Clean, mean, and driven hard enough to chuck both driveshafts in a single bound--you gotta love it! We high-ranged into Ken Contreras '85 GMC Jimmy at Tierra Del Sol this year when he was playing on the dry river banks with some serious Super Duty Fords. The two-tone Jimmy was fresh out of the local Chevy dealer's body shop and the paint barely had enough time to dry before Ken had it out in the dirt again.
It was the roar of the 406ci mouse that attracted our attention to this truck. The swapped-in small-block looks like it's been run through the Summit catalog, and it's backed by a rebuilt TH700R4 that's been beefed with a Corvette Second gear servo, a shift kit, and a 2,500-stall converter.
Ken's attention to detail is evident in this truck, and you can see it in how he routed the exhaust exits out through the quarter-panel so there would be no loss of ground clearance. We were able to snap these photos before Ken got a little throttle happy and pushed the 1/2-ton drivetrain further than it could handle. We're sorry to say that he spit out both the front and rear driveshafts while assaulting a hill (OK, it was more of a cliff really), when all four yokes actually grenaded. But hey, isn't eating drivetrain parts what having a healthy engine is all about?
The first thing that people notice about this Jimmy is the custom four-point family cage that Ken had built when he ditched the hardtop. The cage not only protects his back seat wheelin' buds, but also mounts the Hi-Lift Jack and spare tire. That big Rubbermaid coffin that Ken sandwiched behind the seat holds tools and recovery gear securely in place, but is still accessible when you flip the seat down. We're not sure about the 35x12.50-15 spare tire "beanie" that sits up on top. Ken looks like a strong guy, but we sure hope he doesn't get a lot of flat tires. | 
This K5 slings a swapped-in 406ci small-block that's nourished by all four barrels of the Holley 750 double-pumper you see sitting under that enormous K&N filter. We asked Ken what kind of trick valvetrain hides under those tall valve covers, but he wasn't talking. By the sounds coming out of the JBA headers and dual 3-inch Flowmaster exhaust we bet it's more than double what the stock 350 ever put out. Ken ditched the mechanical fan and shroud in favor of a dual-electric fan set up to get a little more power and to cool off all the extra heat that kind of horsepower makes. | 
Ken's twin 10-bolt truck floats 35-inch General Grabber MTs on 6-inch Explorer Pro-Comp springs in the front and a 4-inch shackle flip with stock springs in the rear. Total flexation is improved with sway bar disconnects, but might be even better if he ran single ES 9000 shocks instead of the quad shock setup on the front. Warning: When you see a deep sump oil pan like this, it means avoid getting suckered into any drag races with the owner. |