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Today on trucks, we're taking a look back at some of the projects we've been working on since we moved into the Power Block Tech Center.
We'll revisit projects S 10 Kyj Resurrection
body bag
and one of your all time favorites, old school.
And we'll give you a little insight on some of the plans we've got for the future.
It's all today here on trucks.
Hey, welcome to trucks. Today. We're going to take a look back at some of the projects that we've done so far in the show and give you guys a little bit of insight as to how they came about in the first place and how they played out.
But without a doubt, one of the biggest changes you've noticed if you've been watching for a while is the new shop we moved into, along with the rest of the power block shows.
Our truck shop is just one of four fully functional shops in the new Power Block Tech Center and like the others, it's filled with great equipment and tools. Yeah, like D
saws and presses,
Lincoln welding equipment, matco tools and tool boxes and even our own tube, shark tubing bender.
But by far the greatest tool that we've got at our disposal is our massive cundall crane,
sporting bridges more than 40 ft long each with a Harrington one ton hoist. We've used this crane on every single project and build for one reason or another. It's come in handy on more than one occasion. How's it look?
Looks good,
man. We got tons of clearance here.
Now, our shop is great
and well stocked, but it doesn't end in this room.
We've got access to a full size heated downdraft paint booth, a
powder coating booth and oven chassis and engine dinos and a ton of other specialty tools that we can borrow from Lou Ian and Jessi or Mike and Joe.
Yeah. And sometimes we're lucky enough to have some of those guys come over here and pitch in when we need an extra set of hands. But one of the things that we did bring with us back from the other shop is this little jewel right here. Project S
10-K.
The idea for S
10-K actually came from a viewer suggesting that we do a street truck on a realistic budget from start to finish truck and parts included a budget of $10,000 was decided on. We found the truck and we went to work.
Handling is as much a part of a vehicle's performance as speed. So we dropped S
10-K into the weeds with rear springs and lowering blocks as well as two inch drop spindles up front to give it a more aggressive stance and a lower center of gravity. Both of which really paid off in the long run.
The stock 4.3 serpentine system was reused on the new 350 since it bolted right in place. And a new Haley throttle body was installed to handle fuel delivery as well as communicate to the factory's upgraded VCM.
After a quick trip to the muffler shop for a low buck exhaust
S
10-K was ready for a bit of freshening up on the outside.
The exterior wasn't in bad shape but it wasn't in great shape either. So how do you give a truck a great looking face lift without spending a ton of money? Remember, we were on a budget here. Well, the answer was to use some innovative but surprisingly inexpensive techniques to give this S 10, a bold new look starting with rust repair on the cheek using high strength
metal bonding adhesives, aftermarket patch panels and new technology in the form of a roll on primer
surfer that allows us to do rust repair and body work without a paint gun or a welder. And we're still getting emails about that
new 17 inch wheels and tires only running us about another 1200 bucks were thrown on
and then it was time for paint
S tens came from the factory with a two tone color scheme broken at the belt line and this worked perfectly for S
10-K because it utilized the painted areas that were in good condition and only the repaired areas needed to be resprayed.
Silver paint gave the truck the perfect accent color along with some cool but inexpensive graphics down the side,
we use some aftermarket panels from L MC truck to give our SCN a high performance look. And the end result is a respectable looking and very quick little street truck all done for an affordable price
in
now for you guys that remember this slight little oil leak. S
10-K head. Well, we found the source. It was an unused dipstick port.
The GM performance block we used was cast with both sides outfitted for a dipstick. Now, just remember to plug the unused hole. Now we're leak free.
So a lot of you guys ask us, what do you do with the trucks after you threw, working on them? Well, here at trucks, we don't crush them.
We recycle. So look for this thing to come back with a slightly different performance goal in mind to maybe like pull the front wheels off the ground.
And after the break, we'll look back on another uh resurrection of sorts. Stay with us
when we come back. It's the former street Jeep that gets big, new power from the junkyard and new altitude from a big suspension lift.
Hey, welcome back to trucks. We're taking a look back at some of the projects we've got in our hands dirty on like S
10-K here. But now we're gonna check out how this one said and neglected. 87 YJ got the big power and extra altitude. It now has
in 1987 Chrysler took over Jeep and made a few changes to the CJ. They came up with a lower wider, more street
square headlight. Jeep Street Jeep, those two words really didn't sit well with purists, hence the reputation and the nickname the Yuppie Jeep.
Well, the term yuppie Jeep might fit stock Wranglers. Do you guys know real Jeeps are built? Not bought?
So we found a worn out example with almost 200,000 miles on the clock that was begging for a new life. So we started with a heart transplant in the form of a junkyard 350 TD I engine and we picked up for next to nothing.
Quickly, stripped it down, cleaned it up and got rid of the low compression stock heads and cam a boot.
Luckily there was no real wear on the block. So a re ring kit was used to freshen up the re hone block along with some GM off the shelf vortex heads and a more aggressive cam.
Then we upgraded air and fuel delivery with an Edelbrock Pro Flow EF I that comes with its own computer and harness and all the sensors. This gives us the best of both worlds with high performance and reliability off road. And on road
four wheel drive, hardware's V8 swap kit enabled us to mount our new engine and headers into the Jeep's frame along with a remand turbo 354 wheel drive tranny. We got from a local parts store and
set the stage for phase two of bringing this old girl back to life.
Power is great to have on T
but the goal of this vehicle was to make it a capable on and off road Jeep. So we had to get it up in the air fab
tech motor sports started out building high tech off road race suspensions and also offers this eight inch suspension lift for our YJ. So we set ourselves to the task of getting our YJ off road ready
dirt logic, remote reservoir coil over shocks up front, fit into shock support, hoops to control the flexion and ride.
And the axle is surrounded with a long arm four length system that incorporates a pan hard bar drop, pitman arm, heavy duty drag link and of course removable sway bar and links all of that supported by the supplied new beefy frame pockets and mounts
out back. We've got new springs and a tried and true spring over axle conversion,
new Sharks and shackles as well as a rear traction bar, give us the matching eight inches of lift.
Now, along with the slippy Oak Eliminator kit and a new drive shaft, we're now ready to hit the trails.
Yeah, but the trails are almost definitely going to show us that the stock Dana 3035 axles just won't cut it with these 37 inch mud terrains and over 300 horsepower on tap.
Yeah, but that gives us another reason to do a cool project on the YJ when those axles do break. Well, I hope you got AAA
when we come back, you don't wanna miss this. We're gonna unzip the body bag
after the break, the sparks are going to fly as we drop our Nissan on the frame. Thanks to some serious hacking
and then later,
you guys love this one. We'll recap. Project old school. Stick around.
Hey, welcome back to trucks. Now hitting the trails is huge fun and building an off road rig that can handle the abuse of wheeling is a real challenge, but there's more to trucks than slinging mud
and mini trucks are just one facet of the asphalt side of trucking. And over the years, trucks had never done a full on frame. Dragon mini truck. So it was about time
now dropping a truck onto the frame is no small task. It takes a ton of engineering and fabrication to get the job done right.
We had decided on this extended cab, two wheel drive Nissan hard body pickup just to be a little different and then sought out one of the premier mini truck shops on the east coast to grab a little inspiration.
A
little shop of Heart.
The little shop of horrors owned by Eric
Saliva showed us around, took us out dragging and even gave us a cool coffin switch box for our truck.
Then the work started
stock lease spring suspension had to go away to make room for our junkyard Toyota axle. Our own custom Fab Forli
and our Saint
Us RC
nos
that allows our truck to drop totally onto the ground on 20 inch wheels and tires. And we've still got room for larger wheel and tire compost down the road
up front needed even more aggressive hacking. And Eric got on board to give us a hand with some of the many hours of fab work it takes to tuck twenties on a hard body.
First, we install the new front suspension system that incorporates air bags as well as Toyota ball joints and spindles that gives us a ton of options with wheels and tires.
The interior was stripped the firewall relieved and the inner aprons totally shaved out of the way to make room for the massive rollers. And with the frame finally on the ground, we started on the task of getting our truck on air with a system pieced together with standards like Firestone air bags and air zenith 12 volt compressors,
a couple of tech checks on the wiring and this truck was ready to roll.
The body bag, handled it all with no trouble as it was put through its paces over
and over
and over
and over again.
Is that mission accomplished or what?
And
just because we've reached our goal of laying frame and tucking twenties on this truck. Well, that doesn't mean we're done. Watch for body bag to come back for suicide doors, shave door handles, maybe some interior work,
maybe some tubs for the wheels back here and getting this frame out of bare steel.
Now don't go anywhere because when we come back, we're gonna walk you through the process of taking another automotive stepchild and creating a project that screams hot, rotting, loud and clear. Stay with us
after the break.
We'll take you from preschool to graduation
as we turn old school loose on the real world.
Welcome back. We're here in the truck shop. Looking back at just a few of the projects we've dug into lately and one of the most popular builds ever done here on trucks is sitting right here project old school.
Now, a second chance at New Life is rare, but we're lucky enough here at the power block Tech Center to be able to use what we've got to revive. What may have seemed to some people as a worn out has been version of a classic truck. But we saw beyond what's on the surface decided to give this truck a whole new image.
It started with stripping it all down to the bear cabin frame,
plumbing, wiring,
everything and taking stock of what was good,
but what was not so good.
Now, Purists have had a hard time with a Chevy engine and a Ford, but we decided that a truck on the road is better than a truck in the junkyard and rolled with the Nova clip and GM running gear.
The lame stock 305 that was in between the rails was not going to cut it. So a remanded four bolt main crate engine was topped off with Edelbrock performance parts to create a great looking V8 somewhere in the 400 horsepower range.
Not too bad for any truck.
An air eye technology system on all four corners gets us in the weeds and new fiberglass fenders on a pros pick bed allow for massive wide wet wall tires on traditional steely and dog dish hubcaps.
The old wiring harness was a mess.
So a new modern Ron Francis system took its place and allows us to run high
average features like an AC system, cooling fans, Allergen headlights and the air ride system with no trouble.
A cool version of an old theme was created using a modern base, clear paint system with flat clear coat that looks like primer.
In fact, I can't tell you how many times we've been asked, what color are you gonna paint it? Which is exactly the reaction we wanted. Old school hot rod black with a 20 year lifespan.
Tons of details. The new interior and lots of chrome, all contribute to the appeal of this truck, but it's no trailer queen.
It's the driver. We set out to create turns the heads, we wanted to turn and tears up the road with the best street trucks out there.
Well, there you have it. Just some of the projects we've been able to bring to you guys so far, but now we need something from you. We need you to let us know what you want to see on trucks. Let's face it. We're all gear heads here and we've got our own favorites, but we know we wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you guys watching the shows. So drop us an email. Let us know what truck projects you guys want to see. In the meantime, keep watching. We got some incredible projects coming up
heat is the number one killer of an automatic transmission. So Hayden has come up with the dog, the remote transmission cooling system. Now, this system actually gives you air flow when you have no ram air or natural air movement around your tranny cooler.
The hose ends are threaded for reliability and it can be mounted away from your radiator and installs easily with hand tools.
The unit can be operated with a switch or it can be used with an optional wiring kit to adjust fan speed.
This system can actually extend the life of your automatic transmission and is perfect for rvs off road high performance vehicles and everyday drivers. The dog system will run you about 100 and 50 bucks and another 50 for the optional wiring kit. Thank you for watching trucks. We'll see you guys next week.
Show Full Transcript
We'll revisit projects S 10 Kyj Resurrection
body bag
and one of your all time favorites, old school.
And we'll give you a little insight on some of the plans we've got for the future.
It's all today here on trucks.
Hey, welcome to trucks. Today. We're going to take a look back at some of the projects that we've done so far in the show and give you guys a little bit of insight as to how they came about in the first place and how they played out.
But without a doubt, one of the biggest changes you've noticed if you've been watching for a while is the new shop we moved into, along with the rest of the power block shows.
Our truck shop is just one of four fully functional shops in the new Power Block Tech Center and like the others, it's filled with great equipment and tools. Yeah, like D
saws and presses,
Lincoln welding equipment, matco tools and tool boxes and even our own tube, shark tubing bender.
But by far the greatest tool that we've got at our disposal is our massive cundall crane,
sporting bridges more than 40 ft long each with a Harrington one ton hoist. We've used this crane on every single project and build for one reason or another. It's come in handy on more than one occasion. How's it look?
Looks good,
man. We got tons of clearance here.
Now, our shop is great
and well stocked, but it doesn't end in this room.
We've got access to a full size heated downdraft paint booth, a
powder coating booth and oven chassis and engine dinos and a ton of other specialty tools that we can borrow from Lou Ian and Jessi or Mike and Joe.
Yeah. And sometimes we're lucky enough to have some of those guys come over here and pitch in when we need an extra set of hands. But one of the things that we did bring with us back from the other shop is this little jewel right here. Project S
10-K.
The idea for S
10-K actually came from a viewer suggesting that we do a street truck on a realistic budget from start to finish truck and parts included a budget of $10,000 was decided on. We found the truck and we went to work.
Handling is as much a part of a vehicle's performance as speed. So we dropped S
10-K into the weeds with rear springs and lowering blocks as well as two inch drop spindles up front to give it a more aggressive stance and a lower center of gravity. Both of which really paid off in the long run.
The stock 4.3 serpentine system was reused on the new 350 since it bolted right in place. And a new Haley throttle body was installed to handle fuel delivery as well as communicate to the factory's upgraded VCM.
After a quick trip to the muffler shop for a low buck exhaust
S
10-K was ready for a bit of freshening up on the outside.
The exterior wasn't in bad shape but it wasn't in great shape either. So how do you give a truck a great looking face lift without spending a ton of money? Remember, we were on a budget here. Well, the answer was to use some innovative but surprisingly inexpensive techniques to give this S 10, a bold new look starting with rust repair on the cheek using high strength
metal bonding adhesives, aftermarket patch panels and new technology in the form of a roll on primer
surfer that allows us to do rust repair and body work without a paint gun or a welder. And we're still getting emails about that
new 17 inch wheels and tires only running us about another 1200 bucks were thrown on
and then it was time for paint
S tens came from the factory with a two tone color scheme broken at the belt line and this worked perfectly for S
10-K because it utilized the painted areas that were in good condition and only the repaired areas needed to be resprayed.
Silver paint gave the truck the perfect accent color along with some cool but inexpensive graphics down the side,
we use some aftermarket panels from L MC truck to give our SCN a high performance look. And the end result is a respectable looking and very quick little street truck all done for an affordable price
in
now for you guys that remember this slight little oil leak. S
10-K head. Well, we found the source. It was an unused dipstick port.
The GM performance block we used was cast with both sides outfitted for a dipstick. Now, just remember to plug the unused hole. Now we're leak free.
So a lot of you guys ask us, what do you do with the trucks after you threw, working on them? Well, here at trucks, we don't crush them.
We recycle. So look for this thing to come back with a slightly different performance goal in mind to maybe like pull the front wheels off the ground.
And after the break, we'll look back on another uh resurrection of sorts. Stay with us
when we come back. It's the former street Jeep that gets big, new power from the junkyard and new altitude from a big suspension lift.
Hey, welcome back to trucks. We're taking a look back at some of the projects we've got in our hands dirty on like S
10-K here. But now we're gonna check out how this one said and neglected. 87 YJ got the big power and extra altitude. It now has
in 1987 Chrysler took over Jeep and made a few changes to the CJ. They came up with a lower wider, more street
square headlight. Jeep Street Jeep, those two words really didn't sit well with purists, hence the reputation and the nickname the Yuppie Jeep.
Well, the term yuppie Jeep might fit stock Wranglers. Do you guys know real Jeeps are built? Not bought?
So we found a worn out example with almost 200,000 miles on the clock that was begging for a new life. So we started with a heart transplant in the form of a junkyard 350 TD I engine and we picked up for next to nothing.
Quickly, stripped it down, cleaned it up and got rid of the low compression stock heads and cam a boot.
Luckily there was no real wear on the block. So a re ring kit was used to freshen up the re hone block along with some GM off the shelf vortex heads and a more aggressive cam.
Then we upgraded air and fuel delivery with an Edelbrock Pro Flow EF I that comes with its own computer and harness and all the sensors. This gives us the best of both worlds with high performance and reliability off road. And on road
four wheel drive, hardware's V8 swap kit enabled us to mount our new engine and headers into the Jeep's frame along with a remand turbo 354 wheel drive tranny. We got from a local parts store and
set the stage for phase two of bringing this old girl back to life.
Power is great to have on T
but the goal of this vehicle was to make it a capable on and off road Jeep. So we had to get it up in the air fab
tech motor sports started out building high tech off road race suspensions and also offers this eight inch suspension lift for our YJ. So we set ourselves to the task of getting our YJ off road ready
dirt logic, remote reservoir coil over shocks up front, fit into shock support, hoops to control the flexion and ride.
And the axle is surrounded with a long arm four length system that incorporates a pan hard bar drop, pitman arm, heavy duty drag link and of course removable sway bar and links all of that supported by the supplied new beefy frame pockets and mounts
out back. We've got new springs and a tried and true spring over axle conversion,
new Sharks and shackles as well as a rear traction bar, give us the matching eight inches of lift.
Now, along with the slippy Oak Eliminator kit and a new drive shaft, we're now ready to hit the trails.
Yeah, but the trails are almost definitely going to show us that the stock Dana 3035 axles just won't cut it with these 37 inch mud terrains and over 300 horsepower on tap.
Yeah, but that gives us another reason to do a cool project on the YJ when those axles do break. Well, I hope you got AAA
when we come back, you don't wanna miss this. We're gonna unzip the body bag
after the break, the sparks are going to fly as we drop our Nissan on the frame. Thanks to some serious hacking
and then later,
you guys love this one. We'll recap. Project old school. Stick around.
Hey, welcome back to trucks. Now hitting the trails is huge fun and building an off road rig that can handle the abuse of wheeling is a real challenge, but there's more to trucks than slinging mud
and mini trucks are just one facet of the asphalt side of trucking. And over the years, trucks had never done a full on frame. Dragon mini truck. So it was about time
now dropping a truck onto the frame is no small task. It takes a ton of engineering and fabrication to get the job done right.
We had decided on this extended cab, two wheel drive Nissan hard body pickup just to be a little different and then sought out one of the premier mini truck shops on the east coast to grab a little inspiration.
A
little shop of Heart.
The little shop of horrors owned by Eric
Saliva showed us around, took us out dragging and even gave us a cool coffin switch box for our truck.
Then the work started
stock lease spring suspension had to go away to make room for our junkyard Toyota axle. Our own custom Fab Forli
and our Saint
Us RC
nos
that allows our truck to drop totally onto the ground on 20 inch wheels and tires. And we've still got room for larger wheel and tire compost down the road
up front needed even more aggressive hacking. And Eric got on board to give us a hand with some of the many hours of fab work it takes to tuck twenties on a hard body.
First, we install the new front suspension system that incorporates air bags as well as Toyota ball joints and spindles that gives us a ton of options with wheels and tires.
The interior was stripped the firewall relieved and the inner aprons totally shaved out of the way to make room for the massive rollers. And with the frame finally on the ground, we started on the task of getting our truck on air with a system pieced together with standards like Firestone air bags and air zenith 12 volt compressors,
a couple of tech checks on the wiring and this truck was ready to roll.
The body bag, handled it all with no trouble as it was put through its paces over
and over
and over
and over again.
Is that mission accomplished or what?
And
just because we've reached our goal of laying frame and tucking twenties on this truck. Well, that doesn't mean we're done. Watch for body bag to come back for suicide doors, shave door handles, maybe some interior work,
maybe some tubs for the wheels back here and getting this frame out of bare steel.
Now don't go anywhere because when we come back, we're gonna walk you through the process of taking another automotive stepchild and creating a project that screams hot, rotting, loud and clear. Stay with us
after the break.
We'll take you from preschool to graduation
as we turn old school loose on the real world.
Welcome back. We're here in the truck shop. Looking back at just a few of the projects we've dug into lately and one of the most popular builds ever done here on trucks is sitting right here project old school.
Now, a second chance at New Life is rare, but we're lucky enough here at the power block Tech Center to be able to use what we've got to revive. What may have seemed to some people as a worn out has been version of a classic truck. But we saw beyond what's on the surface decided to give this truck a whole new image.
It started with stripping it all down to the bear cabin frame,
plumbing, wiring,
everything and taking stock of what was good,
but what was not so good.
Now, Purists have had a hard time with a Chevy engine and a Ford, but we decided that a truck on the road is better than a truck in the junkyard and rolled with the Nova clip and GM running gear.
The lame stock 305 that was in between the rails was not going to cut it. So a remanded four bolt main crate engine was topped off with Edelbrock performance parts to create a great looking V8 somewhere in the 400 horsepower range.
Not too bad for any truck.
An air eye technology system on all four corners gets us in the weeds and new fiberglass fenders on a pros pick bed allow for massive wide wet wall tires on traditional steely and dog dish hubcaps.
The old wiring harness was a mess.
So a new modern Ron Francis system took its place and allows us to run high
average features like an AC system, cooling fans, Allergen headlights and the air ride system with no trouble.
A cool version of an old theme was created using a modern base, clear paint system with flat clear coat that looks like primer.
In fact, I can't tell you how many times we've been asked, what color are you gonna paint it? Which is exactly the reaction we wanted. Old school hot rod black with a 20 year lifespan.
Tons of details. The new interior and lots of chrome, all contribute to the appeal of this truck, but it's no trailer queen.
It's the driver. We set out to create turns the heads, we wanted to turn and tears up the road with the best street trucks out there.
Well, there you have it. Just some of the projects we've been able to bring to you guys so far, but now we need something from you. We need you to let us know what you want to see on trucks. Let's face it. We're all gear heads here and we've got our own favorites, but we know we wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you guys watching the shows. So drop us an email. Let us know what truck projects you guys want to see. In the meantime, keep watching. We got some incredible projects coming up
heat is the number one killer of an automatic transmission. So Hayden has come up with the dog, the remote transmission cooling system. Now, this system actually gives you air flow when you have no ram air or natural air movement around your tranny cooler.
The hose ends are threaded for reliability and it can be mounted away from your radiator and installs easily with hand tools.
The unit can be operated with a switch or it can be used with an optional wiring kit to adjust fan speed.
This system can actually extend the life of your automatic transmission and is perfect for rvs off road high performance vehicles and everyday drivers. The dog system will run you about 100 and 50 bucks and another 50 for the optional wiring kit. Thank you for watching trucks. We'll see you guys next week.
