well, i have done it now....

[DTanklage]

finally found a 97, out of state (i live in cal, remember?), nv 4500, 3.55 geared dana 80, 913 p-7100, 2 wheel drive, grey int, club cab dually project truck

it was a one owner grandpa truck

dont know if the guy died or bought a common rail or what but it had ended up in a dealership in indiana

a company here in cal kinda bought it (never put it in their name). they supply vehicles for the movies. this truck can be seen in the movie batman begins. (lol). one of the mechanics that works for that company got it from them for nuthin after they finished shooting the movie. guess they had 3 just like it but the other two got totalled in the movie (and in real life). there is a sticker inside the door that says: t-bone 1

truck is real clean on the inside

was originally pw7 white

for the movie all three of the trucks had to be patriot blue so it has a 50 yard paint job but i am not too concerned about that

it has everything else i have been looking for (for over a year), has less than 200k on it and it is sitting outside my house right now and i got it for 7500 bucks!

my first gen will drive circles around it right now but once i figure out just how crazy i want to go with this thing it will be a different story

dont know if i want to build it for towing the race trailer (and get rid of the first gen) or go all out with it and just use it for playing

what do you guys think i should do?????

[GO OVRIT]

Tow with it and get wild with the first gen. Its cool beating up on folks with any truck, but especially a lifted early model truck.

[DTanklage]

get wild?

think i am about maxed out now!

i know, i know..."theres a lot left somewheres..."

maybe...

motor, trans and rear end swap???

[DTanklage]

[DTanklage]

bunch of pix here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v678/XR750R/

[peobryant]

Thats a really good lookin' truck. I say use it for it's intended purpose and tow with it

[DTanklage]

josh ayers said i can be sitting at 400 rwhp w/o spending any money on it

ps - thanks

[greasemonkey]

that'd be a perfect truck to tow with, I liked my '96 2500, since it was an auto it turned into more of a hot rod. I'd rather tow with my 250 but that's probably because I have an NV4500/BD brake vs. the '96's auto.

turning the P-pumps up just a little for towing/mileage is so easy it's ridiculous. grind the plate to a #10 profile, get gov springs and an exhaust housing...and get a full 4" exhaust, they can be had for $300 pretty easily. I got the system from Summit Racing, with a straight through glasspack style muffler, run out the back it sounded perfect.

If I had your two trucks I'd want to tow with the newer one and add some more ridiculousness to the 1st gen.

[DTanklage]

yea, josh said the same thing, he has a #10 plate i could copy too...

what ex housing do you recommend?

i was thinking that if i set it up for towing and go for the low end of the power spectrum (600 rwhp) i would build some twins for it

if i go for crazy all out instead of towing i would still do twins, just use bigger turbos....or triples?

i dont know...but after installing that 62/65 on the 1st gen i can imagine i would be happy running a hx-35 on this thing

[KTA]

600 RWHP is NOT low end of the power spectrum. If you tow fairly heavy and use anywhere close to 600rwhp it won't live very long. I have a customer with a 520rwhp 24V with Bd twins that hauls cattle about 20-24000lbs gross. About every 30000 miles it has some sort of major drivetrain failure either NV5600, T-case, rear end or head gasket.

[greasemonkey]

what KTY said. if you're going to tow very often with it, I think the 400hp range would be tops. if you've got the money, a tight set of towing twins would be nice for the 400hp area, maybe a little unnecessary but when's that ever been a valid excuse?

it really doesn't take very much extra power, especially with a manual, for that thing to tow like an absolute monster, slightly modded even my auto 2nd gen towed like crazy. if you turn it up like you're talking to the 600 range the transmission gets expensive quick. remember to factor in some money for a good clutch.

forgot to mention, remember to check the exhaust manifold, they'll do the same as the 1st gens and break the ears off the head if it shrinks up too much. or at least just leak like crazy. so you'll want a 3 piece manifold. I doubt the KDP has been tabbed, well worth using up a saturday afternoon to check that out.

[Falcon]

Nice truck

[DTanklage]

I have a customer with a 520rwhp 24V with Bd twins that hauls cattle about 20-24000lbs gross. About every 30000 miles it has some sort of major drivetrain failure either NV5600, T-case, rear end or head gasket.

if i was that guy i think i would be finding a different mechanic

lol

jk

(just kidding)

(couldnt resist)

[DTanklage]

600 RWHP is NOT low end of the power spectrum.

depends whos spectrum you are lookin at...

guess you could say that 150 rwhp (or what ever the '94 autos had) is the bottom

i dont look at it like that

how many cc's can ya get outta a 913 pump that still has stock barrels and cam and dv's, with nothing more than a plate in it?

how many if ya lazer cut the dv's, install larger barrels, diff cam, huge lines, etc?

[DTanklage]

If you tow fairly heavy and use anywhere close to 600rwhp it won't live very long. I have a customer with a 520rwhp 24V with Bd twins that hauls cattle about 20-24000lbs gross. About every 30000 miles it has some sort of major drivetrain failure either NV5600, T-case, rear end or head gasket.

i have to believe part of that is driving style brian

and

1) i dont have a 5600 (i have a 4500, two of them actually)

1a) i also have a gv splitter so i dont have to tow in 5th

2) neither of my trucks run a transfer case

3) are you saying 550 hp will kill a D80 locker? or is he using factory parts? or is it rippin the teeth off the ring and or pinion?? there is always a solution, then you just move to the next weakest link

4) i am the head gskt master! from screwing around with 1200cc motors, making them run 6.70's @ 210 mph (1/4 mile), i have some tricks up my sleeve for head gskt sealing issues