84 Short Bed diesel. Project Driver.

[rs74]

Figured I should make a thread here on the short bed I just bought. I had been looking for a roller since I still have the engine and trans out of my other short bed. Looked for a nice long bed for a while and found nothing worth looking at. I figured I would just wait until something came along. Then this truck came up for sale. Not at all what I was looking for. Colors were all wrong, it was a diesel but the price was right. I almost went and looked at another that I was thinking about but decided against it even though I liked the trucks looks better than this one. Well I bought the everything is opposite of what I wanted truck.

Anyway this is just going to be a daily driver for the time being. It's a 6.2, 700r4, 3.08 geared short bed. 95% rust free. It has two spots on the tailgate that need fixed and there is a little rust that formed under the seam sealer in the drivers door jam. That should be the easier fix vs. the tailgate. It does have little specs of surface rust here and there. Going to break the rust killer out and try to take care of as much of it as I can for now.

I have only had it three days and today was the first day I could try to get to cleaning it up a little. I own a mobile truck washing business so getting it cleaned up was pretty easy for the most part. Alot better than now that it has had a bath.

Now for the laundry list of things it needs. Interior is completely trashed. I looked today at a couple of yards and found nothing along with calling a couple of others. So I am kicking around the idea of putting a Burgundy interior in it to clean it up a little. Even though it has a bronze paint on the interior I am probably going to do the swap to get me buy for awhile. It is in tons better shape than the tan in it now. Outside work includes probably putting a set of my rallies on it when I get a set of white lettered tires. Going to take off the side trim and have a buddy buff it out for me. That way when I can get some new side trim then it ready to be put on. I would like to give it a 2.5/4 drop but that will be after I get other things done. The biggest thing it needs is a transmission. I talked to a guy today who has a newer style 700r4 that he said he could build instead of building the older style that is in it. I degreased the engine bay while I was washing it today. That will give me a good point to see what gaskets or anything that I might need to replace. It had some oil build up in the compartment. Needs a front windshield and might see about putting either a new slider in the back or a one piece rear window. Not sure yet on that.

Other than that I am just going to drive it once ready. Not going crazy on this truck. I still have my 85 short bed to get finished. It is currently on hold due to me building up my business. I pretty much sold all of my extra trucks including my 03 Chevy crew cab daily driver to fund the business which meant putting the short bed on hold. So this diesel pretty much replaces my crew cab. I don't need anything new to drive. As long as it is reliable and not an eyesore inside or out. I can't stand the interior now so that is one thing that will change first. It does still have first gear so I have been able to see how the brakes are and how it steers and handles somewhat. Pretty peppy in first gear. Well enough with the chat. Here are just a few pics. I should also say that I have a 85-87 GMC grill located that is supposed to be brand new. Going to try to get it next week. Will probably put that one in the K30 and the one that is in the K30 now into this truck. I think I also have the matching bezels for it already. The same style of grill that is in the pic of my K30 in my avatar. The grill in it now has two broken tabs on the bottom and is all faded out.