The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

I used to post here a lot and received a ton of valuable advice from some of the members here. I would like to reintroduce myself. In 2017 I moved from Virginia with the wife and kids back to my home state of California to care for my dad during his final years. We crammed everything we owned into a 24' International. The rental truck was brand new, it was pretty sweet. I was pulling my car on a trailer... Other than getting pick pocketed at a rest stop in Tennessee the trip was amazing.

Anyway the GMC Sierra Classic 2500 had to sit on a friends farm up until a few weeks ago. I was going to tell my friend to sell it but the wife insisted that we keep it and I'm glad she did. So we had a guy put it on a trailer and bring it to CA. I told her if we are going to spend the money to haul it out here then I'm going to completely restore it. And I have begun. After sitting for 5 years without being started I put a new battery in and it fired up on the second turn of the key.... I did not think it was going to fire up so easily. It smoked just a little at first and idled fine. Over the last a couple of weeks I drove it around the neighborhood a few times and parked it in the driveway to begin restoration.

Removed all of the interior, threw out the nasty old carpet, bagged and tagged anything to be reused. I discovered that the floor is rusted out on both sides. So I'm going to be learning how to weld now. I got the engine ready to pull out. It was worn out and it was time to replace it. I have not decided what to engine to buy but I want it to be new. This is a tough decision. I could use some help deciding...

Anyway, I will be asking plenty of questions I'm sure. My main problem is going to be dealing with rust. I will show pics when I get started. I have decided to go all in. I told the wife complete restore or get rid of it. She said restore. I said OK. It's going to be a beauty when I'm done. First pic is the truck after it's journey from the east coast.