'90 Chevy K3500

Jeff Stearns 90 Chevy K3500 pickup makes a lot of heads turn. We first spotted this bad Bow Tie while cruising through the Springfield Jambo and just had to get a closer look. It was immediately clear that Jeff has a thing for strength and raw power. A strong-willed 454 under the hood and Dana 80 axles were the clues to this revelation.

Jeff's rig rolled out of the GM assembly plant powered by a 4.3L V-6, which Jeff replaced with his current 500hp big-block monster. To achieve this kind of power the engine was bored 0.030-inch over, balanced, blueprinted, and engineered to run at a 9:1 compression ratio. It has J.E. pistons and wears Merlin heads. A Crane camshaft actuating roller rockers provides 0.575 inches of lift and 272 degrees of duration. Air and gas are mixed inside a Holley Pro-Jection fuel-injection unit bolted to an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold. Exhaust gases exit via custom headers, Flowmaster mufflers, and 3 1/2-inch pipes.

Underhood electrical upgrades consist of a coil and distributor by ACCEL, wires by Performance Distributors, AC Rapid Fire plugs, and an Optima deep-cycle battery. A swapped-in TH400 transmission equipped with a TCI torque converter and cooler is mated to this impressive powerplant. A Dana 24 transfer case was chosen for use, Jeff said, because It's good and heavy. It's cast-iron and it's gear-driven. Because of the amount of power the engine makes, I wanted the transfer case to be bullet-proof, and this one is.

Jeff also wanted bullet-proof axles. So he went for a Dana 80 in the rear and a custom Dana 80 with Dana 60 outers up front, both of them fed by custom driveshafts, and containing Powr-Loks and 5:14 gears. Jeff says, We chose the 80s because nobody had them. We'd broken a Dana 60, and decided never to do that again. We wanted to go bigger and better.

Capping these beefy axles are a set of 16.5x14 Weld Super Single Scorpio wheels mounted to 39.5-inch Boggers. Disc brakes with two-piston calipers, front and rear, provide stopping power. To help control this big beast, Jeff installed a custom center-link steering setup that incorporates a drop pitman arm, dual Trail Master stabilizers, and an antiroll bar. Clearing the meats and providing flex is a set of custom 12-inch-lift springs front and rear. Dual Trail Master shocks are bolted to custom hoops at each front corner; the rear is damped with four Trail Masters. Custom-built ladder bars help control axlewrap.

The exterior of Jeffs burly Bow Tie sports a Viper Red spray-job, a Show Bar with four KC foglamps, and a custom hood scoop. The trucks interior remains mostly stock, except for a full set of Auto Meter gauges, Painless Wiring toggles, and a Pioneer sound system. Jeff told us he spent nearly a year and a half transforming his rig into the powerhouse you see here. We're convinced that the time (not to mention the money) was worth the effort. FW