91 DD build

[GMC91]

Well, before I begin, let me tell you Im only 16 about to be 17. So money is a huge limiting factor, that and I have to drive the truck almost everyday. Timie to begin the story. When I was 13 my dad gave me his old work truck, a 91 GMC Sierra sport-side. He didnt just give it to me, had to spend a whole summer building a 2 car garage. So on my birthday he surprised me by handing me the keys, a bottle of armoral, and some other cleaning stuff. Well for 2 years the truck sat and was driven about 1-2 times a month by me on some back roads with my dad. When I turned 15 my dad gave me the choice between a new motor or a paint job, since the 350 that was in it still ran good, I picked a new paint job All was fine and dandy till I turned 16 then the whole truck went down hill. I raced my friends, hit a small tree(didnt hurt the truck, just killed the tree, it was really small), backed onto a late 80 model mustang, sang the truck in 5 foot of water, the whole truck was tore up. Looking back I regret it all. Well I spent the whole summer replacing the motor and tranny. I now have a 83 model 305 and a TH350 tranny in the truck with an Edle 600CFM 4 barrel carb with mech secondaries. It drives nice just looks like hell. Now Im working on the body and since its already tore up and needs new paint Im gonna customize it too my liking. Right now I got the grill and front bumber off and fixing some dents in the fenders. I painted the support for the bumper flat black along with the front piece that the grill and all bolts into. My plains are the lower it a little more, shaved tail-gate and shaved door handles, new style grill with Euro headlights, crome GMC emblems, new mirrors painted to match, shaved rear steps, custom interior, smoothie front bumper, roll pan for the back, Euro tailights, and some other stuff that I just cant remember now. Well enough for talking, time for some pics.


Heres what I started with.


The motor when I still had my Holley on it. Now got an Edle.








Just one of the many dents in it.

I got to get a new hood(the one on it was already dented beyond repair) and a new tail-gate(also dented beyond repair). Also if anyone has any other ideas for customizing it, please tell me, Im always looking for new ideas.

[GMC91]

Alright, first question. Where can I find clear marker lights for my style grille? I can find them for the new style grills were the marker lights are cut in halve but my grill is older and has the full marker lights.

http://image.trucktrend.com/f/849211...front_view.jpg
I have this kinda grill only mines chrome not painted.

[tvblazer78]

Very cool... Keep us posted..

[ChevLoRay]

Wow! You made an impression on several fronts...tree.....Mustang...

At least you weren't hurt, huh? So, you dad made you work for it by building a garage. That's good. Now, you know something about how to do that and it can come in handy to help you find a job that may be helpful to you as you upgrade/customize your truck. That's good, too.

The nice thing about these trucks is that there's still a lot of decent parts out there that are basically affordable. As for your wants on the grille, why not change to the later (94-98) GMC grille and then the clear markers/corners you want will be readily available? You'll also need to change the valance between the grille and bumper to make the grille fit. You won't need to change headlights from the quads you now have which isn't a bad thing because the glass lamp assy's won't turn yellow unless you have low voltage going to them. You could keep those and add the clear parking lenses and then the clear corners. A smooth front bumper (no rubber/no holes for license plate) would clean up the front end. Shaving the tailgate shouldn't be too hard. Mar-K in Oklahoma City has a kit to relocate the tailgate handle to the inside of the tailgate, that includes the patch to cover the hole. There stock handle goes on the inside of the tailgate so parts are not an issue if the handle goes bad.....stock GM still will work.

But welcome to our forum and we're waiting to see how your truck goes. Keep posting pix.

[GMC91]

Thats what I wanted to do with the grille, up-grade to the new style. Then get the clear marker lights, some clear head lights with the diamond design in them, and some smoked bottom lights(dont know thier exact name). But i cant find the grille I want(havent really looked anywhere except styling trucks). And Im gonna get the chrome front bumper with frenched in license plate. I like my front tag, nice rebel flag( Im NOT racist just like the LOOK).

[ChevLoRay]

Try looking at www.latemodelrestoration.com website. When you go to their home page, look on the left side and find the ChevyTrucks line and click on it. They are good to deal with and have a good selection of parts to restore and/or modify these 88-up trucks. Don't get turned off because they have parts for other vehicles. I'd recommend ordering one of their catalogs....they're color and are good reading. The www.lmctrucks.com website offers catalogs and the breakdown shown in their illustrations is good reference material. My headlights/parking lights are from CKResto, which is what Late Model Restoration calls their truck parts division. Check 'em out.

As for the smoked parking lights, I haven't seen those. I'm adding a pic of my truck taken a couple years ago. Since then, the bumper has changed to a smooth one and the side trim is gone. Currently, I'm getting the mirrors ready to paint white, like the rest of the body.

Good luck on your project.

[derek6787]

get the grille without the letters and order you some billet ones. stylin concepts has them for sure. I got my grille off of ebay. The guy has " car parts" all over his auctions, i wouldn't buy from just anyone on ebay just the ones you know have good parts.

[GMC91]

First off, you gotta have some tunage when working.


Ok here the progress I made past day, all pics are in order.







This is were I started at this morning. It was around 10 AM.

[GMC91]

This is were she sits now, Im tired as all get out, but it looks better I think.





And derek6787 thanks for the tip, Ill look into that.

[BigBlocksRule]

FIRST thing you gotta do is get that engine painted.

NO FORD BLUE in a Chevy truck!!!

[ChevLoRay]

Lighten up....he just color-coordinated his block with the body

Shaved door handles...check out AutoLoc.

[GMC91]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

FIRST thing you gotta do is get that engine painted.

NO FORD BLUE in a Chevy truck!!!

Actually if you were to see it in person, its a metallic blue like the body.
And thanks ChevLoRay

[BACKYARD88]

It's also a 305, which would have been painted blue from the factory When you get solenoids, be sure to get the ones that are round, not the ones that are just plastic door lock actuators.
http://www.thehoffmangroup.com/autol...dinc=solenoids

[GMC91]

Well Ive changed my mind on the shaved door handles. I got a friend with an 89 chevy and he has done a lot with it and one thing he said dont do is shaved door handles. He has them on his truck and he has had a lot of problems with them, so I think a nice set of chrome buckets and handles will look just as good if not better on the truck instead. Thanks.

[ChevLoRay]

If the color on your truck is a factory color and you want to make the handles blend in with the rest of the truck, you may want to check out a '99 Escalade door handles. I thought about it, but the closest color to mine was a pearl white, which my truck is not.

[GMC91]

I want my truck to stand out in crowd, thats why I want the chrome door handles.

[ChevLoRay]

Go for it, if that is your plan. I'm a subtle sorta guy.....

[BigBlocksRule]

Chrome handles look sweet IF you have a few other chrome accents (bumper, etc.)

[GMC91]

To ChevLoRay, I got the personality of being out spoken, very loud, and love everyone looking at me, either in a good or bad way. So I want my truck to do the same. But thats just me, everyone is diff.

To BigBlocksRule, I plan on some other chrome peices added..bumber, fender well trim, wipers, and varius others.

[ChevLoRay]

I got no problems with people who know what they want and go for it. You and I are okay.

[GMC91]

I didnt mean to come off sounding agressive. I was just statin me and you are too different people. But back to the build, I got some more work done to my hood, also finally got it back on the truck. Got me a set of 8in Rally's. Gonna go see if a buddy of mine wants to trade 2 of my 8in rallys for 2 7in rallys. Anyway, sorry no pics, its been raining for a week straight.

[GMC91]

Well my friends dad didn't want to trade....Honestly he just didn't want to get up to look for the other rims, but oh well. I started sand blasting the Rallys that I do got down today. I almost got the front of one done tonight. I thought it was easy but now I know other wise about sand blasting. But anyway, as promised here are some pics of the Rally I did tonight compared to what I started with. And sorry no pics of the truck with its hood on yet, its still rainy...



As you can see, the one I was working on is the top one, and the bottom one is what I started out with.


Another pic of the rim.


With the beauty rings and center cap, I dont like the center caps too much, might change them out with something else, any ideas?

[dan76]

nice progress...

[ChevLoRay]

All that rain that you guys in GA got.....came from AR. Today, we have sunshine for the first time in 2 weeks.

As for a center cap, you are using wheels that I'd also like to use but don't have. I have also toyed with the idea of a different cap and have seen pix of some Astro centers on rallye wheels. I'll see if I can find a pic. These centers are on the chrome wheels like the SS54's had, but I have seen them on the rallye's. I don't have any idea who the girl is; the pic was sent to me to "showcase" the centers. I think it works.....

[GMC91]

I got the Rallys from a friend of my dads. I got to get them painted and have tires put on them ASAP cause Im trading the rims that are on my truck now for them, but the guy let me go ahead and take the Rallys to get them done up how I like them. Around here, Rallys are very easy to find, most junk yards have piles of them, my neighbor himself as about 3 sets of them.