My '85 truck build

[85k30]

I found a little time between projects. So I thought I would put together a little build thread on my truck. This truck was actually my very first vehicle. I was just 16. I bought it from my neighbor for $1000, seems like forever ago. It had a little rust and two cracked cylinder heads and barely made it across the street to my house, but I didn't care!
The truck started out as a 1985 1/2 ton long bed Scottsdale with a 305. It had a/c, electric everything, cruise control, but rubber floor, and a standard trans. Someone had to have ordered it that way.

Same day I bought it, back in 2001:

[85k30]

The next weekend we tore the engine down. Both heads were cracked between the two middle cylinders. My brother just happened to have a set of 305 heads laying around. A few hours later, it was alive! The truck actually ran quite well for sitting for several years due to the cracked heads. It only had 89,000 miles on it.

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The next day!

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I cant leave anything alone! My moto is "If it aint broken, fix it tell it is!"
The truck got a 4" lift kit, some 33" tires and wheels, and of coarse a roll bar with some kc lights.

[85k30]

The 305 did eventually die. The rings leaked so bad from having coolant in the cylinders for so long, that it looked like a bug sprayer going down the road. I had a 350 I just built for my 70 Camaro. But in the battle of all my projects, the truck always wins because its my favorite. So I swapped in the 350 with a tpi fuel injection system I got from First Injections.

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I dropped the truck off at a friends shop to get the cab corners, and rockers replaced and to have him remove the cleats on the sides of the bed. I never liked them anyway. Boy was I surprised when I went to pick it up, The rockers and cab corners where installed, but the whole truck was in primer. He had decided it was time I painted the whole truck and not just pieces of it here and there.

And so it began. I had to come up with a paint color, and fast. I always liked the two tone paint the truck had on it and wanted to stick with something similar. I also liked the brown and tan combo it had. So I settled on a more modern paint scheme with some newer colors.

[85k30]

The truck paint turned out great! But it need something else to make it stand out. I managed to buy an old '81 one ton from my brother, after he sold the engine and transmission out of it. I rebuilt the axles and installed a 6" sky jacker lift kit.

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Here is a pic of the truck with the axles, lift, wheels and tires after a good cleaning.

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The truck looked awesome! but with the 1 ton running gear, big toyo rubber, and only a 350 small block, it was lacking in the performance category! I was on the hunt for a big block. I almost bought one. But my buddy told me of a truck that the local bank was auctioning off that was a repo. It was a 2005 Silverado 2500hd with a 8.1 and a 6 speed trans with only 75,000 miles on it. After looking on here at a few 8.1 swaps. Mostly Dirty Larry's truck, I put in a bid and won! I wasn't sure about the zf650 swap tell I saw K20Chevy's build thread.

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Out with the old!

Clean and paint the firewall, and frame.

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The donor engine.

After a run through and some shiny new paint.

The cast aluminum pieces didn't match the new shiny engine

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I spent the next month learning how to polish aluminum

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Here it is sitting in its new home.

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The HUGE zf650 manual trans turned out to be the only challenge on this build. I had Offroad Design make a np205 with a 29 spline shaft to match the trans. I also had Trail Tuff Fab machine an adapter to bolt them together after a clocked it up and out of the way.

[cable666guy]

Looks killer ! Good luck with it !

[85k30]

Originally Posted by cable666guy

Looks killer ! Good luck with it !

Thanks. It's been a fun project!

[85k30]

To get the transmission to fit I had to raise the tunnel about an inch and a half. I got a factory tunnel from a 4wd auto truck at the junk yard so I could cut a new hole for the shifter and also make a new opening for the np205 shifter.
Before

New, altered junk yard tunnel

After trimming and welding and some seam sealer.

I also had to cut a whole in the floor to clear the drive line brake.

So I hammered out a new hump to cover it up.

[MTCK]

Very cool truck.

[85k30]

After a little paint

Because the transmission and t-case are so long the cross members had to bolt on after the frame started to raise up to the bed. So they needed a little reworking.

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All cleaned up. ready for paint.

I added a support for the t-case on the rear cross member.

and then made a skid plate for it.

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To make the clutch work, I had to use the master cylinder for the zf650. I tried to get the factory one to work, but it couldn't push enough volume to move the slave cylinder all the way. The problem with using the new one is. The factory one mounted flush at 90 degrees. The new one had to be mounted at I thing 16 degrees. Oh and it twisted in, not bolt on!
I made an adapter to bolt it into the factory holes.

[85k30]

I couldn't have a truck with an awesome paint job, and bad ass drivetrain with a stock interior. After searching for what seamed like forever. I came across a seat combo that looked great in a old square body. A fellow member, Carbon Crew put them in his truck, and it turned out bad ass! So I ordered up a set.

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Next was the exhaust.
I have had 4 different exhaust systems on this truck in the past. And the thing I hated about all of them, was that they rusted! I have tried hpc coating, ceramic, aluminized, and eventually they all corrode. So I knew I wanted stainless this time.
I have 304 stainless 1 7/8 full length headers with custom 3" mandrel bent stainless pipes, stainless Magnaflow mufflers, and v-band clamps throughout thanks to Turbo Lab Racing in Orem, Utah.

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I made my intake pipe with parts from Spectre Performance, and a K&N filter that was on my truck before. Just had to make a support bracket for the tube to sit in.

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The truck got a new bumper from LMC Truck to finish off the front.