A diesel swap means taking out the car's old engine and putting in a diesel engine instead. Diesel engines use a different kind of fuel and can be better for some uses.
The Chevrolet Suburban is a big SUV that can carry lots of people and stuff. The 1977 version is an older model that people like because it is tough and good for driving on rough roads.
A common swap means putting a popular engine into a car or truck instead of the one it came with. People do this because these engines are easier to fix and get parts for.
Original paint means the car still has the paint it came with from the factory, not new paint. People like this because it shows the car is more original and hasn't been changed much.
A work truck is a tough vehicle used by people to carry tools and workers to places where they do jobs. It can hold many people and things but might get worn out quickly.
The Ford F-350 is a big truck made by Ford. The 2005-2006 models have strong parts that help with rough driving and are often used to improve other trucks.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast and powerful car made in America. The Z06 is a special version that is even quicker and better at driving fast and turning corners. People talk about it because it gives a lot of performance for the money.
Horsepower tells you how strong a car's engine is and how fast it can go. But just having a lot of horsepower doesn't mean the car will always drive well.
The Porsche 911 is a famous fast car that looks unique and drives very well. The talk about 'diesel 911' is probably about a special product to help in emergencies, not the car itself. The 911 is well-known for being a great sports car.
LIVE
Welcome to the diesel podcast presented by DFC diesel.
Welcome, guys, to the diesel podcast.
I'm looking forward to talking with you about a 1977 suburban
with a diesel swap, which we'll get into.
Magnus, I appreciate you being here, reaching out to me
to share this build over the last couple of months.
And then, Marco, building this beautiful vehicle.
I can't wait to chat with you about some of the details.
So welcome to this podcast.
Hey, how's it going?
Thanks for having us.
Yeah, thank you.
So I'm Magnus.
I bought this 1977 suburban from Instagram, actually.
Marco is the one who sent it to me.
I think it was live for about an hour before I bought it.
I was originally looking for a K5 Blazer,
but the prices on them were just ridiculous.
So I settled.
But yeah, that's kind of how I stumbled upon this thing.
What, as far as focusing in on this vehicle, Magnus,
was there a particular reason or, say, an affinity or something
you always really liked about that body style,
that year-range suburban?
You just can't really beat a square body,
the lines on them, the way they look.
It's just a classic truck look for Chevy.
And I think a lot of people would agree with that.
It's pretty much perfect, if you ask me.
They are.
Yeah, they're definitely classic.
We were talking a little bit before the podcast about there's
some pages I follow where I see them for sale and I've always loved them.
They're just it's a classic American vehicle.
And it's tough to find them like in the condition.
Like tell me a bit more Magnus about the vehicle itself.
Like I think it's all original paint and body and lots of components to it.
Yeah, so the body is 100% original steel from factory.
The paint is all original as well.
Interior is 100% original.
And one of the reasons I bought this truck was it has red interior
from the factory with the light blue exterior.
So it kind of popped to me.
And it's it's really cool when you when you look at the two colors
contrast with each other.
It's very unusual for that year as well with the yellow trim, too.
That's another reason I went with the seventy seven was for that yellow trim.
There's a cool color combination.
Yeah.
And when you when you got it, did you have a plan in mind?
Like, did you know you wanted to change the engine and some of the other things?
Or did you were just kind of focused in on getting this this unique seventy seven?
No, I think, Marco, I think we talked about it before we I kind of always want
him to do a common swap.
I think before I got it, I was leaning more towards a common rail commons,
the five nine.
And then Marco kind of talked to me out of it with doing ECM and TCMs
and all the wiring that would be involved with it and how much of a headache
that would be in kind of keeping it the classic square body where it's all mechanical,
no computers, just the truck you get in turn the key and go.
Yeah, less is more sometimes, you know,
you can get into things and they can spiral and then
you have components that you can't get simply, you know, and Magnus wants to drive
this thing, take it to the beach, do gnarly burnouts and, you know,
just be able to use it.
So that was kind of the goal in mind, drivability, function,
but then also that cool factor.
So, you know, the twelve valve is a great platform for that.
Yeah, Marco, tell me a bit about about yourself, like for our audience,
to understand what what you do, your specialty and background.
So I have a custom shop in Massachusetts.
We do everything from lifted suburbans with twin turbo diesels to
you know, chassis cars, Camaros, Chevelles, anything.
And I try not to say no to anything.
I like to have a little bit of a variety of things in the shop.
We get a 38 Chevy you can see in the background and for some maintenance.
So from full builds to partial builds, we'll do it all.
It's whatever peaks my interest.
Well, now with this particular project, Marco, was where there are
a few different sides of it that really interested you to to like one,
share it with Magnus and then two who want to be involved with it.
Yeah, so I I've done some stuff with Magnus and his brothers prior to this
on other vehicles. They're awesome customers.
They have the vision I have when it comes to building something
and what it should look like and we work great together.
And I'm a square body guy big time when I saw that blue
California body rust free, you know, like he said,
the yellow trim 77 option.
It just draws you in.
You want everybody that sees the truck is like, you know, they can't believe
it's original paint and all.
So that was definitely one of those factors that brought me in on the build.
That was one of the questions I had, like right at the start,
was how original is the body and the paint?
Did you think of the decades that have been on that vehicle
and then what part of the country was it ended up to deal with winners
and salt and and where did it come from?
So I think to be able to find something like that is it's pretty rare.
Yeah, for sure. This one was definitely probably a grandma cruiser,
you know, throw the kids in it and go get ice cream, you know,
in Southern California back in the day.
And a lot of these things were work trucks, you know,
because you could stuff six, seven guys in it and go to the job site
so they get destroyed.
But this one luckily was preserved and kept well.
And, you know, it's it's a great statement piece of that,
you know, preserving that truck.
Patrick had seventy four thousand miles when we bought it.
And like I said before, when we were talking, I tracked down the original owner.
I'm the second owner, technically third owner, but second owner
because the guy before me who bought it just bought it to resell it.
But the original owner I tracked down his son,
his dad bought the truck for his wife and his wife was a school teacher.
And she drove it pretty much every day to school in California.
Stories are so cool behind them.
And I imagine being able to connect like two different families,
two different points in time and then to be able to reimagine
this vehicle in twenty twenty six and and being able to inject
like a almost a new vision.
It breathes it breathes new life into it in kind of a different way
that I'm sure previous owner and people that, you know, knew that vehicle
or it's really cool to see somebody else appreciate it and want to do something with it.
Yeah, it's it's too much fun, especially like Marcus at the looks
you get in it or just insane. Yeah.
Yeah. And that light blue with the white in the center is just, you know,
that iconic two tone, three tone.
It just gives that classic truck vibe, you know, even though it's from the 70s,
it's not a fifties sixties truck.
It's still I think it still draws a lot of people in and their childhood
and remembering those trucks, you know, so it gets looks everywhere it goes
to focus a bit on the engine itself.
Magnus, you mentioned taking common rail and going twelve up.
If we could spend a little bit of time talking about the engine itself
and what you guys wanted to do with it, like as far as power level,
like talk to me a little bit about getting that twelve valve in there,
maybe some challenges you might have faced with another downpipe.
We're going to talk about that.
Hopefully I can show some pictures of it that people will see.
But but as far as actually getting it in there, what was that like?
So that wasn't that wasn't too bad.
I mean, between us fabricating some stuff
and working with some other companies that we've done work with before
that make great products,
technology as far as brackets, fitment scanning has come so far.
So it fits in there pretty well, you know, aside from the exhaust.
But that was a snowball of I want more power, you know.
So we went from one turbo to two and, you know,
that kind of led to that crazy downpipe and crossover tubing set up.
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So the engine itself, Patrick, is a DNJ precision extreme 12 valve engine.
And then we did the evil man of evil fabrication compound turbo set up.
It's a S 300 to S 400.
What power level were you shooting for with it?
I think it was right around 800, 850, right, Marco, we wanted.
Yeah, pretty conservatively.
There's once you go over that with the 12 valve, it gets kind of kind of out of hand to daily drive.
But like anything, you know, you see numbers advertised.
And when you get into the mechanical stuff,
unfortunately, it has to be like set on kill to be that power all the time.
So there was pros and cons to go in common rail and stick in with the 12 valve.
But 800 is a nice threshold.
So you can actually drive the thing, but it'll still be a bunch of fun when you lay into it.
As far as the the DNJ engine itself, I'm not familiar with the particular upgrades
that might be in it, but I'm sure people will be curious about if there's headwork done.
I'm sure there's some valve spring upgrades on what kind of fueling, you know, maybe pump mods.
Can you go into detail a bit about getting that 8 to 850 out of it?
Yeah, so the block has ARP head studs, a cam DNJ makes, which is a 190 over 200 cam.
It's got lifters, all that stuff.
I don't think the head is too much gone into it.
I'm pretty sure it's just a little bit overstock what they do to it.
I'm not too specific on on what they do to the head.
But I know it's got some stuff done to it.
And the fuel pump was built by Seth Farrell.
And then I can't remember offhand what injectors we went to.
But I know we paired everything together to have that power level
and also have some drivability with those components.
That 8 to 850 is going to be pretty, I imagine it's pretty fun to drive around
and have a little bit of some wide open throttle runs with it.
Yeah, it is. It gets a little scary, to be honest.
Yeah, when the when the boost ramps up and hits, then, you know, it's it takes you for a ride.
Yeah, I saw a couple of videos on your Instagram page
that they look pretty cool.
What what sort of transmission did you guys pair it with?
Parker, you want to touch on that?
Yeah, so usually for these, it's a 47 RH.
And then my go to person that we've been using is Muldoon's.
He's I've had his transmissions in a few of my dodge pickups
and they usually never skip a beat.
So this one's got full billet shafts all the way through triple disc converter.
You know, the valve body has been upgraded deep pan.
It's it's built for that 800 to a thousand, you know,
and whatever, 12, 1400 foot pounds of torque.
And then we went ahead and because we didn't want to have switches
on the column for lock up and overdrive like some of these race trucks do.
He still wanted to be able to get in it and just cruise without thinking about anything.
Firepunk diesel makes an anteater box, which plugs in and it controls all that
on the transmission.
So it's got some of those modern amenities so you can get in and just go.
And, you know, that was kind of the goal in mind, not have it be too hot rod,
but still have that classic truck feel.
I was I was expecting you guys to say it had an envy 4,500 or envy 5,600.
And I love automatic transmission.
So it's really cool to hear about a 47 RH being in there.
You can out shift and automatic.
No, and it shifts good, Patrick.
It doesn't feel like a thousand horsepower transmission either.
It's very smooth, which is crazy.
Also, all the guys at Muldoon, Seth Farrell and D and J.
They're also all just great help.
They're super nice, easy to talk to, answered all the stupid questions
we had and everything, it was great.
I love the idea of being able to daily drive it and just have the convenience
of it, like you mentioned, Marco, with the modern amenities of what we can do now
with control, like with the anteater or how you guys sized the compound
turbo setup and the fueling to be able to make something that.
It's probably really fun to, you know, part throttle drive around town.
But if you wanted to take it to an event or something like that and
or a dyno and do some runs with it, you could do both.
Yeah, I mean, that's the goal with everything I build.
You know, there's guys out there that want the shiniest paint,
but you can't drive the car.
There's guys that want the most numbers on the dyno and then they push it back
on the trailer. But most of my customers, if not all of them want to drive
these things, you know, it's an investment and you want to be able to
share it with friends, family, and that's what my goal is, at least,
to make them run and drive awesome and be able to enjoy them, you know.
And this truck, it'll even have factory front and rear AC like it did in 77.
So just one of those little touches that makes it enjoyable any time of the year, you know.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
And with the suspension and, say, the driveline axles, things like that,
were there any major changes or things, challenges, I'd say,
that you guys came across in getting this all to work?
Yeah, I mean, so this truck basically was a bare sandblasted frame.
No leaf springs, no bushings, no nothing, just two frame rails.
And then we built from there down.
It's now got 2005 to 2006 F 350 axles.
And the reason we go with those is because the coil over mounting on the front of those works out great.
The suspension geometry is much better than trying to do something with older axles.
And we went with King coil overs in the front.
We kept the leaf springs in the back, but did King bypass shocks.
Just wanted to give it better ride and, you know, that cool factor, too,
that it's not just sitting on leaf springs.
That was really cool.
With the overall build, what would you say were some of the biggest challenges with it,
if there were a couple that you would point out?
So like with anything, things have to be driven, and then you work out the bugs, you know.
GM puts a billion dollars into their Z06 Corvettes,
and that's why they don't skip a beat when you spend 100 grand on them.
But these things, you're playing engineer, you're playing builder, fabricator, electrician.
And so I would say, you know, some small electronics things that we thought we're
going to do a task and didn't necessarily do it the way we wanted.
Suspension and everything.
I've done this quite a few times.
My alignment guy was grinning ear to ear because he rolled it in.
It was there for 20 minutes and he rolled it out.
He said it was almost perfect.
And then, you know, just brakes.
Brakes we actually upgraded to a Tesla Bosch iBooster.
So there's no vacuum canister.
There's no hydro boost lines all in the engine bay.
It's an electronic unit and it delivers incredible pressure.
It helps with stopping, braking.
So just those little things, feeling it out, you know, as we went.
There's unknowns with the weights of the truck, the power.
You know, you put these big tires under it.
But yeah, no, all in all, everything went pretty smooth,
aside from that downpipe.
Patrick, I feel like so many people have done the common square body swap that a lot of people
are making kits for.
And like the engine mount kit, it pretty much just bolted into it.
And it makes it very user friendly.
As far as with a build like this, I know it's really kind of dialed in with the engine design,
the air, the fuel.
Marco, you'd mentioned Muldoon's transmission setup and how perfected he has that.
Do you think braking is one of the maybe overlooked parts when maybe somebody comes to
you with a build or maybe you Magnus, maybe that was something that wasn't at the forefront.
But you think of all this power and then getting it to stop.
Do you think that's overlooked in general in this kind of build?
Yeah, I mean, for sure, a lot of stuff is overlooked.
You know, people shoot for the horsepower and the cool factor and they forget about
all the stuff that matters, you know.
You definitely have to use good components at every corner from brakes to steering components,
you know, because you will find out one way or another, you know,
something will fail or just won't, it won't handle, it won't ride, turn the way you thought it would.
So it's definitely better to try to do your research and shoot for something that's tried
and true and get feedback from other people who have used a product, you know, so you know what to use.
How long did the project take from the time like you got at Magnus until
say right now as far as time frame?
Yeah, I bought it, I think in 2023 and then I drove it for two summers.
I only drive it in the summer because the salt up here, they just ruin these trucks.
But I drove it for two summers.
I think on the end of the second summer, the flywheel went out and I was like,
Marco, I'm not going to make you take this apart, just put a new flywheel in, we're doing this.
That little small block Chevy was tired.
Yeah, it was it was leaking too.
And I was like, there's no sense in pulling this thing and just putting a new flywheel in.
We might as well do this now.
And then we did that, I think it was 24, Marco, right?
20, 20.
Yeah, I believe so.
We just started mapping out what we were going to do and trying to understand what steps to
take and what parts to order.
Yeah, and kind of over that last year was kind of when I started ordering some of the parts
for Marco, so when he got it, he could really crack down on it.
But then he took it that winter and it took him about six months to fully do the build.
And I got it back in October, right, Marco, is when you sent it back to me.
Yeah, end of September, October.
Yeah, I drove it for 1500 miles to kind of work everything out, break everything in.
And now it's back to him fixing all this stuff that kind of broke or is leaking and what not,
the stuff we didn't really think of when we were building it.
I thought of a question to ask you guys.
It's going to be the same question, but you'll have different perspectives for it,
which I think will give people a really good insight into not just this build,
but if they think of doing something like this themselves.
So I'll start with you, Magnus.
As far as working with Marco and his company,
what has, because I can tell you guys have really good synergy together.
You guys are on the same page with the build, have a really good rapport.
What would you say have been the keys to being able to work with him to realize this build
and maybe some other past ones that you guys have worked on as far as the relationship?
Definitely trust is probably one of the biggest things.
And then I would have to say is him being able to tell me no to something and me being able to
say no to him and work, figure out a solution to whatever we're coming up with a problem for
and running ideas off each other and having the same kind of ideas,
but different perspective on something.
I could want something fancy and he could be like, yeah, that's great,
but is it going to perform and being able to go back and forth with each other
and not just getting fed up with each other and saying, you know, I'm over this
and having that good working friendship experience outside.
And for you, Marco, what's it like having a relationship with a client like Magnus
and being able to work together to have a smooth build that comes out where he's happy,
you're happy and it's a successful project?
Yeah, I mean, he touched on it pretty well. It's definitely both me being able to find a common
ground on what goals are for the build. I deal with this with all customers. A lot of these people
love cars, they love trucks, and that's their passion, but they're not builders.
So sometimes they don't understand what's involved or what's going to be seen.
And I'm not, I'm not a cash grab or I'll just let's spend as much as we can.
I'm fully, I like nice stuff on the builds, but I'm fully into, you know,
what do we need and where should the money go so the build can be most enjoyable or be seen,
you know? But no, I mean, Magnus is awesome. His brothers that we all have a great relationship,
you know, we bounce ideas off each other. Like I said, we have a similar mindset for
what's in style and what's, what's going to be useful on the build and what's not necessary.
Maybe right now we can touch back on and then just the ability for them to say, all right,
let's do it. Go, go, go. You know, I'm definitely grateful. I don't admit it a lot, but I'm grateful
to have these customers that can say, all right, let's just order a crate motor.
Let's not screw around with some junkyard motor and read gasket it and then this is going to have
a problem. And, you know, to be able to get good components, it allows me to build good stuff and
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near you. Patrick, a good example of this was when we started the build, we were talking about
wheels and tires set up and I wanted the classic steel wheels and Marco kind of shot that down
pretty fast and I was pretty hesitant to do the wheels we did now but I'm very thankful that we
did that because it looks awesome. It's really it was really curious to me to ask that question
because a lot of times when I come across a build or I'm following something it normally
doesn't work out like this. It does sometimes but it's either the the vehicle owner has
unrealistic expectations and then the builders frustrated with it or maybe they don't see eye
to eye and I think that's a really key part of of this build the way that it came out was how
you guys work together and being able to align the goals. I was really curious like when it works
right like how does it work? What should people expect? What should they you know look for when
discussing you know a project like this so it's really cool to hear about that how you know how
that might still be on the to-do list? Yeah so like Magnus said you know we had some a few things
which you know components on unforeseen failures you know a few leaks to deal with like anything
parts need to be retorqued they get hot you know and go through heat cycles
oil change etc you know just check overall fluids and then there were some things on the
punch list as far as interior you know wrapping up the AC in the rear and it's going to have a
crazy sound system in this thing so he's going to have good tunes when he goes to the beach surfing
you know but um yeah all in all we'll just go over it front to back and get everything 100% so
he can just keep on trucking and get his use out of it for sure. Yeah one of the our big turbo
the S400 it was a S475 the bearing on it started leaking so I had to send that back to Evil Fab and
they're we're going to upgrade it to a S480 while it's there and they had to rebuild it anyways so
we might as well upgrade. Yeah that's a great great opportunity to get some get some more air there
with the interior I was curious a little bit about the interior was there anything you guys needed to
fix or change or did you keep it 100% like it was in 1977? Well we actually we did digital gauges
because you can integrate the original gauges but they're for a gas engine so you know tachometer
would be wrong and there were a few things that just weren't going to be mechanically and aesthetically
we're going to clash so we turn to I believe do we use Dakota or classic instruments classic
instruments yes classic instruments they make a great gauge setup so we went with that you know
some like I said upgrade to the stereo system all the AC is modern air conditioning we used
resto mod yeah they make an awesome unit the guys they are super helpful and that thing will be
colder than your brand new truck it's set up to perform you know but as far as the seating seat
belts everything like that you can't go wrong with that classic look everything's so comfortable
it takes you back when you get in it and it's just that that red pops with this blue color
and how rare was that red interior with that blue color because to me it would it seems like it
clashes a bit but I know in the 70s kind of colors did that a little bit but it just is a really rare
combination in that kind of kind of vehicle I would say so I I look for square bodies pretty
often probably four times a week and I've never seen one with that light blue and red interior
not once the other problem you run into is these are very popular trucks so you get the spray paint
bandits who paint their dash pads black and their door panels black and just order a black carpet
because it's the cheapest so to find that stuff all original and in that maroon color even if it
wasn't a rare option I would say it's rare now because so many have been just backyard upgraded
yeah yeah that's so cool I'd I always love to learn along like doing a podcast with the
build itself so I try not to ask like too much beforehand because then I kind of get all the
questions answered and I don't know but I think just like stepping back hearing your story with
it Magnus finding it your vision and then Marco you putting it together making it happen this is
really one of the more unique builds that I've come across with the power the condition of that
vehicle and then how you guys have have worked together you know with it as far as I guess
I come back to I know a lot of people will see this or they love square bodies and they think
they want to tackle something like this or get into it I mean you'd mentioned something Marco before
about making sure that you're spending the money correctly to get quality parts is that something
from your perspective as a builder that maybe is one of the tougher things when somebody comes
to you and they say well let's go a little bit cheaper on the brakes or the cooling system or
I don't really want to order that crate engine let's get this one my buddy has one it is that the
biggest challenge is getting people to focus their money on the right place yeah no definitely
you know and I can say I've been pretty fortunate now being in business for a little bit that
most of my clientele list is on the same the same wavelength in regards to you know you get what
you pay for um and you end up spending double in the end you know so even someone at home who
wants to build something like this you know to look at the price of a motor or you know even
a new turbo versus pulling something off it's it's worth the weight it's worth saving to buy the
good components once because you're gonna get aggravated and you're gonna give up on the build
and it's just gonna become too big of a task so a hundred percent you know you you buy good stuff
that's been tried and true um it it pays off in the end to start with good stuff
and Magnus you'd mentioned looking at square bodies like four times a week so I gotta ask you
is this is this well I think I know the answer this probably isn't your last project like this but
are there are there are there other ideas that you have or other platform or you know
trucks or half tons or three-quarter tons where you're kind of got the wheel spinning on your next
project yeah I don't I don't really know Patrick my brother has the uh pickup truck version of
it's a c20 it's the same color um with the dark blue in light and he wants to do a dar max and I
kind of thought about that but the dar max is when you open the hood they just they don't look too good
it's it's kind of a mess under there the lot going on yeah I think a dar max would be pretty sick
but yeah I don't I can't really think of another project right now I don't know I'm
pretty typical with the facebook troll marketplace guy just to see what I can get
he says that till till till Monday next week I'll have something else coming from Oklahoma
yeah but yeah I don't I don't have anything in the future right now as of now but that it also
kind of strikes you when you find something you want then you kind of kind of the wheels start
turning on what you want to do to that yeah yeah there's there well there's so many options with
them I think with the aftermarket I'm sure you know working in this everyday Marco that you know with
whether it's a duramax or whether it's a transmission setup or whether it's technology on
the air fuel side or electronics there's there's so much that happens in the aftermarket you can
really make a vision maybe come to fruition better now than 10 years ago or five years ago or even
longer with the support that you have as a builder in the aftermarket yeah and like I had touched on
earlier just the technology the components from scanning to you know working with good companies
you know like I'm also a firm believer like I do a little bit of everything but there's some guys out
there that just build engine brackets and they've built thousands of sets they fit them in hundreds
of trucks they know what works and where to clearance it so that's another thing that comes
back to spend the money where it's needed you know um we might be not be able to buy custom shaped
inner fenders for this I can make them but those engine brackets why would I spend two days on them
when we know we can get a set for a reasonable price that work and they're built well and the
guy's got a good rapport so um yeah there's definitely a lot of good companies out there
that I use build great relationships with guys who help answer questions and you know this whole
thing is about having fun and working together doing it you know and too many guys out there and
competition you know to like I said who can have the shiniest paint or this or that but
half their stuff rolls on and off trailers or is broken every week so um but yeah no there's
a ton of good components out there that we use a bunch of companies for
and just to touch on the last project I completely blew over it I've talked to Marco I
I would like to do a lowered suburban to match that one but finding one's gonna be a pain and
same color same year but we've talked about it doing the lowered in the lifted version
that'd be cool well I'm sure if you do find it I'm sure I'm sure I'll hear from you a year or
two from now when you got it and you're telling me I got this I found an exact copy of the other
one I got and and that'll be cool to hear about yeah I was gonna ask you Magnus as far as being able
to enjoy this build I know it's winter right now so you're not gonna be driving it but
as far as being able to go places or take it out what kind of feedback do you look forward to with
it maybe there's shows or events or different things that you might do this year what uh what's
that like um Rhode Island the car scene isn't too user-friendly there's there's the Audrain
Museum in Newport which is pretty pretty known around the around the US and they do a concourse
every year uh in Newport we I think we took it this year right Marco yeah I think it was like
middle of October we went to one at Fort Adams yeah and we got quite a bit of user feedback
I would really like to get it in Diesel World magazine um I think that's my main goal for it
for show wise but more so I just like driving it I like having four doors put all all the guys in it
and get rowdy at night yeah it well with that power and everything in it I'm sure it it can get
pretty rowdy yeah it does it's fun to drive everyone loves to hop in it and go to the beach or
do whatever we're doing go to dinner it's fun yeah well that's really what it's all about it is I think
being able to use it and and have fun with it and you talked about it Marco being usable for people
and it not just being on a trailer off a trailer and then it sits is actually building it to
daily drive and start and have fun with and I think create memories with which is where I find a lot
of these builds that's their strength that's like the beauty of them is the memories that you have
with friends and family you know with it and being able to create it so I love to see you know an
older vehicle like that and the vision that Magnus had the vision that you had Marco and then
measure like meshing them together to create something that's practical and and usable
and then there's going to be people that they're going to want to see this build
Magnus where can they connect with you or you know see the progress or just see pictures of it
yeah questions anything you can reach me on uh Instagram at 58 underscore Chevy underscore
Viking very active on there you can DM me I'll answer any questions uh happy to help anyone
and yeah that's where you can see it I post quite a bit on there of this urban as well
and then with you Marco maybe someone's listening and they they love your approach and
you know they want to see what you do with your company where can they find you and connect with you
yeah so I'm on Instagram Facebook also um so it's bad apple customs underscore
and then on Facebook it's just bad apple customs um our books are pretty full right now especially
with Magnus's project and a few others but um and any questions or inquiries you can reach me there
and I'm happy to answer questions too and yeah it was awesome to talk about this build I appreciate
you reaching out to me Magnus um I had a great time years ago with your brothers in that 58 that
they did I think it was one of our first video podcasts we ever did so it was cool to see your
your uh your vision for your own build and then Marco I know we talked years ago on uh on uh doing
these kind of builds but to see to have both you guys on and learn about this it's a really cool
vehicle I appreciate the power of the time and the expertise that uh that went into it so thanks
for thinking about the these podcasts including me on it being able to you know talk with you
guys share your story it was really awesome to uh you know to learn about it and and check it out
of course thanks for having us Patrick yeah I appreciate it don't forget diesel fans make
sure and head on over to kershaw.kaiusa.com use code 20 td8fr26 to get 20 off your order
kershaw's got a whole lineup of knives to meet any budget that you might have whether it's
a new knife or EDC hunting fishing something around the job site around the house they've
got you covered with a bunch of different choices for blade steel blade shape different
handle designs opening mechanisms and you also get free shipping over $50 so we really appreciate
them offering that discount code just for diesel podcast listeners also want to give a shout out
to some of our patreon supporters Robert John TSW diesel all of our other patreon supporters
all of you who follow us on social media we appreciate all your support here in your 10
of the diesel podcast and look forward to bringing you more of the content that you
want to hear in 2026 till next time keep the shiny side up
About this episode
A 1977 Chevy Suburban was transformed with a Cummins 12-valve diesel swap, blending classic style with modern power. The original truck, notable for its rare original paint and red interior, was chosen for its iconic square body look. The build focuses on maintaining mechanical simplicity and drivability, avoiding complex electronics. Powered by a DNJ Precision Extreme 12-valve engine with a compound turbo setup, it produces around 800-850 horsepower. The transmission is a robust 47RH automatic, upgraded for smooth performance. The podcast dives into the build process, challenges, and the story behind preserving and enhancing this vintage vehicle.
What happens when classic American iron meets diesel torque? I sat down
with the vehicle’s owner and builder and talked about the reason behind
the build. We go over the biggest challenges, why a Cummins made sense
for the engine swap, and how it performs in the real world!
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