Grandpa's 1986 C10 Silverado

[ninety6]

My Grandfather bought this truck brand new 9-16-1986. Traded in his 68 Chevy for it (Wish i had that!). He passed away in 2002, leaving this truck to my uncle. My uncle is now gifting it to me, can't wait to fix it up in Honor of my grandfather.

It only has 63k miles, and was garaged until 2002, then unfortunately sat outside for the last 14 years. It's in good shape overall, i can probably fix most of the paint with my buffing stuff (not sure about the hood yet, it's pretty rough), but kinda want to paint it anyway. 3 years ago it stopped running, and it has sat since then. My uncle thought it was a carb issue, but never got to fixing it.

Working now on getting it home so i can start working on it -- its about 100 miles away. Gotta move it from Frankfort KY to Mason, OH.

Can't wait to see how this project goes!

[68post]

Looks to be optioned-up and definitely a great project for you. Congrats !!
(and welcome to the board)

[TKCR]

Looks good. Maybe this thread will help with the paint restoration.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=666295

[cochino12]

Nice truck, good luck with it

[allengator]

awesome!
Congrats!
I have my dad's old '80 SWB... makes them even sweeter!

[old Rusty C10]

nice truck most of my projects started with stuff late for the scrapper..... yours is a really easy resto good luck

[Zane M]

Congrats! I wish I could have got my Grandpa's truck.

[ninety6]

Got her home yesterday! Cleaned it up a bit -- wasps nests, mice nests, etc. Put in a good battery and tried to start her up just for kicks... sadly she wouldn't start.

I played with paint correction a bit -- and was pleasantly suprised how well i was able to correct the hood paint. It took a LOT of buffing with the DA, using Meguiars Ultimate Compound, Meguiars polish, then a coat of wax, but i think she'll turn out just fine! I read that you should use anything harsh on the old single-stage metallic paint, so i figured slow and steady will win this race with the polish. I've only done a little of the hood and the top half of the fender in these pictures....
For those interested, my process: clean, clean, clean, claybar (hard to do on the badly oxidized hood), compound, compound, compound (like, an hour on that little strip of hood), polish, wax.

I open for suggestions on what to check first to get her running. she just cranks and cranks. I smell fuel, so i believe it's getting gas. I really haven't done anything yet. I do have the big ole shop manual to help guide me through...

[ninety6]

here she is leaving her resting place for the last 3 years or so...

[allengator]

paint is looking great!
As far as trouble shooting starting...
9 times out of 10... the problem is either no fuel or no spark.
If you test good for a nice strong spark, prime the carb carefully and see if it TRIES to start.
Keep in mind that 3 year old gas in the tank is worthless!!!
If it tries to start when primed, drain the tank, change the fuel filter, add good fresh gas and give it try...
if it still wont run, (but continues to TRY to run primed) you may need a carb rebuild due to sitting up!

[ninety6]

Originally Posted by allengator

paint is looking great!
As far as trouble shooting starting...
9 times out of 10... the problem is either no fuel or no spark.
If you test good for a nice strong spark, prime the carb carefully and see if it TRIES to start.
Keep in mind that 3 year old gas in the tank is worthless!!!
If it tries to start when primed, drain the tank, change the fuel filter, add good fresh gas and give it try...
if it still wont run, (but continues to TRY to run primed) you may need a carb rebuild due to sitting up!

Thanks, that's very helpful simple summary! I do need to drain the tank(s). Have no idea what to do with the old gas. the gas gauge reads about 3/4 so i probably a lot to drain!

I figured i'd get some starter spray to see if it tries... ... and i just read another thread about testing for spark.

part of me believed (or wanted to) that it would just start like a champ and run with no problems .

[hatzie]

If she just shut off while driving or just wouldn't start one morning, after running just fine, it's probably ignition related. Spark testers are cheap and nice to have.

Carburetors usually go bad slowly.
The M4ME or E4ME Quadrajet is likely not going to be happy after sitting. It's worth priming with fuel and trying to start it with the tanks unhooked. You may get lucky.
They run between $250 and $400 rebuilt. When you factor in finding parts like vacuum breaks and other obsolete pieces its cheaper to go re-built. I wouldn't bother with the Chinese Edelbrock or Holley replacement units. They're a headache to get set up properly and I've never had good luck with them lasting.

[WE B CRUZN]

The way that the part of the hood and fender you cleaned up looks I would just do the rest of the truck and leave it, they are only original once.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by WE B CRUZN

The way that the part of the hood and fender you cleaned up looks I would just do the rest of the truck and leave it, they are only original once.

Agreed. The paintwork you finished buffing turned out great. The rest is likely to turn out the same. No need for new paint when it looks that good.

[ninety6]

Thanks! I was very pleased with what the buffing did. There are a few small surface rust spots, the biggest one on the driver door, that i'll have to try to sand down, prime, and spray with some touch-up (mostly to stop the cancer) to see how it looks. But seeing it shine with the ole' metallic brown made me rethink my dreams of painting... We shall see! I'll probably start up a project threat in the other forum section to track it. Exciting project. Hope to do my Grandpa proud.

[Dead Parrot]

It is likely the rubber gas lines on the tanks are the original. If so, they are EOL and need replacing. It is possible that the reason it quit running is a leak in the suction line from the dual tank switch valve which lets air into the system. Your choices are drop the tanks or lift the bed off. Will allow you to inspect the tanks for rust or really bad gas. Dropping the tanks will let you get ALL of the bad gas and stuff out.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

It is likely the rubber gas lines on the tanks are the original. If so, they are EOL and need replacing. It is possible that the reason it quit running is a leak in the suction line from the dual tank switch valve which lets air into the system. Your choices are drop the tanks or lift the bed off. Will allow you to inspect the tanks for rust or really bad gas. Dropping the tanks will let you get ALL of the bad gas and stuff out.

Carbureted so it's a V8. No soft line inside the tank till TBI rolled out on the 4.3 in 86 and all in 87.