My 88 buildup on a tight budget

[benoit454]

Ok guys finally got my internet and got all my pics to date on the pc to host and post. So enjoy.....

Here's my 88 k1500 short bed I got from my uncle. Paid $600 for it but worked for him to pay it off, so nothing out of pocket really.





interior after some clean up...




underhood..

[benoit454]

more....

The trans. leaked and slipped, motor smoked and missed. Body was and still is solid, only 2 bad cab corners. I tore the motor down, my uncle said it was a 305, but turns out it was a 350, was going to just do a valve job but decided to rebuild not knowing the bottom ends condition/mileage.







That's all rebuilt now and back in, thoose pics coming up a lil' later.

Some cleaned up outside shots...






.

[benoit454]

and more....




The truck had been wrecked when my uncle had it. He put in a new grille, lights, bumper, and DS fender, paintjob turned out bad. I'm going to repaint the fender, and realign the fender, and front bumper. Also going to change hoods later.

I've done some interior work also, cd player, going to do all new 4x6's soon, got subs and an amp to go in as soon as I build my sub box. I have done a new seat cover, some black carpet, black on the door panels, going to do it all black probably spring. It was saddle/gold factory and a PO turned it red, and looked bad.




Stilll have to get some door panel and carpet pics.

Now some engine back together pics, after rebuild.




I had a th350 already built for another 4x4 we had, it has a shift kit and everything new in it so I ditched the 700r4 for it. I put everything new in the motor, crank was good still standard size, no turning needed. I put in new oil pump, cam, lifters, timing set, gaskets and valve job, new distributor, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and coil. Had to do a new battery and wire to the junction block. I also done a new fuel filter at time of rebuild. I removed the smog pump and air tubes, have to put on some headers soon as well. We had that hood scoop laying around too, I threw it on for now to be different, not sure if I like it alot or just a lil bit, gonna be changed anyways.

More to come so stay tuned

[78gmc]

Like the ford thunderbolt hood scoop

[ChevLoRay]

Originally Posted by 78gmc

Like the ford thunderbolt hood scoop

....but I like 'em better on the cars of that era....mid 60's. My personal feeling is that there are better-looking choices.

[benoit454]

yea my dad loves em but it didn't look or fit right on his 84, fits and looks better on my 88, but it's temp. my wife loves the ram air hoods for the 88, going to buy one soon as the funds permit me to buy one LOL.

[benoit454]

some other changes since the pics are different tires, thoose were dry rotted and worn out bad, I now have 255/70's on it with white letters out, also lost or someone stole a taillight cover, and the DS vent visor got broken when the carport blew over. I also had to put a new spindle on the front DS since the caliper bolt broke and shortly after trying to extract it the ear broke off the spindle. So now I got new pads, shoes, calipers, and wheels cylinders all around.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Nice looks good I like what you have done with it. Keep up the good work man!

[benoit454]

will do, still need some interior pics of how it is now.

[benoit454]

some interior pics, updated with some cleaner ones. Still aint really clean and detailed though.

[BIGphillip79]

did you ever get around to polishing you rims? swapped for a th350 huh, good thing where your at the not too much wide open highway, cause that thirsty beast would love the overdrive.

[benoit454]

No haven't polished them yet, might try to this coming spring. I got alot of stuff to do come spring, I got a billet grille to put in, chrome fender trim, and rocker trim, fix the cab corners, install my subs, do the whole interior black, and who knows what else. My wife wants some euro tails, and parklights, then we've picked out some rims, and I picked out my tire size, and probably a 3 inch body lift when I can afford all the expensive stuff. I'm hoping to put a tonneau on it, either home built or buy a cheap roll up used or something. I definately want a sun visor over top of the front windshield on the outside, I love em.
Another hood or scoop molded in. Not that scoop either, wife wants a ram air like the twin scoop ws6 trans ams. Also gotta pull the driver's fender and bumper back in line for better gaps and fitment. Then repaint the fender to match.

So I definately got alot in store, can't wait to get started again and can't wait for some cash to buy parts lol.

The trim and subs and grille are definate, I have it all but the trim I have to wait for christmas to get.

Got new 4x6's coming too.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Sweet the interior is not to bad at all. Going to be one badass little truck when you get it all done. I was wondering where you got that seat cover at if you bought it?

[benoit454]

wal-mart lol

[IndyAnne]

Hi, very nice job on your truck. I recently bought a red '88, long bed, extended cab, 5.7 gas, Silverado trim package. The exterior looks great because the previous owner had a body shop and he did some repairs and painting. Interior is pretty messy right now. Seeing your work gives me an idea of what is possible for this truck. I see you got the stereo with the black dash kit, with the little box where the factory radio was -- looks good. I'm hoping for a new stereo for Christmas, and all they have in stock at Best Buy is the black or gray dash kit. I saw the red available on ebay.

With your stereo, was it complicated to use the factory wiring harness, or is that a standard kind of swap?

Anyway -- I was wondering if you had to take your doors apart to put in new lock cylinders? I am having to do that right now, and it is a big pain. Is it possible to get the interior black metal door frame off without damaging the electric window controls and regulator?

I've searched the web for some photos, but have not found anything yet. I have the Chilton book with the breakdown of the parts involved in the interior of the door panels, but I need some pictures!

Anyway -- good job on your 88 rebuild. It looks great!

[benoit454]

thanks.

as for the dash it was already done when I got it. My cuosin had it done for my uncle before I got the truck at a stereo shop. They removed their headunit and I installed mine. I'm going to do the whole dash in black this spring.

As for door locks yea pain in the butt, the inner door panel behind the plastic door panel you see comes off, all the switches and rods for the door locks and handles, the window comes out, then you get to it. However you can get in there by taking the inner metal part loose and reaching in with the window up or down and going around it to get to them. As for door handles on the inside they have rivets to drill out to change them and the switches come out and off before hand.

[benoit454]

FINALLY a warm day here.. worked on the truck most of the day, removed the grille, painted behind it, figured out why my headlight sucked, worked on fixing my hair lipped lookin' bumper, and so on lol. Here's pics....


took the molding off, gonna leave it off and put some chrome stick on molding on to cover the holes.




My headlight bucket is broke due to the wreck my uncle had, when he owned it before me, nowhere for the spring to hook, so no wonder my headlights, suck can't aim em right. Gonna switch to composites probably anyways(wife wants em)




Some ppl had questioned the fact I had a th350 in this truck and I know because I put it in myself, there's pics of it and the spacer plate between it and the t-case.


ANyone know what these are there for? are they factory or did someone have something up there at one time? rubber plugs in the roof...



Also I only got about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of threads left on my torsion bar bolts does that mean someone has cranked some before?

[benoit454]

Got the grille cut out day before yesterday, worked on today smoothing out the cut off bars, test fit, and almost there. I gotta do a lil' more trimming near the headlights for clearance on the bar so it'll fit flush, and then test fit again. Then I gotta drill out the rivets in the insert(used) mark my holes, drill the grille and rivet it in place. Probably gonna paint the headlight and parklight areas black while I'm at it instead of the charcoal color.

Gonna order the parklights sometime soon, have to wait on headlights, markers, and leds later on. Gonna order the other set of speakers soon too, got one pair gonna get the other real soon.

[BIGphillip79]

Those plugs look like for an antennae. Maybe CB or 2-way radio. Probably both.

You see how the crossover tube in you exhaust hangs so low. you can have the pipe extended from the manifold and move it to right at the tail shaft of the transfer case and tuck it up a lot higher. It'll make it a lot cleaner under there and free up some space along the motor.

[benoit454]

You mean have it ran on the driver's side? it tucks up nicely on the pass. side but the front is right under the TC and driveshaft. They done away with the y pipe and made it duals, plus I cut them at the muffler to remove it when I had the drivetrain out, I may have tweaked it when dropped the trans and it still in there, or might not have clocked it right. I dunno doesn't hang down really far to affect my ground clearance or anything, but I don't care for it crossing over at all, I'd rather it run down the other side in case I have to drop the trans or work on something.

[benoit454]

I got the grille back in for now, gotta take it out and remove the tape residue, and put in a few more rivets to hold in the billet insert, also gonna install new corners and headlights when I get the cash, but here she is for now...

[benoit454]

got some new pics, alot of work done recently, got both door locks fixed and working. Got my door jamb switches in and dome light working(or was until I put the screws in it, then it grounds out and blows the fuse and nothings hitting unless the top of it hits the roof, cuz the screws aint hitting wires). I got my clear parklights in and made my own spacers to make them flush, since I'm going to switch to composites later. Got my rust catchers on as well(stainless fender trim). Got the grille all riveted in and painted my bowtie as well. I cleaned the whol truck up real good outside and waxed the crhome, but it's been sitting and got dusty plus it rained yesterday.









My bumper brackets are still crappy IMo, bumper aint straight or right looking, gonna have to buy the 2 driver's side brackets to fix it. Also gotta paint the DS fender still and replace the cab corners, gonna switch mirrors, and get a different hood scoop(ram air 2/ws6 style) mold it in and repaint the hood. Also going to paint the areas around the headlights black instead of the charcoalish color they are factory. Also gotta get door switches for the power locks, and a headlight, remove the dash and dye it black, and the top of the door panels. Also going to put the chrome stick on molding on the bumpers to cover the holes until i find chrome smoothies, or can afford new ones. Also I need bigger tires, they look way too small.

[BIGphillip79]

I agree on tires man. First thing I noticed was they looked kind of dinky. 285/75-16 will look perfect with no lift and about as wide as you'll want to go on stock wheels. Thats like a 33x11.50. I got that size on my truck and I think they are just right. You have to calibrate you speedo though, It'll be off by like 7mph at 65.

[benoit454]

yea they are 255/70's now I got all four for $50 and my 265 were dry rotted and cracked bad.

I'll probably wait because eventually I'm gonna do a lift and 35's. Also going to do aftermarket wheels unless I polish the stock ones.

[BIGphillip79]

You seem somewhat mechanically inclined. Ever think of a solid axle swap instead of just a lift. From what I've calculated it can cost less than buying a lift if you can do the labor yourself. Seen a few and thought about it on mine but already put a lot of cash in rebuilding the whole front end.

I'll be getting some wheels here sometime. Want to get some black ones. Either steel or aluminum powder coated. Discount tire has some for 75 bones a piece.