'81 Chevy

At first, Doug planted a 400ci...        read full caption At first, Doug planted a 400ci small-block under his truck’s hood. But he wasn’t satisfied with its power output, so he built a 454ci big-block. It’s a workhorse engine, with a steel crank, LS-6 connecting rods, forged pistons, and oval-port heads.

To gain extra clearance for...        read full caption To gain extra clearance for his 36-inch Super Swampers, Doug radiused the fenderwells and installed Bushwacker cutout fender flares. We’re seeing wheelwell mods done more and more as an alternative to tall lifts, so that four-wheelers in states with restrictive bumper- or headlight-height laws can still run big meats.

Beneath the big air cleaner...        read full caption Beneath the big air cleaner is a 750-cfm, vacuum-secondary Holley carburetor mated to an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold. Exhaust gases exit via Cyclone headers modified to clear the engine crossmember.

To convert his 2WD truck into...        read full caption To convert his 2WD truck into 4WD, Doug mounted the Scottsdale’s body onto a 4x4 frame. He made his own body-mount brackets to ease the grafting process.

The pickup’s front axle...        read full caption The pickup’s front axle is a Dana 44 from a ’79 3/4-ton pickup. It’s mounted to the frame with Skyjacker 4-inch leaf springs, and Skyjacker Softride shocks are mounted at each corner. Doug had Catco of Burnsville, Minnesota, rebuild the front driveshaft, which turns 4.56 gears and a Truetrac inside the pumpkin.

This beefy 14-bolt rear axle...        read full caption This beefy 14-bolt rear axle assembly doesn’t have trouble handling the torque from the Chevy’s big-block. It’s hung with the stock leaves mounted on 4-inch Skyjacker lift blocks. During the buildup, Doug made his own drop brackets for the brake lines and lowered the bumpstops.

A year’s worth of effort...        read full caption A year’s worth of effort turned a two-wheel-drive Chevy into Doug Perkins’ daily-driven 4x4 and weekend mud runner. He did almost all of the work himself, from mounting the body to a 4x4 frame to port-matching the heads on the 454ci V-8.

Like many of you, Doug Perkins wanted a nice 4x4 he could drive to work and still take in the mud on weekends. His project was more complex than most because his starting point was a two-wheel-drive 3/4-ton 81 Chevy Scottsdale. But that didn't stop Doug. He was just a little more patient and resourceful than most.

Doug, a truck driver from LeCenter, Minnesota, spent a year and approximately $3,500 on his Chevy. He did most of the work (with help from friends Mark, Chad, Mike, and Bryant) and turned to the pros only when he needed their expertise. The results, which he proudly showed off at the 4-Wheel & Off-Road 4xFun Fest in Anoka, Minnesota, speak for themselves.

The four-wheel-drive conversion began when Doug took the pickups body off its original frame and mounted it on 4x4 rails from a 73 Chevy. To make the graft easier, Doug fabricated his own body mounts. He found a Dana 44 axle from a 79 ¾-ton Chevy and used it up front, and the truck sports a Corporate 14-bolt in back. Both are filled with 4.56 gears. For maximum grip in the goo, Doug installed traction aids at both ends a Truetrac in the front pumpkin and a Gov-Loc in the rear.

Leaf springs suspend both axlehousings. Doug chose Skyjacker leaves with a 4-inch lift for the front and matched them with Skyjacker Softride shock absorbers. He retained the 73 leaves for the rear axle, mounted them on 4-inch Skyjacker lift blocks, and used another pair of Softride shocks to dampen spring oscillation. While working on the rear suspension, Doug devised an innovative way to prevent axle wrap under high-torque conditions: Instead of using fixed ladder bars, which can limit axle articulation, he mounted a pair of coilover shocks between the frame and the front of the axle tube. Where did he get such high-tech componentry? Sears.

Axle wrap was a concern of Dougs because of the power he planted into the Chevy. His first engine was a 400ci Chevy small-block V-8, but it didn't have quite the grunt he was looking for. So he traded up to a big-block, a 454 bored 0.030 over and balanced by T.C. Automotive of Mankato, Minnesota. Doug filled the Rats cylinders with TRW forged 9.0:1 pistons on Chevy LS-6 rods, and he installed a steel crankshaft with a crank scraper in the bottom end. He also completed his own bowl cleanup and port-matching on the oval-port heads. A Crane camshaft with a 0.515-inch lift and 272 degrees duration actuates the valves, and induction is via a 750-cfm vacuum-secondary Holley carburetor mounted on an Edelbrock Performer manifold. An HEI ignition system from ACCEL fires the mixture.

One big problem Doug encountered with the buildup was the fit of the exhaust. Road Runner Repair of LeCenter, Minnesota modified the Cyclone headers to clear the crossmember and built a complete 2 ½-inch system that exits at the rear axle.

To accommodate the big-blocks power output, Doug had Dennys Transmission of Cleveland, Minnesota, beef up a TH350 with heavy-duty clutches and a B&M Shift Improver Kit. Now, at one end of the tranny is a Hughes 2,000-rpm-stall torque converter and at the other is a 75 NP205 transfer case with new seals. A heavy-duty rear driveshaft sends power to the 14-bolt.

Doug runs the mud on a set of 36x12.50-16.50 TSL Super Swampers on 9.75-inch-wide American Racing white spoke wheels. He made room for the tall tires by opening the fenderwells and installing Bushwacker fender flares. This bodywork, like everything else Doug did to the truck, was performed in his one-car garage: It was tight, but I had enough room. And finally, the deep red paint was sprayed on by Wayne's Auto Body in LeCenter. There was no easy part of this buildup, he told us.It seemed like it just didn't want to go together like I wanted. But those problems were solved through hard work and a determination to get it done, he said. You have to plan ahead, not just decide to do the whole thing in a weekend.