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Cdnoilram's build thread v2.0

97119 Views 586 Replies 64 Participants Last post by  Bruja Azul
After the demise of my last truck at the hands of a Grand Cherokee that thought my truck was a better way to stop than using his own brakes, it's time to look to the future. In that theme, I would like to introduce my new truck... soon to be dubbed "Green Mamba"

It's an '09 1500 QCRB Sport. The important features from the factory are the 5.7L, 3.92 anti-spin diff, 4wd, and I had the dealership put 17s on it for my winter rubber. The guy that had it before me had added side steps, a nasty fuel door, tailgate extender, rear helper bags, a magnaflow 2-in/2-out muffler, and managed to put 100,000 kms on it. Why did I buy such high mileage? Because the entire drive train and suspension are going to be changed out in the next year, so why buy a low mileage one. The body is in OK shape, the expected dents and dings for a used vehicle, and one box side has been repainted, badly.

In true Cdnoilram fashion, I am going hog wild on the build and I was ordering parts even before I had possession of the vehicle :smiley_thumbs_up: Everything will happen in several phases over the next year, because I want to have the truck to where I'll be happy with it by next year. It would be sooner, but I'm also paying for my wedding that will be in June.

Phase 1 mods, already ordered/received:

Stance and handling
McGaughy's 2/4 drop kit, this will be cut for a 3/5 drop
Spohn adjustable panhard bar, adjustable rear upper and lower control arms
Hellwig rear sway bar
EBC sport rotors, green stuff pads (was going to do SSBC kit but would have to run 18s and I don't feel like paying extra for winter rubber)

A few appearance mods
APM ram-air hood
Spyder smoked LED tail lights
Anzo smoked LED 3rd brake
Street Scenes roll pan

Phase 1.5 makin' it look unique in my own special way: (expected ~March)

2-tone paint job by Airdrie Autowerks. A little snakeskin green ('10 ACR viper green) just for a bit of pop :wow:
Custom '13 sport projector headlights
Shave tailgate badge and antennae
Building a custom grille - this is going to be sweet (I'm keeping this under wraps for now, that's all I'm gonna say)
Spray-in bed liner

Phase 2 mods are all performance, have most from old truck:

Arrington P&P BV eagle heads (have)
ARH 1 3/4" primary LT headers (have)
MGH built 545/68rfe hybrid transmission (scheduled to be built)
ported 6.1L intake manifold (have)
85mm BBK throttle body (have)
Nitrous Outlet 85mm nitrous plate (have)
ZEX wet kit (have)

I am looking for a 370 or 392 forged stroker kit/block to handle the novi 1200 I have, but that might take a year with all the custom fab work I'll need to do to make it all work.

Phase 3, may happen before phase 2... audio:

Pioneer 2-DIN HU (have)
Front door panels to hold 6.5" components + 8" mid sub (have)
Modify center console and build box to hold a JL 13TW5 downfire or cheap out and just get a FOX box for 2x JL 10W6s
JL HD 900/5 + 600/4 (have)


That's the plan so far, there will be plenty of changes and tweaks as I make progress, but this is the first truck that I've actually got a plan and want to stick to it. It's warmed up nicely the last few days which means the snow is melting a bit and the truck is absolutely filthy... so no pics until tomorrow after I wash it.
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30% DP will really help your house note.

We just put 40% down on a new house we're building and the note was a lot more do-able.

How you're doing all that around you build is beyond me.

Kudos, because my wife would freeze my jewels if I attempted it.

Here's another looking forward to the finished product.
I was kidding about the explanation but thanks for the thorough steps
Yes, employee tax stinks compared to contractor rates.
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30% DP will really help your house note.

We just put 40% down on a new house we're building and the note was a lot more do-able.
Yeah, getting everything together and just having to have the bank approve the mortage rather than the additional CMHC getting their fingers into the pie is a big benefit. It's one thing my wife has insisted on for our house especially since we plan to keep our current condo as a rental property.

Kudos, because my wife would freeze my jewels if I attempted it.
What makes you think I have any jewels left? The only balls I have left are the ones I have put into my truck, my wife's had mine pickled and sitting on a shelf for 5 years now, and we just got married this year. :shy: Truthfully, from what I got from car accident and what insurance gave me for my last truck I was able to start with a pretty good amount for mods for this truck.
Hey if I had the extra money laying around I would wanna build a crazy brick on wheels too!

My wife however will not allow this to happen. For whatever reason though she goes along with the making it look good part.. just not the faster part. :sad:
Can I call dibs on the truck when you don't want it anymore? :LOL:

Truck looks awesome man keep it up!
LMAO, my wife would kill me... then resurrect my corpse so she could do it again, lol. I buy my rigs for the long term unless something nasty happens to them like my last truck.

An update... I've been working too much, and Diablo III came out on PS3, 'nuff said. Truck goes in for the exhaust on Wednesday, so I'll get my duals and AFR bung welded in place, plus I'm getting them to weld the big red race valve on the charge piping. After that it's a proper engine break in and tweaks to the suspension. Still waiting on my new front upper control arms, but I'll be rebuilding the CV shafts this week while the truck's in for exhaust.

I'm hoping to finish my interior and engine bay paint/dipping this week as well, I just need to find a pan big enough for my half covers. Maybe I'll get my hoses installed as well, but that's not a priority.
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Just read all 23 pages... DAMN!!!!!!! but i guess since its still a work in progress... the picture in your sig is what it will look like?
Just read all 23 pages... DAMN!!!!!!! but i guess since its still a work in progress... the picture in your sig is what it will look like?
Me too! Definitely worth it! I don't know why I haven't looked through this thread before :doh:

Looks awesome Kurtis! Reps for getting in there and doing it all yourself too. Like you said that helps so much in learning how to do all that kind of stuff. I grew up helping my dad/uncles build race cars and engines and what not and the experience and knowledge I've got from that is priceless.

Anyways, reps for a great build! Looking forward to the rest of it!
Can I call dibs on the truck when you don't want it anymore? :LOL:

Truck looks awesome man keep it up!
Hahaha....was waiting for someone to ask :smileup:
LMAO, my wife would kill me... then resurrect my corpse so she could do it again, lol. I buy my rigs for the long term unless something nasty happens to them like my last truck.

An update... I've been working too much, and Diablo III came out on PS3, 'nuff said. Truck goes in for the exhaust on Wednesday, so I'll get my duals and AFR bung welded in place, plus I'm getting them to weld the big red race valve on the charge piping. After that it's a proper engine break in and tweaks to the suspension. Still waiting on my new front upper control arms, but I'll be rebuilding the CV shafts this week while the truck's in for exhaust.

I'm hoping to finish my interior and engine bay paint/dipping this week as well, I just need to find a pan big enough for my half covers. Maybe I'll get my hoses installed as well, but that's not a priority.

:LOL: I hear you on that one GTA V just came out! I can't get away from it!
Got a call from the shop today. Truck's exhaust is completed. Catless true duals to dual tips behind the rear wheels, running twin 30" magnaflow straight flow mufflers. QTP cutouts right after the rear trans cross-member and a bung welded in for the Innovative AFR gauge's O2 sensor.

They welded the bung in and setup my pinion angle for me for free... of course I dropped $1100 on the exhaust system, there was a LOT of labor hours into getting everything lined up perfect. Pics will happen when I pick it up on Friday, but I'm excited because this guy is expensive but I've never seen anyone so anal about placement of parts.
Looking forward to seeing the pics! I can hardly wait to see this beast when she is done.
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Both my wife and I can't wait for it to be running properly, we're both fed up with it sitting in the parking lot. I'm trying to get Josh organized with Davenport to do some dyno tuning but Josh is ridiculously busy right now.
You have patience.

I lost that a couple of years or so ago when I turned 40. I use to have an abundance of it. Now both my patience and tolerance level are close to zip.

You're still young.... you'll see.
You have patience.

I lost that a couple of years or so ago when I turned 40. I use to have an abundance of it. Now both my patience and tolerance level are close to zip.

You're still young.... you'll see.
Grub.. You just lived up to your "I don't sugar-coat it" motto 100% :LOL:

CdnoilRam.. I can't wait to see and hear your Ram on here.. I haven't seen a full truck pic, just random parts like those awesome headlights.. It's killing me.:sad:
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You have patience.

I lost that a couple of years or so ago when I turned 40. I use to have an abundance of it. Now both my patience and tolerance level are close to zip.

You're still young.... you'll see.
Hahaha.....:smileup:
I've kept full pics to myself for a reason... with it not being drivable it has 2 months of grime built up on it... hopefully the weather's good this weekend and I can get a few pics. It's in desperate need of some data logging and a wash, good things to do on a weekend.

Grub, we understand that with age comes senility, and general crotchety-ness, and we accept you for that, but next time please remember that the adult diaper goes on the INSIDE of the pants.
I did make some progress today though. I finally made the decision of what type of tonneau cover I'm getting. I debated between a BakFlip VP from the fine "gentlemen" at Bully's or a hard fiberglass cover from Gaylord's Customs with the speedstur wing. I finally decided that the appearance of a black tonneau cover above the green just wouldn't look right, so it'll be a fully painted fiberglass tonneau for me. Placed the order for it this morning.

A bed rug, LED lights, and a new set of wheels/tires will be on its way shortly since I worked 280 hours last month; there'll be a little extra $$ after all my invoices get processed.
Think the colour matched cover will look great. I think y ou made the right call going black, green , black might have looked off.
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