Justin S
Truck Hoarder
This is my latest project, a 1993 C1500 Sport. I purchased it in September of 2015. I'm calling it "Ted" because I have so many projects going on its easier to have a name so my friends know which vehicle I am talking about. The truck came with a lanyard that said TED on it, so I just went with it. I have owned several other GMT400s, the first was a 94 C1500 rcsb w/t purchased back in 2005 while still in high school, and has been gone since 2007. For the past 9 years i've been driving an 01 Z71 rcsb, and still is my daily driver. Ever since I sold that first one, I have wanted another, and finally came across this one less than 5 miles from my house for the right price.
Ted came from the factory with a 305/4l60e/3.08 10 bolt, and was actually originally stepside. It has roughly 170000 miles. The previous owner had done a bunch of bodywork a couple years ago, replaced the bed with one from the south, new front fenders, and replaced cab corners and rockers, rear roll pan, and gave it a decent paint job. Unfortunately for him, the auto trans began acting up, and then to top it off, blew a radiator hose and overheated the engine causing both head gaskets to fail. It had sat for 6 months before I got it, but I got it running good enough to move around the yard. Both the engine and trans have already been pulled out, plans are a 496 big block with about 500 horses, backed by a TKO600 5 speed manual trans. Right now, the engine is just a block, but I already have everything for the trans/clutch setup. I also purchased a 14 bolt semi float axle with 3.73 posi out of a 1990 C2500. Upon the removal of the drivetrain, I unfortunately found a few rough spots on the frame that were covered up with undercoat, so I decided that I needed to get a new frame.
I've already purchased a parts truck, dubbed "Turd", due to the fact that it has 347000 miles and is quite beat, but was originally from Kentucky and the frame is in excellent shape. Aside from that, I will have the other parts needed for the manual swap. That's where I am at the moment, stripping down Ted to get ready for the frame swap, and parting out the Turd down to the bare frame, then once nice weather hits this spring, it will get cleaned, replace steering/suspension components, install a 4/6 drop kit with a c notch, and finally POR15'd. Once that's done, move the bed and cab over so I can get rid of the current rotten frame and free up some barn space.
I'm not planning on rushing this build, I still have one other that i'm focusing more on, and I want to slowly build up the engine with better parts than i'd normally buy as funds allow. I've had some interesting projects lately, the two most recent including an 83 Chevette S with a 3.3 V6/5spd swapped in, and a 1995 Suzuki Sidekick convertible with a Nissan SR20DET engine and 5spd rwd trans. The Chevette is gone, but the Sidekick is still in the barn, getting some rear end, brake, and exhaust upgrades for the nice summer weather. Before that, I had a few Chevelles as projects, but haven't gotten quite as in depth as i'm going with this truck. I've never had a project that had a body that looked anything even close to as good as this truck, and especially if i'm doing a "frame off" on it, I want to do it right. I will add info and pictures along the way as I get some of the larger obstacles tackled. I've found this website quite handy with some info, so I finally decided to join and share.
I recently also found a website called www.compnine.com that you can pay a few bucks and get a complete list of all of your RPO codes, including the total number of similar trucks that had that specific option for the year. Here's a link to Ted's. http://www.compnine.com/mycar.php?id=eaf81cc9abbe370f2c2c44317cbe59c6
Ted came from the factory with a 305/4l60e/3.08 10 bolt, and was actually originally stepside. It has roughly 170000 miles. The previous owner had done a bunch of bodywork a couple years ago, replaced the bed with one from the south, new front fenders, and replaced cab corners and rockers, rear roll pan, and gave it a decent paint job. Unfortunately for him, the auto trans began acting up, and then to top it off, blew a radiator hose and overheated the engine causing both head gaskets to fail. It had sat for 6 months before I got it, but I got it running good enough to move around the yard. Both the engine and trans have already been pulled out, plans are a 496 big block with about 500 horses, backed by a TKO600 5 speed manual trans. Right now, the engine is just a block, but I already have everything for the trans/clutch setup. I also purchased a 14 bolt semi float axle with 3.73 posi out of a 1990 C2500. Upon the removal of the drivetrain, I unfortunately found a few rough spots on the frame that were covered up with undercoat, so I decided that I needed to get a new frame.
I've already purchased a parts truck, dubbed "Turd", due to the fact that it has 347000 miles and is quite beat, but was originally from Kentucky and the frame is in excellent shape. Aside from that, I will have the other parts needed for the manual swap. That's where I am at the moment, stripping down Ted to get ready for the frame swap, and parting out the Turd down to the bare frame, then once nice weather hits this spring, it will get cleaned, replace steering/suspension components, install a 4/6 drop kit with a c notch, and finally POR15'd. Once that's done, move the bed and cab over so I can get rid of the current rotten frame and free up some barn space.
I'm not planning on rushing this build, I still have one other that i'm focusing more on, and I want to slowly build up the engine with better parts than i'd normally buy as funds allow. I've had some interesting projects lately, the two most recent including an 83 Chevette S with a 3.3 V6/5spd swapped in, and a 1995 Suzuki Sidekick convertible with a Nissan SR20DET engine and 5spd rwd trans. The Chevette is gone, but the Sidekick is still in the barn, getting some rear end, brake, and exhaust upgrades for the nice summer weather. Before that, I had a few Chevelles as projects, but haven't gotten quite as in depth as i'm going with this truck. I've never had a project that had a body that looked anything even close to as good as this truck, and especially if i'm doing a "frame off" on it, I want to do it right. I will add info and pictures along the way as I get some of the larger obstacles tackled. I've found this website quite handy with some info, so I finally decided to join and share.
I recently also found a website called www.compnine.com that you can pay a few bucks and get a complete list of all of your RPO codes, including the total number of similar trucks that had that specific option for the year. Here's a link to Ted's. http://www.compnine.com/mycar.php?id=eaf81cc9abbe370f2c2c44317cbe59c6
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