1970 GMC 2500 SIERRA GRANDE
GRANDE MAX
STAN AND LEE ANN PITMAN’S DURAMAX POWERED 1970 GMC 2500 SIERRA GRANDE
BY CHRIS TOBIN DIESEL WORLD MAGAZINE
Stan and Lee Ann Pitman are a lot like your typical couple but with a few twists. They own S.D.P. Manufacturing in Dunkirk, Indiana a manufacturer that builds equipment used to install utility poles.They specialize in machines that are easy to transport and will fit through small openings for residential yards. The twist comes in Lee Ann’s choice of transportation. Like many suburban women across the country, she chooses to drive an SUV, but her SUV of choice is this restored ‘70 GMC Sierra Grande 2500 with a modern chassis and Duramax/ Allison drivetrain below the classic threedoor. What’s more, she searched for and eventually found the restored SUV online, flew down to Orlando, Florida and drove it back home to Indiana (with a failed starter replacement along the way) then commissioned the conversion of the GMC. Her new ride went from a lifted monster with a weak 350ci gasser under the hood to a more useful height with a durable modern chassis and powerful diesel drivetrain.
Lifting the hood reveals the 2006 LBZ Duramax engine that develops an estimated 450 horsepower with 950 lbs-ft of torque to motivate the heavy GMC Sierra Grande with ease.
The previous owner restored the Sierra Grande, giving it a fresh two-tone paint job with Baby Bird Blue accented by Bright White on the roof and rocker panels. So when Lee Ann handed the SUV over to 20-year-old Mason Wright at Wright Way Collision Repair in Albany, Indiana he didn’t have to mess with the paint and body other than giving it a final detail with a clay bar and polishing the finish. That was just the beginning though, as there was still a lot of work to be done to complete her vision for the GMC. To get things started Wright removed the body from the chassis and then went to work adapting an ‘05 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 chassis to fit and work with the classic body.