/460 are all over and have unusually robust lower ends. I favor the 460 of course, you can make damn decent hp on stock internals and absolutely absurd torque. There is a ton of information out there on the junkyard turbo builds even with a pretty stock 460 they can be shocking. As a side note, if you build a 385 series engine they are picky about cam/intake/exhaust matching and spark curve is CRITICAL. It is not forgiving like a SBC but when you get it right it's just plain brutal. The internet is full of proven recipes and folks that have done it over and over. Not having to beef up internals saves a metric fuckton of money.

I was a cheapass so I used a pair of ported DOVEC heads and a Weiand single plane intake with a custom ground cam in a 72 Maverick Grabber with rust up to the door handles. It was super low budget and the bowtie guys did NOT appreciate it. The best setup I have ever seen was one with junkyard twin PSD (I think) turbos, P51 heads, C6 and narrowed 9" w/ Lock Rite, not sure on cam or carb but it was in a Fairmont wagon and was by a VERY large margin the most brutal plated car I have ever been in. Some of them were around 8:1 compression ratio so you can add some boost to that pretty well. If you use OEM heads many of the later emission heads were highly restrictive and need to be worked. There is more information out there than I can recall about changes from year to year.

Maybe a 60s or early 70s F-150 2wd shorty. Shortboxes are fairly useless as trucks but make bitchin' hotrods. My guess is your biggest issue will be traction. If I were looking for a life changingly fast truck this is the setup I would go for. Leave room in the budget for proper brakes, bushings and shocks, and rubber, I promise you will need it.

Oh, they sound unbelievable! Hearing one idle and pull away should make the hair on your neck stand up. Your main downside is you will be good for 6-8 mpg if you drive nice but the money you save is good for many tanks of fuel. Pretty much massive torque on a working mans budget. I'm not sure how else you can get so much bang without a significantly greater investment.

Oh, I forgot to mention, not a Chevy guy but that is an amazing Colorado build, hats off to that guy! Once you play with a Turbo it's hard to go backwards.

 

[sdt354]

The 385 series Ford Big Block jumped into my head when I read this, you'll probably never see a 370 but 429/460 are all over and have unusually robust lower ends. I favor the 460 of course, you can make damn decent hp on stock internals and absolutely absurd torque. There is a ton of information out there on the junkyard turbo builds even with a pretty stock 460 they can be shocking. As a side note, if you build a 385 series engine they are picky about cam/intake/exhaust matching and spark curve is CRITICAL. It is not forgiving like a SBC but when you get it right it's just plain brutal. The internet is full of proven recipes and folks that have done it over and over. Not having to beef up internals saves a metric fuckton of money.

I was a cheapass so I used a pair of ported DOVEC heads and a Weiand single plane intake with a custom ground cam in a 72 Maverick Grabber with rust up to the door handles. It was super low budget and the bowtie guys did NOT appreciate it. The best setup I have ever seen was one with junkyard twin PSD (I think) turbos, P51 heads, C6 and narrowed 9" w/ Lock Rite, not sure on cam or carb but it was in a Fairmont wagon and was by a VERY large margin the most brutal plated car I have ever been in. Some of them were around 8:1 compression ratio so you can add some boost to that pretty well. If you use OEM heads many of the later emission heads were highly restrictive and need to be worked. There is more information out there than I can recall about changes from year to year.

Maybe a 60s or early 70s F-150 2wd shorty. Shortboxes are fairly useless as trucks but make bitchin' hotrods. My guess is your biggest issue will be traction. If I were looking for a life changingly fast truck this is the setup I would go for. Leave room in the budget for proper brakes, bushings and shocks, and rubber, I promise you will need it.

Oh, they sound unbelievable! Hearing one idle and pull away should make the hair on your neck stand up. Your main downside is you will be good for 6-8 mpg if you drive nice but the money you save is good for many tanks of fuel. Pretty much massive torque on a working mans budget. I'm not sure how else you can get so much bang without a significantly greater investment.

Oh, I forgot to mention, not a Chevy guy but that is an amazing Colorado build, hats off to that guy! Once you play with a Turbo it's hard to go backwards.

That 460 Ford head was used on a marine only, Mercruser 4 cylinder engine. It pumped out 190 hp bone stock. huge valves. Mopar guy here,but lots of respect for the old Ford engines. And SB Chevy's. 1st car, 64 Impala SS. 327, 4 speed. A whopping $400 at the time. It was 6 years old.

 

[MtnMax/Magniac]

When I had my turbo rebuilding shop, I sponsored a guy with a Bonneville streamliner by supplying twin turbos for his FLATHEAD FORD engine. It was originally the 80-hp version. I don't know the HP it made with the turbos, but he ran 237 mph with it. Not bad for an old flathead.

 

[Blacklightning]

I truly am a ford man, and love my 02 lightning. It is more of an occasional driver right now. I typically drive about 2-4k miles a year. I would love to have a chevy extreme, step side with a nice LS motor in it. It would sort of be like a baby lightning, with more umph.

 

[CaptainKyle]

I had a lot of fun back in the day in my Small block Chevy Luv. I know I did not have over 3 grand in it Truck & all & it ran pretty consistent 11.40'S on street tires thru the mufflers.

 

[caseyjones955]

That 460 Ford head was used on a marine only, Mercruser 4 cylinder engine. It pumped out 190 hp bone stock. huge valves. Mopar guy here,but lots of respect for the old Ford engines. And SB Chevy's. 1st car, 64 Impala SS. 327, 4 speed. A whopping $400 at the time. It was 6 years old.

The DOVEC heads I pulled from a wrecked Lincoln Mark III along with the timing set, I think it was a 69. I assumed they were original on the car because it only had 20k miles. I was unaware of their marine origin but if I recall this was the 365hp version of the 460 bone stock. They did have huge valves and ports so I got some assist in cleaning up the ports a little. Once the jetting and spark curve was setup right the car was just stupid beyond reason. Spooky is a good word to use. I love the classic Mopar big blocks, love or hate em' who can deny how awesome a classic hemi is. I drove a 70 New Yorker 440 for a year.