Jonvo's old school diesel

[jonvo4591]

Hey guys! Been away from here for a while after I sold my old 1 ton cab & chassis, but I'm back with an all new ride!

Boom! here she is:


The PO took the truck down to the frame and replaced the cab and box with clean southern parts, swapped the engine, front clip, interior, and doors from a '91 suburban, and an '87 700r4 trans.

Here are my plans for it. First things first, remove that topper!! beyond that, I've got some 15x7 steelies that I'm painting white and slapping some dog dishes on, some new tires, swap the Chevy grill for a GMC, and drop her down about 6 inches or so

One thing I would REALLY like to do is swap the ugly power plastic mirrors for some dumbos, and I'm wondering if the old mounting holes would get covered by the dumbos or not... Oh well I'll probably hit the JY with a tape measure and figure it out sooner or later. I also want to swap the 4-spoke steering wheel for an older 2-spoke, and swap the buckets and console for a bench.


My whole vision for this truck is to give it a kind of heavy-duty work truck feel, while still being comfortable every day, and of course, standing out from the crowd. Not to mention keeping it lighter to help with the awesome fuel economy these old diesels are known for.

This thread will serve the purpose of documenting my project, and hopefully helping me out where I usually need it, in the motivation department.

Stay tuned.......................................

[rs74]

Looks like a pretty nice ride.

[jonvo4591]

Thanks! and until that cap comes off it is what kids around here call a "grandpa truck." Not too fitting for it's 22 year old driver!

tonight I picked up a late style GMC grill, and some paint for the new wheels and to touch up the grill! Next on the list, Locate some decent looking GMC dog dishes.

[jonvo4591]

Well, last night was halfway successful. I got the grill swapped, decided to just clean it up and slap it on there. Looks a lot better, IMO.

The rolling stock was a bust, though. Wheels wouldn't fit over the drums in the rear, on top of that, one was damaged and had the wrong bolt pattern. Got return shipping labels stuck on them today and they are heading back to where they came from.

I'm not sure where I want to go with the wheels and tires now, but I'll probably just have to find an original set of 15x6's and re-do them. Here are some pics from last night, cuz who doesn't love pics???

New (to me) grill prior to cleanup


The wheels; Upper right had a flat spot and was a 5x4.75 instead of 5x5!


Little bit cleaner


Decided to take a before shot 1/3 of the way through disassembly


Say ahhhhh!


much much much much much better!!

[rusty76]

Looks good to me!

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

Keep the rallies and paint them to match the truck. That'd look sweet!

[jonvo4591]

I've been tossing some things around in my head, and I think I know what I'm gonna do with the wheels and tires. Keep the rallies, paint them black, and put some 255 70's on them and run white letters out with no trim rings.

I think there's enough bright blue on the truck already with the size of it!

I think I'll be ordering drop parts soon once I get refunded for my wheels

[jonvo4591]

Got some new footwear for old blue!

Sanded the rust out of the wheels, primed, then bombed them rustoleum gloss black.
Slung some 275/60 15 Cooper Cobras on there, and the rest is history.

Here are the pics!











I think it looks a lot less old-manish now! I think it's definitely gonna get a drop next, and maybe I'll see if I can get it to make a little more noise!

[MotorHead Lon]

Painting the wheels made a big difference. Truck looks great. I'd keep the topper you dont see many of those for the square trucks.

[jonvo4591]

Sorry, but I think the topper is coming off, it's already on the market, but I think I'm going to have a hard time getting rid of it, not too many square trucks around here. Plus I like to haul things like quads and bikes, so that wouldn't be too practical with a topper like that, lol

Can't wait to get some drop parts for it now!

[jonvo4591]

Drop parts have been ordered