As the saying goes..."Live free or in Massachusetts"
I've been a fan of Chevy's since before I can remember. When I was a toddler (1979-1982ish) my Dad had a Chevelle with a big block, 396 that I used to call "the race car." Later in life he built a pretty mean 1979 Monza with a 350 that screamed.
I took 2 years of auto shop in high school...joined the Marine Corps, spent 4 years down in North Carolina where I seen a 1957 Chevy Pickup that sparked all sorts of grand ideas in my mind. As I began work on the 57, I found problem after problem and for some ridiculous reason I thought I had $200,000, a massive shop equipped with every tool I would ever need to build the car of my dreams and the expertise to get it all done...it wasn't until after I bothered to rip the truck apart that I realized I had none of those things. To complicate things, I got married and had three kids, bought a house...
About a month ago, I smoked the transmission in the 1999 Mercury Sable that my wife bought for $800 from a DEA auction. With a sizeable tax refund in mind, I started eyeballing used trucks. I really kind of had a secret longing for a late 80's / early 90's Silverado with the SS package, but when I checked Ebay I seen they were going for roughly $10,000. After checking the specifications (454 rated at 230hp, TH400 transmission or 4L80 in later models, 3.73 gears, custom interior and decals etc) I realized that there was nothing too special about the SS package.
As fate would have it, I found a run-down 1989 Chevy Cheyenne, C3500 / 1-TON on Craigslist for a mere $1200. This badboy was equipped with a 454 and a TH400, body was in decent shape. It wasn't an SS but it was a good starting point and it was $8800 cheaper than what an SS would cost me. At the end of the day, I want a cool street cruiser. Being a little bit older now, I'm realizing that these things don't happen overnight. I plan to take my time and tackle this project in bite-size chunks.
I have a set of 049 heads that are punched out for bigger valves. I'm planning on having a donor 454 rebuilt, a little bit of cam, domed pistons, maybe a little bit of a higher stall convertor...figuring on 400-450 horsepower, which should be more than enough to roast the tires if I want to.
I'm in the process of doing triage on this truck now...stopping the leaks, tune-up, replacing body parts that are rotted etc. Last night I scored a tailgate and I'm going to pull the doors off of a 1500 that are a little dinged up but at least there is no rot. I'm also hoping to get rid of this 8-bolt 1-ton rear-end and replace it with a 5 bolt or 6 bolt lug pattern...maybe I will luck out and get something with 3.73 gears at the same time. I didn't check the number of bolts on the rear-end housing of the 1500 junkyard truck when I was there last night.
Eventually...maybe we'll lower the suspension down a bit, put some meatier tires on the rear, some nice wheels...
I've been a fan of Chevy's since before I can remember. When I was a toddler (1979-1982ish) my Dad had a Chevelle with a big block, 396 that I used to call "the race car." Later in life he built a pretty mean 1979 Monza with a 350 that screamed.
I took 2 years of auto shop in high school...joined the Marine Corps, spent 4 years down in North Carolina where I seen a 1957 Chevy Pickup that sparked all sorts of grand ideas in my mind. As I began work on the 57, I found problem after problem and for some ridiculous reason I thought I had $200,000, a massive shop equipped with every tool I would ever need to build the car of my dreams and the expertise to get it all done...it wasn't until after I bothered to rip the truck apart that I realized I had none of those things. To complicate things, I got married and had three kids, bought a house...
About a month ago, I smoked the transmission in the 1999 Mercury Sable that my wife bought for $800 from a DEA auction. With a sizeable tax refund in mind, I started eyeballing used trucks. I really kind of had a secret longing for a late 80's / early 90's Silverado with the SS package, but when I checked Ebay I seen they were going for roughly $10,000. After checking the specifications (454 rated at 230hp, TH400 transmission or 4L80 in later models, 3.73 gears, custom interior and decals etc) I realized that there was nothing too special about the SS package.
As fate would have it, I found a run-down 1989 Chevy Cheyenne, C3500 / 1-TON on Craigslist for a mere $1200. This badboy was equipped with a 454 and a TH400, body was in decent shape. It wasn't an SS but it was a good starting point and it was $8800 cheaper than what an SS would cost me. At the end of the day, I want a cool street cruiser. Being a little bit older now, I'm realizing that these things don't happen overnight. I plan to take my time and tackle this project in bite-size chunks.
I have a set of 049 heads that are punched out for bigger valves. I'm planning on having a donor 454 rebuilt, a little bit of cam, domed pistons, maybe a little bit of a higher stall convertor...figuring on 400-450 horsepower, which should be more than enough to roast the tires if I want to.
I'm in the process of doing triage on this truck now...stopping the leaks, tune-up, replacing body parts that are rotted etc. Last night I scored a tailgate and I'm going to pull the doors off of a 1500 that are a little dinged up but at least there is no rot. I'm also hoping to get rid of this 8-bolt 1-ton rear-end and replace it with a 5 bolt or 6 bolt lug pattern...maybe I will luck out and get something with 3.73 gears at the same time. I didn't check the number of bolts on the rear-end housing of the 1500 junkyard truck when I was there last night.
Eventually...maybe we'll lower the suspension down a bit, put some meatier tires on the rear, some nice wheels...
