new truck project - another unicorn?

up here clean anything is hard to find at 23 years old. let alone a truck. then there is the fact that most everyone ordered long beds and autos. but i found my needle in the proverbial haystack. a 1990 chevy regular cab shortbed 2wd 5 speed with a 4.3. the v6 is plenty for now and when i kill it it'll get a stock tbi 350 like i did to my last 4.3 truck. it takes me a day to do the swap start to finish by myself in one of these trucks because i know them better than anything.

smooshed up front, frame straight. see license plate for why it is so clean

cab corners look like this

above the wheels

the brake system is contaminated with not brake fluid. all new ac delco rubber hoses and wheel cylinders came today, new calipers and pads came with the truck, and i have a used master/prop combo from one of my old trucks.

immediate plans are make the brakes work and fix the front end damage. i will be putting on the 94+ silverado grill with composite headlamps and the 94+ mirrors as well. then drive it before they salt the roads, then park it until april or so. it will get all the dings worked out as time permits. final color undecided. also will most likely get a 2/4 drop. already have brand new 275/60/15 firehawks to go all the way around on 15x8 truck rally rims.

Which part makes this a unicorn? I wouldn't even bat an eye if I saw that cruising around...

Bryce

Nashco wrote: Which part makes this a unicorn?

Short bed, regular cab, manual transmission.

This is a GRM rednecks wet dream, so yeah i am jealous!!

I forgot what those looked like with out rust though, great find!!!!

patgizz wrote: . i will be putting on the 94+ silverado grill with composite headlamps and the 94+ mirrors as well. then drive it before they salt the roads, then park it until april or so. it will get all the dings worked out as time permits. final color undecided. also will most likely get a 2/4 drop. already have brand new 275/60/15 firehawks to go all the way around on 15x8 truck rally rims.

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU

Nashco wrote: Which part makes this a unicorn? I wouldn't even bat an eye if I saw that cruising around... Bryce

around here every 88-95 chevy is gone 4" above the wheels and has no cab corners or rockers. road salt sucks. but yeah in general its the regular cab/shortbed/manual trans combo that has me giddy. nobody will notice it until it is dropped, straightened, and painted. not red. definitely not red.

i like the 2 tone silverados with the silver down the middle ala my burban.

i was actually thinking silver middle with blue top/bottom would be nice. or white middle instead of silver. i have half a gallon of white ppg bc/cc kicking around.

That truck looks like every truck in Texas as far as rust. I guess the options thing is cool. In all id call it a decent truck.. not too big, not too small, not too slow, expensive, complicated, etc. Best of luck with it!

heck, if y'all yankees are looking for rust free trucks, maybe i could help out down south here.....

ill start by offering up a two owner 89 sierra extended cab long bed, 2wd, 4.3 5speed....... (cueerntly 82k on it and mine)

seriously. we have hundreds of those trucks on the local CL in similar shape for cheap. just a million and half miles on em. which up north, drivetrains are generally lower milage cause the truck rusts off of them. (origonally from Kane, PA). buy a cheap drivetrain scrap body. buy cheap body, scrap drivetrain. good truck, scrap metal profit!!

In reply to Dusterbd13:

If I had the room, I'd be tempted to find another Dodge V10 and swap in the Cummins from my truck. Engine runs fine - body is starting to melt...

In reply to Dusterbd13:

Find me that in a Ford with a V8 and I will be right over to visit you

aussiesmg wrote: In reply to Dusterbd13: Find me that in a Ford with a V8 and I will be right over to visit you

I am buying a '95 Extended cab with 5.8 V8 and tow package for $1000 from a board member.

aussiesmg wrote: In reply to Dusterbd13: Find me that in a Ford with a V8 and I will be right over to visit you

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3267281618.html http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3240465141.html http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3280767937.html

when you coming?

Missing the stick shift, prefer a 5.8 for towing, probably visiting soon at this rate.

aussiesmg wrote: Missing the stick shift, prefer a 5.8 for towing, probably visiting soon at this rate.

In the pre-96 1/2 tons, the only way to get a manual is with a 6cyl or 5.0L. To get a 5.8/manual, you had to step up to a F250/350. Reason I know this, is I wanted a 1/2ton 5.8 stick. Only way to get a 5.8L 1/2ton was to get a Lightning which only came with an automatic.

that looks REALLY familiar!

I swapped out the worn out bench for a set of 95 buckets and console:

and I did a 2/4 drop with 255/70/15's on stock aluminum wheels.

Got the clear lens headlights and ran 4 hi-beam bulbs, plus did the 4-hi conversion on it. Great truck. Handled really well and got mid 20's mpg on the highway. I had to replace all the suspension (bushings, ball joints, pitman/idler, springs, shocks) and all the brakes (rotors, bearings, calipers, hoses, wheel cylinders, drums, shoes, hardware) and rebuilt the diff. I bought it abused with 215k miles on it.

I miss that truck some days.

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3257165146.html

not a 5.8, but that should be easy to find in oh. you probably wont even have to pull any bolts, as theyre probably rusted off by now.....

michael

and your welcome. i like enabling.

You mean to say you once killed a 4.3? How did you pull that off? My Dad had one in a 94 K1500 that by the 200k mark, was burning about a quart a month, so he just started topping off the oil and spinning on a filter every 8 months or so. This was his DD and wood hauler, he would run it wide open throttle several times a day, every day, fill the thing with wood till it was on the bump stops and keep adding wood. We once hauled a whole yard of damp sand in the back of it. Truck was sold with 290k on the clock and tons of metal flakes on the trans dipstick. But it drove away and shifted fine.

Dusterbd13 wrote: http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/3280767937.html

That truck just begs for a nice 600hp 557 BBF swap..... on top of a 3/5 drop......

I guess the rare part is really just that it hasn't rusted away. Like I said, in other parts of the country I'd expect to find these pretty easily, since they were the cheapest full size you could get. I found this on my local craigslist in less than a minute:

http://corvallis.craigslist.org/cto/3165102496.html

'89 Chevy 2wd 5 speed V6 with standard cab, short bed, and basically no options. $1500

Want another one? Assuming the truck is from this area, it's almost guaranteed to be rust free.

Bryce

In reply to Bobzilla:

I would have loved to have that truck.

In reply to Ranger50:

When did they change that crap......our farm's '87 f150 has the 5.8L......last lear of the carb'd awesomeness.

Nashco wrote: I guess the rare part is really just that it hasn't rusted away. Like I said, in other parts of the country I'd expect to find these pretty easily, since they were the cheapest full size you could get. I found this on my local craigslist in less than a minute: http://corvallis.craigslist.org/cto/3165102496.html '89 Chevy 2wd 5 speed V6 with standard cab, short bed, and basically no options. $1500 Want another one? Assuming the truck is from this area, it's almost guaranteed to be rust free. Bryce

now tell us how many automatics you found.....

yamaha wrote: In reply to Ranger50: When did they change that crap......our farm's '87 f150 has the 5.8L......last lear of the carb'd awesomeness.

Yeah, a family friend had a reg cab short bed 5.8/speed 94 or 95 f150 back in the day I'm pretty sure. He bought that after he wore out a 4.3 s10 towing his tractor doing dirt work.

In reply to yamaha:

I have to assume around 90-93 because it was either the introduction of the E4OD or the "aero" front end bodywork. My previous post is from 96 when I was looking for a new vehicle to replace the S10 that was a POS.