Plasti Dip your wheels. Really?
Since I finally found the wheels I’ve been looking for I decided I wanted to have them powdercoated. I’ve got a black truck this time around, and eventually I’d like to completely black it out.
Before I commit to the black, I decided to try something I’ve read about online. I honestly didn’t think it would turn out as good as it did. I didn’t even do that good of a job prepping them.
At long last… I finally found my Centerlines!
I bought my truck a year and a half ago. Ever since I bought it, I’ve been looking for a particular set of wheels.
Here is a pic of my old Silverado. I found the wheels that are on it on Craigslist back then. I found them on accident actually.
In a way, this truck is my inspiration for my current build.
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LS6 camshaft and valve springs. CompCams pushrods.
I want to upgrade the camshaft to compliment my procharger. There are an infinite amount of possibilities.
You could choose from many, many different grinds from the various aftermarket companies. Or, you could have a custom grind made.
Some people swear that having a cam made specifically for your application is the only way to go. To some degree they’re probably right. It’s also the most expensive way to go.
Here are my stock cam specs.
5.3L
190/191 int/exh @ 0.05″ duration
0.466″ / 0.457″ int/exh lift
114 LSA
Below are the Z06 (LS6) cam specs.
2001 LS6 cam
207/217 int/exh @ 0.05″ duration
0.525″ / 0.525″ int/exh lift
116 LSA
2002+ LS6 cam
204/218 int/exh @ 0.05″ duration
0.551″ / 0.547″ int/exh lift
117.5 LSA
The cam I bought second hand is a 2002+ model. At first I bought the 2001 unintentionally. I hadn’t realized there were different camshaft specifications between the various years of the Corvette Z06. So after I found out I had the 2001 camshaft, I was on the lookout for a 2002+ model. Luckily, I was able to sell the 2001 for what I paid for it.
Here are some pics of my Z06 camshaft. You can identify this by the 5308 number on the end.
Adapting a 4L80E to NP149
Alright, so I want to run a 4L80E transmission and a NP149 transfer case. The 4L80E is a much stronger transmission and the NP149 is an AWD transfer case.
The 4L80E came in 3/4 ton and up trucks for many, many years. The NP149 came in the Silverado SS, Cadillac Escalade, and Yukon Denali.
Unfortunately, none of the trucks that had the 4L80E came with a NP149. So there are two different ways to overcome this. You can either turn down the output shaft on the transmission or replace the input shaft on the transfer case.
I plan on replacing the input shaft.
Reason being, is that the turned down output shaft is prone to failure in high horsepower applications. The transfer case input shaft, on the other hand, has proven to take the abuse of over 1200 horsepower!
These adapters are for sale by a fellow named time2kill on SilveradoSS.com.
LS1 electric fan conversion
In 2007 Chevy went to a factory electric fan system. Along with an electric fan they also upgraded the alternator to 140 amps (from 105) and installed a larger radiator. This netted a factory gain of 10 horsepower.
So the best thing to do is swap the larger radiator, alternator and fans. Since I’m trying to maintain a budget I will not be doing this.
It turns out that an electric fan from a LS1 equipped Camaro fits the 99-02 (maybe to 06) Silverado trucks.
What’s neat is you can actually reprogram the stock computer to control this fan as if it was there from the factory! Hopefully when I’m done, it will look and act as if it’s factory.
Here are the pics of my setup.
Mine came with this controller. Honestly, I don’t know anything about it.
Project "Charlie Murphy" 