86 K30 Restomod LS swap AKA Blue Rust

[Bluerust]

Hi Guys,

I am new to the forum.

I started this project 4 years ago and just now have it pretty much finished. I am going to post what I learned along the way like others. It ended up getting a bit more in depth than expected, like many other projects on here.

Some things you have seen, some maybe not. This was the first project like this I have attempted, and the first square body I've owned.

It started with me buying an ex army M1008 K30 with the idea of making a big block ugly mud race truck. I started looking around more and the mud race industry on the East coast started getting a little too insane on horsepower/blowers,megatrucks and trucks jumping or backflips, so i decided maybe a street truck would be a little safer and I'd get more drive time.

Josh

[Bluerust]

I gave the truck some test drives on and off road and quickly discovered areas of improvement to make. These government trucks did not have all the comforts of the civilian models, but had less accessories to break...

Transmission shifted shattering hard - needed a new vacuum valve on the 6.2 diesel fuel pump/throttle cable to proportionally control shifts,
V belts squealed at high rpm - replaced them
vent windows whistled in the cab,
no overdrive in the turbo 400 and 4.56 gears makes for a screaming engine,
no radio,
no ac,
brakes vibrated,
etc

I started searching and learning on 7.4 vortec, 8.1 vortec, and LS engines. I slowly decided against any modified cummins engine swaps for fear of weight and torque twisting or cracking the frame.

These trucks just don't have the frame construction like newer trucks without more frame reinforcement or boxing. I know alot of people have swapped 6BT's into these trucks so maybe they handle it ok to a certain horsepower/torque? I believe the early dodge cummins pickups had frame cracking issues. Not trying to start an argument there.

[mongocanfly]

Welcome...
A k-series LS swap can be a little bit of a challenge...
Looks good...

[Bluerust]

Eventually I decided on the tried and trues - an LS engine repower with a 4l80 and np205. LS engines are well supported and common, 4l80's are proven and have lots of support and ease of integrating ecu's than 6l80's, and the tough 205.

I started pulling the truck apart while I was going to look around for components locally. I welded a couple little carts up for the bed and cab to roll around to work on them.

Eventually I found a bad 4.8 for mock up, a used 4l80 4x4, and a friend of mine had a np205 with the rare 4l80 factory adapter. I bolted it all together and had a new used drivetrain!

[Bluerust]

Out of curiosity I weighed the two drivetrains to see how they compared.

dressed 6.2 diesel, turbo 400 and np208 - 1012 lbs

fairly bare 4.8, 4l80, and np 205 - 877 lbs

after you add the accessories to the 4.8L it looks like they are not a whole lot of difference,

Also pictured is a previous project, a 2006 cummins 5.9 that got some spicing up. It weighed 857 lbs without accessories, so would be significantly heavier in a swap.

[Bluerust]

Some of the parts of this project I didn't take adequate pictures.

I decided on a 4" lift with mostly ORD components, crossover steering, tough country front ez ride springs, rear 3" custom blocks.

For right or wrong I decided on this project to try a panhard or track bar since converting to the crossover steering. I figure it has to help keep the front end in place. The 7.3 fords have a track bar with leafsprings and some jeeps. I could tell a difference in my ford when the track bar bushings were shot.

The dana 60 and 14 bolt got pulled apart, sandblasted, painted, and reassembled with new parts as needed. I upgraded to 35 spline outer axle shafts and Yukon hardcore hubs. A steel tubing mount for the track bar was added to the axle tube. I also made a custom dual steering stabilizer mount because most aftermarket stuff is so cheesy.

Something notable I found is that the front and rear cast iron hubs were not machined accurately on the wheel and brake disc/drum faces. The new front discs had almost 0.010" runout on the hubs originally when checked with a dial indicator. After measuring and machining the front hubs in a lathe, I got them true'd up. Turned the drums so they run true also.
The rear 14 bolt had one rear hub machined so out that I had to find another from another axle. I couldn't machine it round and keep the drum pilot bore the size it needed to be.

That explained the vibrating brakes....they don't make 'em like they used to, thankfully...

I kept the old drum brakes to keep a working parking brake, I may change to a newer 14 bolt axle one day if its a problem. I'd never realized these trucks have dump truck sized drums....

[Bluerust]

I pulled apart the rear leafs and blasted and painted them. Replaced the press in eye bushings and plastic pads. Blasted and painted the frame and started assembling and mocking up.

The exhaust on this project was a little tricky, I piped it a few times... Ive also heard complaints that 6.0 engines are noisy and drone so with that in mind I was aiming for quiet. I picked up a set of speed engineering c-10 long tubes which fit perfectly other than needing 2 spark plug wires clearance adjusted with a hammer, a set of magnaflow hiflow cats, some flex joints, a knock off magnaflow- xlerator muffler, and a vibrant performance resonator

[Bluerust]

In my engine hunt I found a rough '08 3500 express van 6.0/4l80 that I got for hopefully a usable engine and parts. It ended up having a bad engine but I was able to use it for some parts or mock up parts and sold the rest.

Ultimately afterwards I found on LKQ a low mile 2016 wrecked truck and was able to get a decent price on the L96 6.0

I used a 2008 express fuel line to come off the motor and go to another 3/8 tubing on the frame to the tank. Seemed to be a decent fit.

I also decided to make a custom rear tank with a factory gm fuel sending unit/pump. I had to make some custom crossmembers, aluminum tank, and stainless straps that could work with the exhaust and clear the 14 bolt.

[Bluerust]

I had the transmission rebuilt with some basic upgrades and a shift kit by a local transmission shop and I took on the np 205.
I also had the transmission shop install a rear vss into the transmission. I am not worried about knowing my speed in 4Lo, it should be half of 4 HI

The 205 needed a bit of work for being such a "bulletproof" rated case. The input and output shaft were worn out where they fit together with the needle bearing rollers, shift collars and forks had wear etc.

So I ordered all the rebuild parts and twin stick from ORD and put it all back together. If I recall the shift forks needed a little grinder work for some clearance in an area or two. Don't forget to put the magnet back in before starting to reassemble....

[Katrina/10]

Nice work, thanks for the pics.

[Bluerust]

I stumbled across this crossmember from a local guy selling some parts that fit well with the 205, but it made me rework some of the exhaust.
After getting the chassis set I test fit the body for clearance before the body work. I installed 1" aluminum body spacers from ORD for more clearance to work on anything underneath.

[Bluerust]

One rocker was dented and the cab corners had minor rust so they were replaced.

This truck had a couple thick layers of paint to strip and blast off. I wanted to do something different with the colors and coat the underside and inside black regardless of exterior paint color.

On all the frame and underside I used a 3 step Devoe industrial zinc epoxy/epoxy/polyurethane. If it's rated for water immersion, it should last a while on here. Its not super expensive either for the protection it gives.

[Bluerust]

After looking at endless paint colors and talking to a few painters I know, I picked out a GM indigo blue color and got into priming, sanding, bondo, sanding, sanding, priming, sanding, and painting.

I took a gamble on this project painting it in pieces so I could manage it being as it was the first auto paint job I had attempted. I bought enough basecoat to go through the whole job to hopefully have color match. As much as I would have liked to have used a booth, I painted in the garage with some draft.

I ordered some sound deadeners and insulation for the floor and firewall. I went with black floor vinyl for ease of cleaning and no stains.

The lady in my life is pictured as she checks on progress hoping the project would finish itself.

[mongocanfly]

WOW!!...that blue looks great!....

[Bluerust]

I ended up getting a harness kit from PSI, dakota digital gauges with BIM module, and the vintage air kit and kwik compressor mount. That is where the headaches came in of how to tie them all together.

Fortunately the military has a complete truck schematic for the trucks original harness published online so I took every wire out that did not run the lights, wipers, or ignition.

I used a ford winstar dual fan on a big block radiator. I also bought a new hydroboost for a newer chevy truck and extended the pedal rod as needed.

I tried a newer see through 1 1/4 bore master cylinder but ultimately took it off because the brake pedal sat too low with it. The original style cast iron 1 5/16, I think, master cylinder felt like a better brake pedal.

I robbed a steering shaft from a Jeep cherokee at a junkyard to replace the rag joint shaft.

[Bluerust]

I am not sure how the rest of you have done your brake pedal switch but I felt the old switch left something to be desired and wanted to put the modern switch on.

I cut out the old pictured mounting stud for the hydroboost rod and machined a new one to match the newer design stud that was in the 08 van I had for parts and put the newer switch on the pedal. The new switch is better and does not need the pedal return spring. You have to use the new style hydroboost rod end to work with the switch.

I had to chop some sheet metal away from where the new switch sits. I did not get pictures of that step completely.

[Bluerust]

I plumbed up some coolers using Parker "air brake" style hose and JIC fittings. I installed an Improved Racing oil cooler thermostat and went with an air oil cooler.

[Bluerust]

After giving the rest of my body panels a good look over I found they had some issues, prior damage and bondo, etc, so I was looking around for any decent trucks in the area for parts and couldn't find much that was in great shape. The dented ones were rust free, the straight ones were rusted, or dented and rusted.
I came across a pretty straight bed at a junkyard from a C10 with a camper shell and had to have it. It needed some body work but better than my original bed.

I ended up getting a couple doors and a hood from GMC Pauls. They seemed to fit ok in the end. Not perfect, but I could live with them.

[Bluerust]

I got the panels all put on and finished the interior. I adapted some clean junkyard Chevy HHR seats by welding them to a baseplate made to fit to the floor of the truck. I fabbed up an aluminum and stainless center console, the pictured console was not complete. I put some 6x9's in the console and the normal dash speakers. I painted my original door panels and kept the manual windows and locks for simplicity.

I got the chrome package of grill and headlight panels from LMC and triplus bumpers from gmc pauls. They all seemed decent looking and cheaper than any custom chrome i'd think.

Picked up some pro comp wheels and toyo tires to finish it off, and a friend of mine hooked me up with some used boggers. They are probably only good for a truck show, too aggressive for comfort and would sling too much at the truck.

[Bluerust]

Almost finished.

[Greenlee]

Beautiful truck! Nice work.

[layinrocker65]

Great build. I’m starting my vintage air install Monday. Any tips you wished you knew?

[MTCK]

That really escalated quickly! Nice work. You’re making the rest of us look bad by documenting your whole build in two days hahaha.

My 205 in my V3500 was wore out too.

[Bluerust]

Thanks,
I would have posted progress along the way but did not pay any attention to the forum here until the truck was pretty much finished.

I have had the truck on the road for a little while, I haven't really used the vintage air product much but it seems to work.

I'd say if you are going to seal the side floor vents under the dash seal them up before mounting the evaporator under the dash. I used some thin gauge aluminum and worked the aluminum to fit and used micro sheet metal screws and sealant. Some of the stuff they give in the kit I didn't use.

After fitting the condenser I had to trim at some of the core support where it would rub on the refrigerant hard lines. I slit and wrapped some rubber hose around any tubes that have anything close to them. I also accidentally ran a drill bit into the condenser when mounting the other coolers and had to order another one and reinstall. Don't do that either.

If you use the same Kwik LS bracket I did for the compressor it took me some time playing with it to get the erector set properly aligned for belt alignment by adjusting some of the shims or washers around or thickness of the washers. I think Kwik advertised their kit to be engineered and stress analyzed but I still added an additional steel support to the rear of the compressor after it was installed. Theirs might be adequate, but I wouldn't say overkill.

I manually engaged the ac clutch to charge the system. Afterwards I found I wired the trinary switch to the wrong wire colors at first and the ac compressor would not come on when AC selected. Simple mistake.

[layinrocker65]

That’s for the reply. How’s it cruise down the road with the 80e and 4.56s? My next project is a swapped CUCV