Ok I have a 76 highboy. It has the following new parts: .40 over 390, Forged pistons with about 8:1 compression, stock camshaft rods and crank, Edelbrock RPM heads and intake, Holley 750 vacuum secondaries, MSD pro-billet dist., MSD 6-AL box and Blaster 2 coil, flowtech headers with dual 3" pipes. I have D44 front and D60 rear. C-6 tranny and a missing transfer case. I currently have 38" Dick Cepeks. I have one pic of truck in my gallery. I'm not worried about looks right now. I want a truck that performs first then I'll take care of looks. I was thinking I would do the following: 2.5 ton axles with the 52" 16R20 tires, I want a different cam but was thinking of getting a 8-71 BDS blower to top off motor. Maybe get a standard atlas transfer case to replace mine? What are your thoughts? How would you build it if you had $12K? I have to go to Iraq again in a few months so I plan to buy the stuff while I'm away. I just wanted to shopping list to take with me.

 

I'm doing my project with about $6,000 total, so if I had 12k it would only be more extream.
Try bumping up your compression ratio to 10:1 or so to match that 750cfm holley you have on and a more agressive off road cam made by Comp cams. Maybe a roll bar in the bed, and the NP205 is just as strong as a atlas case. Because of the extra cash, I'd do a 203/205 doubler kit.
I'm guessing you really want to wheel this thig, so build the C6 strong, put a shift kit in it or somthing like that, and for tires I personally like the SS Boggers or the 49" Irocs, but there is nothing wrong with your 52" your looking at.

Just to name a few.

 

Lets see. Fuel injection system would be my first choice. Make the truck a better overall driver.

 

I was thinking atlas cause my transfer case was stolen. As for compression I went with the low compression because of two reasons: 1)possible blower in the near future 2) Really don't want to pay the extra cost of super unleaded UNLESS I have a power adder that requires it. I do like the fuel injection idea. Maybe a blown fuelie? I was looking at the BDS site. $3500 for the blower plus options and install. Maybe I can get a blower setup installed for less then $6K? The 2.5 ton axles are running about $4000/pr with the options I want. The tires are $450 plus shipping set of 4 on ebay. Tires, blower setup, axles and transfer case running alittle over $12K. What do you guys think?

 

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/79738/

This seems like a good setup to me. As much as I like a giant huffer sticking through the hood with a air scoop large enough to suck up dogs and small children, the centrifical style is cleaner looking without the visibilty obstruction.

I too would consider an EFI setup, like a Holley 900cfm Pro-Jection.



or.............give to me J/K

 

I priced out the cost for a proper injection system to feed my engine with a blower. Between the blower and EFI it was $7,000. Granted, your engine is a bit smaller so won't require the injectors I needed but I'd say $6K would be a minimum you'd expect to pay. Also, do expect to be using premium with that blower. Do a little more research on the BS site to learn more on what you'll need. An 8-71 blower is really overkill for that engine and you'll really have to underdrive it by a large % to get the boost down to a streetable, non-race fuel level. 6-71 would be a better option I think and will be cheaper and easier to find (ebay!!! ).

Don't use an Atlas case with the build you're planning on. They are a great case for their intended purpose (rock crawling) but they're not a particularly strong case and will snap with the kind of power you're talking about putting through it. A 205 would be a much better option or if you go with Rockwells you could look into a Rockwell drop case with air shift. Someone mentioned a 203/205 doubler. Again, this is a great idea if you're building a crawler but if you're not the extra gear set in the 203 range box will rob more HP.

On the subject, I don't know all the engine specs so I'm not sure what your anticipated HP is but you need to set aside at least $1000 for a good stall converter and tranny upgrade. If you pay someone else to do the tranny that will probably be another $1000 on its own and then $500 for the convertor.

You didn't mention it so I don't know if you've got the parts already or still need to get them but don't forget the money for parts to put those axles under the truck. You'll need springs, shocks and all that misc stuff so don't forget those as well as 20" wheels for the tires. If you do a low budget lift spring and fabricate the rest you'll still be in $1000 for them, wheels will be $500-$1000.

Do you plan to drive this truck on the street at all?

 

I would like to be ABLE to drive on the street every once in a while. I don't plan to drive to on a daily basis. I check out the 6-71 blower. It sounds like a better option. I'll just have to keep an eye out for it. I have a local shop is going to hang the Rockwells for me. As for the transfer case I never even thought about the Rockwell unit. Thanks for the idea. I plan to go with the 20" double bead lock run flat military rims standard for those tires. Chucks trucks and another company (I can't remember their name at this time) are the sources for the axles and rims. This is a project truck so even if I can't get everything done for $12K I still plan to continue working on it. One section at a time. I have a strong running motor so my first area is the axles and tires. Then the transfer case and tranny. The motor will get looked at after that. Thanks for the ideas. I'm still in the planning stages and you guys have a been a great help so far.

 

A couple more things I'll throw out there there then. Check your state laws if you plan to drive it on the street. I don't know what the regulations are in AZ, I know they're more lax down ther than around my area but that's about the extent of my knowlege. 54" is a federal headlight limit that applies in all states so at the very least you'll need to cover your headlghts and install dropped lights (like in or below the bumper). These are good things to check up on before you spend thousands on a rig and then find out you can't drive it. I recommend you go to the State Police office or highway patrol, whatever you have down there and ask them, don't rely on "lift law" websites, they tend to be very inaccurate.

My opinion, which probably won't be a very popular one but I'll say it anyway, is to replace the 390 with a 460. Rather then spend a lot of money on a blower and injection and cam and all that stuff for the 390 you could sell it and have a 460 that will put out much more power for much less expense. It takes a big powerful engine to make a tires that size get up and spin. With a few cheap mods you can crank 600hp out of a 460 and still have a lot of available HP if you want to trick it out, add a blower, whatever. With a 390 you'll spend a lot of money to get that kind of power and it's gonna be pretty close to tapped out. I'm not saying to ditch the 390 now. But I wouldn't recommend sinking a lot of $$ into it for big horsepower.

 

All this sounds great, but what does the rest of your truck look like? The first question I would ask myself is what do I want to do with my truck. Is it a daily driver or something to play with on the weekend. Thats the biggest bump in the road. It happened to me on my current build. I took my play toy and made it too nice to beat around in the woods like I have done in the past. If it were my 12g's I would focus on the body appearance first. ie new paint and interior. I would get a D60 front or beef up the 44. Build the C6 and get the 205 xcase. 38's on a highboy is sweet but if you really want larger tires I would stay away from those 52" monsters. So heavy and terrible ride. Keep the 390 and get a 2x4 intake and 428cj heads. Spend the rest of the money on gas. Youll need all the help you can get

 

They're a tubeless radial tire and they ride smooth as silk as they were made for highway use (plus they can be grooved for better offroad performance). I don't know if you've ridden on a set before but I have and I'll tell you they ride better than a 38" Swamper. I can't give you a comparison to the Cepek but they won't be far off of that. As he already mentioned he doesn't plan to drive it on the street daily.

EDIT: On the topic of looks vs. performance and which to do first, I don't say this to argue with STG but my opinion would be to build the truck and then take care of the body/looks. This is coming from personal experience. My truck was completely gone through, body work done, new paint, etc. It looks great. But when you undertake a MAJOR project like is being talked about here you end up having to do a lot of stuff to the body in the process. It would be a lot nicer to be able to cut fenders, drill holes, etc BEFORE you paint it. You'll also be surprised how easy it is to scratch up new paint when you're working on other things. I'm having to cut and trim and repaint body panels and parts that were painted just 2 years ago. Anyway, that's my take on it from someone who's done it in the body--->performance order. If I had it to do over I would have left the body for last.

 

I agree Ivan the body work is last. Mainly because I want to be able to take it out and run it through the bushes. I may paint it one day but it'll never be a show truck. The most I will spend on paint and body is the 600 the guy in Mexico charges for an inside and out paint job with rhino lining in the bed. I was thinking about a 460 when I built the 390. I really don't know why I didn't switch it then. Maybe cause I haven't seen many FE's around here. The local classic truck club has 2 in it out of 40 members. It was something KINDA different. I have a buyer for my axles already so I can use that to help offset the cost of the rockwells. Just one more thing: 4 link or leafs for the suspension. I'm not rock crawling so I really don't need extreme articulation but I would like an off road capable suspension.

 

Save 2000.00 just for gas. Now a days you won't be able to afford to leave the driveway.

 

I personally like the leaf springs, and I wouldn't change it to a 4 link unless I had some major power on a dragstrip.

 

I'm working with a local shop to get the rockwells hung and they asked what kind of suspension I wanted. The only think I know is that the rockcrawler setup is too much $$$$ and way too much over kill. I was thinking leafs also but I don't want bananna springs either. I don't carry much weight but I do have a car that spends more time being towed then driven and would like to get my own trailer to tow it the next time it dies. So I don't know if the shackle flip and longer shackles up front would be all that safe. Any ideas? The shop wants to use a ladder bar that is in the shape of a triangle with a locating bar to keep the rear in place. It looks alot like a rock crawler set up. Again way too over kill but it may be the only way to fit those tires without cutting the fender. Sorry cutting the boddy is NOT an option. Those fenders look way to purrrrty to hack into. I'm more into mud so I don't plan to jump it or test the flex. I really don't care how high I have to go to clear those 52's.

 

I think a shackle flip would be ok, but that would only give you about 3"s of lift, and it depends on if you want to use blocks or not to keep the price off of leaves.

I don't want to cut my finders either, but I'm not going over 40" tires, so I can get away with out doing so, but If they rust out beyond repair, then I'll put on some bushwacker cutt out flaires( that wouldn't be a option for you would it?)

If you look at Ivan's set up he did with shackles and everything, I'd say his are pretty safe, and you could always use more suport brackets too.
I just don't know of a way to lift the rear that high with out doing any shackle flip or anything like that, and keep the springs at a comfertable curve(bannana).