What are your favorite modifications to your ride?

[bigblock73]

I always get inspiration and ideas from fellow car/truck owners, which leads me to this question.

What are your favorite modifications you have made to your truck?
A brief description and picture of it would be nice. Don't hold back, share your secrets!

Here are a few of mine (in no particular order), all on Yeller.

Reworked factory radio with modern internals
Freshly chromed bumpers minus the bumper bolts
Subtle body modifications (shaved cab seam, stake pockets, TG handle, door locks, mirrors)
Fuel cell

[87chevy.com]

moding the steering column to gain 2 extra inches and hid projector retrofit...and of course the 5.3/4l60e conversion

[baclay9]

Originally Posted by 87chevy.com

moding the steering column to gain 2 extra inches and hid projector retrofit...and of course the 5.3/4l60e conversion

Please tell me more about your steering colum mod. I am fat and need more room. Lol

[jdmaffeo]

I would have to say that I put the most work into the bed of mine. That includes the shaving of the stake pockets, new wood, caddy tail lights, different tailgate, and roll pan...

[3r!c84]

lowering it is my fav mod so far.im going to start building a motor for it in a few weeks

[68longhorn]

I like my rearview mirror, dice and door sill plates. Oh, and my flowmaster muffler too! Heres a bad pic of my mirror...

[87chevy.com]

Originally Posted by baclay9

Please tell me more about your steering colum mod. I am fat and need more room. Lol

in a nut shell, you relocate the park/neutral switch at the bottom of the steering column by cutting and relocating the hole in which it mounts to. drilling out the glue in the factory intermidiate shaft so it can then be collapsed a little bit.. re drill new holes and insert plastic rivit. lengthen the steering column mount (that holds the column to the dash) "fingers". the fingers im reffering to are the pieces that holds the aluminum slider piece. then reassemble and adjust shift linkage. easy peazy if you have a cut off wheel with a skinny blade and a welder... pretty hard if you dont have either.
clint

[jake wells]

doing away with the smog crap (we don't have emission testing or inspection here)

putting on a performance edelbrock carb and intake on it.

put on mud and snow tires on it the roads suck here!

and adding a smaller steering wheel as the stock one
rubs my fat roll

and 2.5 true dual straight pipes with 12 inch cherry bombs

that's all

[TimQ]

All that looks really sweet. I'm really interested in hearing more about the radio. From the looks of it, I have the exact same one right down to the strip of black tape on the top. Anyhow, how did you get the innards upgraded? Did you send it out or do it yourself? I've got the innards of a more modern radio that I am trying to retro fit into the case of the original but still have a ways to go and would love some tips.

My only cool mod was to hack a dual button garage door opener which is wired into the ignition rather than run by battery. I hid the unit behind the dash and then wired in two buttons (one for each door) located at the bottom of the dash just to the right of the steering wheel. There's some holes already there on my 86 that fit RadioShack momentary buttons perfectly. It did this because I always hated the idea of leaving my truck in the driveway with a garage door opener in it. Someone could break into the truck and get into the house with a push of a button. This way, the can't unless they turn the ignition on and then only if they realize what those odd buttons are for.

I'll get some pics tomorrow to post.

[bikes&bowties]

my stuff is minor... I want a fuel cell/blazer tank cause i hate saddle tanks especially with my flatbed... There is stuff i will do eventually like bucket seats and headache rack and make it a work truck more...

grill/headlight bezels....

before


after


and a lift and flatbed

(just before being pulled into the shop for 5 months...)


the first road worthy day


and the drivetrain was changed for personal liking...

from a old smokey 305/ slipping and losing reverse 700r4 to a very mild built 350 backed by an sm465 np205.... They say the first is the hardest and i believe it... the auto to manual swap took some "special" words... if i ever do another it will go smooth as silk..

[blakeduren]

Tell us more about the radio upgrade!!!!

Originally Posted by bigblock73

What are your favorite modifications you have made to your truck?
A brief description and picture of it would be nice. Don't hold back, share your secrets!

Here are a few of mine (in no particular order), all on Yeller.

Reworked factory radio with modern internals

[Scootin 81 C20]

Mine would have to have been my lights that I installed under the dash and under the bed rails.

[dv8customs]

My favorite is spacing out the letters on my tailgate.

[moneyeater]

Cool thread Jeff!
I love the ´89 blazerface with the bigger headlights and the lowered suspension
that rides like a ´vette!
The shaved stakepockets and sportbumpers with welded bolts are great too!
But the mod i like best is the nice sounding smallblock 350 that puts out 243 horses and looks much better then the diesel i had before!
That makes the whole package just great and motivates me to go ahead finishing it and give it more mods in the future!
Volker

YouTube- chevy c1o pickup on idle

[wedgemon]

Wiper trick...

I got tired of reaching for the wiper switch every time rain or snow or wet roads wanna just spit on the windshield. I needed something to trigger the wipers, from the steering wheel - or someplace more convenient.

Grabbed the voltmeter. Check the two wires to the plug on the wiper motor. And, discovered if you jumper these with the ignition on, you blow up Cleveland. Not really, but, the wipers will cycle.

So, I grabbed a old cell phone coiled charger cable, soldered on a red momentary contact switch, fashioned a small holder on one of the spokes of my Grant wheel, ran the cable down the bottom of the column and jumpered the two wires.

I now have a wiper button, convenient to my left thumb while driving. Works great. And, Some kid at A-Zone yesterday wanted to know where my NOS bottle was. I told him it was new BLUE liquid NOS and it's right here in this translucent bottle on the fender well.

Try this trick guys. Don't see why it wouldn't work on the dash, shifter, signal stem, or even a foot switch.

. . . sure hope Cleveland is ok.

- Dave

[355bullet]

for me, cowl hood and 90front end

[stepside83]

well i dont have any pics, but mine favorite mods are, i welded the wholes shut in the ash trat, and thats where all and any switches will be hidden, also my 3/5 drop, the stake pockets welded shut on my stepside bedand a few otheres that arent done yet

[STOCKISH]

I would have to say the 6.0/4l80e swap is my favorite.

[69BBsuburban]

Filled stake pockets...no pics...I'm sure you can imagine it though...haha....

[qu1cks1lver56]

My steering wheel and stereo.

[69Rob]

Favorite mods have to be air suspension and my 24" rims. i know a lot of people disagree with larger rims i also have some rallys for it but i'm the type that believes why not go the next step.

[softballnrd27]

Mine would have to be my wheels. I went from this:


To this:

[amodedude1]

Sweet usmc hub dude!

[tucsonjwt]

Favorite mod - dump box conversion - it's a work truck.

[joe1982]

Originally Posted by softballnrd27

Mine would have to be my wheels. I went from this:


To this:

i hope the EGA's on your front and back wheels have their anchors facing inward!