Finamore built single cab

[BATTEN]

After selling all my other toys and saving all of the moneys I hauled it back up to Finamore to get linked. Original plan was to keep frame rails and just link it with the existing bed cage. That changed quickly and it got cut in half. The goal was to keep the back half pretty simple. I wanted it below the bedsides from a side view, flat spare, and some sort of trunk space. Garrett killed it. The trunk set up pivots on heims, locks down with pins, and is on gas struts that lift the spare no problem. The explorer 8.8 got a Giant truss and stayed in it for the time being

 

[BATTEN]

Once the truck was backhalfed, I knew the 4.0 didn’t have much life left. I picked the truck up from Garrett’s and went straight to the dunes. Camped at Gordon’s and made the trip down sand highway to glamis for a day. Blew a head gasket heading back to Gordon’s but I kept on driving it since I had plans to go V8 anyways. Somehow the truck made it back to camp and drove onto the trailer. Here’s some pics from that trip

 

[BATTEN]

I ripped the motor out immediately when we got back from that trip and the truck sat in my carport for wayyy too long. I ended up buying a true LS1 from a junkyard. Garrett built and sent me some LS motor mounts that fit in the factory location. After lots of Miller lite and a couple hours I was able to get it in its final resting place. I ended up having to cut the core support to slide it down between the engine cage but it went in relatively easy

 

[BATTEN]

The truck then sat for almost a year. Life got in the way and I had too much other stuff going on. I ended up hauling the truck back up to Garrett and had him do the core support, mount fluid coolers on the back, add bump stops in the front, and build a center console

 

[BATTEN]

Haven’t posted in a while. Going to try to pick up where I left off.
The truck got wired and plumbed and was ready to go. Picked up some og 15” walkers that I had been searching for for years. Polished, and 5 of them. They even had some old GSA’s on them which added to the hype.

 

[BATTEN]

Took the truck to the dunes for new years and I hurt the motor. First trip out after years of sitting and the motor needed to come out already. Pretty shitty and made me lose all motivation on the truck again. Got home and pulled the motor out. Ended up having a couple spun bearings. Saved my pennies for a while and took my motor to Robert Moruzzi. Had him do his “moruzzi special” build. 500 at the crank according to him

 

[BATTEN]

I threw the motor back in and got it going again. Went to the dunes this past new years (22/23) and the tranny started slipping on the first ride. Extremely un motivating and disappointing. Everything with this truck has been one step forward and 3 steps back. Drove it the rest of the weekend trying to make the most out of my trip. I was able to still have some fun but was never able to drive the truck at 100%

 

[BATTEN]

Yanked the tranny out and took it back to the builder. It was under warranty still. The servo was toast and me driving on it all weekend made it worse. It was rebuilt and thrown back in. It was also one color again for the first time in a while. I had a buddy paint it for me, and it came out way better than I expected

 

[BATTEN]

I also built a jump in my driveway so I don’t have to pull out like a loser

 

[BATTEN]

That leads us to what the truck currently looks like. I’ve always wanted to do this color scheme. I’m a 90s kid and always loved the factory 2 tone on ford trucks. I got it wrapped, and am so stoked on how it came out. Simple. Period correct. But still boogies

 

[Canks]

Love your truck!

What is the Moruzzi special? and what base motor do you bring him?

 

[DP_Tundra]

So much yessss! Looks awesome man

 

[UCD BAJA]

That's awesome, looks great!!

 

[BATTEN]

Love your truck!

What is the Moruzzi special? and what base motor do you bring him?

Thanks!

Moruzzi special is bored, balanced rotating assembly, ported and machined heads, and his custom cam. He does it to any motor. This one is an LS1 from an 02 vette. I took it to him as a complete motor, he rebuilt it from the bottom up. Everything fresh

 

[Turboyota]

That leads us to what the truck currently looks like. I’ve always wanted to do this color scheme. I’m a 90s kid and always loved the factory 2 tone on ford trucks. I got it wrapped, and am so stoked on how it came out. Simple. Period correct. But still boogiesView attachment 10890View attachment 10891

That looks fucking amazing.

I don’t usually give much of a fuck about nice paint and wheels and shit, but hot damn, the combo you’ve created makes my balls tingle!

 

[BATTEN]

That looks fucking amazing.

I don’t usually give much of a fuck about nice paint and wheels and shit, but hot damn, the combo you’ve created makes my balls tingle!

Hahah I appreciate it man. It’s pretty but will still get the shit driven out of it. I’m ready for dessert season already

 

[FasterNU]

That looks fucking amazing.

I don’t usually give much of a fuck about nice paint and wheels and shit, but hot damn, the combo you’ve created makes my balls tingle!

As you know, I DO like the nice paint and wheels..... and my balls are tingling too. But, I think I am sitting on them though. You might want to check yours yourself... It happens at this old age. LOL

And, I agree.. Truck looks killer!! I was going to post earlier that he desparately needed to paint the raw metal valence... but, looks like that was taken care of.

So what is displacement of motor now?

 

[BATTEN]

Did a trip out to the Cinders in Flagstaff last month. Good times and no truck issues other than blowing a power steering line on the last ride of the weekend. The line was too long and rubbed on the PS reservoir till it DNF’d.

The Cinders is a pretty wild place. I recommend going if you’ve never been

 

[BATTEN]

New shock package on the truck as of a while ago.

3.0 ADS MBR Coilovers up front

3.0 ADS 5 Tubes and a 2.5 CO out back

Truck has always had a King package on it. I wanted to go to an IBP up front, and ADS had just came out with their new MBR shock. They’re local to me in Tucson, and I have a couple of friends that work there so I made the switch. Super happy with the shock package right out of the box.

 

[Brett_408]

That IBP is radical! Interested to hear your thoughts once you try them out.