In Pocatello last week I saw this thing and listened to it run (loud) and sat in it. That cab with all the rivets.......the stance, wheels, differential, rollcage, and of course the engine with trick valve covers and turbo setup. Everything works together visually. It was done on a budget with lots of ingenuity. The workmanship is very good. It's nowhere near glossy and pretty, but nothing like a rat rod. The real tribute is driving it to Oklahoma, doing drag week which is an ordeal, then driving it home with no problems and everything staying together.....a lot of cars break trying to do that. A very cool diesel hot rod.
Thanks Dave! Glad you liked it, had a lot of fun BS'ing on Friday. Sorry I couldn't take you for a ride in it. Though I'm not sure how impressed you would have been after driving your truck. :rofl:
Guess I should update some of the stuff I've done over the winter. I destroyed the R&P in the quick change somewhere in Kansas on the way to Drag Week last fall. Bottomed out the rear suspension and somehow a rearend cooler line got split, I turned on the pump not knowing and unloaded all the oil. The whine changed pitch a few miles down the road and we threw the spur gears away, filled it with oil and made it to, then through Drag Week and back home (roughly 3500 more miles). Not sure if it's a testament to how tough these quick change rearends are or how good Schaeffer's oil is. Either way, it lived long enough to get the job done.
I tore everything down in February. Ended up porting the heads, putting springs and a (standard fire, no valve reliefs) cam in. Built some headers out of 1/8" steel and moved the turbos back in the chassis, learned how to TIG weld and built an intake manifold that I forgot to put a boost sensor flange in.
(Not recommended) Then somehow managed to squeeze a pair of intercoolers behind the grille. Only had it out a couple of days til it got a flat that turned out to be a small crack in the wheel that I drilled and welded today. Truck feels a ton stronger now and I haven't had much chance to tune or turn up the rev limiter. Ran 12.1's last year, hoping to get into the 10's this year after the changes. Probably go to slightly smaller he341 turbos if I can't manage to spin these 351's hard enough. Still stock bottom end, just more stupid cheap stuff to hopefully get the job done a little better. Hope to see a few of you around this year.
Here's a few pics for anyone curious to see the new cheap stuff.