My 1997 Chevy Z71 "Black Betty" Build thread

[twomanymontes]

^^^ What he said. I have them only because they were free, They didn't seem to do anything the stock keys would do other than take me a few hours of beating them with an air hammer to get the old ones off.

 

[MDR-97-Z71]

I might have to get my obs and bring it down to work sometime, that might motivate you some lol

seeing your sig is enough motivation already lol but if you guys don't recommend keys, could i fit 285's with a crank? maybe just a little trimming?

 

[The Arctic Fox]

My buddy fit 295's with a little bit of rub without cranking anything.

 

[MDR-97-Z71]

Nothing happened to Betty during the spring time due to any money I saved was for prom time and I didn't have just 1 but 2 proms.. in the same weekend..

I got sick of the DRL's so i removed this little guy from under the dash (free mod!)

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With a Walmart gift card from prom I bought some 20% window tint for the front 2 Windows, which i think turned out alright just doing it at home in the garage with my dad, later in the summer I tinted the rest of the cab with more 20%

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[squeaky3]

btw you could have just pulled the fuse for the drl and remove the bulb from the dash.....thats all I did

I would bring my truck to work if the trans wasnt shot in it

 

[MDR-97-Z71]

Alright soo it has been some time since I've last updated this and now I'm gonna try to keep up with it!

Between my last post and the time I sold Betty in December of '14 this was the last pic I had

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I'll try to update this tonight/tomorrow since I'm off


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[MDR-97-Z71]

As I previously mentioned I did in fact sell it, but I'm sure many of you are familiar with how that goes.. I missed this thing like crazy and one of my friends talked me into asking the new owner if he'd sell it back after not even 3 months, low an behold he said he's now in the market for a winter plow truck. 1 week later..

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Then I peeled off the plasti dip on the grille and I really fell in love with the stock face again

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Had to re-christen Her of course..

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[MDR-97-Z71]

So with finally having my dream truck back I actually started spending some $$$ on her

In June I finally gave her a facelift and traded some stuff around for a set of 03 Avalanche rims with 265/75 Nitto terra grapplers

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In early July I got a window tint appointment since I wasn't looking forward to doing it again myself (the short term owner peeled all the original tint off)

20% all the way around and a 6" windshield brow

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I had previously finally hacked my stock muffler off and added dual glasspacks dumped under the bed buut that didn't last long....... Towards the end of July, dual exhaust. Still has the cat deletes, 2.5 true duals after the cat pipe/muffler flange, with an H pipe to 4" black chrome tips angled at 45*[emoji41][emoji41]

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[MDR-97-Z71]

I've been rather lucky with how nicely this truck was maintained by the previous owner when I first bought it, although I did replace my fair share of parts.

I had bought a pitman arm that went with the truck when I sold it and that short term owner replaced it and the idler, he also claimed new tie rod ends and a front brake job that wasn't needed (this was between end of December '14 to early February '15)

August '14 the fuel pump died
-fuel pump sending unit
-fuel lines
-fuel filter
-tank straps

And I'm not kidding, August of '15 my tank started leaking at the seem........

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Bed lined the new tank, for peace of mind really.

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October '15 new oil cooler lines

Currently I'm waiting on myself to buy a few new tools so that I can replace both front CV's and I'm suspecting it might be close to time for intake gaskets..
Also my steering gearbox has started to leak.




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[MDR-97-Z71]

Got tired of seeing the aftermarket corners being foggy all the time, solved that! And a improvement in my mind!

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Early September I finally started doing something to the interior, for $30 in eBay LEDs I was pleased for 30+ LEDs. Currently the door lights and floor lights are switched to white not blue anymore.

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