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project: Betty White . V8 6.0 Turbo LS with 4L80 sleeper

28373 Views 182 Replies 26 Participants Last post by  sailorman andrew, 
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so after recently selling a 72 chevy c10 I had, and having some money in the bank, I decided I wanted to build a newer FI motor for something as I was tired of having to tune the carb on the truck I had, plus I wanted something smaller than a long bed C10, I originally was going to go with a short bed Silverado and turbo it, but after watching a youtube video, the regular car reviews / sloppymechanics turbo Colorado video, I had the bug, I was like a pitbull for information on this truck, as it was akin to doing a V8 s10 that I always wanted to do, but for me it was something newer and nicer, and at 6'5 290 I could fit in comfortably.

fast forward to 2 months of searching online, and I come across this: an 05 Colorado work truck, automatic, 4cyl, ice cold AC, with an ARE fiberglass lid, the ad said it was a delivery truck for the Massey Cadillac dealerships around town, asking price 3500. went down and looked at it, at this little car lot / performance shop, and the guy tells me he buys the lower priced cars, cleans them up a little and sells them for a few bucks over his cost, hey everyones gotta eat right. i look at it, take it for a test drive, and when i come back i tell him maybe a clunk in the steering rack 220k miles is a lot, its massey pest control not massey Cadillac dealership (i knew cause of the vinyl wrap color scheme and the middleton pest control inventory sticker in the drivers door jamb)

guy says 2500 and its mine, told him id have to sleep on it blah blah blah. cut to two days later and with negotiations ive got it for 2500 out the door including sales tax, so roughly 2200 plus tax. now you figure that fiberglass lid that was included is a 500-600 component, plus the bed was already rhinolined, i did pretty decent.












i found pictures of the truck before it got to the dealer i had purchased it from, thru a vin search online:

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so of course, the motor has to come out to make for the new motor that still has to be purchased


slight OCD kicking in, had to wash the engine stand and engine hoist I borrowed from a friend


after disconnecting every hose and wire I can find and having the transmission leak fluid 40 different times as angles of the motor changed, its on its way out. btw to whoever invented the cordless 1/4 impact my hands and arms thank them








hit a snag when the boom almost hits the garage door

and the oil pan doesn't want to clear the front

the solution is to let the air out of the front tires and it barely clears enough to pull
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motor is now at its final resting place, this is an older picture as I've since unmarried the transmission from the engine to sell easier


were now left with the aftermath, and might I recommend the $2 storage boxes from Wal-Mart make great fluid absorbers and don't make a mess like kitty litter






time for trimming the pockets for the mounts


and now time to clean the engine bay, OCD strikes again. sent this picture to my buddy saying 300lbs of torque in the engine bay

since im in here, might as well take out the dirty firewall liner



after removing firewall liner, vacuuming any dust, dirt or leaves that have been in this truck, along with a simple green lemon scrub and wash, 91% rubbing alcohol wipe down and miscellaneous toothbrush scrubbing, at this point I am left with this :
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as of right now , ive got the money set aside for the motor and trans and turbo and wiring, im just having trouble finding a 6.0 and 2wd 4L80E with low miles locally for the price range I want to pay. I had found a combo for $2k but it was sold before I came up with the cash

im going to close to what denmah/sloppy mechanics has built. so far im thinking 6.0 block, LJMS stage 2 or 3 turbo cam, turbo I still have to get with local shops to get their recommendation (since im in Orlando I have access to Titan Motorsports and Real Street Performance )
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If anyone's wondering why I named it Betty white , it was either that name or Bug'n Out since it was a former pest control truck. But I figured Betty white was good cause it was old and has some miles on it , has some dents and dings and the outside isn't the cleanest but it still packs a punch in an unassuming look. Kinda like Betty white herself

As for the ocd part I've grown up in a family of engineers ( mom has 5 bachelors, 2 masters, and one PhD all in various engineering fields) , and I worked for a sizable ar15 mfg for ten years, and when you build weapons for soldiers and the such , details matter . I've also done car audio since I was 14 and don't like it when people half ass installs.

Trying to figure if I can reroute the wiring thru the fenders and all for what they call a shaved engine bay look.

Also if you guys are bored, if you look up a friend of mine named tom Miller who created a twin turbo mustang named Bad Karma , he's overly ocd but has created a beautiful magazine featured car. Some of the coatings and metal treatments we use on rifles he used in the car.
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Many moons ago the one with the spider as the logo. And one of my rifles I've got more invested than the truck is worth right now. Tikka t3 CTR in a McRees machined chassis and atlas bipod, topped with a leupold mk4 TMR reticle scope and a 30 cal supressor
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When you troll your buddy on the engine install via text

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havent forgotten about yall, just been busy as all hell, got a nice stack of cash in the safe ready to go when I get back from working in vegas next week, the one hold up has been trying to find a reasonably priced 6.0 locally, and that hasn't seemed to happen, so I may get the 04-07 LM7 5.3 and take that extra grand I would be saving and invest in some go fast parts for the truck.
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well kids, im back, been working my ass off still, finally found a motor and trans combination locally, 109k miles on the LQ4 6.0 and married 4L80, $2200 out the door, 1750 for the motor and 450 for the trans


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Nope they pulled it for me and was free delivery but ended up having to bribe a guy there $50 to get it on time since traffic accident delay
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so slowly but surely ive been tearing down the engine for the machine shop

just ordered LJMS stage 2 turbo cam and spring/pushrod kit from Lil John Motorsports Solutions








The cylinder walls feel like glass with no discernible ridges or anything. The stuff you see on top of the Pistons is just trash I gotta vacuum off. Looks like they ran water in the motor as redish buildup is present. Definitely good idea for this thing to be hot tanked, redoing all the bearings as cheap insurance and probably have it honed and everything else checked.
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irish350 said:
Gee golly, I'd like to get behind that Tikka.

What's your plan for the turbo setup? Front mount? Passenger side of the bay?
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I'd like to do the F body style in the center front since it's cleaner and less $$ but not sure if there's enough room. So my backup would be the guy on here who makes the dedicated kits for colorados on here for the v8
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Got the cam and valvsprings in.


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motor torn down, ready to goto machine shop, picked up a set of lightly used ARP head stud kit for $225, compared to $350 new. now gonna buy a main stud kit for the bottom end, and all the other parts that I need for the machine shop
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bought the ARP head stud kit, other day ordered the Main stud kit, gotta order LS9 head gaskets, either LS7 lifters or morel lifters, and a mellings 10296 oil pump. still gotta sort what timing gear set kit im going to run and what intake im going to use, going to slow and steady route. calculated out and methodical approach
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Haven't forgotten y'all. Just amassing the parts for machine shop

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And she's off to the machine shop. 6 week backlog but he build all the local racer's motors so it will be worth it

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since the motor is at the machine shop, time to clean up the garage somewhat and also go thru the transmission, inspecting at home but taking to a shop for Transgo HD2 shift kit and go thru it completely to check everything, already installed 6AN fitting lines and going Derale Stacked plate cooler

the LS1 lifter valley knock sensor blockoff plate since going to a LS2 setup, snagged off ebay for $20 from some place in texas that makes them CNC made


"custom" transmission sling lol




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10Canyon53 said:
Do you have a good transmission shop picked out?
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A racing friend of mine gave me a number to a guy he knows named corey here in orlando but I see your in Sanford
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slowly pecking away at the truck

got a 50w X 2ch Bluetooth amp with plastic case for $16 shipped from china, Fuck this thing gets loud with the 2 old JBL 4's ive had since I was in highschool. cant imagine the output at full volume with 6x9s


removed the spare tire lift/carrier off the back to make room for future transmission cooler, im thinking Derale stacked plate with electric fan



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