Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

[mmeachem]

A few more shots of the paint. He repaired and repainted my license plate holder too, along with the complete front bumper and he blended and repaired the paint on both front fenders. there's one spot left that he found, and I had forgot about- a scrape on the rear bumper that he is going to take care of one day when I stop by. That will do it for paint, it will be pretty much flawless at that point.

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Looks great man


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[OhioHoe]

The roof rack looks awesome man

 

[Tonyrodz]

Looks great color matched!

 

[05Single]

Hell yea that looks better than expected!!
Nice view from the drivers seat too!!

 

[Ridculous]

Another cowl hood brother...great build boss

 

[Rocket Man]

Thanks guys. I do like the look, even more as time goes on. I used to have a Dodge Dakota 5.9 R/T with a cowl hood back in the day, and I missed that look from the inside especially. There's something about that combined with a nice loud V8 that makes it a bit more fun to drive. I can hear the intake a bit more now too, with my CAI.

 

[08HoeCD]

@Red Rocket hats off to you, brother. Great build.

 

[Rocket Man]

@Red Rocket hats off to you, brother. Great build.

Thank you.

 

[Rocket Man]

Washed it today and used the free Trinova Paint Sealant. Also remembered to reinstall my DDU lower grill.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Around this time I started looking at the front end and started changing things here and there. I wanted a bumper grill that matched the main grill. Anybody who has tried to find one knows what I went through, after Denali Down Under stopped making these. I found one, one of Eugene's last ones. It was black powdercoated so I had it PC'd in a chrome look. Later on this will go to black again after I go to the Dark Side. Much later. I also found something else that's about impossible these days- an Escalade cowl piece that doesn't have the cutout for an antenna. It was NOS and a dealer in the Midwest charged me 3 times retail for it. I think the mod fever was hitting about this time.

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Was just curious , what did you do with your antenna? How's your radio reception now?

 

[Rocket Man]

Was just curious , what did you do with your antenna? How's your radio reception now?

When I bought my truck I never even noticed it didn't have a antenna mast, or a hole in the cowl where the mast used to be. The FM reception was better than in my previous vehicles. ( I never use AM). Then after joining this forum I read about the antenna delete mod, went to look, and saw the mast had been cut off below the cowl. The PO's own delete mod. It works great! He just made it a real real short antenna.

 

[bde269]

that looks great

 

[adventurenali92]

Those color matched racks look fantastic! I'm super jealous! Hey how hard was it to put in that NNBS shifter? I really like the look and have been thinking about doing that myself!

 

[Tonyrodz]

When I bought my truck I never even noticed it didn't have a antenna mast, or a hole in the cowl where the mast used to be. The FM reception was better than in my previous vehicles. ( I never use AM). Then after joining this forum I read about the antenna delete mod, went to look, and saw the mast had been cut off below the cowl. The PO's own delete mod. It works great! He just made it a real real short antenna.

Wow , I would've never have guessed the reception would be that good.

 

[Rocket Man]

Those color matched racks look fantastic! I'm super jealous! Hey how hard was it to put in that NNBS shifter? I really like the look and have been thinking about doing that myself!

It was almost as easy as an Esky or stock one, it just had a different connector for the tow/ haul button. I cut the old one off my shifter and soldered it to the NNBS handle, just match up the 2 colors originally used. Black and white I believe. The other wires I just taped off since the + and - buttons are for shifting the 6-sp tranny's in the NNBS. Did you ever get that screw out on yours?

 

[Rocket Man]

I really want to shave the rear wiper but might have to wait awhile, I've spent too much on this lately. Plus my body shop would need the truck for a few days again. And then there's the fact that I need to find a welder to patch the aluminum door panel. Damn.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Could do the plugs like Fosscore did.

 

[Rocket Man]

Could do the plugs like Fosscore did.

I've thought about that but I'm afraid that would only lead to me doing it all the way. I guess I could do that as a temporary fix, knowing I'd eventually have it welded filled and painted. Probably wouldn't stay that way for long!

 

[adventurenali92]

@Red Rocket , I still haven't had time. But I decided im,gonna match it to the steering wheel I'm trying to get done. I bought a wheel from a Buick Rainer with wood grips and the wood is the worng color which I knew. The leather was supoosed to match mine but didn't and I found a sprayable leather dye. I bought a can of the cashmere color and it looks fantastic. I'm super happy with it. Now I gotta figure out the wood grips. But I'm gonna spray the esky handle this week so it's the same color as the wheel. Once that's done then it can go in. But I really like the NNBS style Handle. MIGHT see if I can pick one up for cheap.

 

[Fosscore]

I know the plugs are not as perfect as a true smooth shave, but they are way cheaper and quicker to get the end result right now.

I really love seeing that rear end without the branch, even if it is slightly less than OCD should allow. I can handle a couple of plugs to give me that visual satisfaction.

And I know you won't be able to resist not doing another easy mod to the beautiful Denali. Too much temptation.... Cmon Red, you need to add another page to that build thread.