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I dunno if this has been posted before but this is my first time seeing it...
SS SUPER TRUCK
This concept is not new. Many individuals have built one-off Corvette-derivative performance pickups with rolled pans and Corvette taillights, and Ford’s performance pickup version, the Lightning, is the category leader with the performance crowd. Chevy launched the SS 502 big block, but it was never really committed to pulling it off, so due to 502’s poor execution and lackluster packaging, it was discontinued. Chevy obviously felt at the time that all you had to do was to stuff a big block into an awkwardly packaged black truck, put on sad-looking, old-style wheels, charge a ton of money, and you would laugh all the way to the bank. The only people laughing were the Ford Lightning owners, as they easily dusted off the big blocks, almost at will. Certainly that effort was nothing like this no-compromise SS, and nothing like this has ever been offered the enthusiast. Let’s face it—styling sells, particularly when it is backed up with performance. All the visual cues of the SS make that statement. The promise of Corvette-like performance sets the tone, and the 20s and 22-inchers drive it home. The ground-scraping body cladding greatly adds to the overall sex appeal of the truck’s proportions, as do the more subtle styling cues that are built in to the overall vehicle packaging. The entire package is understated, yet the sum of its parts not only relates to themselves, but helps it to scream out hot rod pure.
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The heart of the SS lies in the LS1 6.6-liter V-8 that cranks a useable 480 hp at 6,000 rpm, and 475 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm. The base 350 aluminum LS1 block (5.7-liter) was enlarged to 402 ci by incorporating 4-inch bore iron cylinder sleeve liners and a 4-inch stroke forged crankshaft. Connecting rods are 6.125 inches and hang on domed, forged pistons. Piston deck height is increased by 0.057-inch with the compressed head gaskets (bore diameter 4.036 inches), and is topped with CNC-ported aluminum LS1 cylinder heads. The intake and exhaust valves are 2.02 inches and 1.57 inches, respectively, and are actuated with a specially designed Comp Cams 0.532-inch lift (intake) and 0.535-inch lift (exhaust) roller cam. Duration is 273 degrees (intake) and 277 degrees (exhaust) and incorporates 1.7:1 roller rockers and 7.325-inch pushrods.
The results of Chevy’s marketing research were filed for about as long as it took Chevy to learn that somewhere in styling, a group of young hot rodders were whittling out concepts of what a Chevy truck should look like. So two of the necessary elements existed, and Kurt Ritter provided the third—funding. The fact that Chevrolet undertook the project in the first place is quite meaningful. It spent the time and the money because, at the top, it felt that this was the type of message that Chevrolet should be getting out to the consumer—that this is the type of packaging you can expect from the Bow Tie Brigade.
READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE: http://www.randomunity.com/superrod/super_rods/sstruck/sstruck.html
SS SUPER TRUCK
This concept is not new. Many individuals have built one-off Corvette-derivative performance pickups with rolled pans and Corvette taillights, and Ford’s performance pickup version, the Lightning, is the category leader with the performance crowd. Chevy launched the SS 502 big block, but it was never really committed to pulling it off, so due to 502’s poor execution and lackluster packaging, it was discontinued. Chevy obviously felt at the time that all you had to do was to stuff a big block into an awkwardly packaged black truck, put on sad-looking, old-style wheels, charge a ton of money, and you would laugh all the way to the bank. The only people laughing were the Ford Lightning owners, as they easily dusted off the big blocks, almost at will. Certainly that effort was nothing like this no-compromise SS, and nothing like this has ever been offered the enthusiast. Let’s face it—styling sells, particularly when it is backed up with performance. All the visual cues of the SS make that statement. The promise of Corvette-like performance sets the tone, and the 20s and 22-inchers drive it home. The ground-scraping body cladding greatly adds to the overall sex appeal of the truck’s proportions, as do the more subtle styling cues that are built in to the overall vehicle packaging. The entire package is understated, yet the sum of its parts not only relates to themselves, but helps it to scream out hot rod pure.
The heart of the SS lies in the LS1 6.6-liter V-8 that cranks a useable 480 hp at 6,000 rpm, and 475 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm. The base 350 aluminum LS1 block (5.7-liter) was enlarged to 402 ci by incorporating 4-inch bore iron cylinder sleeve liners and a 4-inch stroke forged crankshaft. Connecting rods are 6.125 inches and hang on domed, forged pistons. Piston deck height is increased by 0.057-inch with the compressed head gaskets (bore diameter 4.036 inches), and is topped with CNC-ported aluminum LS1 cylinder heads. The intake and exhaust valves are 2.02 inches and 1.57 inches, respectively, and are actuated with a specially designed Comp Cams 0.532-inch lift (intake) and 0.535-inch lift (exhaust) roller cam. Duration is 273 degrees (intake) and 277 degrees (exhaust) and incorporates 1.7:1 roller rockers and 7.325-inch pushrods.
The results of Chevy’s marketing research were filed for about as long as it took Chevy to learn that somewhere in styling, a group of young hot rodders were whittling out concepts of what a Chevy truck should look like. So two of the necessary elements existed, and Kurt Ritter provided the third—funding. The fact that Chevrolet undertook the project in the first place is quite meaningful. It spent the time and the money because, at the top, it felt that this was the type of message that Chevrolet should be getting out to the consumer—that this is the type of packaging you can expect from the Bow Tie Brigade.
READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE: http://www.randomunity.com/superrod/super_rods/sstruck/sstruck.html
