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Old 03-21-2004, 10:50 PM   #1
shavedchevy
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Stories of how you got your truck

I'm just lookin for any unusual or funny stories about how you decied to buy the truck you did. Here's mine...

The truck I have now has been the only vehicle that I have owned, and that being said my parents were the ones to buy it for me. (16th birthday) my dad figured that he would buy it for me to use for a couple of years and then he could use it as a "farm truck" so naturally I agreed with him since I didn't think I would get hooked on this style of truck, so he bought it. So a few months passed and I was looking more into rims and a fibreglass roll pan ( both things that could be taken off and replaced with the bumper and rally rims when I give the truck up. After that was done I got really into things and the right moment arrived when I could finally do what I wanted to do with it, so I slammed it to the ground and shaved everything I could get my hands on. Now my dad had no choice but to give it to me since he couldn't open up the tailgated anymore and the 5" of ground clearence would exactly make for a good ride going through a field.
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Old 03-21-2004, 11:10 PM   #2
rolson1039
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i got my 76 because a guy owed me $190 on a job i did for him and i just took the truck as opposed to going through the hassle of taking his sorry butt to court... one day i was cruising with my old lady and we saw a flatbed go by and there was this truck looked just like my old 76 goin by. I chased downt he tow truck and found out that it was an 86 and it wasnt in as bad a shape as it looked. turns out it was donated to one of these places that sells em with proceeds to benefit some charity, and the truck had a blown motor. Originally i was going to buy it to strip for parts but i got it delivered to my house for $220 and i decided to rebuild it and give the son my 76 so thus began the transformation of the 86 to a good dependable daily driver and the 76 from rust bucket to kids first car
my 86 has over $1000 into it but it runs like a top
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Old 03-21-2004, 11:26 PM   #3
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all through high school, both before and after i got my license, i wanted a 67-72 truck. not long after getting my license, my dad gave me his 97 Z-71, and i still drive it. only thing is, i can't modify it to my liking because he still pays for it.

after my first year of college, i got a decent job, and decided to try to find something else to drive that would be mine. i went through various phases - Volkswagen Corrado, newer Z-28 Camaro, 67-72 truck, BMW 3 Series, etc... i soon realized that i would put a serious bind on my self by buying one of these, so i gave up for a while. last summer, i decided to start back again, and i was set on a 73-87 after seeing a silver one in Truckin' with 18's and some other stuff. found my 84 about 30 miles from here on a car lot. went and seen my buddy at the bank, got my loan for $2872 and bought the thing. its black and gold, swb, and only needs cab corners and some interior work, and it'll be perfect to me.

(sorry for the dark pic)

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Old 03-22-2004, 01:42 AM   #4
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both of the trucks i have now i came across while having problems with my 93 C1500. 1 year ago this weekend, i began having problems with the ignition system. it would randomly lose spark, and i couldnt trace the problem to and exact cause, as it was intermittent. my grandfather and i took it to a shop owned by a friend of his, to have it looked at. while they were checking it out, i mentioned to the owner that i should jsut sell it and buy what i really wanted. he asked what i really wanted, and i told him an 81-87 C10. he told me to step out back with him, he had something to show me. we walked out and i saw a very solid (for this area) 86 C10. very minimal rust, and only 114,000 mi on the clock. then he handed me the keys. i fired it up, cranked right over. it had the usual puff of smoke on startup but sounded really strong, despite the restrictive stock exhaust. i asked what the price was, and he told me $500. then he told me that it had a bad trans. no problem, i had an extra 700R4 sitting in the garage. the following monday i bought it. fast forward 3 months... the trans in my 93 decided to go south, so i had my eye on the 91 K1500. i got the chance to pawn it off, without the dealer knowing about the bad trans, and got a fair trade in price on it. took the 91 home, and played stupid with the trans, and havent had any problems since.
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Old 03-22-2004, 05:16 PM   #5
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Well my 81' Sierra has always been in the family (uncle, grandfather, my dad, now me). The 85' is somewhat more of an interesting story. I always had plans to fix the 81' and my dad one day mentioned a nice condition red truck had been in the garage, V8 and a 4-speed on the floor and we said "that would be fun". So about 2 month's later what roll's into the garage again but the same truck but it had coasted into something and smashed the grill in and a bit of the fender. While in getting that looked at the owner found out he needed new ball joints, control arm and brake cables (why he coasted into something in the first place) now this would cost him more then he was willing to pay for his old work truck when he already had several newer trucks so he put it up for sale, $800. My dad and one of his mechanic friends talked him down to $650 and I got it towed home (about a 45 minute drive) for only $80, the tow truck driver was another one of my dad's friends
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Old 03-22-2004, 06:49 PM   #6
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79 Blazer we found the normal way. When my wife and I got married I was suddently 3 (stepdaughter came with the wife). Nissan truck doesn't work well for 3. I had a Trooper that I enjoyed wheeling. So I wanted a 4x4 of some sort. Wife loved the K5 in War of the Roses. It fit our needs at the time. I was drving a company vehicle at the time so it sat in the drive. My wife and the ford did not get along so she was always driving the K5. Never did get that one back.

The 75 found me. Pres of the 4x4 club found out one of the prospects had a 75 for sale. He imedatly caught me when I came into the meeting and pointed me to the prospect. Next day I went and looked at it. It was ROUGH. No floors. you could stick your hand through the fenders above the wheel openings. He's got jumper cables hooked to it trying to get it to start.

So the deal is he got it from his buddy cause a pissed off HOA and wife. Well his HOA and wife wasn't any happier.

So at this point I'm looking at it for parts that I can sell. After letting it charge I hopped in and tried to tart it. It fired right off. It caught me off guard I ran aound the back to see how much blue smoke was pouring out...NONE. I paid tha agreed upon price and drove it home. The agreed upon price was ONE US DOLLAR. That's what He paid for it and "Dollar" became the trucks name.

The 88 Sub sort of found me as well. When my wifes father passed we ended up inheriting a 1959 22ft Airstream. It was time for a 4 door something and it needed to be big enough to handle the camper. I had found a airstream forums site and was asking a bunch of questions about the camer and about tow vehicles. Well The 88 belonged to one of the members and he was local to me. He PM that he had a Sub for sale. After looking at every 3/4 ton 454 Burb made 87-91 for sale around Atlantae this was by far the best maintained and only had 72k.
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Old 03-22-2004, 07:13 PM   #7
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Having spent some time on my uncles farm, i became attached to the 73 and up body style. When I turned 16 and had saved up enuf money, I found this old rusty 74 GMC long bed. Didn't run for squat, but I could hear the dizzy grinding away. Talked the old guy down to the "great" price of $950. Drove it directly to a junk yard and picked up a HEI dizzy for $45 and I has been good to me ever since. It has been 15 years now and I just rebuilt the engine last year after putting over 100K on the already used engine which was in it. The only original part left on the truck is the cab. New GM fenders, doors, tailgate, fiberglass hood and a bed from a California donor truck, etc... It has been 10 years since I have done that. Man, I am getting old!!

But I'll never get rid of my favorite ride.
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Old 03-23-2004, 12:15 AM   #8
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i have always liked the 73-87 body style, and the fact that they are cheap and easy to work on doesnt hurt either. i found my truck and i was just goin to go with a 6in lift but then i started finding out what all was wrong with the truck.
i had the truck for a few weeks or so and the newly rebuilt mototr throws a rod because the guy didnt tighted down the rod cap bolt tight enough. so that puched my plans back further since i had to by a new motor, then the tranny case cracked so i bought a new tranny. after all that i figured what the hell......why not just go all out on it. so then i shaved it, 10in lift, blah blah blah, there goes all the money.

sometimes i regret dumping the mone into it, but hten i look at it and drive it and love watchin all the people stare at it driving down the road! so i decided i am going to keep it and give it to my kid (whenever that happens) for his (not really a her truck) first vehicle, and have fun with it in the mean time.
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Old 03-23-2004, 09:13 AM   #9
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A buddy asked me to go with him to look at a truck he had found in the truck trader. We drove it, I told him if he didn't buy it, would he mind if I did. He ended up with a '72, I asked again if he minded, I ended up with my '84. The PO likes it when I come over to show him what I have done lately to his old ride. He also helps me work on it from time to time, great guy.
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Old 03-23-2004, 11:36 AM   #10
Gibble
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I bought the truck because I did this to my mustang
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Old 03-23-2004, 11:53 AM   #11
Low87on20s
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Quote:
Originally posted by Gibble
I bought the truck because I did this to my mustang
Hey, I've wrecked a Mustang too! Looks similar in damage too.
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Old 03-23-2004, 11:55 AM   #12
Gibble
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Did you rearend a Buick as well? :p

Whats funny about my car being written off, is that in one month, my car was keyed, rearended, the rear window exploded (while I was driving it!) and I had just gotten my car back from the body shop, for the second time that month and then I did that too it

Why couldn't the person who rearended me have just hit me hard enough to write it off...that way the cars fatal accident wasn't my fault

And for the record, I was found 'at fault' but the reason I rearended another car is because some @-hole ran a red in the lane beside me while I was stopped, the light turned green, and because there was alot of traffic the car that had run the red didn't get very far and was swerving in and out of traffic...well, he got caught in a slow lane and ended up beside me, swerved towards me and right as I looked to my right to see if he was going to hit me, another @-hole hit the crosswalk infront of me and ran out, causing traffic infront of me to slam on the brakes...because I was worried about the car to my right, I didn't notice the cars infront of me stopping in time and I rearended the Buick.

So 'technically' it was just a lot of bad luck, but as far as insurance goes...it's my fault because I rearended someone.

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Old 03-23-2004, 11:58 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally posted by Gibble
Did you hit a Buick as well? :p
Nope! Black ICE on a bridge @ 60 mph! After I finished spinning in circles and crossed the bridge, I nosed it under a guardrail and bounced back in the road. That's why the bumper is ripped out of the front.



Sorry for the Hi-Jack of the thread. Back on Topic.

Not a good story like the rest of them. I got my 87 from my father-in-law. He acquired it from a friend of his. He drove it down from Tennessee one day to visit us and I just had to have it. So after his visit, I paid him and drove him home.
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Old 03-23-2004, 02:11 PM   #14
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I was 12 years old when my father bought a brand new 1977 Chevy Caprice-Classic two doors / two tones...

I was impressed by the sight of the Blazer parked in the show-room at the dealer , but I never thought I would buy such a monster ever in my life...

1979 C 10 :

3 years back , I meet one of my friends , telling me that he saw a guy with a big green american truck , the starter was toasted , it seems the guy stepped out of the truck , began to kick the truck , yelling a lot of insanities ...

My friend went to him to ask if he could give some help , the only answer he got was : "want to buy it ? I ask $750 for that piece of s**t , always falls down , blablabla..."

My friend : "no thanks"...

My friend tells this to me 3 weeks later , when I heard the price , I told him he was a moron , that was the price of the engine.
he was completely unable to tell me what brand it was , Chevy ? Ford ? Dodge ?

I begged him to try to find that truck back...

and he did !

As the seller called me , I was for a business trip 750 miles away from home and as I couldn't get home before a couple of days , I called another friend , living nearby where the truck was , and I told him to buy that truck for me.

My friend went there , called me back that I was a moron , it was really a piece of crap , I shouldn't buy that , etc...

I told him : "buy it , $750 is the maximum I give "

and he bought the truck for me , but he argued with the seller about the shape , the rust everywhere , blabla...

and he got the truck for $500 .
I then knew it was a Chevy 2WD , that's all I knew...

I went by the seller a few days after that , I saw the truck , it was not really love at the first sight , it was indeed dirty , the engine smoked blue when it fired up , I told to myself I was indeed a big jackass for having bought that ruin...

Three years later and 15000 miles further on , I decided I never would buy another kind of truck , I was hooked...


1987 Burb :

one day , about one year back , I went to the container park , to throw some old bricks and construction debris , one guy there asks me if my C10 was a Diesel , I told him it wasn't , he says he had a 4 door model he wanted to sell for parts but his was a Diesel.

As I needed parts for my truck , I told him I would meet him on the evening that day.

And what I saw was what I always wanted : a Suburban...

it was a 1987 one , with the 6.2 Diesel engine toasted , TH700R4 , full electric , tilt , three benches , cloth , etc...

we agreed on a trade , I got the Suburban , I gave him my motorcycle , a 1979 Yamaha XS 650 SE that I was trying to sell for a $500 , but no one was interested...

So , I may assume I bought my Burb for $500

the C10 was beyond restauration , and as the 6.2 was toasted and as I don't like those puffin'/smokin' engines , I decided to put the C-10 engine & tranny in the Burb & to fit the 1979 C10 front on the Burb either...

the transformation is almost done , I have to hook the wiring back where it has to go , I modified the transmission shaft & the exhausts and it should fire up in a couple of days...

then , when I will have more money , it will go to the painter , to get a two tone paint job , frost white on the sides and light blue for the rest of it

and I should have some money shortly , as I sold the TH700 for $750
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Old 03-23-2004, 02:29 PM   #15
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Baron, your sig kills me everytime I see it....

"1960 Girl Friend , frame still good , body has some dents"
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Old 03-23-2004, 03:01 PM   #16
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I was looking for an 88-newer style for my daughter. She wanted a truck or van, but being a dad I said NO Vans for a 16 year old girl. I wanted something with the eminities ac/power steering brakes..etc, but not with a 6. My neighbor had this clean 82 that had been sitting for a while (Desert Duty). Anyways he got back and bought a new one to pull his boat. Never saw a 73-87 version equipped like this, loaded but with a 6 banger. Price was good and daughter loves it. Problem is, I do too. But she is not getting my 70 or 96.....so we'll have to see what the future holds on the 82's permnent ownership.
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Old 03-23-2004, 10:35 PM   #17
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After I finished digging out for and building my garage I really didn't have any use for my 1 ton FORD dump truck anymore (over $100.00 annually for plates). I already had a low mileage 350 4bbl that came out of a freinds 73 Malibu that got totaled sitting on my engine stand. After finally selling the dump truck I set off to find a 4x4 fullsize pickup for the motor I already had. Late Oct. isn't the prime time to find a reasonably priced 4x4 in my area. It took a couple days but I found my trusty 82 sitting in the back of a used car lot. The 4wd worked, it had working A/C, it had good inspection stickers, the cab, front clip, bed and frame were all pretty good for a 20 year old truck. But, the motor was very tired and smoked alot. The clutch chattered and shook the whole truck when I tried to pull out. After haggeling with the dealer for a few hours I drove it home for $1000.00 even off the lot. After pulling out the engine (which turned out to be a 307) I installed the 350 with a set of true duals through convertors and installed a new clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing. Shortly after buying the truck I also picked up an 81 Blazer for $60 that was rotted out beyond repair. The only reason I bought it was for the 4 wide black spoke rims with like new 31-10.5-15" tires that it was sitting on. I gutted the Blazer and scrapped the shell and frame. After driving 10,000 trouble free miles with it, I feel buying my 82 was one of my better investments.

My 77 Chalet I bought for $300.00 from the family of the original owner. It has less than 70K on the original 400 but the outer sheet metal and front floors were rotted out. I installed new floors and all new drivers side metal before I started building my garage but haven't managed to get back to replacing the passenger side metal or the rest of the work that it needs.
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Old 03-23-2004, 11:51 PM   #18
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my civic got rear ended and totaled. i thought i needed to get a second ride with better gas mileage than the Chrysler (haha that's a funny story in and of it self). watching urban cowboy with my lady one weekend and i was damn, i should get a truck, she was like yeah, trucks are cool. so i hit up the list found one for sale and there i was here i am. i love my truck mang. all i knew was that i wanted a 70's truck, had to be a Chevy, and had to be a 2wd lwb.
found this site through 73-87 which i found through a google search - which sealed the deal in my mind that i would buy my 77.
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Old 03-23-2004, 11:59 PM   #19
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I don't really have an interesting story for any of mine. I traded a '78 K5 for the '75 I have now, traded an '85 Grand National for my '77, and paid $200 for my '68.
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