Restoring my dad's '86 Custom Deluxe

[richiemoe]

Hi all, i've been looking for a good forum to join, and many google search results seem to point to posts from this forum. Excited to be here!

My dad bought the truck new, the same year i was born. Royal blue, short box, 4x4 and a plow unit (plow since was sold and have a cool looking steel bumper in place now).
I remember my dad taking a voluntary layoff when i was really young, putting the camper in the back and driving the family from Michigan to out west and back. All of my deer have been put in the back of this truck too. So many good memories!!

Well, the truck had been sitting for a while and my cousin bought it to haul wood. I wanted it, but i'm somewhat recently married and have my first home. Projects galore!! ha Well, i found out last week that i'm going to be a dad!!! So this week i called my cousin to see if he would sell the truck and he said he was actually going to sell it anyway and get for something else. He put in new locking hubs and rebuilt the carb, so no complaints there. I knew that i had to have the truck!! I always wanted to have a project vehicle to work on with my kids, when i have them.

So... How do i tell me wife that i just bought another project vehicle? ha I'm currently restoring her Jeep YJ frame and body, and saving up for a lift kit. We love taking it to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes!!!!

The truck's front fenders, hood and most of the cab is fine; just the rocker panels need replacing. Rockauto has door exteriors and i'm in no rush to replace the rusted bed. But i'll take the bed off soon to sandblast the frame and see if it is worth welding together. Or i'll find a donor k10/k20. Which might be easier?

My overall plan as of now, is to come up with a game plan of what i want to upgrade, and keep an eye out for deals, while restoring the body/frame first. K20 lift kit, but how high of a lift?? Ideally, i'd like an LS motor (maybe LQ4? suggestions?) to build myself, have the current '86 700R4 rebuilt or find a '90-'92 replacement, find and rebuild myself a NP205 (C; with the slip yoke?), and find a used front Dana 60/Dana 70U for the rear (will 3.73 with over 500hp be ok or stick with 4.10). Maybe put in a 5th wheel hitch for family trips and/or a removable role cage in the bed with seats, for the dunes.

Again, this is a long term project and i'm sure things will change, and i still have a LOT to learn; which is why i'm here. I'll post pictures as i go. I'd rather spend money restoring this truck, than to buy a new $60k truck!!! This will probably last longer and is easier to fix!! ha

 

[Old77]

look forward to seeing pics

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Welcome

 

[crazy4offroad]

Welcome to the forum, and post up pics! The gear ratio will depend on tire size and what rpm you want to cruise at, and what speed. And that depends on how you're achieving 500hp.

 

[74 Shortbed]

Welcome to the site, we love to see pics..

 

[HotRodPC]

Welcome to GMSB. With such a detailed Intro, I've copied it to start your "Build Thread" in the Under Construction section for you. Any help you need to see these plans carried out, don't hesitate to ask for help or even opinions within your build thread. Normally you don't have ask for opinions, you're going to get them anyway.

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/restoring-my-dads-86-custom-deluxe.19065/

 

[1973c10]

Welcome

 

[richiemoe]

Welcome to the forum, and post up pics! The gear ratio will depend on tire size and what rpm you want to cruise at, and what speed. And that depends on how you're achieving 500hp.

Good to know, i did not think about that. I'd like to drive it 30 min to work occasionally in the summer, tow a boat, pull a dump trailer of heavy top soil (locally), tow a fifth wheel trailer with my wife's jeep 1.5hrs to the dunes, and even swap tires to take on the dunes. Im going to be moving the rear leaf springs to make it a k20 frame. If that helps narrow it down some.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Good to know, i did not think about that. I'd like to drive it 30 min to work occasionally in the summer, tow a boat, pull a dump trailer of heavy top soil (locally), tow a fifth wheel trailer with my wife's jeep 1.5hrs to the dunes, and even swap tires to take on the dunes. Im going to be moving the rear leaf springs to make it a k20 frame. If that helps narrow it down some.

Still need to know tire size and what your optimum cruise speed is going to be, and what rpm range your engine setup will be. For example 4.56 with 35" tires and a 700R4, plan on turning around 2200 or 2400 rpm around 70mph. Any hills with a heavy trailer you may have to run 3rd gear. Then you take into consideration cam pattern to determine torque converter stall rpm. You can run 2 different setups side by side on the gear calculator found on this website and figure out what will work best for you...
http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

 

[richiemoe]

Im not sure of tire size yet... i like 35's, but those are expensive, so maybe ill get a low tread set for the dunes. My wifes '95 YJ jas 31's, 5spd manual, 2.5l engine and 4.10 gears. Idk the rpm, but i usually cruise 80-85mph and have to down shift up large hills. Im not too worried about has, but 10-15mpgs wpuld be nicer than 5mpgs.... ha 2200-2400rpm seems pretty low... cams and torque converters are new to me. Thank you for the link, I'll check it out!! Thanks

 

[MikeB]

Quite a laundry list there! I think I'd start off attacking the frame and body, and drive it for awhile with the current engine and trans, assuming they're OK. Moving to a LS engine is not a trivial undertaking. The engine itself is just a small part of what you'll need. I say this after helping a friend get an LS6 ready to install in a 55 Chevy car. The list of "oh by the way" parts seems never-ending.

Being an old school guy, and since it's a 4x4, I'd consider a GM crate HT383. Massive torque from right off idle, respectable horsepower, especially with a low restriction 2.5" exhaust system and optimized ignition timing. Don't forget this: Torque is king in a 4x4 real-world driver. Peak horsepower is something that's achieved at high RPMs where a 4x4 engine will probably spend less that 1% of its time.

http://paceperformance.com/i-6255298-19355720-gm-ht383-383cid-323hp-444-ft-lbs-crate-engine.html

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Whatever you end up doing, have fun!

 

[HotRodPC]

Im not sure of tire size yet... i like 35's, but those are expensive, so maybe ill get a low tread set for the dunes. My wifes '95 YJ jas 31's, 5spd manual, 2.5l engine and 4.10 gears. Idk the rpm, but i usually cruise 80-85mph and have to down shift up large hills. Im not too worried about has, but 10-15mpgs wpuld be nicer than 5mpgs.... ha 2200-2400rpm seems pretty low... cams and torque converters are new to me. Thank you for the link, I'll check it out!! Thanks

You're smoking crack if you think you're going to cruise 80-85 in one of these trucks. You compare that YJ in weight, height, tire size to one of our trucks, and are you going to lift it? Tire size, V8 that will be screaming at high rpm with a reliable NON OD tranmission, or a weak 700r4 that you'd kill probably in the first long trip. And 10-15 mpg is a pipe dream.

If you're build a K20 to do all this carry a load of top soil, pull a 5th wheel, have some wheels, lift and tires to go raise hell, you need to a have serious reality gut check. And I'm exactly where you are buddy. I'm converting a K10 to K20 myself. I've converted the 10 bolt rear that had 52in springs, to 56in 3/4 ton C6P spring pack and a 14 bolt full float with 4.10 with Detroit Locker. Just changing the front 10 bolt to 4in Rancho lift springs and a 10 bolt 6 lug that is set up with 4.10's and an ARB Air Locker that I'll change the brake backing plate, hub and rotor to 8 lug. I too would like 35in tires, but don't care for the 12.5 wide, the expense and the probably tire damage if I get aggressive wheeling so I'm most likely going to go with 33in tires or actually since now going to 16in OEM stock wheels to a 305/75R16 that is supposed to be 34in tall. Since I'm not financially able to build my small block I wanted for it, I going to take the 454 outta my C20, and have now acquired a Th400/NP208 combo. Why a Th400? Because I've realized even with a 700r4 and having OD, it's not going to give me all that much of an mpg gain if any at all to give up all that reliability. And this type vehicle is not being made for a gas sipping daily driver street princess. It's going to be a work horse for when needed, recreational use, and hell raising from time to time when I get it out to the trails at the lake or the river. And I don't trailer my ****. I drive my **** just like I did back in the street racing days and back then it was my daily driver in stop and go Los Angeles traffic. Sooo, that being said, I HOPE to get 10mpg, and that's hoping hard to get 10mpg to and from my places of recreation, wheeling whether it be in the mud, river bottoms, or canyon trails, camping. picking up a load of cow ****, hauling a few sheets or drywall etc. And I'll have faith it'll hold up with maybe the occasional front axle break whether it be a stub shaft, axle or whatever, but the rear 14b FF will get me home and so will that Th400. Soo, as lead footed as I am, an 80mph cruise guy myself, this truck realistically, I'm looking at 65-70 and I'll just have to drive the slow lane and get passed a few times with the engine screaming a little bit to get where I'm going, and I will be driving it to my dad's property 75 miles away frequently. It's not going to be a daily driver. So when I can afford the fuel to have the fun or do the work, it'll be ready to do it. And the occasional bad weather snow day or 2 a year we might get.

Just remember, you can't hang with the big dogs if you piss like a puppy. You gonna play or are you going to sit on the porch and be a spectator? Just keeping it real !!!

So if you want more than that out of it, better mpg, more power, more reliabilty, then consider an LS Swap with a 4L80-E to modernize it a bit, but still keep in mind, these trucks are heavy bricks and not aerodynamic at all, but with the right combo, you'll have all the power you can use and might get 14-15 mpg with the correct gear ratio, tires size set up and the correct tune in the LS package.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

What I'm not gonna get 15mpg with mine??????

 

[HotRodPC]

What I'm not gonna get 15mpg with mine??????

Well, you could always have the wrong speedo gears in the Transfer case, and do a mpg check after filling up and swear on your loved ones graves it said you're getting 18mpg according to your math and you did it right... but that doesn't mean you really did when your odometer is lying to you like a $10 crack *****.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Well, you could always have the wrong speedo gears in the Transfer case, and do a mpg check after filling up and swear on your loved ones graves it said you're getting 18mpg according to your math and you did it right... but that doesn't mean you really did when your odometer is lying to you like a $10 crack *****.

I'd be happy with 5-7. Lol