Paw Paw's 1989 Chevy Silverado C1500

[lha1992]

Hey everyone! I'm kinda new, I joined a few months back saying I was gonna get a '72 cheyenne longhorn. Well the deal fell through and really the truck was in really really bad condition so I just let it go.

Instead, I got my paw paw's '89 Chevy Silverado that he bought brand new back in 1989. He bought it at Jerrel Davis Buick in Meridian, Ms from his son who worked there. They had to get the truck from there sister dealership in Tupelo, MS since they only sold Buick and Chrysler at theirs. My granddad gave me the truck back in 2005 when I was 13. He saw I always took care of it and he came to me one day and handed me the keys to the truck. Sadly, my paw paw past away in November of 2007 at the age of 86. He fought in WWII and was a POW. Man do I miss the stories he would tell us of the war.

Finally after quite sometime (and waiting for a shipper to actually confirm to picking the truck up) I shipped the truck up here to Washington State. Now, I wanna bring the truck back to what it looked liked when I was a kid riding around with my paw paw and maw maw.

Here's what i'm looking at doing to the truck over the next few months:

Full repaint of the truck, it still has the original stuff but its badly dulled out.
Recover the headliner, bench seat, sun visors, and pull the carpet and shampoo.
Replace the front windshield and reseal the rear windshield.
Replace bushings, struts, and shocks.
Sand the wheels and repaint them black.
Have a spray in bedliner put on.

And heres some pics of the truck:




I took out the headliner and the visors out to recover them. Soon I will have the bench done too.


About the engine compartment, it came from Mississippi and went down dirt roads and yeah you can see Lol. I will be giving it a good cleaning this weekend.
Thanks

[lha1992]

Forgot to say, the truck is a 350cid, 700R4 tranny and 3.08s in the rearend. Has only 122,682 miles. Had all the options you could get.

[jb1016]

I love it! It's great when they get to stay in the family. Be sure to keep us updated with plenty of pictures!

[lha1992]

Originally Posted by jb1016

I love it! It's great when they get to stay in the family. Be sure to keep us updated with plenty of pictures!

Hey thanks! And I will keep ya'll updated on how it goes.

[scotts62]

Hey from OKC!!

Going to be a cool build, i like the "kept in the family" builds.

[Rimshot1911]

I was going to get my father's '90 Chevy C1500 when I turned 15, but we had limited space and couldn't shuffle cars for 3 years... To this day we are still kicking ourselves for selling it. It was black, Reg cab, long bed, 350 auto with all the bells and whistles. I still remember that truck like it was yesterday.

Good luck on the build and we do love updates and pictures, even if the update is you Armor All the tires... LOL

Best of luck,
Rim

[Chevy350V8]

I painted my rims black yesturday, check out my build thread for the pics! I also got a 89, there pretty sweet trucks.

[nickp51chevy]

Great lookin' truck. Consider yourself lucky that you had the time that you did with your grandfather. Mine passed years before I was born so I never got the chance to know him. He too was in WWII.

[grayharville]

That looks to be a very solid truck to start off with for a project, Im jealous of your TBI, I want it! are you repainting it the original colors? gonna do anything custom to the truck?

[lha1992]

Originally Posted by grayharville

That looks to be a very solid truck to start off with for a project, Im jealous of your TBI, I want it! are you repainting it the original colors? gonna do anything custom to the truck?

Hey thanks! Its a good truck! The TBI is good because it automatically idles down than like a carb. I'm gonna be repainting the truck in its original colors. Thats the original paint it has on it now which is dull and scratched bad.

I might later on after the paint job is done give the top end of the engine a overhaul maybe. Make it pull out some more ponies. Right now the engine is all original.

[AverageJoe]

Originally Posted by lha1992

Hey thanks! Its a good truck! The TBI is good because it automatically idles down than like a carb. I'm gonna be repainting the truck in its original colors. Thats the original paint it has on it now which is dull and scratched bad.

I might later on after the paint job is done give the top end of the engine a overhaul maybe. Make it pull out some more ponies. Right now the engine is all original.

I hated my tbi because it didnt like my cam. Keep that in mind if you ever get a big cam.

[nickp51chevy]

Hey bud if you ever need any help with your truck let me know and I'll try to get out to lend a hand.

[dishow]

awsome.it looks like a short box? sweet.

oh......ive never done it....howd u get the headliner out without taking all the trim out.mine really needs to be worked on but i tought all the trim had to be removed and i was too afraid of breaking all the clips.

[Chevy350V8]

^ I think its a Long bed

[Tinker1980]

A beautiful machine. When you have a TBI 350 chevy truck, you don't just have a truck, you have a lifetime friend. 122,000 miles isn't even broken in for that engine, I have 217,000 on my 1989 longbed regular cab, and it runs like a brand new truck. I wouldn't worry about building up the engine, it'll run just fine forever the way it is.

[Slammed '87]

Hey that looks kinda like my '92. I haven't seen many before with these colors, around here anyway. I'd like to see how the fresh paint looks. Here's a pic of mine. It looks ok from a distance but up close you can tell it's age.

[grayharville]

I love those GMC front ends with billet grilles, by far my most favorite front end style available for this bodystyle.

[Chevy350V8]

Slammed, Is that the impala wheels?

[Slammed '87]

no, they are Eagle 028's

[Pop's C-10]

Good luck on tha build...keep it in tha family

[Kurt3]

Hey slammed87, I have the same rims as you, are the backs 15 by 10's?

[Slammed '87]

Originally Posted by Kurt3

Hey slammed87, I have the same rims as you, are the backs 15 by 10's?

yes they are.

[lha1992]

Time for an update on the truck!

Well, got a really good deal on a set of wheels and tires and had them put on but before that I had to have a brake job done to the front end. All new pads, calipers and hoses because the drivers side disc would not fully release causing it to get really hot and start smoking and also the passenger side would pull to that side whenever you hit the brake.

Everything to the brakes was done but it still if you push the brake hard it will pull to the right but at least they aren't smoking haha.

But for the bad news, my mechanic said I need new pitman and idler arms put on because the right tire is very very loose so that will need to be changed very soon.

I'll get some new pics of the truck up tomorrow since its dark out.

[89chevsj]

i agree with the guy above. i had a 92 with almost 500k mile on an original engine, the only thing tranny wise was a leaky seal. And slammed, your location sounds alien to me haha and i mean that in the nicest way possible. we have ALOT of truck in these colors or in the reverse (silver top and bottom red middle) but hey if you need pitman and idler arms i suggest you do the entire front end, it will save you time in the long run.

[lha1992]

New pic of what the truck looks like now.