PCM of NC is known for some amazing builds — and specialize tuning everything from your milk daily driver, to your all-out race car. We’ve featured many of their builds in the past, but never a Silverado SS. For those who may overlook them, the Silverado SS was Chevrolet’s idea of a “muscle truck that you could still use.”
It featured a relatively tame 345hp 6-liter LQ9, and for the first few years of production, AWD exclusively. It wasn’t really comparable in performance to the Ford Lightning or the Ram SRT-10 of the day, but it was quick enough for the daily commute and was still very capable of towing your race car or hauling a crate engine back to the shop.
Naturally, gearheads really took to these trucks and wasted no time tearing into them. Some had better results than others, so many required the help of the professionals. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one of these freshly built, so when we first caught wind of what PCM put together for a customer, we had to investigate further. Per PCM of NC, they elaborated:
“Hailing from KY, this truck made the voyage for a complete makeover. Starting as a basic SS model, we threw almost everything we had at it – intake, Whipple 2.9L Supercharger kit, custom cam, our GT Series Fan Kit, Kooks headers, a fuel system, and more. We ended up with a 218/231 cam with a 114+2, tweaked to work as best as possible with the Whipple.
Along with the cam we did a full cam install kit and Melling 10296. FIC injectors made sure we got enough fuel, and a 450 Walbro kept up the pressure for us. After this build this truck sounds awesome and has the performance to back it up!”
We reached out to our friend Kelly at PCM of NC, for more pictures of the build process for you all to take in. It gives an inside look at the quality of the wrench time that PCM of NC does on every vehicle that comes into their shop.
However we should point out, since we’ll inevitably be asked, that there are no dyno numbers for the truck. As most of you are aware, the driveshafts in the full-sized trucks, especially the older models, weren’t entirely designed for high speed testing. As such the vehicle was street tuned for optimum performance and streetabilty.
That said, with a Whipple blower, and with the engine and exhaust work that’s been done to the truck, there’s no getting around the fact that there’s a substantial difference in power and responsiveness.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
