vipergtrdj

So I have been a member of the site for some time, asking for advice and reading/researching a lot. Figured it was time to make my own Project Log. So I bought the truck back in August 2012. My wife came up with the name, Green Booger. She drove it more then I did for the first year. I was traveling 50miles a day for work, and the car was much better on gas, she only drove 10miles a day.

I found the truck on craigslist for $1500 with plow. It needed some work, front brake lines and rust repair. Went and looked at it and offered the guy $1000, he accepted and I drove it home.

The day we got her....






Cab corners were shot, rockers gone, plow was set to low and would scrap when hitting bumps. Overall not too bad for the price. I did the repairs so it would be safe to drive on the road; new brake lines, roll pan(bumper was gone), cab corners and rockers (quick repair).











I drove it like that for about 3 or 4months, then I threw in some 3/4t leaf springs with a 3" block, and keys in the front. I put it in a sled pull in the local fair, I wasn't expecting much being a 4.8 but she didn't do so bad.





At some point I installed the 4hi mod, HIDs (DRL, Low beams, High Beams), LED reverse lights, LED Brake lights. I also did a dual exhaust, LS6 camshaft, Nitrous, hood scoops, and cab lights. I rebuilt the 4L60E transmission and threw a 3000 stall converter in, best performance mod I ever did. The stall really woke the truck up. Eventually I smoked the clutches in that , and I found a 4L80E that was slipping in 3rd gear, guy was asking $150. So I called him and picked it up the same night. I tore it apart, cleaned it all up, and did a basic rebuild to it, nothing fancy. I added a tranny cooler, the efans, redid the rear part of the truck frame, and redid the cab corners and rockers.

vipergtrdj

Now that brings us to this year, 3years later. I sourced a D44 front axle to do a SAS with since I had a hard time finding a D60. As I was in the process of the SAS I got my hands on a 85 D60 HP out of a F350 Dually. I also picked up a Sterling 10.25 rear axle. D60 was $400, Sterling was free. I rebuilt both, cleaned them up, primed and painted them. Then did the front axle swap. Took a lot of time, measuring, cutting, blood, sweat, tears. I also had to put the project on hold for about 4-5months due to my wife breaking her ankle, and being down to one income. Also a ton of cutoff wheels (I should have bought stocks in Dewalt!).
I machined down the dually hubs for SRW as found on pirate4x4, did crossover steering, springless kingpin tops, tracbar. After I got the axle in I decided the 4.8 wasn't enough. So I sourced out a LQ4, $500. I picked it up Saturday morning, and threw it in Sunday and drove it Sunday night. At the same time I swapped to hydroboost brakes, and the 34" radiator.














So this is how she sits today. 3 years later and I think its a big change. I recently tied up some loose ends with the SAS. Welded up the mounts for the shocks, cleaned up the old IFS stuff, installed a tracbar (had a problem with Death Wobble, tracbar took care of that).





My future plans are;
hydroassist steering (by the end of the year I hope)
turbo setup
possibly cam for more low end torque
Paint next summer

I would like to try the sled pulling again this summer to see how she does so the power upgrades will be based around that.

blitzin247

Wow! That is quite the transformation!

vipergtrdj

I completely forgot about this project post... so to give an update. Had to retire the old "green boog" at the end of 2017. Front frame was rotting and slowly falling apart. I got another frame and swapped most everything over in my friends yard. I think it was a great project and I enjoyed it a lot.

Summer 2017 - Sold a 00 impreza that was building for autocross, to fund truck project. Realized my wife having the only vehicle for the family was not going to work out, so went out and bought a 2017 WRX. Did full 3" exhaust, accessport, intake, EGR and TGV deletes, all once car hit 5k miles.

Fall 2017 - I picked up a 03 2500hd duramax long bed frame and cab for $150 on mothers day, my wife absolutely loved that road trip ! Cab was missing front end parts like fenders, bumper, hood, and interior. I then picked up a set of F350 axles off my dad, balljoint D60, and sterling rear. Threw them under the frame so it was rolling. I cut off all the brackets and stripped the Dana 60 down to the axle tube. Made up some coil spring buckets and 3 links, and welded them up. Got the truck rolling in a weekend.

Winter 2017 - I had pulled the LQ4 out in fall and brought it into my basement to freshen up. New pistons, rings, bearings, ARP rod bolts and head studs, LS9 head gaskets, 706 heads with LQ4 valves, hardened push rods, HVHP oil pump, ebay GT45 turbo, front mount intercooler, new cooler for transmission.

Spring of 2018 - I had a buddy parting out a 02 2500hd, so I bought that rear axle and replaced the sterling. I also took the engine frame mount brackets since I learned the Dmax and my 1500 were completely different. Nicer weather so I started on body again. Got front fenders, hood, and bumper for $250 from local junkyard. They threw in a brush guard too, which I gave to my brother in law for his 1500. I ended up emptying the 36 gallon diesel tank and using that instead of the 24gal tank off my 1500. Got most of the diesel out, maybe a gallon or 2 left in it. I filled it with 93. At this time I also threw in my titan rear window I had. Ran all new stainless lines for transmission and fuel.

Summer 2018 - Did a quick coat of paint. Finished up a few small things and started working bugs out. Got it moving under its own power, and trailered it home so I could finish it. My buddy lives 30 minutes away, so driving after work was getting old. I thought of making it a short bed dually with Alcoas, but decided against it.

Fall and through Winter 2018 - Truck was in my driveway and I re-welded all the suspension brackets with my Lincoln stick welder and cleaned up brackets I cut off with my plasma. Worked much better then grinder that I was using at my friends. Also ran the 4" exhaust out the back.

That leads to today. Been slowly working out the bugs and been on a few test drives while I dial in the tune. Runs nice and strong, hits boost quick. I learned I had the PCV hoses routed wrong and had too much positive pressure in crank case, caused me to blow the rear main out, so that is now leaking. I had a few exhaust leaks on the hot side, easy to fix. I was using vband clamps after the turbo, but got rid of them and just went to band style clamps. Way easier for removing and reinstalling exhaust. It also smokes a little but I feel like that is just the rings sealing, I haven't really put many miles on it, and it took awhile to get the idle tuning correct with the 80lb injectors, so its idled more then driving (which I know is bad for it).


03 cab and frame with D60 axle

Alcoa mock-up. Did not go dually so didn't use.

WRX and 2500HD first drive

Small FMIC, and trans cooler

mocking up intake piping

front end

interior swapping

"Green Boog"

Titan rear window