For Sale (6 principles)

 We ran out of systems to upgrade, tweak, improve or customize. This truck is the cumulation of 7 years of work and $45K in parts. I am only selling becasue I am going through a divorce.  

It needs nothing - the engine runs great, the drivetrain is all new, the wheels and tires are new, the brakes have been upgraded, and the interior is clean and functional. 

This could become someone's daily driver, weekend cruiser, car show entry, or maybe all three.

 We could not recreate this truck for under $40,000 (and my receipts for the stock truck + the parts we have install add up to more than that), so we feel that the asking price is fair. 

We are not looking for trades or stories, just cash money. We have fewer than 1000 miles on the new engine, transmission and rear axle. The tires have less than 200 miles on them. The truck is immaculate - inside, out, and under hood. 

Read More Spec‘s about each system below:

The truck was professionally bodyworked and painted in March of 2021 by Heritage Collision, who has done all of our paint and body work for the last 15 years. It has been in storage and rarely driven since then. 

The front end on this 2000 model Silverado was converted to the 2003-05 Silverado fenders, grill, headlights, and Silverado SS bumper cover. 

The rear features new roll pan in place of the rear bumper, as well as the later model "tailgate spoiler" cap. 

The reason why the truck had this front end conversion and new paint was due to a tree limb falling onto it in August of 2020. The damage wasn't bad (windshield, dented fender, dented hood, damaged headlight) but it was a good excuse to swap to the later "cateye" GMT800 Silverado SS front end. We started off immediately by stripping the chunky side molding off and de-badging the truck. We ordered the new sheet metal - fenders, hood, and bumper - then began swapping it over. 

This involved cutting off and welding on new bumper supports. The new supports were fitted and welded to the frame rails, then the new 2003-05 painted bumper was installed. The SS style front bumper cover and grill assembly were then added. We spent a lot of hours getting the new fenders, hood, bumper, and grill installed. 

Because the Silverado SS has been out of production for a while we had to build all new brackets to hold the lower potions, but it worked out well having two fabricators on staff. We ordered the roll pan and new power mirrors (paintable, not chrome). We loaded up the truck and delivered it to Heritage Collision in December of 2020 - the shop that does all of our paint and bodywork. They had the truck for a few months, during which time they made the new panels fit better than stock. They also bodyworked every panel, removing every ding from the previous 21 years of street use. The rear bumper was removed and a steel roll pan was fitted. Every panel was primed and sanded until the body lines were perfect and panels flat. 

Finally the entire exterior of the truck was then sprayed with new Arctic White paint in early 2021. This was allowed to cure then was polished and buffed. 

When we got the truck back to Vorshlag in March of 2021, we then installed the last few details - the lights and badges shown below. 

LIGHTS AND BADGING 

All of the original "1500" and "LS" badges were removed before paint. The front "Bowtie" badge was replaced with a polished stainless steel unit when the truck returned from the painter. 

Every piece of the factory exterior lighting has been replaced with modern LEDs. The rear tail light housings were showing their age and we replaced them with aftermarket LED housings, which are quality looking units with much more visible LED red tail lights, brake lights and reverse lights. Similarly the third brake light housing at the top of the cab is another red LED unit, with white LED bed lights in the same housing. 

When we did the 2003-05 front end update a 4 piece set of DNA Motorsport headlight and parking light assemblies was installed, which clear lenses that similar to the OEM housings, with just a small change in the look. Again, no smoked lenses or obnoxious looks - and white and amber LED bulbs installed. 

INTERIOR - The interior is in exceptional condition, with a full detail of the interior in June 2024 in preparation for this sale. 

The images below show the current state of the interior and modifications we have made inside. 

We purchased this truck in 2017 from the original owner, who kept it very clean. Still, we performed entire disassembly of all interior plastic panels, carpets, seats, and everything was washed, shampoo'd and vacuumed, then air dried before it all went back in. No strange smells exist inside of the cab. The switch gear on the driver's side door panel was worn so that was all replaced with new switches. 

An aftermarket alarm installed by the previous owner was removed - we took out all of that wiring, root and stem. We swapped in this Alpine CDE-1358BT stereo, which has a CD player, and Bluetooh, USB, Aux input ports. The speakers are upgraded and there is a remote microphone at the center roof console. 

The center console lid underside plastics break on all of these trucks - we installed an updated aftermarket latch and underside plastics, but kept the factory top, which better matched the interior materials. We also added a RAM Quick-Grip XL phone holder, which holds large frame modern phones from various makers (and it is adjustable). This is  mounted to a RAM 1" ball base and 6" RAM arm. 

In 2023 we replaced the driver's side window regulator and motor assembly, which had gotten a bit slow. The new window setup goes up and down perfectly and quickly. Lastly, we had a dash crack that needed to be repaired. A new dash assembly was not available, so we ordered a "DASHskin" completely overlay kit in the matching factory light pewter color. That was a two day installation, with removal of all of the dash trim and grab handle, then the adhesive from the kit was applied and the overlap installed. We placed towels and weights on top of the overlay and it setup up perfectly over 24 hours. The dash looks brand new now.

    Suspension and Brakes

We altered the suspension on this truck considerably to get the disired ride height and ride quality. This is where a bulk of the labor was spent on this truck, with a few iterations on the suspension setup until it was just right. 

This truck was purchased in April 2017 and it was almost 100% stock, with the original shocks, bushings, brakes and other major items. After daily driving the truck for 2 years Vorshlag tackled a full suspension overall in July 2019. This included new suspension bushings and Bilstein dampers. We also upgraded the brakes at this time with twin piston rear calipers and rotors from the Tahoe, and larger diameter front rotors and twin piston calipers from a later model GMT800 (which were larger as they had drum brake rears). This "big brake" upgrade is one we have done before, and uses Powerstop powder coated calipers and coated / slotted / drilled rotors. All new brake flex lines were also installed. 

The major changes started in January 2020 with a Belltech 5/7 drop kit, which included new front spindles and springs. We replaced the ball joints in the control arms at this time. The spindle had more drop than we liked so we custom CNC machined a 1.25" thick spring spacer to raise the front ride height to more usable levels (what you see in the exterior pictures). 

The changes at the rear included axle flip + C-notched frame for more suspension travel. The axle is moved from underneath the leaf springs to the top, with new parts. The C-notch kit was both bolted and welded in place, with primer on all of the affected frame sections. 

In March of 2020 we added shorter length but similar shock travel Bilstein 5100 dampers with remote reservoirs on the rear. We added an Addco rear swaybar in November of 2022, as this truck came without a rear bar from the factory. 

The rear ride height was too low after the axle flip, so we went about raising that with Air Ride helper bags in May of 2020. We bought this kit and realized it needed some customization, so we fabricated a better upper bag bracket, then installed the bags and plumbed them for air filling. This allowed us to manually dial in the rear ride height based on what load was in the truck bed. 

We added the optional Air Lift compressor and gauge / controller in November of 2022, with a custom panel added to the "roof console". Now the rear air bags will automatically go to a set ride height if the bed load changes, based on a ride height sensor. Rear ride height can also be adjusted from the gauge / controls located at the top of the windshield.

engine, transmission, axle, exhaust and cooling systems

This section covers the engine, transmission and rear axle upgrades we completed on this Truck, as well as the long tube headers and custom exhaust, rear axle improvements, and cooling system upgrades. This work includes a custom built 5.7L LS V8 engine, rebuilt 4L60E transmission, and freshened limited slip and new 3.73 gears out back - the drivetrain is essentially brand new. 

FORGED BOTTOM END 5.7l ENGINE 

The truck originally came with an underwhelming 4.8L V8, and other than various fluid leaks there was nothing wrong with it. Except it made for a slow truck. The transmission was slipping a bit, and the rear axle had the dreaded "1 wheel peel" and tall gearing. In 2020 we set about upgrading all 3 of those major driveline systems. 

Erik Koenig of HorsePower Research took an iron block 4.8L truck engine and turned it into this forged bottom end 5.7L LS. The engine was disassembled, bored .125" over, and with the internals for an LS 5.7L it was then converted to an iron block 5.7L LS. The aluminum cathedral port LS heads were shaved .030" and fully rebuilt. A Scat 4340 forged crank with 3.622" stroke, forged I-Beam rods, forged Wiseco Pistons with the HPR ring package, and a hydraulic roller camshaft (224° intake / 224° exhaust). 

The oil pan was also sonic cleaned, and a new oil pump pickup was installed. New pan and valve cover gaskets were installed along with new idler pulleys, new water pump, and new OEM replacement balancer.

 The various aluminum other covers were hot tanked and sonic cleaned, and finally the block was painted black. 

We ordered a new Dorman truck intake (based on the Trailblazer SS, but it is a 2-piece design). We disassembled the intake and the main ports and throttle body opening were port matched and smoothed inside. This is capped off with an OEM throttle body, which is fed by a K&N cold air intake system and filter. 

COOLING SYSTEM UPGRADES 

Cooling system mods include a fabricated, larger core sized, all aluminum radiator. This is a direct bolt in unit mounted on the OEM rubber bushings. No plastic tanks to crack and leak here! 

This was added when the 5.7L engine was installed, as was the mechanical fan delete. The noisy stock fan and clutch were replaced with a high flow 2011-14 Mustang electric fan - a unit we use in both race and street cars up to 700 hp. 

This 5.5" thick fan was mounted with custom brackets, wired to a circuit with a 70 amp relay kit from Painless Wiring (P/N 30100). 

This circuit is trigger by the coolant temperature sensor in the engine - which was wired into the harness and controlled by custom EFI programming. The factory style upper radiator hose was replaced with a custom 1.25" dia hose assembly, which includes the normal bends and a piece of straight aluminum tubing, with rolled beads at the ends. 

EXHAUST SYSTEM UPGRADES 

The exhaust sounds amazingly good with the American Racing Headers stainless steel long tube headers with 1-7/8" diameter primary and 3" collectors. It has two ARH high flow catalysts up front, which merge into a single 3" stainless tube to head back to the muffler. 

We previously had dual MagnaFlow chambered mufflers, but it was a bit too loud once we added the built 5.7L engine. We replaced those loud mufflers with a single 3" in/out MagnaFlow polished stainless 5 x 11 x 22" case muffler, part number 12589. This tamed the raspy exhaust note down to a muscular rumble at idle, which still sounds impressive when you step on the throttle - but won't wake the neighbors when you drive home late at night. 

Every inch of the exhaust is stainless steel and custom built from the catalysts back. We changed the ARH "slip fit" exhaust clamps to proper 304 stainless 3" V-band clamps - it has no leaks, and mounts with poly isolators. 

TRANSMISSION AND FUEL SYSTEM UPGRADES 

In early 2020, after installing the 5.7L LS engine, the stock transmission - which was already slipping - decided to get worse. We took the core transmission to a local speed shop we work with, who sent it to their preferred transmission rebuild shop in Ft Worth. A few weeks later we had the rebuilt 4L60E transmission back in our hands, beefed up with better clutches, a mild shift kit, and a 2800 RPM stall convertor. This drives great and yet doesn't shift too firmly. 

Before the transmission went in, we had the car tuned and it was running out of fuel pump and/or injector. We ordered a new set of DeatschWerks 60 #/hr injectors and a new Walbro 190 LPH fuel pump and housing. The old pump / sock / float was replaced, the then the injectors installed. This immediately fixed the fueling issues, and we went back for a proper dyno tune shortly after. 

REAR AXLE AND DIFFERENTIAL UPGRADE 

In March of 2020, after installing the built 5.7L engine, we realized that the 3.07 gears and open differential were not going to work well - the added power completely overwhelmed the 265mm tires we had on the truck at that time. 

We ordered up a new Auburn limited slip differential, new Motive gear set in 3.37:1 ratio, a full Motive Gear bearing and seal rebuild kit, and got to work. The housings was stripped down and cleaned meticulously, the axles removed and inspected, and all of the old bearing races and axle seals were replaced. Then the ring and pinion were swapped in and the gear setup was performed. 

When the gear pattern and backlash were dialed into spec, a Moser Engineering aluminum diff cover was installed and the preload studs set to spec. This transformed the truck, with both rear tires now getting power. The lower ratio gearing greatly improved acceleration, but did not make the engine rev too high on the highway (4th gear is overdriven). This gearing is the ideal setup for this truck. 

DYNO TUNING AND RESULTS 

We have spent a considerable amount of money tuning this truck after installing the built 5.7L engine. Some of this was due to some fuel system deficiencies we had early on, then a slipping transmission, then gearing that sent the wheelspeeds too high to dyno in 3rd gear (1:1). 

We also had some issues with an Idle Air Control solenoid, some wiring to that circuit that was damaged during the engine swap, and a few other sensor details. After we went back with the new DW 60# injectors and Walbro 190 LPH fuel pump, and the truck made a respectable 346 whp / 351 wtq numbers on a nice cool, dense day. 

In February of 2024 we scheduled slot for final tuning, and Sergio at LG Motorsports worked his magic. 

The truck was TRANSFORMED - it runs great now, starts on the first crank, and made good power and torque numbers. He worked on transmission tuning, driveability, and idling issues and the truck drives great in normal street driving situations, but if you open it up the HPR built 5.7L LS engine will rip the rear tires to shreds. It is finally perfect.