97 Gator Slow Build SCC

[BPlatt]

Here is my 97 Ext cab Sierra. It's a Southern Comfort which I really don't even get, all looks and no extra horsepower. I bought it back in 2012 from a local stealorship. The only reason I bought it for the amount I did because I knew the two previous owners. One of them was a local shop owner and babied this truck and took extremely good care of it fixing every problem but the cruise.
This is the same day purchase picture once I got her off the lot.

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I kept it bonestock, except for removing the ground effects and the bar running across the top of the bed, until February 2014 when I decided the interior was getting boring and wanted to brighten things up with some leds .

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Instrument cluster done with Jtec brand from amazon on 2/16/04. I'll probably upgrade them eventually and add PWM to be able to dim.

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The door switches I accomplished on 2/15/14 with a little hot glue and 5mm LEDs left over from project from school. turned out kind of bright but atleast the bulb isn't blown out now.

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The Overhead Console from SCC was a pain in the... the 1156 sockets we're wired backwards so I had to pull them off and do a quick rewiring to get them to work. Better pictures when I get interior cleaned up.

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Pioneer Deh-x6600bt (3/6/14) and hvac (2/20/14). Gotta love the bluetooth, one less wire for my gf to yank out while sitting in the middle.

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And this is how she sits now. And also removed honey combed DRL after this picture was taken. future plans are
new rims and tires,
demold and debadge,
new billet bar grill,
tails and headlights,
Bull Bar or push bar whatever you want to call it,
and I'm sure I'll be able to think of more stuff. Oh yeah, the whole gator thing was because with the running boards it made it look like it sit so much lower and it was a light belly going darker green on top so it reminded my friend of a gator and it pretty much stuck.

 

[twomanymontes]

Pretty nice!

 

[BPlatt]

Thanks!! Unfortunately most of the OBS running around here are dogs and just wore out, hacked up, or mangled from being beaten on. I was pretty estatic when I got it. Although I did find out what may be the problem with the cruise not working...

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Two broke wires broke off so short soldering what even fix and 3 chafed wires. Found a multifunction switch with cruise for tilt steering for $50 on amazon that should be in Tuesday. If it's the correct switch I'll post a link to it for other people with a malfunctioning switch.
(Link to the part http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009DJSH04/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 )
The delay works weirdly is the only problem i've had. I Don't know about the cruise function because my cruise was screwed from the beginning.

 

[BPlatt]

So since the stock head lights are like holding a flashlight driven by one AAA battery and trying to drive by the light, I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and buy a LED bar from amazon. (Link to it http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HNP91VO/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 )
I figured it was cheap and wouldn't throw the light out to well and I'd be stuck with it. Well I was wrong. I did a quick install so that I could test it and do a road test. Once I talk my friend out of his bull bar he has laying around, the bar will be mounted to it.
Previous plan was to cut into the grill but I didn't like the idea in case it wasn't bright enough.

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Low beams on.

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Highs that can't be seen plus the LED bar. Much brighter in person. It reminds me of the difference of using an old incandescent maglite vs. a new LED Stream light. Just BAM. Now I can see all the little critters running around my backroads. And I did tie them into my highs so that it's the only time they are on. People who don't dim their headlights now will I think when I flash these at them. Bwahahaha

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Feel free to add suggestions, criticism, or any other help that you want

 

[twomanymontes]

I like it!!! I'm working on finding one that will mount to the existing mounting tabs on my light bar.

 

[Case182]

Why a light bar over aftermarket headlights? I bought these for mine. As long as you get a good enough bulb you're set.

http://www.amazon.com/Spyder-Auto-S...273693&sr=1-20&keywords=1997+c1500+headlights

 

[BPlatt]

It'd be difficult to find one with the exact mounting holes especially when most don't have the exact dimensions of everything. Especially when you can flip the "legs" either way. And why not new headlights and new bulbs? Because when I had my little Ford Ranger that I loved so much, I bought new aftermarket headlights (good brand name just can't remember the name after 3 years). It took forever to aim correctly and the lighting was the same. This is much brighter and puts HIDs to shame from other trucks that I've rode in, and I have to see clearly at night my eyes are already bad enough without poor light added into the equation. Although I will get aftermarket headlights eventually, whenever my OCD kicks in worse and I get tired of looking at the hazing lens. But with the green and silver I don't know whether to go with black headlights or chrome... Chromes not my favorite thing in the world

 

[BPlatt]

So I got the idea for a cheap thing to do to the truck from a customer's NBS that came into the shop a couple of weeks ago. He was a firefighter (hats off to any firefighter, policeman or woman, truckers, and people who have served I appreciate y'all for helping others) and had PA system and switch set up built right at the front within easy reach for his emergency lights and what not. I got my recreation mocked up. I just don't know about the gap at the top and what I'ma do about it just yet. Think some kind of foam like florists use i might do.

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Now needing to carpet it and make a switch panel. And I will be extending the cigarette lighters out. It'd also be good for CB radio, equalizer, moving ac controls down for double din swap, possibilities are endless here.

 

[BPlatt]

So today I installed my system from amazon. I really only wanted some low end to help compliment my JBL GTO628 in my doors (next time I have door panel off I'll take pictures of them too. So I took a chance on a setup for less than $200.
Atrend A101-10Cp B Box Series 10-Inch Single Down-Fire Subwoofer Box $70.45
Boss Audio R1100M Mosfet Monoblock Power Amplifier with Remote Subwoofer Level Control $55
Pioneer TS-W254R 10-Inch Component Subwoofer with 1100 Watts Max Power $45.62
I had some 12 gauge wire for speaker wire, some 8 gauge wire for power wire (plan on upgrading just for piece of mind), and rca cables and remote wire on hand. After a couple of hours tweaking all my settings I got it right where I wanted. I have a couple of other amps and speakers that I could have used but they been laying around (outside on a shelf under some shelter) and I didn't want to even try them.

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Just a quick picture. Unfortunately I also had a flat so you see my jack cover laying on the box but I can still kill the battery listening to music