CAT 379 project bring it back

Hey all, I'm a new poster here because I'm in need of advise on my Peterbilt 379 project and also wanted to share. Been a member for awhile, just haven't contributed yet. I have a small excavating business. Earlier this year I set out to find a 379 with the big Cat motor. It's been my dream truck since I was 19 and first drove a Cat 379 for my first boss at a grading company. I got my CDL in that truck and have been addicted to them ever since. I have always been in grading and have moved equipment a lot throughout my near 20 years of doing this. Most trucks I've driven have been miserably under powered, and I swore after buying my first truck that I'd never buy another truck unless it had a Cat 550. That really cuts the search results in my budget down to almost nothing. Then require a 379 exhd and the pickings are slim. Oh, and it had to be black. So, I found a good justifiable reason to own one after being in business for myself. I now pull a 35 ton RGN (also a fixer upper), but I have a tandem dump truck that I pull a 20 ton tag trailer (both fixer upper's too) with that helped start my business and buy this Peterbilt.

After searching for several months I found one I could afford. I was about to finance one and was working up a down payment for several months. At that point my down payment could just about pay for a fixer upper, so that's what I ended up doing. I found a faded out, but really straight 379 from a guy in south Georgia. He had a few 379's and W9's. He said he was tired of the driver crap and wanted sell all but his and the wife's rig. It's a 1998 379exhd with a 6TS 3406E 10 speed, 63" unibilt, with a 252" wheelbase. It's about 15 years old and has averaged 100k a year throughout it's life. Supposedly had a Cat rebuild that the previous owner had to get a second a home mortgage to pay for....supposedly a $28k ordeal. That was what the guy told me. He seemed real honest, except the ad showed 10 aluminum wheels and when I got there it had steel wheels on the inside. Didn't matter, I just wanted to make sure the engine tag showed 475 or 550. I had done my homework on the CAT motors and had already ran several serial #'s through Cat Power in my hunt for a Cat 379. Oh, and it had to be black. It was a 475, but I'm in denial. I call it a 550 because my goal is 800hp anyway.

The first day I got it earlier this summer.

 

Here's the truck in the paint shop and in my driveway after the polish guy attempted to polish it. I ended up finishing that nightmare. I was so happy that first day I got it. It had straight pipes and sounded incredible. The blow off would echo off buildings and it would get down. I drove it the first day to get painted black. I'm about 6 months into this project. Right now the truck is back at the shop to get the sleeper replaced with a 48" flat top and to have the frame shortened about 24". Then I will finish the HP project. It's got a PP Box on it, but I've been trying to get Rob to help me with the proper setup to get to 800hp. That's hasn't been an easy task. The motor was starving for fuel, so I've replaced the lines and he told me to cap the pump, but left me hanging on the drilling out part. I will need to eventually get that figured out when it gets out of the shop. I have zero experience in shortening the wheelbase and removing the sleeper and I'm at the mercy of the shop. Sorry to pour it all on at once, but I have been in this project deep for a long long time and am ready to get it finished and finished right.

Here's some videos and pictures of the project along the way.



[video=youtube_share;pVnp2DDzxN4]http://youtu.be/pVnp2DDzxN4[/video]

[video=youtube_share;2aovsYo-_mk]http://youtu.be/2aovsYo-_mk[/video]

[video=youtube_share;MJH-e1F2rQo]http://youtu.be/MJH-e1F2rQo[/video]
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Hey thanks for the compliments. I mainly love the black because it blends and hides the seems and shadows. Like where the hood meets the cab and the cab meets the sleeper etc. All weather striping is black so it just blends well. Plus the frame is black and such, giving it a more solid built together look. It is very high maintenance I agree, but rewarding. Right now it's back at the paint shop. I'm putting smaller tanks on it and they will be painted black. I am really considering painting the drop visor black. Since it's going to get a 48" flat top, I want to get that custom look that I really didn't get after doing all the recent work to the looks of the truck. I don't want to say the "Gangster look".. but I don't know how else to describe it. I'm not really into lowered trucks, I just want the custom mean look. I did use all clear lights everywhere which blends in with black and chrome nicely.

I'm just glad to bring it back to glory. The 379 is a legend in my book and now they are just getting older and older and harder to find 379's that aren't used up. Not to mention the endangered Cat motors. The ones that are well kept are holding nice value. One thing is I will never let this one go. If I was an OTR trucker I'd have different thoughts I'm sure. Nothing like the peace of mind a new truck. But I'm in love with it.

If anybody has any advice on how to get "that look", I'm all ears. Also all ears on shortening the truck 24" and going with smaller tanks and the 48" flat top. I plan on doing rear fenders too. I was almost just going to remove the hi rise cap and use a Talladega fiberglass flat top on the 63" sleeper, but I am forced to get into some miserably tight situations with my work and want the as close to perfect truck as I can get without any regrets. So, I should have a wheelbase around 228".. I really hope it doesn't look bad. I'm hoping the smaller tanks and smaller sleeper will offset the shorter look. I will never go day cab as much as like the looks. I need space for passengers and love the unibilt allowing for the ghost rider seat position.

I had photoshopped a picture shortening it, but can't find it amongst my 1000's of pictures right now. I'm going to have to photoshop another one.


This video shows why I basically need a shorter wheelbase. I run into these situations often. I swapped trailers since I took this video, but they are about the same length. If one resident decided to park a car on the street, I'd be stuck. Got some good scratches on the sleeper that day in the many trees that never get cut back in residential areas.
[video=youtube_share;0jRpZs_aHwU]http://youtu.be/0jRpZs_aHwU[/video]