the gmc sonoma - grandpa truck

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BIG_1088

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as some of you may already know, my old gmt 400 got stolen in july and has been gone for well over 60 days now. i have lost any hope of it ever being recovered and have since used the insurance check to buy me a new truck to fill the hole left in my heart - so i jumped at the first one i could find

which was this 1996 gmc sonoma SLS

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2 wheel drive 4.3 v6, it averaged 19 on the highway from alpharetta georgia to st louis missouri

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it has this red on silver paintjob with pinstriping i can't seem to find anywhere else on line, which only makes it even better (there you can see my oversized paperweight, ie a 2006 malibu maxx on the right)

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it has the gray cloth interior, which actually has a lot more character than what i was expecting, especially with the fabric styling. i was hoping to find a truck with a blue interior as a way to remember my gmt 400, but this gray interior has already grown on me and i love it

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seriously the fabric on the seats and door panels are beautiful, i love it. not to mention the seats are very comfortable, only rivaled by my old truck

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plus, everything about this truck is manual, except for the transmission. just makes it more of a grandpa truck, and that's what i love about it

my plans for this truck, i plan on preserving it as it is - although an aftermarket exhaust wouldn't hurt on this truck at all

tell me what you all think of it!
 

BIG_1088

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Honestly I wouldn’t do an exhaust. Seems like any exhaust work on a 4.3 makes it sound wheezy and obnoxious. I’d focus on a good tune up and complete fluid change and drive the hell out of it.

that's what i don't like about the 4.3s, most exhaust mods make them sound like crap. but a flowmaster super 10 seems to do a good job though
 

Stumpy

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I had two S10s that I put single Flowmaster 40s on, and they had a nice mellow tone. Not loud at all, with a deep idle. Liked it enough to do it twice, so must not have been too bad.
 

1989GMCSIERRA

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Dump the clutch fan and go with electric fan. I had a 1995 Gmc Jimmy and I got a average of 25 mpg on long drives. I just installed a electric fan out of a Lincoln dual speed. leave your fan shroud on.
 

BIG_1088

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haven't touched this thread in a while, i may as well keep updates on how the newcomer's doing

it doesn't like cold weather. at all. i guess that can be accurately explained by saying it's a southern truck, but i digress

i also put a new gauge cluster with a tachometer in it

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i am also looking to put an oem headunit like this one into it, since the current oem headunit is kind of bare, and aftermarket units in these 90s trucks just look tacky to me

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also figuring out how to make it bluetooth capable without using one of those cigarette lighter modulators, if anyone knows of anything i can do please let me know
 

BIG_1088

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another update to the grandpa truck:

in the process of LED swapping the gauge cluster and HVAC panel, so far the gauge cluster is done

before:
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after:
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this is the same color i used in lydia's cluster, figured it'd only be appropriate to honor that truck by doing the gauge cluster color and using the door chime i pulled out from her when i got her back in this truck

as for the HVAC unit, i was gonna get it done in the same day, but thanks to GM trifling my work ethic by forcing the bulbs and their sockets into an eternal bond, that's gonna have to wait til another day

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more updates to come
 
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