'01 RCSB 4x4 Project

DV2000NJ

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May 24, 2012
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What's up guys. Haven't posted here in a few years, but some of y'all might remember my green truck:



Lowered 4x4, cammed 6.0, longtubes, converter, built trans, blah blah blah. Ran low 13s at 100mph, but was rusty as fuck and giving me issues constantly. The plan was to limp it until summer, pick up a RCSB 4x4, and swap the drivetrain over.

But on St. Patrick's day weekend after going out with some friends I started the truck up and there was no oil pressure. Most likely a stuck oil pump bypass valve or failed pickup tube o-ring, either way, I decided I didn't want to deal with doing it in the truck, so I said fuck it and started looking for a rust free RCSB. Still have to pull the motor out and figure out exactly what happened, but I should get to that later this month.

A couple weekends ago I flew down to Georgia and drove back a 2001 Z71 regular cab short bed with 190,000 miles and most importantly, no rust. The truck wasn't quite as clean as I was hoping for, but whatever. It looks decent from 10 feet, and I can fix everything cosmetic later.

The plan for the truck is to steal the engine and trans out of my green truck, lower it more than the green truck was since it won't be my DD (axle flip in rear, keys+LCAs up front, custom C-notch, and helper bags), and when it needs brakes I'll be upgrading to the larger '05+ front brakes and the dual piston SUV rear calipers and hydroboost. There will also be plenty of colormatching and general cleaning up.

Longer term plans include a limited slip, some possibly interesting wheel stuff, and I have to do a bit more research, but I believe the SUVs had a quicker ratio steering box (12.7:1 vs the 14:1 truck box). If that ends up being true, that will definitely happen as well.

On to the pictures of a bone stock 2001 RCSB.

2001 Chevy Silverado by Dan Valanzola, on Flickr







 
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In for this. Dfw. You green truck was one of the ones that inspired me in lowering my 4wd. Always wanted to build a motor for it.

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Nice man, glad to see you around again.

And I'm not sure of the specs on the steering box, but I can say comparing my trucks to my parents Yukon, the Yuk feels a bit quicker.
 
that rcsb is clean man. cant wait to see what you do with it. you still in Jersey?

It's not nearly as clean as it looks in pictures, but it'll get there.

Still in NJ, moved up to North Jersey a couple months back but I'll be doing most of the work in the "garage" my buddy just built in his back yard (20'x40' with 2 lifts) down in Burlington County.

In for this. Dfw. You green truck was one of the ones that inspired me in lowering my 4wd. Always wanted to build a motor for it.

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You want a 6.0. Do it.

By the way, your truck is stupid low. You still have CVs in it, or just running the stub shafts?


Nice man, glad to see you around again.

And I'm not sure of the specs on the steering box, but I can say comparing my trucks to my parents Yukon, the Yuk feels a bit quicker.

Yeah I found a junkyard about 3 miles from my apartment that has a Yukon box, I wonder if they'll let me go there with a degree wheel and play with it to figure out the ratio. :rofljest:
 
I definitely want a 6.0 and will one day.

Yea it's really low lol. Just has stubs in it right now. Kinda wish i would have just kept it at 4.5/7 or so. I love the look but it's a pain in the ass with the torsion crossmember hanging so low lol

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So I guess I officially got this project started yesterday. Had a lot of things going on lately, and since I haven't been traveling as much for work money has been tighter so I haven't really been able to start acquiring many parts, but I was able to get the 6.0 out of the green truck. Doing all the work in my buddy's garage, 40'x60' with two 2-post lifts and one 4-post. So much better than doing it in a driveway.

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I know it's not necessary to pull the rad support out, but I like all the extra room it provides, and it takes maybe a half hour to get it all off.

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The blue truck outside. I like this little thing.

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Took about 6.5 hours of working slowly and bullshitting, if I'm not at work I work at whatever pace I damn well please.

And why my buddy built the shop.

CJ5 crawler that was on the cover of CRAWL magazine a few months back. (This one was actually built in a 20'x12' shed, I helped do some of the body work)

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Hot rod project that was put on the back burner for the crawler to get built.

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And the ass end of his '87 RCLB with a Procharged 383 and a 5 speed.

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:nice: In for more pics. What's the plan with the green truck, swap rcsb motor in it and sell eventually?
 
That crawler is badass.

Glad to see some progress! Maybe once the rcsb is done you can make a few Jersey meets :slorg:
 
:nice: In for more pics. What's the plan with the green truck, swap rcsb motor in it and sell eventually?

Green truck is being parted out, and then either sold or scrapped. It's in pretty sorry shape. Fuck salt.

That crawler is badass.

Glad to see some progress! Maybe once the rcsb is done you can make a few Jersey meets :slorg:

Yeah the CJ is insane. The level that he works at is mind blowing.

And I'd probably be down, hopefully I can get the engine/trans and suspension the way I want before the summer is over.

So I stripped almost everything I wanted other than interior parts off the green truck yesterday, the front diff is definitely a pain to get out. Also, if you have fender flares, take them off and see what's underneath every couple years. :lol:

Drivetrain stripped the fuck out:

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Fun stuff under the flares!

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The truck looks so sad and pathetic. :(

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And this is where it'll sit while I part it out.

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Going back to my buddy's shop next weekend to pull the pan and oil pump on the 6.0 and see what caused the loss of oil pressure.
 
I saw those photos on flickr a while back and was wondering what you were up too. Sad to see the green truck go but the new one will be just as nice.

Are you putting those wheels on the blue truck? those are the 6 spoke spares right?
 
trying to think if theres anything i need lol

Need a manual transfer case? Driveshafts? Passenger side doors are mostly rust free, need either of those? Interior shit?

The body on this thing is so fucked, it's incredible.


I saw those photos on flickr a while back and was wondering what you were up too. Sad to see the green truck go but the new one will be just as nice.

Are you putting those wheels on the blue truck? those are the 6 spoke spares right?
Yeah I'm definitely a little sad, the green truck was my first vehicle, has it since I was 16. The blue truck will be WAY better though, I have more money now and I actually have a pretty good idea what I'm doing.

And they're the 7 spoke spares, they're staying around but they won't be black, and they most likely won't stay 7" wide
 
Was the green truck power windows/locks/seats? If so I may want the door panels, wiring, and seats if you wanna get rid of them
 
Wow you had the green one for awhile i remember it being stockish on gmfs. I also didnt realize it got so rusty. lol

New build sounds sweet! Surprised you found a decent z71 in GA, i looked for 3 months and still found rusty ones here, or either they have 170-200k miles 10 dents and ripped up seats and want 10k+ dollars for them. I settled for a 2wd dd lol
 
so you know the door switches and stuff changed in 03.
Yep, and they added in the bcm to control it all. All I need for 99-02 switches to work is power and ground. No bcm, no dash harness.

Seats are the same thing. Nice and easy compared to doing it the "correct" way imo.