My Small 06 Silverado Build
 

Well this build really will be small in comparison to my blazer but I figured I'd share with y'all what I'm working on for my boss. He's got an 06 Silverado that has the typical Chevy rust problems in the cab corners and above one wheel arch. Luckily it's his truck and his money so this should move quick with a few fun upgrades along the way. He wants to be hands on and help as much as he can to learn what he can along the way as well which is fine with me because luckily I get along with my boss really well. So far we (my boss and I) have pulled the bed off, pulled the bumper, dropped the spare tire, dropped the gas tank and started rust removal on the frame rails. The truck was owned by a horse farmer before my boss owned it and mechanically the engine, trans, and t case are solid with just over a 100k but little if any attention was ever paid to cleaning the under carriage and it shows with the amount of rust on the frame rails! Luckily it is all scaley surface rust but there is allot of it. I went over every but if the frame with a hammer beating the rust scale off before hitting it with a wire wheel and it's plenty strong and I couldn't find any areas that concerned me.

During removal of the tank I found the fuel sending unit top is rusted literally through and just trying to remove the fuel lines resulted in a leaking sending unit so add one of those to the list. Upon further inspection of the fuel lines right under the back of the drivers door the fuel line was wet around a clamp and sure enough it was weeping fuel there so add new fuel lines from the motor all the way to the tank to the list as well!

We had already planned to do the rear brake lines because we knew they were rough but with the bed removed I attempted to move the main line about an inch and that also resulted in a fast leak so for good measure a complete set of stainless pre bent brake lines for every hard line on the truck are on their way. I will be adding new pads and rotors at all four corners since we are already at it.

The plan for the frame is to get it down to good metal and then do this Stop Rust - KBS Coatings - 3 Step System - KBS Klean - RustBlast - RustSeal 3 step system to seal it up and prevent any future rust issues.

As for fun things he wants more power and better sound out of the motor so I have been looking into this Banks Power Single Exhaust Stinger System 48034 package for what he is wanting. It's an all in one deal designed to work together and I think it would give him what he wants without tearing into the motor which he is already talking about a cam swap and a few other things anyway but to get it back on the road for winter this is much more feasible. He's also thinking he will do a level kit and wheels and tires. He removed the door mouldings after I advised him it'd look cleaner without and he's in love so those won't be going back on after it gets a complete paint job in a few weeks.

This is where we stand after 6 hours of tinkering yesterday and gets everyone up to date. I will keep everyone updated as we get more done as time allows me in the evenings and weekends.

Things to order are:

Fuel lines along frame and to motor
Fuel sending unit plus lock ring
Body mount bushings (his are shot)
Shocks (it has factory socks that are dead)
Brake pads
Rotors
Rear bumper (it's rusted out so it will be replaced)
Exhaust, Intake, Tuner (Banks kit?)
Spare tire pulley (the cable is rusted no surprise)

And I couldn't post this long story without pics lol!
After bed removal (that's my boss)
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939
Boss messing with the crap spare tire winch
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939
Boss playing with his new electric impact removing the bumper
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939
Not the greatest representation but it's a pic of the frame
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939
Most everything removed and some stripping done
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939

https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939
The pile of crap we removed
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939
This was the worst spot of rust on the body
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1417328939
My boss has more pics so I'll try and get those from him as well

Damn, I didn't know rust was that big of an issue for you guys down there... I see a ton of those NBS trucks up here in MA with rockers almost completely missing.

You'll love that RustSeal... I used the 3 steps on the d30 and 8.8 before i swapped them in. put 2 /3 coats on and its still looking great going on 3 New England winters. I used the gloss and it has seemed to fade quite a bit from UV exposure, but that's to be expected with any of the rust coatings IIRC.

Frame is cleaned and sealed and painted! It's covered in dust from the body shop but it's nice and clean and shiny:). I spent today replacing every brake line on the truck with nice new stainless lines. I don't care to ever do that job again! Boss man decided he is replacing both bumpers so we pulled the front off as well. I got the new sending unit in the tank and ready to go back in the frame. I'll be replacing all the fuel lines tomorrow and hopefully get the new pads and rotors on and perhaps the new shocks as well.
Here's the frame after some work
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1418352835
Here's a pile of all the old brake lines
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1418352835
And then there's the new goodies that came in while I was working on it today:)
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1418352835
Exhaust, Intake, and programmer! He has also decided on a complete color change but I'm not giving up details until I can post pics of it painted. Then I gotta figure out which wheels I think he should have lol.

IIRC Salvo auto parts carries an entire fuel line kit from the tank to the manifold on these trucks.

Yeah I don't remember where I found them now but that's exactly what I did what get a complete kit from motor to tank. I got the old lines out and the lines from the motor down to the flex hoses installed today. I only had about 3 hours to work on it so I didn't get nearly as much done as I hoped. Those lines are a biotch tho! After looking at it for a few minutes I ended up pulling the front drive shaft and the entire intake manifold for clearance and I glad I did. There is a nut on the bell housing that holds a bracket for the lines and they say you can use 24" of extensions to remove it but that'd be almost impossible and not to mention attempting to put the but back on! After I pulled the intake I was able to pull the nut off with a wrench and zero issue. This was what I found when I pulled the intake...
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1418424284
Those are all dead stink bugs!! A quick suck with the shop vac took care of them but they were nasty!
And here's a pic of the old sending unit I forgot to post. There are suppose to be three ports coming off it but you can see two of them pretty much just fell off:(
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1418424284
Everything "should" be easier and quicker from here on out.

To do:
Finish fuel lines
Reinstall intake manifold
Install fuel tank
Install pads and rotors
Install new shocks
Install new exhaust
Install new intake
Hope it starts
Bleed brake lines

Then it's on to body work and paint!

Yay, dead stink bugs!

Well sadly I haven't updated this thread in a long time but the truck is finally finished well almost lol! I'll have to get some pics but it looks great and is running and stopping much better than before I started on it. He did a complete color change on the truck and it looks fantastic. The frame looks brand new front to back. I installed a really nice bed rug in it the other day and topped it off with a Undercover flip up bed cover. With all new brake lines, calipers, rotors and pads it stops awesome and the banks exhaust sounds great! Its not very loud but has a nice deep tone to it. I upgraded the controller so it has more options and there is a very noticeable difference in "super sport" mode lol.


He put the bumpers on so I need to do a bit of alignment on the front yet but that's minor. He also wants to upgrade the wheels and possibly a larger tire with a small lift. I'll get some pics next time I see it and get them posted up for everyone to see the transformation!