My 80' silverado
 

Finally beginning to work on my old truck. This truck means a lot to me and I finally have the monetary means to fix it right. Here is a little history of the truck:

Late 1979 My grandfather purchased this truck new from the local Chevrolet dealership. It is a 1980 Chevrolet Silverado 1/2 ton LWB. It came with an Olds 5.7 Diesel, two-tone gray (gray/charcoal), tilt wheel, a/c, p/s, p/l, p/w.
As many of you are probably aware the truck suffered the same issues as most with that motor. The head bolts kept stretching out by 1983-84 or so the dealership refused to keep fixing it and my grandfather parked it in his shop. The truck only had 36,xxx miles on it.

The truck remained in the shop covered in dust until around 1994-1995. I used to play in this truck pretending to drive it when I was a young child.

In 1994-95 my grandfather put in an early model 6.2L diesel motor. Within 3 months of the install the motor started getting water in the oil. My grandfather once again parked the truck except outside this time. In 1996 my grandfather passed away with the truck still sitting outside.

In 1998 I turned 15 and my grandmother gave me this truck to be my first vehicle. Not having much money I ended up putting stopleak in the radiator and oil stopleak in the oil and drove it that way for a year before it finally blew up.

After the 6.2L diesel I put in a 455 buick out of an old electra. The motor was supposed to be a good motor however it was instantly apparent that there was at least piston that had stuck rings. I've never seen so much smoke come out of a truck.

Out came the 455 and in went a 305 pulled from a chevelle. The 305 had a mild cam, holley intake and carb. 3-5000 miles later the truck was parked yet again. Life happened and I moved on. The truck sat for another 2 years.

Then my gf's dad gave me a "good" motor so in went a 307 Olds this time. Yet again motor was no good.

Present day: The truck has been sitting since 2006. The 307 Olds had no oil pressure. I have started working on the truck again and this time I'm doing it right.
The motor is a 350 bored .60 with mild cam, edelbrock performer intake and carb. I am replacing all suspension, lines, gaskets, seals, whatever can go bad from the firewall forward. here are some pics from the tear down last weekend. I'll have more pics after this weekend.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

sweet! cool its been in the family!!

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Welcome to the forum! Looks like a great start to a project & can't wait to see more pics.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Tha hoods been off that thing alot!! LOL Welcome to tha site..

Re: My 80' silverado
 

that is an awesome story to go along with what looks like a great truck.. best of luck with your rebuild... do you want me to transfer this to the builds section so you can keep us updated with lots of pics?

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Sure, I plan on updating with lots of pictures as progress is made so the Build section is probably the best place for it.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

welcome it's always cool hearing people keeping a family truck
as time goes by you will be gad you did

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Almost finished with my new motor.

350 bored 0.60 over. mild cam, edlebrok intake and carb. I did not buy the valve covers not a fan of chrome but they came with the motor.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

scuff those covers down & paint em black

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Awesome story, thanks for sharing. If it were me, I would keep the chrome covers and loose the old school T handle bolts. The chrome look really sharp against the motor color. If you clean, paint, and detail under the hood before the motor goes back you will have an eye catching set up when your done.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

You got to love the history.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

yup looks nice
my t handle bolts i found loosened up
in my case they were on it,when bought
i tightened them and the covers kept distorting/and loosening/leaking
I ended up using other ones i had

Re: My 80' silverado
 

looks good i roughed mine up and painted them with duplicolor bedliner lol and if you can find the cast iron spreader clamps they seem to work good instead of the cheaper made chrome ones.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

After all those engine swaps.... you just can't go wrong with the ole' reliable 350 GASSER LOL

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Great story! I can only imagine the influence your Grandfather must have had on you. Can't think of anything more honorable than what you are doing....keeping his memory alive.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Thanks for the positive comments guy. Anyone have any answers for my radiator issues? I bought a new radiator that is 17" tall and the old radiator is 19". Supposedly this radiator is compatible with this truck but I don't know how....

Re: My 80' silverado
 

I did the same thing, believe it or not. See the last post or two in my build thread.

I believe the 19" tall are for 350s and the 17" tall are for the lower size(s) 305 and v6.

If you ordered it locally, just return it and get the correct 19" tall.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Wow what an awesome story defiantly got tons of history! That's cool your finally doing it the right way. Going to be well worth it and sweet when you get all done. Keep up the good work :D
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Re: My 80' silverado
 

I like the way that looks. I may try that. I did take the t-clamps or whatever they are called off and just used bolts which looks like a lot better.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

I ordered it through Summit Racing. I contacted them and they are sending me a new one the right size for the difference and then picking up the old one and taking it back.

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Does anyone know where I can get an original style breather for this truck?

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Here's what I got done this weekend. I got the front end suspension off and rolled the cab
back and painted the frame.

In two weeks I'll be able to finish the suspension and put the new motor and tranny in.

https://p1muaw.bay.livefilestore.com.../9a.jpg?psid=1

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Re: My 80' silverado
 

Motor and tranny back on frame....