back here with an 87 R10 and some questions

[jasonroman]

so i went to virginia the other day and picked up an 87 r10- said to be second owner truck and 42k original miles. i had been looking and driving around my area for a while. jersey- went to new hampshire the week before to look at one but passed. anyway, now i once again own a square- short bed truck.

so the truck has a western chassis kit on it. so its low. and i love it.
it was my plan to buy a stocker and put a kit on it. so that parts done already.
trucks low and rides great- aside from the squeaky roll pan that is not welded.
no notch- but has heavy duty leaf springs im told and dont bottom out or hit anything much really. and since i dont plan to load truck or use as work truck. i may hold off on the notch for now.
question 1- i remember buying a kit for my old squares and obs trucks that came or i purchased shock extenders- for rear i believe- this truck does not have.
do i need? what is the purpose?

stock- when purchased from the old man
[IMG][/IMG]

as it sits now.






oil pressure guage didn't work - when i asked about it he said, not sure i ever seen one work in a square- in any event- yesterday i picked the sending unit up and swapped it out. stayed pegged past 60- then eventually i notice it dropped to around 40ish - then while the truck shifted i noticed it pegged again,
later almost stayed around the 40 ish level??? not sure whats going on there.


ac - factory and works - my 97 tahoe daily - dont. haha.

passenger window didn't work. fixed that yesterday.

paints not the greatest but i love the box and the paint dont bother me. one day- when i hit it big.....

check engine light i was told would come and go - o2 sensor i was told. so i got under there and noticed it was gone. a bolt in its place.
picked up a sensor yesterday and replaced- didn't see the light come on when i took a cruise with the wife after fixing a couple things.

exhaust- has a rattle from manifold heat shields- annoying. and question-
how hard to get headers on there ?? does it mean id need the entire exhaust re done afterwards???

i guess thats it for now. if i am posting in the wrong place please let me know.

and once i can get the pics from phone to get over to the computer. ill post pics of my new girl.

thanks for any help or advice.

[jasonroman]

forgot=
going to need patch panel for bed behind the wheel- where to get these?

also has 2 small holes on driver side rocker. not sure i need to have entire thing replaced as it feels solid everywhere. just 2 little holes.

sorry for the huge pics - not sure why they came out that way. ill take a few tomorrow- hopefully.

[Nick_R_23]

I would hold off on the notch. It weakens the frame an incredible amount, so if you don’t need it, save your frame strength. Any flip kit I have done, I’ve removed the bumpstop bracket, and used a thin pancake stop.

You definitely want shock extenders if you are running stock shocks, as the shock travel will be greatly reduced with a drop. If the suspension of fully cycled, the shock will bottom out before the suspension can go through its travel, which can cause serious damage. If your kit included drop shocks, you’re good to go, as they’re shorter in length to compensate for the change in suspension travel. If you have stock shocks, you can run these brackets, which is the best kit available IMO

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/upi-6411

[jasonroman]

thanks for reply. think he said he removed the bump stops- but the kit did come with the drop shocks. so i will hold off on the notch as advised for now. and if suspension is good, i will move onto other stuff.

radio- what are you guys using? guy told me radio didn't work and needed sound system. im guessing there are speakers somewhere in the truck- i checked the fuse panel and radio had no fuse. put in a 15 hoping to get lucky, but only see a faint yellow flicker at left corner when i try and turn it on. would like modern options but like the classic look. so may look into the old school radio options with modern stuff like blue tooth. - question - how hard is it to get to the radio? all the dash stuff need to come out?

thanks again for reply bud.

[jasonroman]

[IMG][/IMG]

[jasonroman]

guess i will stop with the pics. not sure why they are the size of my living room...
sorry folks. 100 plus looks and not much to say..... interesting.

[Blue GMC]

Looks like you found what you are looking for congratulations that’s half the fun in my book. What other plans do you have for it

[jasonroman]

Originally Posted by Blue GMC

Looks like you found what you are looking for congratulations that’s half the fun in my book. What other plans do you have for it

first- will be fix the rotted areas on truck.
next will be find a radio- something that looks stock but has some newer options like bluetooth.
then try and find the interior parts im missing.
might try and mess with the body/try and get the clear all off - paint is years away- not big pocket money man....just a guy that works and loves the square. so not i have one.. but not the money it needs to be sweet show truck status.
would like to know what it would take to get headers on the pig-
was just reading that the 87=smog= slow- so at some point id like to find out how to add a little power to her but no ls. swap.
like the look as is although she's 8tone- like the low miles. like the stock everything less suspension and wheels. so at some point ill try and read and learn what to do to get more out of it....
unfortunately i am not a mechanic and have built nothing engine wise.
so like paint- rest might take some time.....

[Nick_R_23]

Good plans. Unfortunately, the TBI engine and performance really don’t belong in the same sentence together. An LS swap is incredibly easy on these trucks, and probably the best bang for your buck. You can also drop in a 96-00 Vortec block, which gives you roller cam, and much better heads. A carb conversion intake/aftermarket EFI will go right on. I don’t think you’d save any money going this route though.

[jasonroman]

Originally Posted by Nick_R_23

Good plans. Unfortunately, the TBI engine and performance really don’t belong in the same sentence together. An LS swap is incredibly easy on these trucks, and probably the best bang for your buck. You can also drop in a 96-00 Vortec block, which gives you roller cam, and much better heads. A carb conversion intake/aftermarket EFI will go right on. I don’t think you’d save any money going this route though.

Guess I should have done some homework….
Just love the old short and wide square- so I jumped on it- hoping original miles and minimal rust/rot were in my favor. Not looking to track truck- but def nice if it had some go
Thanks for replying- much appreciated
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[Corts60]

I'm not sure how headers would work with the TBI. You'll need that O2 sensor for it to run right.

Clean little truck. Congrats!