Chevy K30, Frame Off, EFI, 454, NV45000, Dana 60, Custom Drivtrain & Suspension

1981 Chevrolet C/K Pickup 3500 Silverado Description

1981 Chevrolet K30 Silverado
You'll probably never again see another Ebay K30 with this much high end aftermarket equipment or custom work. I do not want to sell it, but just don't have the time or finish it or use it for what it's intended for. If you add all the parts and custom labor into this truck, you're looking at ($51,000+) easily. This does not include the labor for standard parts installation. Just the custom fab work. With parts and truck alone, total cost was ($35,000+)
Base Truck
Very rare single cab single rear wheel 1981 K30. This is the first year of the remodel. From the factory, it came with a BBC 454 V8, Dana 60 front axle, 14 bolt rear full floating axle, and an NP 205 transfer case. Finding a setup like this is tough these days. It was low mileage, at only 85K miles. My original price for the truck was ($4000). The truck has about 2000 hours of work into it.
Frame Off
It has been fully stripped down to the frame metal, and completely restored. The rivets were all removed and replaced with grade 8 hardware. I installed 3/16" cross bracing for exhaust hangers, installed a custom high clearance transmission cross member, and a custom high clearance engine cross member. All of these make the frame more rigid. The custom brackets allow for a high-steer setup that has room just below the engine, and allows the drivetrain to be installed higher that the frame rails. To do all this would cost a few thousand easily ($4000+). All frame parts are primed and coated with rust resistant paint.
Steering
Completely custom setup. It has hydro assist and crossover steering, with custom high pressure lines and reusable fittings. The steering feel in the truck is very light, even with the 35 inch tires, but still has a perfect amount of road feel. All of the steering components are on top of the leaf springs. It is a fully high steer crossover steering setup. You would be hard pressed to find a more reliable more durable more street and offroad friendly setup. All parts are either from Offroad Design or PSC Steering, and were ($2500+), with custom fabrication required for the install. All parts were primed and painted.
Axles - Dana 60 Kingpin/Corporate 14
Fully stripped painted and rebuilt, with differential covers made of cast chromoly by Crane High Clearance. The axle shafts have been upgraded to chromoly as well, and the front axle outers and hubs have been upgraded in size to D70 parts, which is the weak link on these. The rear axle has a very substantial pinion guard installed. These two axles alone would cost ($5000+) to buy and rebuild like this. All parts primed and painted.
Suspension ORD shackle flip, HD hangers
Well thought out universal parts replacement design. It uses 56" stock height springs on all four corners, and has about 4 inches of lift. The rear uses a 2.5" shackle flip and longer heavy duty shackles, the front uses a leaf spring swap and custom brackets, with custom HD shackles. This changes driveline angle perfectly to utilize the custom CV driveshafts without shims. The Front spring mounts are made of heavy gauge steel, and are fully integrated with the radiator support mounts. The transmission mount, engine mounts, and all leaf spring eyes use the same size polyurethane bushings. These are universal, so find bushings is super easy. To build this setup would be ($2500+).
Installed on each corner is a 2.0 reservoir fox shocks. Custom high clearance brackets, extended length mounts, and bushings were made to make the installation seamless.($1500+)
Engine - BBC 454, 9.6:1 Compression
The engine is fully rebuilt. It uses flat top pistons and high compression Edelbrock heads to get 9.6 compression. It has chromoly roller rockers, a high lift high torque streetable EFI camshaft, and cast aluminum finned valve covers. The EFI system is a super rare Arizona Speed and Marine tuned port setup with super long runners. It is almost impossible to find, but uses standard gm parts such as injectors and harness. It has Thorley TriY ceramic coated headers. To build out a BBC like this would cost ($10,000+)
Spark plugs arehigh endiridium, and the plug wires are custom cut with custom routingloomsfor a super clean trouble free installation. The ignition is MSD with a matching MSD coil. The distributor made by Fast. It is billetand made for a sequential EFI setup, which is more efficient than bank to bank($1100)
Performance
The truck has been driven 1000 miles since being mostly finished, and with a rough tune on the computer, I was about to get 14MPG at 60mph, which is great for something like this. The OD manual tranny and all the modern parts make it powerful and efficient. With a perfect tune, you'd looking at closer to 15MPG even with 35 tires.
Power is estimated to be around 350+ HP and 550+ ft/lbs torque.
Bumper, Gas Tanks, Exhaust, Brakes
The rear bumper is a heavy duty Ruenel ($700), and the front is a custom winch bumper ($1100). The twin gas tanks are polyurethane ($600), and will never rust out.
The exhaust is dual 2.25 inch, with an H pipe. It has a total of four pass through stainless steel mufflers, for super low restriction and amazing sound. ($800)
The wheels are high strength Weld forged aluminum, and again, super rare. 17x9s. They cost $500 a piece new and are in perfect shape($2000).
Disk brakes on all four corners, with an adjustable proportioning valve for perfect brakes no matter the situation. All brake lines are customs routed stainless steel and will last a lifetime. The brake booster is a hydroboostsetup that with custom lines and reusable fittings($1600)
Interior
The interior needs to be finished. The gauges are aftermarket VDO with senders. The truck needs a finish paint job. Most parts are available to finish the truck, such as trim and HVAC pieces. Clean black interior seat belts are installed. A rare, rebuilt and reconditioned steering column for a manual transmission was installed. The dash is a black poly type that will last forever. The windshield is new. All weatherstripping is new. The floorboard and transmission tube was rebuilt and reinforced to allow the transfercase to be tucked above the frame rails. ($2700+)
Transmission - NV4500 Super Rare Granny Low
It was recently rebuilt as well, with new high end centerforce clutch and billet steel flywheel installed. These would cost many thousands new as well $(4000+). The transfer case is a high end two speed gear driven Stak. It has both 2:1 and 4:1 ratios, with a triple stick shifter to choose between front and back axles. The driveshaft are from high angle driveline. All flanges and u joints have been upgraded in size to 1410s and 1370s for the CV's. All together these would be ($9000+)
Filtration
There is a bypass remote oil filter system, with dual filters. The main filter is a washable billet aluminum housing with stainless mesh type element. The auxiliary filter is used for very small sediment. System cost ($500+).
The air filter has a custom aluminum housing with centrifugal evacuation system for dirty environments. ($300)
Exterior
The front clip was replaced with a modern (89-91) setup. All new radiator support, headlights, side markers, and grill. The radiator is custom 100% aluminum with a stainless steel fan shroud and dual electric fans. Dual batteries and a high torque starter are also installed. ($1500+)
Every single part on the truck is primed and painted. The exterior has a hardcoat prime and quick topcoat to protect everything, but needs a sand recoat. All chassis parts are primed and painted, and if a color other than flat black was desired, an additional topcoat was added while the super tough bottom coat was still tacky. You can smack parts underneath with a hammer and the paint won't chip. Paint and supplies alone were ($1500+).
Other Considerations
Included are many special tools and an original shop manual for the truck.
There are other things that I will add as they come up.
The Holley HP efi computer died on me, so it doesn't run. Any efi computer will work with the chevy based components and sensors. The whole truck has about 1000 miles on it since the restore.
What the truck needs? There is no rust on the truck, but the exterior needs a sand and topcoat. The interior needs to be finished. An EFI computer needs to be installed. A few minor peripheral things here and there.
That is it, and you'll have a highly custom brand new classic. I have never seen an original looking truck with this level of hardware attention, and have never seen anything close to this come up for sale.