87 Chevy crew cab pickup, long slow project

[red EOD veteran]

:wavey: Hi everyone, new to the site and figured I'd check in. Over the past 2 years I've been rebuilding my old chevy 4 door 1 ton pickup. Started life as a long bed dually with a huge flatbed, 6" lift, and 35" tires. Had a 454 big block that was rebuilt with lots of goodies, sm465, np205 tcase, and the standard dana 60 front axle with dana 70 hd dually rear axle.




I've used the truck for medium difficulty trails, rocks, tend to stay away from the mud. I enjoy traveling to places where most people are unable to reach. From the short 1 day offroad trips it has grown to weekend-1 week trips. When I moved back to west Texas 2 years ago (oilfield mechanic), decided to tear the truck completely apart and rebuild it.

 

[red EOD veteran]

Cleaned up the rusty areas, rockers were rusted fairly bad from the inside so cut them off, decided to strengthen that area and provide some body protection with rectangular tubing. Drivetrain has been replaced with an Isuzu 4BD2T engine (from a medium duty box truck) and a nv4500. Provides a much needed overdrive, and the little diesel makes plenty of torque with much better fuel economy, works great for this application.







For the transfercase the truck is getting a 203/205 doubler. Provides a better low range so the truck can make it through the more difficult areas without having to use much speed, much more controlled and enjoyable.

The axles have not been touched yet, currently both are open (no lockers or limited slip differentials).

The wheelbase has been shortened 18" now and the frame cut off just after the rear leaf spring hangers

 

[BBslider001]

I was totally stoked to follow this thread until I saw that you cut the frame off. Oh well, not my truck so I'll shut up. These trucks are pretty hard to find. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

 

[red EOD veteran]

I was totally stoked to follow this thread until I saw that you cut the frame off. Oh well, not my truck so I'll shut up. These trucks are pretty hard to find. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Haha not to worry it's not too short, down to a 6 foot bed from the huge 9 foot long flatbed it had. Truck will not be used for heavy lifting and towing, thats what the other truck is for. I will admit though taking it offroad in the mountains of northern Utah people gave me many odd looks and the usual statement "There is no way that land yacht can make it up this trail!!" A 24ft long dually can make it up some amazing things haha.

With work I havent had a chance to really touch it until a few days ago (sat for almost 6 months), I'll try to get some new pics up today. It's now sitting on 37" humvee wheels/tires, no longer a dually. I want to bring my overall height down to 82" so I can clear the garage door and actually park it inside, so the 6" lift is going out and going with a 2-3" lift. Pulling some of the leaves from the rear springs to provide more flex with a smoother ride and will be running a set of 52" rear springs up front with the front axle pushed forward.

 

[noJeepshere]

This is definitely a unique build, I likey. How much fab work was needed to get that 'suzy motor in there? And what kind of power do you think it's making? When the motor goes out in my Yukon I'm thinking of going with a small diesel like this, the fuel economy would give me great range with my planned dual tank setup.

cent frum a smaert fone

 

[jpat30]

Nice build; I like the color a lot; it looks like Jeep Anvil?

 

[arlon]

Looks like a lot of project. Love the diesel idea. Hope you get time to get her going. I know the busy part out here, I'm in Midland...

 

[chilliwak]

Hey RedVet I love your ride. Cool to see someone do something different with our old school Chevys. Most guys want to go with the Cummins conversion. Thanks for posting pics of you rig. I will be one of the many following updates on what yoiu have gong on.. Cheers Chilli...:drool:

 

[GJStringert]

Welcome!

Cool project you've got here. I'm digging the Isuzu diesel, certainly very unique!

GOOD call on the 203/205 doubler! I don't have one (not yet at least...) but I've got wheeling buddies that just LOVE them. Talk about SERIOUS gear-select-ability!

Happy fabrication!

 

[blakeape]

Awesome project! I had an 87 3+3 for a few years that I dreamed of building up but it was pretty rough. What made you choose the Isuzu motor over the more common 6bt swap? I've seen the 4BD2T in some rigs like Landcruisers, but nothing as big as a crew. Keep the updates coming

 

[east_tn_81]

This is pretty sweet build. It is nice to see something so different. Good luck.

 

[Bojak]

Love the truck! I have 89 v3500 cc that I am building up myself. I used to drive a 2k something gmc dually for my work truck that had an Isuzu motor in it. I always thought that motor was tits. Best running truck in our fleet. I look forward to following your build.

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[red EOD veteran]

Arlon where at in Midland? I'll shoot you a message with my contact info.

The Isuzu was actually pretty easy to swap in, running an ORD engine cross member and a modified set of engine mounts from diy4x. Drive train is tucked up HIGH, even without rotating the transfercase it still sits inside the frame rails, nothing to get snagged on offroad

.

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[red EOD veteran]

The front is now sitting on a set of 52" rear leaf springs with the overload leaf removed. Tried removing a second leaf on the driver side but it won't hold the weight. The front mounts are being integrated into the front bumper, will be here in about 6-7 weeks.

The engine makes around 380ft/lbs of torque at the flywheel, similar to the 6.5 turbo diesel that GM used in the 90's. Capable of much more though without hurting reliability. Before the truck had a built big block with lots of power, but if I went over 2500rpm I could actually watch my fuel gauge drop haha. Debated a Cummins conversion, figured that this truck would not be built for extreme power that it would be a waste. I had built a 6.5 to go in the truck then swapped engines with a friend of mine in Houston for the 4bd2t.

Looking forward to the gear options with the 203/205 doubler. This is my offroad truck that plays around in the rocks and trails so the extra low range should come in handy. Will be sitting on 37" tires hopefully this weekend. Running 4.56 or 4.88 axle gears (have not counted the teeth yet). The 5 speed manual is a later model nv4500, so 1st gear is about 5.6:1 ratio

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[arveetek]

Nice build! I love the old Chevy trucks.

Casey