Nothing fancy

[Gibson75]

I'm not expecting a great big boom with this post or anything, as most of what I've done is somewhat basic and common. Regardless, I'm proud of it so I'd really like to share it.

My truck is a 1975 Chevrolet K20 that my grandfather bought brand new. It's been through the family and never left. When I got it from my cousin it had a suspension lift and 35'' BFG Mud Terrains.



I drove it on the street a lot and in the trails around here. After attending my first mud bog with it, I was hooked... BAD! Soon I gave it a new paint job and a trail bumper (looking back, not so great haha)



After finishing out the mud bog season with 4 or 5 trophies I put some money into a set of 38.5x15 Boggers and dropped the trail bumper.



I also added a mild cam and intake to the factory 350.



The next mud bog season I did pretty well (for what the truck is anyway) and brought home another 4 or 5 trophies and even some money. Over the winter I decided to trim some weight and basically convert the truck to a full on race vehicle. First, I pulled it in and removed the bed. I removed all unneeded brackets and 3 leaf springs from the rear.



Then I cut the bed sides off of the bed and made a frame system to attach them to the truck. Pull 4 pins and the whole bed will lift right off with 2 people. I also mounted a fuel cell and battery in the back.



I got a fiberglass hood for cheap. Also, I ordered up a set of upright headers. Pinned the hood on, removed the mirrors, filled some holes and had it ready for paint.



I had KC Motorsports and Auto Body in Frederick, MD go to town with the paint job. They're going to letter the bed with their decals and all. The clear coat has sparkle on it. When light hits it, it glitters like a bass boat.




In the last few days I removed the dash and made up a column kind of deal for my shifter. I also mounted all of my switches on it as well. The plan is to remove all of the wiring from the truck, switch to a MSD setup and run just the bare essentials.



That's how it sits as of right now. I plan on doing a good bit more before the first race in May. I hope you all enjoy. Like I said, it's not a lot right now, but I'm proud of how it's turning out. I'll add more as I go along.

[ape902]

that thing is badass man!!!

[Train Horn]

Yay upright headers (a.k.a Hooders )

Nice!

[ky scrambled]

gotta love the history of the truck.

[Fredy_C]

Looks good man. Love the idea to use the glitter paint like bass boats.

Plan on doing anything else to the motor?
Whats the drivetrain?

[fcduffy76]

Looks great. I have one that my great grandfather had that I may do the same thing with.

[Gibson75]

Thanks for the compliments.

The engine is the factory 350, 350 trans, 203 case, 14 bolt rear and 44 front with 4.11's. I was going to upgrade the motor over winter, but in order for the truck to be able to run a bigger motor I would've had to do everything that I just did on top of building the motor. I just can't afford both at once. So, my plan is to run the factory engine this season, and if it pops I'll just throw another stock engine in it.

I'm saving my pennies up now to build a 496. I'm not sure if I'll have it finished by winter or not. I'm going to be putting a lot of money (for me) into it, so it's kind of one of those "only wanna do it once" builds. I'll also need to consult with either an engine builder or some of my buddies who are more familiar with big blocks. I don't know anything about them. I can run the numbers on a small block all day, but on a big block I'm kind of lost when it comes to sizing everything to work together. I'm not going to cut corners. I'll also have to upgrade some of the drive line to be able to handle the extra power. Like I said though, I'll keep running stock small blocks until I get the engine finished. Once that's done, look out!

I'm working on the truck everyday, so once I make some significant ground I'll post some updated pictures of what I'm working on.

[Gibson75]

Small update. I got my rear drive shaft u-joint shields and loops fabbed up, painted and mounted in the truck. I need to put shields on the front u-joints and at least 1 loop. I haven't measured the drive shaft, but to stay within the rules of our local mud bogs I have to have a loop every 12''. I know I'll need at least one. Probably two.



Also, I snapped off a few better shots of the outside of the truck.

[Gibson75]

Well, I stripped the cab out and painted everything. Got it all back in. Now finished up wiring most everything yesterday. I just have to run my battery cables and wire up the kill switch. Oh, and I'm waiting on my coil wire. I removed the charging system and everything else that wasn't being used under the hood. Installed an electric fan. After the wiring gets completely finished and the timing is set, all that will be left is to build the front drive shaft loops and u-joint shields, paint the insides of the bed skins and the back of the cab.

[YZEATER]

i'd get rid of the rear hitch and build a small bumper within the frame of the rear.

my rear springs sagged out quick when i only ran 4 leafs last year. i just put in some new used ones.

where did you get those headers?

where do you race that you place with a stock engine? i'll come down with my built truck.

[blasphemous]

Originally Posted by YZEATER

i'd get rid of the rear hitch and build a small bumper within the frame of the rear.

my rear springs sagged out quick when i only ran 4 leafs last year. i just put in some new used ones.

where did you get those headers?

where do you race that you place with a stock engine? i'll come down with my built truck.

Probably the class that he's in.

Nice truck and liking the build, keep up the good work.

[Gibson75]

Originally Posted by YZEATER

i'd get rid of the rear hitch and build a small bumper within the frame of the rear.

my rear springs sagged out quick when i only ran 4 leafs last year. i just put in some new used ones.

where did you get those headers?

where do you race that you place with a stock engine? i'll come down with my built truck.

One of the last things on my to-do list is to get rid of the hitch and weld in piece of thick, boxed steel across the back with a welded on D-ring.

The headers are cheap, honestly. I got them from DEC Headers (decheaders.com). I didn't splurge much on them because the engine isn't modified enough to justify spending on anything really fancy at this point. Now, once I get my engine build going, I'm going to budget a nice set in.

I race in eastern WV, western MD and northern VA. The stock classes are where I can place. It's more by luck and with pits that are dryer where running order means more than horsepower at times. Still though, the stock class at our local races are geared more for the lower budget kind of racer, which is definitely all I can be at this point.

[flashdog]

Nice build. I got close to the same setup but i built up a big block last winter. I like the box i was gonna do mine but my rad and trans cooler r back there and wanna keep them clean. Nice work.

[Gibson75]

Thanks. The box is covering my fuel cell from getting covered in mud. It's a bit larger than I'd like because the fuel cell is only a 5 gallon, but it was what I had laying around. It'll work for now. HAHA.

Thanks again everybody.

[Gibson75]

I got the front drive shaft u-joint shields made and the loop all welded in and mounted up. We yanked the fenders off of the trailer so we didn't have to drive up and over ramps anymore (which I slid off of once last year).

Here's a little video.

Mayhem Mud Truck Teaser - YouTube

[YZEATER]

come up to girty,pa this sunday. it's our first race of the year.

[Gibson75]

Man, I wish I could. That's a bit far to travel without planning it out well in advance. I just can't do it, financially being that our first big race is in less than 2 weeks. Is your schedule and rules posted somewhere?

[YZEATER]

here's our schedule.

http://shortylib.servebeer.com/schedule/schedule.htm


our rules are easy.

"Open" CLASS - Cut/Paddle tires or any vehicle with nitrous/no blowers

"A" CLASS - Cut/Paddle tires with naturally aspirated motors only

"B" CLASS - 37" DOT Tires and up

"C" CLASS - 34" - 36.5" DOT Tires

"D" CLASS - V8 engine with up to 33" DOT Tires

"E" CLASS - 4 cyl. and 6 cyl. engines with up to 33" DOT Tires

Any DOT Tire Altered In Any Form Is Considered To Be Cut And Run "A" Class and Open Class

you can see video's of the pit under my name on youtube.

[Gibson75]

Today I pretty much finished the truck up. I just have to do some very small things (like put seperators on the spark plug wires and clean it up) and it will be ready to go for next Saturday's season opener. I got the vinyl finished up, new Optima battery, etc etc.

Anyway... Here it is.

[blasphemous]

Looks awesome, nice truck. Now, make some more horses!

[Gibson75]

The first time out yesterday went well. The pit was deep and thick, which my truck does not do too well in. I didn't make a full pass at all in any classes. My mom ran the truck in the Powder Puff class (female driver's class) and managed to get 3rd place. Overall though the truck ran great. The engine never missed a beat, and the "winter transformation" was a big hit.

The last time it'll ever look this good.




First run




Last run




End of the day.