1985 Short Bed

[portrodder]

Recently purchased a 1985, Chevy C10 Silverado, short bed fleet side with about 160K miles. The truck has been sitting since early 2011 and its the original red/white with red interior. The original 305 CID engine has been replaced with a 350 CID crate motor as stated by the prior owner. This motor is suppose to have between 20K and 25K on it. Overall the truck is very orginal with the exception of some aftermarket gauges and radio.

Here are a few pictures of what she looks like

[Wrecked1982]

looks like a good starting point

[rusty76]

Clean looking truck.

[portrodder]

Finally got to do a little checking and work on the truck this weekend. Purchased a battery and some gas put it all in and after a few minutes it started. Motor ran well, a little ruff but considering how long it has been sitting its good to have it running at all. I did run it long enough to know that the carb will need adjusting/rebuild and a new set of valve cover gaskets to stop the oil leaks. Now to check the brakes and everything else to get it ready for the state safety inspection.

A few more pic of what I working with

[portrodder]

Finally got the brakes adjusted and working, changed out a couple of blown headlights and was able to get a safety inspection. Can legally drive it on the road if necessary without worrying about getting a ticket .

Now I need to get parts to: 1. Rebuild the front end. 2. Rebuild/replace the door hinges on both doors. 3. Replace/repair the leaking steering box. 4. Gas gauge only shows close to 1/2 a tank when full.

Want to drop the front 1 to 2 inches when doing the front end, what the best cost effective (cheap) way to do this?

[Paul83]

Nice looking truck. You could just cut the coil if it is In good enough shape. That is pretty cheap. If you are doing the front end anyway the coil will be coming off. Do it then. Also if you are repairing the steering box; I would check the rag joint and replace it too if needed.

[portrodder]

Thanks Paul83 for your reply. Can I run regular shocks or do I have to get different ones. Ordered the parts for the front end rebuild a lot cheaper on line so while I'm waiting on the Postman I'm going to start removing the front cap to do some work and repair in that area. It should also make it a lot easier to do the front end work with things out of the way.

[Paul83]

With that small of a drop I would not worry about shorter shocks. They do make them though. If that is something you are going to change anyway. I did my entire front end just a few months ago. I ordered all my parts from rock auto. That was way cheaper, doing it all at once also made the job easier. The truck rides smooth now.

[portrodder]

Finally got all of the parts ordered for the front end rebuild and since I have several days before parts start coming in though I'd start removing the front cap to make it easier to do the repairs and rebuild of the front end.

[portrodder]

Worked on the truck a little more today, just general tear down. Want have to worry about cutting the dash to install a after market stereo because the dash has already been cut

[portrodder]

Well it rained the past couple of days so haven't been able to do much to the truck. All was not a total lost though because I started putting together a to do list and a parts list. Will get back at it as soon as the weather gets better.

[portrodder]

Got a chance to do a little more work on the truck the past few days. Between of the honey due list and spring lawn cleaning and care didn't get as much done as I would have liked. Still working on removing the front cap and hopefully will get it all done in the next few days because steering and suspension parts have started coming in from rock auto parts.

[portrodder]

Finally got all of my steering and suspension parts in from rock auto and finished the deconstruction of the front cap. Now to remove all of the old components, clean up the frame area and begin the rebuild of the steering and suspension.

[Paul83]

If you plan on replacing the front rubber brake lines do it now while the fenders are off. They are a pain in the butt if you do it with them on. Tight spots. Not sure if they need replacing, but just a thought.

[portrodder]

Originally Posted by Paul83

If you plan on replacing the front rubber brake lines do it now while the fenders are off. They are a pain in the butt if you do it with them on. Tight spots. Not sure if they need replacing, but just a thought.

Thanks for the tip Paul83, I had planed to replace all of the brake hardware and anything else you might suggest is more than welcome. Still in the process of tearing her down

[portrodder]

May was not a very productive month for working on the truck with several out of town/out of state graduations and a lot of rain. I did however, pick up on a great deal from Harbor Freight on a shop crane for a very good price, less than a $100.00 plus shipping.

[portrodder]

Still making some progress on the truck, however slow, but progress anyway . Got a chance to used the new engine hoist and removed the motor and transmission.

[Paul83]

Slow is better than none. It took me 1 year and a half between work and life. It is well worth it. Having the engine and tranny out will make the rest of your work easier.

[naphtali5725]

Originally Posted by Paul83

Slow is better than none. It took me 1 year and a half between work and life. It is well worth it. Having the engine and tranny out will make the rest of your work easier.

blah... i'm going on 3 years on mine

looking good!

[portrodder]

Got a chance to work on the truck a little, a lot of wet weather here lately, and getting closer to getting the cab off. Progress included getting both doors off and all the cab bolts out but one. That last bolt made about 3 turns and froze up, want go in or out so my question is what do you guys do with something like this. Other problem is the inside bolt to the upper door hinge fell out of the socket and drop to the inner rocker, I think, so how do you remove this bolt or just leave it and replace it with another.

[portrodder]

After soaking the last cab bolt with pb blaster for about a week it still wouldn't turn, finally started spinning in the holder. Finally got it out but had to go a different route and after checking the bolt after removal replacement is in order. The next step is to get the carriage nut out.

[rusty76]

She didn't want to come out huh? Wow.

[portrodder]

Finally got the cage nut out, it was stripped and needs to be replaced, and lifted the cab from the frame. Will start taking everything off the frame to clean it up and repaint.

[portrodder]

Well, I'm still working on the truck and have it down to the frame. Will get the brake and fuel lines off and began the clean up process to get it ready for paint.

[portrodder]

Finally got everything off the frame and it's time to get down and dirty with the cleanup. Purchased a couple of gallons of purple power, some red scuff pads, a long handle and short handle scrub brushes, pulled out the power washer and went to work.

Also ordered a paint gun set from TCP Global and waiting on it to come in. Will purchased the primer and paint locally. That's it for now but will keep working at it.