04CHASE Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) ok so i have been putting a ton of time in the SS again . ive done alot including getting ripped on my interior and then getting fed up with other have learned to do it all by myself. first i did some color changing , powdercoated alot of parts, leanred how to r&r brake caliper , lost a thumbnail learning to remove pistons (use a 2x4 in the caliper or a piston compressor when blowing them out with air) had to re seal all of them and remove all powder coat which isnt to hard but must be careful with the stripper and not ruing your new coating. i also had some chrome on my wheels chipping so i deceided to change them to all black and make the brakes pop with the gm orange . i also changed the shopman bowtie to all black and thought it would look good with the added orange accent's, also powder'ed the dam lug nuts and center caps. needed some new rubber so i broke down and bought the 305/40/22 bfg kdw tires which are freaking awesome ive still not finished the 4 link but that is about half way done(coil overs are the threaded body qa1's im using but without a spring) the custom brackets ill be using are cut and on the way , i just need alot of time to measure , measure and measure more to set up the anti squat just over 100% to get the rear of the truck lifting or staying exactly where it is on a hard launch to keep weight on the front to help the front grab as well as pushing the rear axle into the ground for traction . ill start with suspension i ditched the mcgaughy knuckles for djm control arms (upper and lower) stock knuckles , heim tie rods and all new pitman and idler arms w pivot assembly , the new idler is also forged and not cast although imo it wont make a big difference but should outlast the stocker by far. i also swapped in double adjustable qa1's (adjustable rebound and compression) so i can set them to not lift for launching at the strip , i previously had limit straps and this should do even better and be much easier to adjust as well as being good on the strip and on the road course. next was the rear suspension as well as me wanting to go a bit lower to help get the center of gravity down to help in the corners. dropping one more link on the hanger got me to a 4" drop and from previously riding in other trucks dropped 4" in the back i had felt some bottoming out on the bump stops and didnt want that in my truck so a c-notch was necessary . a saw-all made this an easy job imo . only part that i didnt enjoy was drilling 24x 1/2" holes in the frame , hopefully if i ever do another one ill have my mag drill. i swapped the included bump stops from the c notch to a longer softer beltech stop so it would keep it from hitting hard( although @ 4" it never will) i also completely eliminated the stock shock mounts and made my own adjustable versions. i got the lower mounts from competition engineering and the uppers i fabbed a cross member with 1.5x .125 tube with shock tabs and moved them outward as far as possible while still leaving room to run the qa1's as coil overs since the version i got are a threaded body and i am going to be 4-linking the rear soon as mentioned , im going a different direction than most and am going to make the trailering arms on the outside of the frame this will allow me to keep the stock tank and still run a bit wider tire in the rear . i still will need a small section added to the fender wells to clear tire though. ive got some cool ideas on the link to possibly make some kits as it may be bolt in . the coil overs can be welded for better angle or possibly used in the stock location although not ideal and here she is all done in the rear with new color on the brakes, wheels , and lug nuts i had to add some safety equipment aka driveshaft loops to be compliant with the rules and did so using the minumum 2" wide , 1/4 thick steel flat bar on both drive shafts , im still making two more for the other u joints but this will technically pass for now , still need a cage but its not ideal for me and still enjoying this thing. pics of my helper mechanic too (above) suspension unloaded (below)suspension loaded (below) front shaft loop (its a fixed position so i made it fit alot tighter) and my #1 helper both shaft loops are 100% bolt in on any stock SS , the front may need to use a larger loop on a stock ss since my shaft is a bit small diamter now here it is with the new suspension out of the garage for a quick picture Edited May 9, 2011 by 04CHASE (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04CHASE Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) now on too the interior mods , i went with a bit more hydrodipped carbon fiber , defrost vents,homelink addition to the overhead, rear seat belt covers,seat controls,e-brake handle, and the suicide door overhead latch covers. I also added dual aeroforce gauges (thanks to the owners for the help on their product which is something everyone should have) , i added some custom SSS emblems to them for a little custom look as well as installing a homelink console since im getting new garage doors finally. I also added the stock lighting for 194 bulbs(used leds) that came in the 99-02 trucks that gm deceided to delete in 03 that go in the foot area of the driver and passenger. I had some suede from my previous interior make over and thought the passenger airbag would look great covered to match the rest of the interior. (dash bezel wasnt fully seated) i also added a new cluster since mine was broken in a previous situation with a bad seller/installer 140mph and 7k rpms with blue led back lighting i then was so upset about that deal i bought the led's and soldering equipment and did the conversion myself , which is not hard but time consuming if you do it right and add extra led's to avoide hot spots . i also added some other touch's i havent seen yet such as using red rectangle led's to heated seat buttons when they are on ( i love little details) (top was stock led's and lower is the new red ones) installed (ac controls with lots of extra leds (notive the pic with it apart and lots of led's , a stock one only has 3 bulbs per side i had 4 hrs into this part alone hard to see in this pic but this is the added footwell lights but it makes a big difference this is the part you need to do this , just tap into your stock lights(small box under the drivers footwell , remove the cover and the bottom lower wire(black and grey is what you need ) notice i did not do the stock radio , i just picked this up on craiglist , its a escalade tnr lux nav i will be added the lux amp as well i only paid 300 bucks for it with the gps antenna and nav disc so i cant loose my 6 disc changer was also damaged in that last transaction that went south so i couldnt load/eject or play any disc's , i just got the 6 disc changer to go in the lower center console cubby (stock mounts) as well , and im still in search of the lux amp to complete that . ill be doing a write up on it as well since you get alot more bass from the stock bose with a better amp and head unit . ive always wanted more sound but no aftermarket stuff . this will get me both and beleive me the lux upgrade is well worth the sound . ill be doing the led upgrade on both of these as well. although i have tested the nav screen and it has blue led's already. Edited May 9, 2011 by 04CHASE (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04CHASE Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) and check it ladies and gentlemen the first ever weight reduction i have done , this is the stock exhaust heat shield under the bed , it weighs about 1.5 lbs ROFL i did get a chance to weigh the truck and without me and no gas (1/8 tank) id say with me and the gas i race with (1/2-3/4 tank) 5700 wouldnt be out of the question which is a dam pig imo its still quick enough to take this car out , it was my first real kill and it was a dam slaughter , its a challenger srt-8 with a widebody conversion that through the wrong rev at the wrong truck , i had about 5-6 legnths on him after he got the jump in 3 seconds or so . he quickly exited the freeway with his head hung low. he soundled like he was magnacharged but with the cutouts open the turbos probably had him saying omfg and last but not least , not truck related here is my new tool ill be using to make some way cool stuff another craiglist steal , i got this for cheaper than i could turn it in for scrap (it weighs 2k+ lbs) and it looks and works like new . ill be posting the 4 link build and bose lux upgrade soon . also the best part of everything posted here , i have done every single thing , no one got paid but the people selling the parts. god thats a good feeling. jason , i love your sig BUILT NOT BOUGHT " Edited May 9, 2011 by 04CHASE (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juriha Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Quite impressive to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catdaddy300 Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 My eyes hurt now after reading all that, lol good work man the lights are a nice touch to the inside and the other drivetrain work is really nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JArias76 Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Man everything looks Chase. So how many man hours. Was spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueAKSSS Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Wow that is crazy, everything is looking awesome man! Gotta love doing things yourself, like you said built not bought. That is one heck of an impressive truck, I can only imagine the look on peoples faces when you scream by them in that thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hankg42 Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) Looks great, Chase! Sorry for what you went through, but the interior looks fantastic, and you have the satisfaction of having done it yourself. Good work! Edited May 9, 2011 by Hankg42 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eeekroar Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 SIIIIICCCCKKKK!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f1ss Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Wicked pissah! Those orange calipers compliment the flames perfectly. I like your new cluster, is that the aqua series guages? Looks similar to JKP's (KelleyPerformance) cluster, just curious I really like those guages. Your LED swap is making me jealous for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepingcrna Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Yeah, the BUILT NOT BOUGHT thing is pretty cool IMO also, but i prefer my truck to actually run and function properly. Therefore, i stick to the simple shit. Great build Chase. It's always fun to see what you and some of the other regular 'over the toppers' are doing. Kind of inspires me to do things i shouldn't be doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowsniper3006 Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) Wow is about all i can muster at this point, i'm still in shock at the detail and devotion. Just wow Chase. What front shaft are you running that it is a smaller diameter? I checked into a CF front shaft but they would not make one based on the headers being to close to it. As for the mill, here are some "rule of thumb" start points. These are for crap steel like 4140 and p-20 High speed steel cutter is 300 rpm for a 1" cutter. So 300/cutter diameter=rpm carbide cutter is 700 rpm for a 1" cutter. So 700/cutter diameter=rpm Drills are the same rpm for HSS A typical insert cutter like an iscar is 1500 rpm for a 1" cutter Rpm needs to be adjusted for length of cutter and is a feel/experiance thing. Of coarse better steel can be a lower rpm. Stainless and h-13 steels suck If your going to cut AL, buy a .750 diameter 3 flute high helix TIN coated cutter....they work great and don't weld as fast Edited May 9, 2011 by shadowsniper3006 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04CHASE Posted May 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 thanks guys i actually have some not so fun work ahead of me . it seems i have my first big bug to work out , turbos are coming out as well as heads. seems i lose a head gasket after some spirited driving . good thing is i know exactly why it happened and everything should be fine . just have to get it back together asap to make truckin throwdown. should have it all apart by tomorrow and know exactly what im up against. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 WOW! You were busy this weekend.;) Nice work.This is surely a multipurpose truck. What are you using for a fuel system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miller812 Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 wow you have an absolutly gorgeaous truck man. i love the fact that you did everything on your own. thats true talent to be able to work on every part of the truck and specially with the detail you put into it. you do great work. how did you do the carbon fiber to your interior? awesome truck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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