1989 Chevy Standard Cab Shortbox Stepside

[bc-chris]

i bought my dream truck back in 1997 - a used '89 2-door shortbox stepside. i didn't do too much to it right away and after only having it for a few months the transmission died - so that had to be replaced.

this is me after bringing it home in '97...

You must be registered for see images attach

it stayed pretty much stock until in 2006 when i lifted it - got a 6" suspension lift and that gave me "the bug" of doing mods!

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

although i wanted to do all sorts of stuff to my truck there were other "more important" things (like mortgage payments and expanding my business) that took precedence.

that all changed in 2011....

 

[bc-chris]

so in 2011 my wife and i went on a trip to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. on our way back to kelowna (from calgary) an unsecured rim slid off the deck of an oncoming semi - there was nothing i could do. the rim hit my front drivers tire, took out my skid plate, went back and smashed my gas tank (destroying the sending unit), then took out my rear drivers tire, then my rear passenger tire.
there's nothing like going down hwy 1 (trans canada hwy) at 90KPH sideways with 3 flat tires into oncoming traffic to put everything into perspective. i somehow kept control of my truck and got off to the side of the road.

this is what hit me:

You must be registered for see images attach

and the damage to the front drivers tire:

You must be registered for see images attach

and my truck sitting on the side of the road:

You must be registered for see images attach

now, when we originally planned this trip we were going to take my wife's car (at the time she drove a little mazda protege 5). had we taken her car i would have likely been decapitated becuz the rim from the semi would have gone up the hood of her car and not under my lifted truck. that logic is what lead my wife to give me the green light to start modding my truck - so once i got it back from the shop that's when the fun began!!

 

[bc-chris]

i think the worst part of the accident was that i couldn't find another matching rim to replace the one that got smashed - so i had to find 4 new ones... which isn't the end of the world, but i loved the rims i had.

once i i got the truck back, the first thing i did was updated the front end.... the newer style grille, new headlights, turn lights, new clear corners markers

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

after that it was onto the interior....

 

[bc-chris]

the first thing i did was change out my dash (no more moonie gauges). i went with a dakota digital dash...

You must be registered for see images attach

and installed:

You must be registered for see images attach

after that i got the interior reupholstered.
something i haven't mentioned yet is that i own an embroidery shop - so i was able to have a lot of fun when it came to upholstery panels. i do a bunch of work for a local upholstery company so of course i took my truck there. the cool thing was they let me help the install of the new interior!
i found some used seats out of a mid 90s truck so they were redone and i added heating pads into them (yea!! heated seats!!)

here are some production pics:
the original flaming bowtie that went onto the door panel. i think i've changed this 3 or 4 times over the years - ha!

You must be registered for see images attach

the 'chevrolet' text that is on the bottom of the doors:

You must be registered for see images attach

the bowtie that is down by the floor shifter:

You must be registered for see images attach

*can't add more pics to this post, so....

 

[bc-chris]

and the finished panels:

flaming bowtie:

You must be registered for see images attach

the "chevrolet" text for the bottom of the door:

You must be registered for see images attach

the bowtie by the floor shifter (i used the same design for a bowtie on the seat headrests - just can't find any pre-installed pics)

You must be registered for see images attach

and a couple of the stuff installed on the door:
the flaming bowtie which i did eventually swap out

You must be registered for see images attach

chevrolet text:

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[bc-chris]

before and after of the doors:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

***here is what is currently replacing the 'flaming bowtie' on the doors... "89Chevy" with half a bowtie:

You must be registered for see images attach

the bowtie by the shifter:

You must be registered for see images attach

and finally.... the new seats!

You must be registered for see images attach

that was kind of "it" for 2011. work gets really crazy in the fall so more mods had to wait until 2012....

 

[bc-chris]

2012 had lots more changes to the interior of the truck. one of the things that drove me nuts was that the interior plastic pieces were all these goofy shades of grey - so i pulled a ton of stuff out and painted it. how many times has it been said that prep work is huge when it comes to painting!! i got all my prep done and then sprayed the pieces a graphite grey colour - it looked sooooo much better!!! i also got a new steering wheel!

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

grabbed a "new" center console that was suuuuper light grey or maybe an off white:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[bc-chris]

and everything reinstalled:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

the next thing i got was a ceiling console. i removed the storage area at the front of the console and installed a plate that had holes for gauges. i ordered a couple of gauges from dakota digital... one has time and cabin temp. the other is outside temp. i painted the ceiling console and the gauge plate the same graphite as the rest of the interior and got to installing...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

the next thing on the list was to do a spray-in bed liner...

 

[bc-chris]

i got the truck all prepped for a spray-in bed liner. i used the raptor liner. it's ok - definitely not as strong as linex, but honestly, for what i haul around it works fine for me.
one thing i wanted to to bring the liner over the bed rails. that part of my truck always took lots of abuse so i figured the added protection was a good thing.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

and for anyone thinking of doing this... make sure you're in a well ventilated area - it stinks!!! ha! once it dries it's fine, but i was sure glad there was a very light breeze to blow the smell away the day we sprayed it!

 

[bc-chris]

one thing i really wanted to do for a while was to make the lighting "more blue" inside the truck. so later in the fall of 2012 i had a little fun with that. adding some blue floor lights, changing the light in the floor shifter and changing the green lens on the climate control screen to blue!

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

the fall of 2012 also saw another HUGE change in the truck - i got her painted! i also changed the hood and added "speed grille" inserts - just 'cuz i like the look! ha! i went back to the original paint colour for the truck (black saphire metallic i think is what it's called... even though it's a really dark blue)

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach