[chevysilverado1987]

Hey all. My name is Ryan. I've had my 1987 silverado since I was 15. 26 now. I am looking into drastically redoing the whole thing. I work on cars for a living so I know my way around them. Except not the older stuff. Intro to the truck. I took the fuel injection out and put a carb 350 in when the engine went. It is a standard cab short box 1500. I want to put a 454 and 3/4 ton axles under to help handle the power. I am going to be doing a lot of body work too. Now the questions. WHat year 454 should I look for? what axles? Should I just look for a donor truck that is rust free? ( I live in Michigan) How do I identify what is on my truck now? Thanks.

 

[silveradotrailblazer]

Welcome to the club, Ryan.

 

[chevysilverado1987]

I guess no one on here knows stuff about the older chevys. Is there another forum for those?

 

[mrs.silveradotrailblazer]

Welcome to the club, Ryan. This is the place for information about your vehicle. There are a lot of knowledgable people on this web site. :glasses:

 

[2COR517]

I'm not an expert on the big blocks, but the 454 is largely unchanged until 1996. 96 was the first year of the Vortec heads. They build much more power, and would be and excellent choice if you can get one right. I presume you will be staying with the carb for fuel delivery. You will need a specific carb manifold for the the Vortec heads. They are readily available for the small block, I'm guessing they are for the 454 too.

As for axles, a 14 bolt 9.5 inch semi-floater is ideal for the rear. Unless you are running huge tires and carrying tons of weight all the time, the 10.5 inch 14B full-floater is overkill. It just adds weight and robs performance. Also, you cannot get a Tru-Trac for the 10.5. For the front, a GM 10 bolt with 8 lugs will be fine. Most will say you need a Dana 60, but once again if it's primarily a street machine running decent size tires the 10B will be fine. I would stay away from the Dana 44 front.

 

[stumpaction]

i agree with 2COR517, it all depends on what you plan on doing with it. you dont want to go too big, but you dont want to go cheap either. keep asking around, you will find the perfect set up.

 

[MoBillyAla]

Welcome to the site Ryan, good luck on the upgrade. What body mods are you looking into?

 

[chevysilverado1987]

2COR517, I am not much of a gm guy. So I apologize for asking, but, what axles are you refering too? The truck will be going to play in the dunes and a slight chance of mud. Thanx.

---------- Post added at 09:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 PM ----------

Welcome to the site Ryan, good luck on the upgrade. What body mods are you looking into?

No body mods other than a cowl hood and possibly a roll pan. Maybe a billet grille. Going with 6 inch lift and 35's.