beaker
Newbie
Hey y’all
Been lurking a while after I bought my 1988 Chevy stepside. I’m not new to cars and trucks, been modifying different things since I was in high school in the 80’s. Everything from a a 1957 bel air to Nissan z-cars. I’ve wanted A gmt400 for a long time, just love the body style, and came across one that needed a lot of love about a year ago. I’ve slowing been working on it for the last year and so far this is what I’ve gotten done.
I tore the interior out of it because it was super ratty recovered the seat, new headliner,new carpet and scrubbed and cleaned and painted all the plastic trim. Put a audio system in, new radio and speakers. Nothing fancy, just want it to sound good.
I then worked a little on the tired engine, it’s got over 300k miles. I got it running but I wouldn’t trust it on a long trip. My plans are a rebuild or maybe a l31 crate engine.
I then turned to the suspension. I didn’t want to slam it but wanted to lower it for a better stance. So I went with a DJM 4/6 lowering kit with control arms and flip kit. I put New outer tie rods on, still need to replace the other steering parts as they are worn out. New DJM shocks, new brakes, new wheels bearings in the rear. I want to get a limited slip with some 373 gears and new bearings, and the rear end should be done.
I really like the old school look of the Ridler 695, so I got some. 20x8.5 for the front and 20x10 for the rear. I spent months literally trying to decide on wheels, backspacing and tire sizes. I finally went with a 255/40/20 on the front and 285/40/20 for the rear. With the backspacing on the wheels(4.75 front and 5.5 rear) I’m very please with how the turned out. Haven’t test driven with new wheels and tires but to be honest I think I’m gonna clear and won’t have to trim my fenders. We will see when I run it down the road, see if I scrub any.
I’ve started body work, got the bed sanded down and a light coat of black primer, need to fix a couple of bad spots, nothing major. Still need to get the cab and front end in primer and body work. I really would like to replace the doors, they are pretty beat up, freaking hinges on drivers side have been broken and welded on. I got the doors where they function, but could be a lot better.
Replaced the front grille and lights with later model and replaced the tail lights. Spent a week chasing a light problem with my brake and parking lights, when I found a broken ground on the harness at the rear. What a pain.
Anyway, it’s a work in progress, and I’m slowly getting the truck to where I want it. Sorry to be so long winded, but I’m really stoked to get this project finished so I can enjoy it. Thanks to all for the info on this forum, I’ve found a lot of good info here that has helped me fix several problems and some cools mods I’ve done to the truck like 4 high headlights. Here are a couple of pics.
Been lurking a while after I bought my 1988 Chevy stepside. I’m not new to cars and trucks, been modifying different things since I was in high school in the 80’s. Everything from a a 1957 bel air to Nissan z-cars. I’ve wanted A gmt400 for a long time, just love the body style, and came across one that needed a lot of love about a year ago. I’ve slowing been working on it for the last year and so far this is what I’ve gotten done.
I tore the interior out of it because it was super ratty recovered the seat, new headliner,new carpet and scrubbed and cleaned and painted all the plastic trim. Put a audio system in, new radio and speakers. Nothing fancy, just want it to sound good.
I then worked a little on the tired engine, it’s got over 300k miles. I got it running but I wouldn’t trust it on a long trip. My plans are a rebuild or maybe a l31 crate engine.
I then turned to the suspension. I didn’t want to slam it but wanted to lower it for a better stance. So I went with a DJM 4/6 lowering kit with control arms and flip kit. I put New outer tie rods on, still need to replace the other steering parts as they are worn out. New DJM shocks, new brakes, new wheels bearings in the rear. I want to get a limited slip with some 373 gears and new bearings, and the rear end should be done.
I really like the old school look of the Ridler 695, so I got some. 20x8.5 for the front and 20x10 for the rear. I spent months literally trying to decide on wheels, backspacing and tire sizes. I finally went with a 255/40/20 on the front and 285/40/20 for the rear. With the backspacing on the wheels(4.75 front and 5.5 rear) I’m very please with how the turned out. Haven’t test driven with new wheels and tires but to be honest I think I’m gonna clear and won’t have to trim my fenders. We will see when I run it down the road, see if I scrub any.
I’ve started body work, got the bed sanded down and a light coat of black primer, need to fix a couple of bad spots, nothing major. Still need to get the cab and front end in primer and body work. I really would like to replace the doors, they are pretty beat up, freaking hinges on drivers side have been broken and welded on. I got the doors where they function, but could be a lot better.
Replaced the front grille and lights with later model and replaced the tail lights. Spent a week chasing a light problem with my brake and parking lights, when I found a broken ground on the harness at the rear. What a pain.
Anyway, it’s a work in progress, and I’m slowly getting the truck to where I want it. Sorry to be so long winded, but I’m really stoked to get this project finished so I can enjoy it. Thanks to all for the info on this forum, I’ve found a lot of good info here that has helped me fix several problems and some cools mods I’ve done to the truck like 4 high headlights. Here are a couple of pics.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
