87 SUB ATTACK:
Pictured is a project we had the privilege of building
for one of our most valued and long time customers. It started out as an attempt
to build a clean custom for the customer to use in his Hunting & Fishing
Guide business. He is a fan of older straight axle trucks. But the idea here
was to make upgrades to the existing vehicle, which offered day-to-day reliability,
good road manners, all while attracting attention and boosting his advertising.
We started with stripping the high mileage Sub down to every nut and bolt. We
removed the body from the chassis, stripped the body to a hollow shell, and
then fabricated a rolling dolly to allow us to send the body out to a local
body and paint shop. Next we disassembled the chassis down to send out all the
pieces marked for powder coating with our good friends at Advanced Powder Coating.
The original engine was removed in exchange for a new GM crate Ramjet 350, the
transmission was sent to Top Jimmy Performance for a complete overhaul and additional
internal upgrades. The transfer case was recently rebuilt, so we did an inspection
and deemed it ready for service. The axles were rebuilt with top of the line
internal parts; we added an Eaton Posi unit to the rear differential, also changed
was the gearing to 4.11’s, up from the stock 3.73’s. This would
give the owner the ability to add 35” tires, while still having the power
to pull a trailer with ease. Other additions to the chassis build up included
a 6” Skyjacker suspension lift, dual front shocks, dual steering stabilizer,
with polyurethane bushings thru out the chassis.
Other upgrades included complete rebuilding of the brake
system. We custom built all the braided brake lines from the master cylinder
to the wheels. We color matched the calipers and proportioning valve to a high
gloss red. With the addition of the new MPFI engine we needed to add a high-pressure
fuel pump. We then custom built the braided fuel lines, along with an Earl’s
fuel filter. The tranny and transfer case were stripped and painted gunmetal
gray before coupling it to the engine. The drive-train package was then set
in the chassis, making the chassis ready to receive the body.
Next up we took the chassis to the body shop to have them set the body to the
chassis via a 3” body lift to better accommodate the 35” tires.
The body is a matter that I’d rather not elaborate on other than we were
very disappointed and felt, as if the body shop had really failed us. The idea
was to have a clean single color paint that was to be a deep lustrous paint.
The customer requested to have fender flares added, also to have the entire
underside, and interior floor coated in POR15 then covered in bed liner material.
To sum up the body, it was definitely sub standard work, that was originally
quoted at $7,800 ended up costing the customer $11,000 and being painted twice,
taking 9 months, and still not completed properly. It still needs to be redone
to make it right. Long story short, do your homework before turning over a project
to someone, making sure they fully understand the scope of the project!
Current work is involving the installation of all wiring, cooling system completion,
brake system completion, custom interior installation. There’s much work
to complete, but we are looking forward to getting this big bad Sub out on the
road and turning heads. We would like to thank the owner for all of his time
and commitment to us. We feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to
work for him! Keep checking back with us to follow along on the Sub build