[asalinasz39]

feels like I am watching an episode of Dexter or something, in suspense for the new updates...

 

[ZMBKLN]

@ZMBKLN it's tomorrow

LOL... Ask and you shall receive!

Update Inbound!

 

[ZMBKLN]

feels like I am watching an episode of Dexter or something, in suspense for the new updates...

You know... It's funny you mention Dexter...

Cause that's exactly what I'd like to do to somebody... As I'm sure you guys will understand in a coming update.

 

[ZMBKLN]

So... Up to this point it's just been minor upgrades and fixes.

One of those minor fixes was getting the front bumper cover fixed and repainted... Since the dealership I bought the truck from decided to do a quick single stage spray and ship on it to make it look pretty for the sale.

It made it about 8K miles before it was peeling and chipped and looked absolutely terrible.

So I had a buddy of mine pull it off, prep it, and shoot it with some Victory Red paint he had laying around from a previous job. It wasn't a perfect match, and the center grille couldn't be removed to paint in that area correctly because the previous shop that worked on it had glued it in and we didn't want to break it and not be able to get a grille quickly... But all together it looked much better than before.

We also filled the holes for the front license plate mount. Even though the front plate is required in Missouri I feel it was worth it because it looks so much better. So far I haven't gotten a ticket or even hassled about it.

Just after that bumper cover was finished I took it to my tint guy and had everything peeled and re-tinted to finish out the summer car cruise season in style. I have a prescription for darker than legal tint and a tinted front windshield... So it looks pretty awesome in my opinion.

It's done in 5% on rear Glass, 20% on Sides, 5% Brow with 40% all the way down the windshield.

Here's a couple pics from a quick iPhone photo shoot I did just after this last round of mods was complete.

And then... Well... People Suck... Stay tuned to see why.

 

[ZMBKLN]

Alright...

So... People. Fucking. Suck.

Apparently either I pissed somebody off... Or my wife did when she had to fire one of her employees... But somebody decided about a month ago to take it out on my poor truck and keyed the HELL out of the paint on every panel.

And they went clear to the metal in most places...

Luckily... I DO have full coverage insurance... BUT... I also have a $1000 deductible.

So... It was time to make a decision... Fix it? Or go ahead and go crazy?

Find out which... On the next update!

LMAO... (As if you guys don't already know!)

 

[1BADI5]

MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a clean truck

 

[ZMBKLN]

Yep... I was pretty pissed.

However... This ended up being the catalyst to make me just jump off the deep end and finally get started on my build.

I'd been talking about it and researching and just generally him-hawing about it...

Now it's on.

And... We're pretty much caught up to present day. I got a few other small updates I'll make to get us completely caught up... But... from here on out for the most part you guys will be seeing it as I do.

The very next update will reveal the general direction the truck is heading... And the subsequent ones after that will be the journey towards that overall goal.

I'm happy to have a few of you riding along... And I've been cruising some other build logs when I have time lately looking for ideas and just generally checking out the sweet rides that some of you have assembled.

I hope to make the nation proud. :salute:

 

[t-bone]

Could have been mistaken identity back in high school my best friend and I had the same color and year Honda Accord and we both had wire wheels on them I came out of my girlfriend at the times house to my car beat to shit with a ball pin hammer to find out my best friends girl at the time thought it was him cheating on her

 

[asalinasz39]

Ass holes seriously! Any cameras around to review the tape?

 

[rshadd]

I can't blame ya for being pissed. That's gonna require a full repaint to fix.

 

[ZMBKLN]

Could have been mistaken identity back in high school my best friend and I had the same color and year Honda Accord and we both had wire wheels on them I came out of my girlfriend at the times house to my car beat to shit with a ball pin hammer to find out my best friends girl at the time thought it was him cheating on her

I suppose anything is possible... But there's not a single truck rolling around within 50 miles that could easily be confused with mine.

There's a few Extended Cabs... But no other Regular Cabs that I've seen.

I'm pretty sure I know who did it at this point... But proving it would be impossible.

One thing is for sure... I won't be parking this one outside any longer. I'm looking for a shop in town to rent to keep it in.

My Sierra is parked close enough to the house that the security cameras cover it.

The night this happened I had the Colorado parked completely across the street like a tard. I moved it over there to get my Sierra out... And never moved it back that day. Normally I don't leave things over there that I care about.

Ass holes seriously! Any cameras around to review the tape?

Not at the time... I have since installed an 8 Camera DVR that has 2 cameras covering the front of the house... But... It wouldn't have helped where the truck was parked anyway... Was too far away and in the dark.

I can't blame ya for being pissed. That's gonna require a full repaint to fix.

Yep.

Luckily my insurance company wasn't a pain in the butt, and they paid out fairly... They paid to repaint the entire truck including the body kit and bumpers and such.

I have a very good friend who owns a body shop about 100 miles from my home... It's quite a drive, but he does the best work I've ever seen on automotive body work.

The quote to repaint it was just under $4K... So I got a check for just under $3K with my deductible of $1K taken out.

However... When I dropped the truck off I gave my friend a blank check, told him to do something awesome, and to call me when it was done.

I have no actual idea what all he's going to do... I left him some suggestions (Like I want a certain Hood, and mirrors) and told him to do his thing.

So you guys will be following along as I do as to what actually happens with the truck as far as body work goes.

 

[ZMBKLN]

So to finish up the Saga of Douchebaggery...

Here's another update to get us caught up to present happenings.

My buddy at the body shop didn't have room for the truck until about a week or so after the estimate was approved... So I kept the truck with me until he was ready for it.

I kept staring at it and refused to drive it in it's current "scratched to shit state".. So I decided that I wanted to do some other work while the truck was down for paint. More specifically to replace some parts that I wanted to upgrade...

So I grabbed my tools and started removing parts of the truck again...

Not pictured but also removed were the mirrors, third brake light, and the center plastic step piece on the rear bumper...

Here we are loading it up on the trailer for the trip...

Goodbye...

And here we are pulled up and ready to unload at my buddies absolutely gorgeous shop... I'll try to grab more pics of this place and some of the cool stuff he works on later...

As always... More to come!

 

[RednecKevin]

Beautiful truck. Sucks someone had to take it out on your truck and not be a man or had to be a hoe and do that to a helpless vehicle. Either way can't wait to see more!

 

[dna59]

Loving the build. I think single cab is the perfect cab configuration for the Xtreme and you have the perfect color. Can't wait to see how this all turns out.

 

[ZMBKLN]

Beautiful truck. Sucks someone had to take it out on your truck and not be a man or had to be a hoe and do that to a helpless vehicle. Either way can't wait to see more!

Thanks! Good to hear that others like the direction it's heading.

And... I agree completely... If you have a problem with somebody... Be a man and talk to them. Don't be a bitch and destroy their property.

Loving the build. I think single cab is the perfect cab configuration for the Xtreme and you have the perfect color. Can't wait to see how this all turns out.

Glad you're enjoying it! I'm pretty happy with the way things are coming so far... But the best is on the way.

I agree... I think the standard cab is the best configuration for the Xtreme package. It just looks "right" to me.

 

[ZMBKLN]

For tonight's update... I'll mention a bit of a mod I started before the truck left. @Derek1387 mentioned a bit about it in the first page of the post...

I've often wondered what GM was thinking when they put the ZQ8 Suspension on these trucks, but left the crappy "work truck" style seats with no bolster support in them.

Driving this thing hard in the corners is rough... You've got to basically pin your leg into the door card and brace yourself to keep from being thrown completely to the other side of the truck. Plus... I've always felt that leather would really make the interior on this truck pop.

So... I found @04diamondcolly selling a set of power, heated, and leather H3 seats, console, and shifter here on the forum. He was quite a distance away in Amarillo Texas, but he agreed on a very fair price, and also agreed to meet me in Oklahoma City on a Saturday.

So... I jumped in the Sierra tow rig and hit the road.

My tow rig (as you've seen in pics above) is a 2011 Sierra SLT Crew Cab 4x4 with the 6.2L L9H LS and a 6 Speed Auto... And it turned 40K Miles on the trip down.

As always... I photographed this milestone.

(Keep your eyes on the Sierra in future posts also... It's going through some winter mods also!)

So I arrived in Oklahoma City... And... Unfortunately the center console had been damaged on the way from Amarillo. Bummer... But I'm not upset because "shit happens" and I still got a fair deal.

However... I won't be using this console or floor shifter if anybody is interested in it. I'd trade for a perfect condition "Very Dark Pewter" center console from a Colorado / Canyon.

Other than that small mishap the road trip went well and I got the seats back home... Here they are sitting on one my workbenches while I clean them up and condition the leather...

So... Since I was upgrading seats... I knew my good friend @Derek1387 had just bought his old Canyon back and HATED his bench seat.

He helped me out with getting the new H3 Seats since I was a bit strapped for cash with the Holidays, and in return... He got the old seats and console out of my Colorado as an "interest payment".

So before the truck left for the body shop I got all but the drivers seat pulled out... And when we dropped the truck off we brought the drivers seat back. Derek then came down and spent the weekend and we swapped everything over to his truck.

Here's mine stripped and ready to go to the body shop...

The new seats are now cleaned up, covered, and sitting in storage waiting on the truck to come home from the body shop. They cleaned up better than I had hoped they would! I'm extremely excited to get them into the truck and see how the extra bolster support helps!

So... I've got one more update to go before we're completely up-to-date and then at that point you guys will be following along with me as things progress!

Hope I haven't bored you guys too much so far!... It's about to get good!

 

[colbyjohnson1994]

Subscribed, I love this build :salute:

 

[ZMBKLN]

Subscribed, I love this build :salute:

Glad you're enjoying it.

I'm pretty stoked myself...

 

[ZMBKLN]

So... For tonight update... And the one that will finally get us caught up to present day...

The truck is currently at my buddies paint and auto body shop about 100 miles away from my home.

As stated above... It's a heck of a drive, but this guy does the absolute best paint work of anybody I've ever seen... And he's a good friend of mine... So I'm happy to make the trip.

Now... When I dropped the truck off I mentioned that I wanted a few things in particular, but that the rest was up to my friend as to what he chose to do.

One of the things I requested was a cowl hood... So Kyle ordered one and had it delivered to the shop. Once it arrived, he sent a picture of it...

Well... Being the arse I am... I had been looking at other hood options while Kyle was waiting on the cowl hood to arrive.

Once he sent me the pic, I was convinced I had made the wrong choice... And that I needed something even more aggressive...

So I told him to send it back, and to order me a Cervini's Ram Air Hood...

And... Being the great guy that Kyle is... He obliged.

And about a week later I get this picture from him...

It has arrived... And "aggressive" definitely describes this hood. LOL

So anyway... I dropped the truck off on the 29th of December... And when I dropped it off I told Kyle that A) I wasn't worried about how long it took. B) I didn't want to see any "teasers" of the truck itself...

But... I have a spy in Kyles midst... And last Thursday I got this from my buddy Drew who works there (Drew is basically my Nephew and knew I was going nuts without seein' my toy lately)...

I haven't gotten any updates since that one (January 14th)... But I head down to the body shop tomorrow with a stack of new parts and some other toys to drop off.

Among those parts and toys:

New TYC Taillights (Which I believe Kyle is going to Tint)
New LED Third Brake Light (Again... I believe will be tinted)

And... This.... Which I'll have him paint match to whatever color he's doing the truck...

There are other new parts sitting here in the garage, and even more on the way... But... I can't tell you guys about those without spoiling some surprises.

If you REALLY want to know... You could go reading around my recent posts and see what I've been asking questions about... BUT... What fun is spoiling the surprise?

Keep following for more! I should have another big update tomorrow when I get back from the body shop!

 

[ZMBKLN]

Well... Apparently the cat is out of the bag as they say...

So I guess I'll go ahead and expose the end game... We'll still have plenty of fun getting there.

The plan for this winter is to get the paint, suspension, interior, and front brakes up to par... As well as get my little bottle of fun installed. (Originally I was going to START with the LS Swap... However.. The douchebag who fucked up my paint changed the order of planned mods.)

I'll spend the summer of 2016 hitting the car show and cruise in scene with the truck in that form with the 3.5L and a small shot of nitrous for fun.. Probably around a 75 Shot.

I've already started putting together an LY6 (relatively stock build) and a 4L80 Trans swap setup...

When August (2016) rolls around (If it makes it that long)... I plan to take the truck to the drag strip and start stepping on the nitrous a bit to see just how fast the little 3.5 can go before breaking something.

Once she scatters the engine (Or I give up on attempting to scatter it)... The relatively stock LY6 will go in with the 4L80.

Once that is complete... I'll be sending the truck to Blake at 417 Motorsports to install a good rear end with good disc brakes. While the truck is there... I'll have him fabricate a turbo system for the truck to run low boost (10-12 PSI) for a summer season.

Meanwhile... During that summer (2017) on low boost with the LY6... I'll work to build a 400+ Inch LS with all billet goodies, aftermarket block, and excellent heads in preparation for a BIG turbo and high boost for 2018.

Lots of stuff in the works... And a pretty detailed plan on how I'm going to get there.

Hope you guys stick around to see it and help motivate me through it.