Steve-o-08's Silverado Build Thread

[Steve-O-08]

I wasn't the only truck out there. Got to meet Frank and his 94 Chevy Truck. Brandy also got a couple pics of yours it too:

[Tig]

Hmmm, you have a thread on PT.net huh?

Glad you made it out to Hotchkis, looks like a blast.
How did the brakes hold up? I'm looking at the same brakes for my Tahoe. Do you think the EBC brakes are overkill for a DDer?
That's a bummer about your trans. Hopefully you'll get the spare 80 ready to go.
That's awesome about your girl getting involved, I wish my woman was a car enthusiast, haha.

I just noticed, you're on PT.net.

[Steve-O-08]

Yeah Tig, I have a thread on PT.net too.

Little update, Just not of my truck haha.

Got the girlfriend's truck lowered for her. She's signed up for the next Hotchkis event. Did a 3/6 Drop on it. Belltech Pro coils up front and a flip kit with a McGaughys C-Notch in the rear and a set of Belltech Street Performance shocks.

Already have a set of EBC Green-Stuff pads and Rotors on the front. The truck handles pretty well now. Going to align it tomorrow.









As for my truck, my other transmission is in the works now. I'm hoping to have it back by mid week. The driveshaft is going to have the balance checked and swap the yoke out. Also finishing up my new exhaust set up and have a front sway bar on the way.

[2ndroundko]

Great looking trucks you have. How's the shifter position with it on the floor. Thinking about getting a shifter for the th400 in my truck.

[Steve-O-08]

Great looking trucks you have. How's the shifter position with it on the floor. Thinking about getting a shifter for the th400 in my truck.

Thanks! The shifter is in a good spot, but it is a little low, even after the new seats with a slightly shorter seating position. I would like to put a pistol grip handle on it. it would just raise the handle about an inch and a half which should be about perfect for me. After I get the truck back together again I will try a new handle to see how I like it.

[struck by Lightning]

Hi Steve,

It was great meeting you at the Truckin event and your truck is way cool. The seats and bar are sick! Look forward to seeing you at future events.

George

[Steve-O-08]

Hi Steve,

It was great meeting you at the Truckin event and your truck is way cool. The seats and bar are sick! Look forward to seeing you at future events.

George

Hey George!

It was great meeting you too. You've got that Lightning dialed. Hopefully see you at next Throwdown. Are you planning on doing any other autocross events or optima?

[struck by Lightning]

Hey George!

It was great meeting you too. You've got that Lightning dialed. Hopefully see you at next Throwdown. Are you planning on doing any other autocross events or optima?

I'm going to miss the USCA Fontana event this weekend but will run the Good-Guy events in November with the Camaro.

[Steve-O-08]

Well I got the hurt transmission out of the truck and just got the new one back in. and I am having the same issues I had before. Before I set the truck back down on the ground I shifted into reverse, I feel a solid engagement and the wheels spin in the correct direction. I shifted into drive and the trans shifts 1-2-3 but does not shift into 4th. When I set the truck back down on the ground it will not move in reverse. 3-4000 rpm and it will not move. I can't really pull the truck forward because of how it is sitting in the driveway. Really frustrated... Trying to figure out the problem yet again. Still trying to get the truck ready for next weekend...

[Steve-O-08]

Didn't really have any time to upload any pictures from this weekend. Almost too busy to snap a few. Here's a few pics.

Dropping the trans out earlier in the week:



The only thing that went mostly right was my front swaybar. Upgraded the stock with a Belltech 1 3/8 soild bar. I was having some issues with the links, but that was due to the way the DJM lower control arm link mounts are designed. Got the DJM links installed for now, but I want to upgrade them to a ridetech Posi-Link setup for better angles.






Stock bar next to the Belltech. I already have a Hotchkis Bar under the back of the truck although it's disconnected now. (seemed to help loosen the back of the truck up last NMCA event.

Got the trans back Saturday morning from a friend of mine that I had go through it.



Finished installing the trans this morning and got it back down on the ground ready for a test drive when I realized I had no reverse or 4th gear... After some scan tool and pressure gauge testing and a little internet research and I decided to swap valve bodies with the other 4L80e that I have. I am suspecting the Transgo separator plate or possibly one of the other pieces of the shift kit. Swapping it with a known good VB will just help determine the problem.

I originally rebuilt that transmission myself and had the same issues about a year ago. But needing to get the truck finished up for some deadline, I found another unit and just dropped it in. My hope was that my buddy would find something I missed or was wrong, but he didn't see anything our of the ordinary. I was at least hoping for a pinched seal or something. But it did boost my confidence in transmission works as I was very careful when I originally rebuilt it.

I have the truck draining now and I'm going to swap valve bodies tomorrow night.

I pulled the pan and valve body off the other trans. You can definitely see the bushing material on the filter and gaskets. I'm going to clean it all out and get it ready to swap in.





And now it looks like rain is in the forecast for this weekend to top things off. Gotta keep my eye on the prize and get this thing done. I'll update more later.

[RBEAST]

im using EBC drilled and slotted rotors and yellow stuff pads on front of my dd (see above) and they work excellent everytime, hey ill be down that way for hotchkis event at fontana this weekend if you need any help let me know ill come down a day or 2 early and give you a hand just let me know

[Steve-O-08]

Update Caution, Pic heavy.

So I ended up making it out to the NMCA Hotchkis event. I picked up a new rebuilt trans after working out a deal with the builder getting it installed Thursday night and getting the truck aligned Friday morning. I hate cutting things so close, but this time it worked out. Got more seat time in the truck figured out a few more weaknesses and strengths. The truck has plenty of power (great on the larger course) but my torque converter is just too loose for autocross. Coming from drag racing the 32-3400 stall is great to get the truck moving, but when getting on the power coming out of a corner it can make the power come in abruptly and break the tires loose mid corner. I also wish I could have upgraded shocks before this event. But the trans pushed them back. I just saw that Hotchkis has a 25% off sale this weekend. I might just order my shocks now.

As for the event, it went great. It was nice to run the big course and carry a lot of speed through it. My girlfriend Claudia had a great time too. She had a good time feeling out her own truck and getting used to the way it handles. She was just limited by the tires and lack of power on the long straights. It was great to see her out there having just as much fun as I was. Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Bright and early on Saturday morning.







Frank's C1500























And the Go-Pro videos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qc5yB7O4Bs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXNfnUx9od0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk1FDM2tPXQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAQPkOZ2pIE

[Steve-O-08]

Small update. I just received my new shocks. They are Hotchkis Tuned 1.5 APS Shocks by Fox. They are 29 way rebound adjustable. They look great. Can't wait to get them installed in the truck. These shocks are actually for a 64-72 A-Body that just happened to be the correct length and configuration for my truck.





The only thing I'll need to do is press out the T-Bar from one end of the rear shocks.



These are just like the ridetech versions. I emailed RT a handful of times and could never get a reply from them... I realized Hotchkis had these after checking out their website. Super fast email replies and they were very helpful. Took advantage of their Halloween sale and picked up a set. Might try to get them installed this weekend if I have time.

[Steve-O-08]

Update!

Finally had a nice day to get my shocks installed as well as my new matching Hotchkis front sway bar. I did have to make a slight modification to the rear upper shock mounts. The larger end/cap on the new shocks was hitting the mount. Just cleaned up the edge of the mounts with a flap wheel and touched them up with a little paint and the rears bolted right in with more new bolts. For the fronts I had to clearance the opening in the bottom of the lower control arm to clear the t-bar lower mount. Other than the slight clearancing no issues. I mounted the rears with the adjusters on the bottom for easy access and the front's have the adjuster on top instead of bottoms like qa1's and similar. I'm just waiting for a set of front sway bar links from Spohn performance with heim's at one end. The link mount on the lower control arms is terrible for a straight link so to keep them from binding I'm going with a heim at one end.

And for the pictures:

Unboxed:



Clearance issue:



After a little grinder work and a little paint. Hardly noticeable.



Rear's done.



And the front's.



New Hotchkis sway bar vs the Belltech.

[RBEAST]

I like all the new stuff you have going on there, very nice! just got back home from good-guys scottsdale and time to teardown and upgrade my 94, I have a corvette rearend and a 5 spd from an IROC CAMARO im installing soon .When is next event your attending? i think hotchkis is doing Pomona again in feb. or march not sure when. How do your truck handle now? almost forgot we now have a truck class at hotchkis events so we dont have to beat all those corvettes for prizes and trophy's lol but its still fun giving them fits when we do lol

[Steve-O-08]

I like all the new stuff you have going on there, very nice! just got back home from good-guys scottsdale and time to teardown and upgrade my 94, I have a corvette rearend and a 5 spd from an IROC CAMARO im installing soon .When is next event your attending? i think hotchkis is doing Pomona again in feb. or march not sure when. How do your truck handle now? almost forgot we now have a truck class at hotchkis events so we dont have to beat all those corvettes for prizes and trophy's lol but its still fun giving them fits when we do lol

Thanks man. I'm going to be doing Hotchkis whenever the first event is. Haven't got the truck out yet. Waiting for my front sway bar links to show up.

[Raffman]

How much bigger is the Hotchkiss bar vs the stock ?

[Steve-O-08]

The stock front sway bar was 1 3/16" I believe and it was hollow. The Belltech was 1 3/8" solid and the Hotchkis is 1 1/2 and hollow.

[darren@ridetech]

Steve, i was just reading through your build thread... really cool project! I noticed your comment about not getting a reply to the email you sent to ridetech, I apologize. I would like to dig into that a little more, if you don't mind send me an email with your contact info. [email protected]
Also let me know if you are still interested in putting the PosiLinks on your sway bar, I can help with that too.

[Steve-O-08]

Realized I never posted any pics of the sway bar links or any info once the truck was done. So here-goes.



Just a few updates. I got the everything together and got some miles on the truck. I drove it out to the Motor 4 Toys car show and got to see how the shocks worked out. Started them at 10 clicks from full soft (middle of the adjustment and I was very impressed. The truck was much more stable and comfortable to drive, even with the crappy freeways. Ended up firming up the front a few more clicks and it was perfect. Obviously I'll end up making adjustments when I do the next autocross event and see how they help there.


Pic from Motor 4 Toys:




I ended up getting sway bar links from Sphon Performance. They were actually for a 70-81 F-Body. They worked out perfectly. I really don't like the link mount on the lower arms, but with the clevis and the heims they work great.




But probably the biggest update:


New sticker