Hey guys, I’ve been around for quite a while and this forum has been huge for me. I finally have something decent to contribute back. This will be a somewhat drawn out build thread and I’ve been known to be long winded, haha.
I’ve bought my first Duramax in 2009, 05 LLY CCSB and did BPU mods w/ a built trans. I still have that truck to this day but it’s definitely worse for wear, especially the 150k mile old PPE V built trans and factory 300k mile head gaskets.
I bought an already built LLY in ’13. I had a ton of fun with it and ended up modding it more to the point where it wasn’t practical or very street-able so I sold that to focus on some other projects.
I found this truck on good old bookface while browsing for a used compound kit for my old LLY. It’s an 04.5 with a blown motor. The add listed it having
S480/stock
FASS 150
200% over Injectors
14mm CP3
Recent head work
Welded water pump
Georend Trans (builder unknown)
Alli-Locker
Built front end
05 front end conversion
I dragged my brother along to look at it with me and it was clean as advertised. The battery was dead so I couldn’t check the cluster or anything. The whole drivers underside was soaked in oil. But with the mods I could see, the 05 front end swap and the cleanliness it was definitely a steal of a deal.
The story is that the previous owner had the truck for 3 months before blowing it up. He bought it, beat on it and it finally let go. I picked it up for relatively cheap especially considering the mods. Another reason I bought it is that its miles ahead of the original 05 (which I have low intentions of ever selling). The interior is crazy clean, has tasteful wheels/tires, and the exterior is pretty solid.
Anywoozles, I brought my brothers LB7 with the top deck to grab the truck. His truck has a new Limitless trans, 68mm drop in and 45 over SAC injectors that we have been itching to try out. Figured a 5 hour drive down up a couple mountain passes and 5 hours back with a trailer load would do the trick.
Side Note I cannot stress enough how beautiful Evan’s transmission is. It’s so incredibly smooth in all aspects. I was awe stricken honestly.
Made it down here with an empty trailer at 12 mpg climbing some decent passes and keeping the speed limit (70-75). Using the good old harbor freight 12k winch made it an easy affair. We stopped by work to pick up some other stuff from my jobsite (I’m a hoarder, que the slightly dented rigid box, lol) and meet up for dinner with my brother who was working at the time.
Got the truck offloaded in my driveway for now. Started with charging the battery and all the lights and interior lights work except for the transmission gear display is totally blank. Slightly troublesome.
It obviously has a confirmed WCFab compound kit with S480 and 200% over injectors. It also has MA motor mounts, and Pro-Fab manifolds and up-pipes. Knowing full when the block had a hole in it, I started to pull the driver inner fender well and skid plates to see what I was dealing with. Initially I was hoping to pick up a short block and reuse the crank and heads but what I found on top of the skid plate ruined all those plans. Again, allegedly the head gaskets were recently done with studs but we will determine that on disassembly. Regardless they will be sent to a machine shop for inspection.
The previous owner has shown zero interest in getting me in touch with the original owner (the truck came from New Mexico and was obviously used for sled pulling). So, it’s pretty much an adventure of what I’m are going to find.
I had to come back to work so the truck stays at a standstill for now. Goals are to pull the motor in two weeks. I had to order a better engine stand since there are doubts on whether our homemade 1970’s engine stand will hold a Duramax long block, lol.
As it stands, *if* everything is as advertised with the heads and transmission, I’m going to put a Wagler built short block in it, downsize injectors down to 60-100% over, definitely some cooling mods and enjoy. So far, its running the stock IC and the stock valley turbo needs a rebuild (bearings are just a touch rough) I’m looking for it to be a weekend fun truck but also pull my camper and trailers around when needed. Shooting for 750/800 on max effort tune and stupid reliable.
I’ll keep this thread updated as we go. Once the motor is pulled, there won’t be much progress besides parts ordering. I have low interest in going wild during the Wyoming winters lol. Also, if anyone can identify the truck that would be pretty neat.
TL/DR : Bought blown up truck, going to fix it.
Levi
I’ve bought my first Duramax in 2009, 05 LLY CCSB and did BPU mods w/ a built trans. I still have that truck to this day but it’s definitely worse for wear, especially the 150k mile old PPE V built trans and factory 300k mile head gaskets.
I bought an already built LLY in ’13. I had a ton of fun with it and ended up modding it more to the point where it wasn’t practical or very street-able so I sold that to focus on some other projects.
I found this truck on good old bookface while browsing for a used compound kit for my old LLY. It’s an 04.5 with a blown motor. The add listed it having
S480/stock
FASS 150
200% over Injectors
14mm CP3
Recent head work
Welded water pump
Georend Trans (builder unknown)
Alli-Locker
Built front end
05 front end conversion
I dragged my brother along to look at it with me and it was clean as advertised. The battery was dead so I couldn’t check the cluster or anything. The whole drivers underside was soaked in oil. But with the mods I could see, the 05 front end swap and the cleanliness it was definitely a steal of a deal.
The story is that the previous owner had the truck for 3 months before blowing it up. He bought it, beat on it and it finally let go. I picked it up for relatively cheap especially considering the mods. Another reason I bought it is that its miles ahead of the original 05 (which I have low intentions of ever selling). The interior is crazy clean, has tasteful wheels/tires, and the exterior is pretty solid.
Anywoozles, I brought my brothers LB7 with the top deck to grab the truck. His truck has a new Limitless trans, 68mm drop in and 45 over SAC injectors that we have been itching to try out. Figured a 5 hour drive down up a couple mountain passes and 5 hours back with a trailer load would do the trick.
Side Note I cannot stress enough how beautiful Evan’s transmission is. It’s so incredibly smooth in all aspects. I was awe stricken honestly.
Made it down here with an empty trailer at 12 mpg climbing some decent passes and keeping the speed limit (70-75). Using the good old harbor freight 12k winch made it an easy affair. We stopped by work to pick up some other stuff from my jobsite (I’m a hoarder, que the slightly dented rigid box, lol) and meet up for dinner with my brother who was working at the time.
Got the truck offloaded in my driveway for now. Started with charging the battery and all the lights and interior lights work except for the transmission gear display is totally blank. Slightly troublesome.
It obviously has a confirmed WCFab compound kit with S480 and 200% over injectors. It also has MA motor mounts, and Pro-Fab manifolds and up-pipes. Knowing full when the block had a hole in it, I started to pull the driver inner fender well and skid plates to see what I was dealing with. Initially I was hoping to pick up a short block and reuse the crank and heads but what I found on top of the skid plate ruined all those plans. Again, allegedly the head gaskets were recently done with studs but we will determine that on disassembly. Regardless they will be sent to a machine shop for inspection.
The previous owner has shown zero interest in getting me in touch with the original owner (the truck came from New Mexico and was obviously used for sled pulling). So, it’s pretty much an adventure of what I’m are going to find.
I had to come back to work so the truck stays at a standstill for now. Goals are to pull the motor in two weeks. I had to order a better engine stand since there are doubts on whether our homemade 1970’s engine stand will hold a Duramax long block, lol.
As it stands, *if* everything is as advertised with the heads and transmission, I’m going to put a Wagler built short block in it, downsize injectors down to 60-100% over, definitely some cooling mods and enjoy. So far, its running the stock IC and the stock valley turbo needs a rebuild (bearings are just a touch rough) I’m looking for it to be a weekend fun truck but also pull my camper and trailers around when needed. Shooting for 750/800 on max effort tune and stupid reliable.
I’ll keep this thread updated as we go. Once the motor is pulled, there won’t be much progress besides parts ordering. I have low interest in going wild during the Wyoming winters lol. Also, if anyone can identify the truck that would be pretty neat.
TL/DR : Bought blown up truck, going to fix it.
Levi
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