This 2005 Chevy Colorado was built by Matt Happel at Sloppy Mechanics. The term “sleeper” tends to be overused but this truck surely qualifies. There is absolutely nothing on the exterior that would give the impression it has almost 800 whp except for the exhaust exiting behind the front wheel.
The Colorado runs a 6.0 L LQ4 iron-block V8 taken from a 2006 Express Van. Matt has upgraded the engine with Lil John’s Motorsports Solutions Turbo Stage II cam, 160 lb/hr Bosch CNG injectors, and VS Racing VSR T6 turbocharger. This combo was good enough to produce 796 horsepower to the rear wheels before the converter was maxed out.
Behind the engine sits a PTC 10″ torque converter, 4L80E automatic transmission with a TransGo HD2 shift kit and a 8.8″ rear end from a Ford Explorer. Matt welded a section from another 8.8″ rear end to center the differential in the middle.
To give you an idea of this truck’s performance, it ran a 11.20 sec quarter-mile when the engine was producing 480 horsepower to the wheels. If you are interested in building your own then check our their junkyard turbo LSx build guide. Their website has a lot of great info.
Source: Sloppy Mechanics (project’s page) and LSxMag
Is this the truck that was reviewed on Regular Car Reviews a while back last year?
Yes it was.
Were these mounts part of a kit or custom built ?
Want to sell it?
Hi Kirt. The builder/previous owner Matt Happel sold the truck in 2018.