My Build - '98 Chevrolet K1500 Z71

Bought this truck in December of 2013, fresh out of basic training. Was the first vehicle I ever purchased and owned. I drove it for a year, before I decided to make it a project vehicle. Unfortunately, my school schedule caused me to neglect it for the better part of 6 months, but now i'm going at it (finally)!

My base ride is a 1998 Chevrolet K1500 Z71. I bought it for $3,200 in December of 2013, fresh out of basic training. It had almost no issues at all, with 194,000 miles on the odometer. It was bone stock except for the 17" GMT800 wheels. Still had stock size tires, just one inch bigger, that were completely bald. After I purchased it, the first thing I did was put new tires on it, in the form of Goodyear Wrangler Trailmark A/T's, installed a Spectre CAI and throttle body spacer. Right before I parked it, the A/C compressor went out, so I did replace that before starting the project.

As it was last time I took it offroading. This is how it sat before it went from "daily driver" to "project vehicle."


My plans for this truck: EDITED 12/17/2015 - Plans changed
GMPP 350 Crate Motor (4-bolt drop-in replacement) with Accel ignition system, MPFI injector upgrade, Volant air intake system, shorty headers (damned NV smog laws), modded throttle body (cut the little plate off the inside), custom dual exhaust, Iraggi 320-amp alternator, and a high-volume water pump. And yes, all ARP bolts
Install a Gearstar 4L60E transmission, and replace the pan w/ a Mag-Hytec deep transmission pan
Auxiliary trans cooler upgrade
NP241 transfer case swap (Pass drop, from '91-'92 Suburban)
Swap the 8.5" for a 9.5" rear axle (rebuilt, with a Detroit E-Locker)
Solid Axle Swap (GM Dana 44 off a '78 K5, rebuilt, with a Detroit E-Locker)
6" lift (lift springs)
Bilstein 5100 shock absorbers
New engine wiring harness (Painless Performance)
Fitch Fuel Catalyst
Bump gear ratio from 3.73 to 4.10
Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ Tires (LT315/70R17)
Mickey Thompson Classic III Black 17" Wheels
Upgraded cooling system (454 radiator and a Flex-a-Lite Monster E-Fan Kit (5,500 cfm))
Energy Suspension motor, transmission, and body mounts
Black Bear PCM tune
Black housing projector headlights, LED turn/marker lights, taillights, and third brake light
Alpine audio system
Hydroboost swap & brake upgrade (EBC pads, Stoptech rotors front; OE rear drums and shoes, but with wheel cylinders from dual rear wheel K3500; stainless steel brake lines)
AGR Rockram Steering Box (Old one was going bad anyways)
All Amsoil synthetic fluids (except coolant, that's going to be Peak) w/ K&N oil and fuel filters
ARB front winch bumper w/ Warn M12000 electric winch
Custom rear bumper w/ spare tire mount, CB antenna mount, back-up lights, & single fuel can mount
Dual battery system install (with Interstate MT7 AGM batteries)
N-Fab hooped nerf bars
Bushwacker pocket-style fender flares
Topkick door handles
ARE Deluxe Commercial Unit bed shell (double doors w/ windows, windows on the sides, twin interior LED strips, backup camera)
All new interior (leather buckets, custom center console (base console is the center console out of a GMT800), polyvinyl floor, plastic headliner, new insulation & weatherstripping, red led convenience lights, blue led dash lights, passenger airbag delete, custom switch panel, rifle mount, light mount, fire extinguisher mount, rear bench delete, ARB 12V cooler, GMT800 sun visors, D.I.C install)
And last but not least, I am going to line-x the whole exterior (black in the bed, along the bed rails, and the rocker panels; dark blue everywhere else)
 
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First thing I did was remove the old engine. It has 200,000 miles on it, and is in major need of a rebuild (that's for a later thread)
It was a real b***h. My biggest issue was that the garage I have the truck in was not tall enough for my hoist to go high enough to cleanly lift the engine out of the compartment, I had to air down the front tires. Still ruined the stock grille and hood latch assembly:(


After that, we had a cold snap, and I ended up removing the seats, center console, and stock spare tire install tool box thing. I am going to put Mastercraft Baja RS Dirtsport seats and a Tuffy locking center console in the front, and the back will be used for "necessities" storage (recovery gear, ARB fridge, hand tools, etc...)
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chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Welcome to the site RoughRider. We all look forward to seeing what you do with your machine. Please keep us posted with lots of pics. Cheers, Chilli...:wings:
 

superbuickguy

Explorer
neat plan, why 6 lug instead of 8 lug? I'm not a fan of the non-float 14 bolt (I presume that 6 lug is the reason why you're going with the non float)
 
Update: Got my new tailgate, rear axle, and motor/transmission mounts today. I've had my crate engine for a couple weeks, and it's almost ready to be installed. Motor & transmission mounts came from Energy Suspension, and they are very beefy.


 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
25$ for a rear axel is a score. Lets hope the new motor does not tear it up, or anything else for that matter...:Wow1:
 
Haha i'm going to rebuild it. It "supposedly" has 3.73 gears and an open diff. I am going to bump it up to 4.56 gears and put a Detroit locker in it.
 
One can only hope haha

Got my trans rebuild kit and new torque converter in the mail today. Time to finish getting the transmission out of the vehicle and get to work on that :D
Rebuild kit came from Probuilt Automatics, and the quality of service I received was outstanding. I had several emails between myself and Dana, and he was able to put the kit together based on my application. It was a little pricey, but I am not complaining. The experience was awesome.
 
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So I learned something new today. I didn't realize it at the time, but the crate engine I purchased is the "heavy duty" version of the GM Goodwrench Crate L31. This means that it has 4-bolt mains and supposedly puts out 315 horsepower instead of the stock 255, which is what I thought it put out. For 50 bucks more than the "light duty" engine, I can't complain. So for those of you out there looking for crate L31 350ci small block chevy engines, p/n 12530283 is the 4-bolt main engine, p/n 12530282 is the 2-bolt main engine.
 
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Forgot to post this yesterday, but my new wiring harness came in the other day. It's the Painless Performance Vortec FI wiring harness. It has all the plugs, adapters, fuse block, and 4 feet of extra cable so I can move the fuse block and ECU into the cab.

 
Got the time to do some more stuff today:

Got the grille and front bumper off, along with the front driveshaft and lights.


Also got the lower fan shroud, power steering pump, oil cooler, and radiator out today (picture was taken before the oil cooler, fan shroud, and ps pump were out. Got busy and forgot to take another photo, i'll hook you guys up tomorrow haha.


My plan for tomorrow is to get the old air box thing off, as well as the front clip/radiator support, front skid plates, battery trays, and start dismantling the steering assembly.
 
Just a follow up on the wiring harness. If you have issues with your current wiring harness, like I did with mine (went to take MAF sensor plug off and half the harness for that circuit disconnected from the main harness x.x), I would recommend this kit. Yes, it is extremely pricey, but I would personally rather spend the money and have quality parts, than get cheaper parts and have the potential for utter and catastrophic failure later on lol.

The harness I purchased was the one that came with 4 extra feet of wire, which allows the relocation of the harness fuse box and the ECU into the cab. The actual harness comes with a fuse box, and an OBD2 plug and a fancy LED check engine light. Along with all this is a small tube of dielectric grease and a fancy instruction manual, complete with the shiny outer wrap thing that protects the pages beneath. All of the circuits/plugs are labeled, which is very nice, saves the trouble of having to match the new harness with the old harness (which I was ready to do). It does not come with the harness for the 2 rear oxygen sensors or the fuel vapor vent pressure sensor (emissions bulls**t) circuit, but you can purchase it (or you can do like me, and have the custom tune delete the crap).

It did not, however, come with electrical tape or wire loom, so you will have to purchase on your own (I didn't realize it at the time, so next payday, guess what my stupid a** is getting Dx



 

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