Refining "Sierra"

[northern 85]

Very nice work

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by northern 85

Very nice work

Thank you sir

Originally Posted by Chaplain

Could you post pics of how you mounted your amp and the cleaver way you disguised your wiring?

These are the only pics I have. It doesnt show the channel we cut in the bottom of the box, but it does give a good idea of the amount of wires we we trying to hide.

The amp has a wired controller, power, ground, turn on, and input wires. This made for a pretty big bundle to try to add to the wires in the door channel. If you factor in speaker, cargo light, dome light, and seat belt buzzer wires, the channel on the drivers side is already full. That meant we would have another big bundle on the passenger side that would have to go all the way across to the receiver.

I dont really like running wires under carpet, but it was my only option. We cut a channel in the bottom of the box for the wires to exit from and run under the carpet. We used black duct tape to ensure that it lays flat and ran it straight forward to come out under the dash.

The turn on and input wire went to the receiver, the ground to a bolt in the firewall, and the power wire exited the cab at the fuse block and went direct to the battery. We added a fuse holder near the fuse block for ease of access. The wired controller will reside in the glove box, attached with velcro.

In the second pic I am soldering wires. We eliminated about a dozen crimp connectors. I prefer to solder wires and cover with shrink tube when possible. We added plug in connectors in locations necessary to make future service easier.

[N2TRUX]

Well that escalated rather quickly. We pulled the hood off to replace the insulation and clean up the bottom of it. With the hood off I could see a lot of things, I didnt want to see. Even though I had degreased and pressure washed the motor, it was still pretty dirty. Over the years as maintenance was done, many things were not reconnected correctly or the wrong bolts were used. Chris and I decided to dive in deep, so here we are. We stripped most of the accessory brackets to expose a dirty mess. Lets see if we can make this all pretty again.

[JWall]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Well that escalated rather quickly...

Isn't that funny how it always works like that... Looking good!

[Low Elco]

It'd be a good time to go to the 88-98 Serp setup. Yay, no more belt squeaks!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by JWall

Isn't that funny how it always works like that... Looking good!

My wife just laughed when I showed her. I hate smarty pants know it alls.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

It'd be a good time to go to the 88-98 Serp setup. Yay, no more belt squeaks!

I have considered that option. If I were going that route it would have an 97+ Vortec motor attached to it.

[greens69]

Looking great Ken!! That is a very nice truck!!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by greens69

Looking great Ken!! That is a very nice truck!!

Thanks Steve. Hopefully I will have it back together by Lonestar Throwdown.

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Thanks Steve. Hopefully I will have it back together by Lonestar Throwdown.

I do too...

[N2TRUX]

I "thought" I was done inside the cab, but the dash pad was bothering me. It looks great till you examine it closely and realize it has hairline cracks in the speaker grills. Most people wouldn't notice, but its one of the first things I check when looking at a squarebody truck.

I know I can get a premium quality GM replacement pad from Capt Kaos at www.73-87chevytrucks.com but I have been really trying to maintain a budget on this build.

I put a call out that I was looking for an NOS pad and ran across a great find. This NOS GM replacement pad was bought new and stored for 15 years. The guy I got it from installed it for a short period, then decided to fiberglass his old dash pad. He needed some quick cash, and we struck a deal.

I'm not sure how well it shows up in the pics, but the condition is mint. I will have to dye it to match, but its going to be the cherry on top of my interior rebuild.

[N2TRUX]

Since I saved myself some money on the purchase of the mint GM dashpad, it left some room in my budget for another purchase. At least thats what I told my wife (insert sarcastic eye roll here) and shes all like "Whatever!".

Combine that with a super 50% off sale at OC Auto Carpets and I loaded up my cart. I have new carpet, mats, and door panel inserts being custom made. I could not find anyone that duplicated the GM mahogany carpet, so I opted for a saddle color. I feel it compliments the interior colors and brightens the cab up.

[MrSS]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Since I saved myself some money on the purchase of the mint GM dashpad, it left some room in my budget for another purchase. At least thats what I told my wife (insert sarcastic eye roll here) and she like "Whatever!".

Combine that with a super 50% off sale at OC Auto Carpets and I loaded up my cart. I have new carpet, mats, and door panel inserts being custom made. I could not find anyone that duplicated the GM mahogany carpet, so I opted for a saddle color. I feel compliments the interior colors and brightens the cab up.

Did you try trim parts? At the time I bought they were the only licensed GM restoration parts I've found for carpet. I got mine and it's really correct.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by MrSS

Did you try trim parts? At the time I bought they were the only licensed GM restoration parts I've found for carpet. I got mine and it's really correct.

Yes I did, and they weren't even close to the color I needed. The mahogany interior appears to be rather rare.

[lolife99]

I guess I have never seen the mahogany interior.
I thought yours was the faded version of my '86 maroon interior color.
(like this one pulled from the internet)

It will be nice to see yours restored.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by lolife99

I guess I have never seen the mahogany interior.
I thought yours was the faded version of my '86 maroon interior color.
(like this one pulled from the internet)It will be nice to see yours restored.

In mid 80s GM was notorious for having a mix and match on their interior colors. This 84 Sierra was no different. The dash, door panels, and kick panels are one color. The seat cloth and vinyl backing are different colors, and the carpet is another. They all compliment each other, but they do not match.
As mentioned Keith, since no one makes an exact match for the carpet, I decided to go with a color that compliments the remaining colors instead.

[N2TRUX]

Sometimes you have to go a lot deeper in to a project than you anticipated. Combine that with having OCD, and the effect snowballs. As I started removing accessory brackets from the motor I discovered an oily mess. The PO had told me he had spent a lot of money having the truck serviced. One thing done was replace the valve cover gaskets. The shop did a nice job of replacing the gaskets, but not cleaning the residual mess left behind from long term leaks.

This is what greeted me when I stripped away the top of the motor. Its not pretty.

[N2TRUX]

While Chris test drove my new bead blasting cabinet on a dozen or so brackets and small parts, I cleaned and scraped a few thousand miles worth of baked on motor oil from the front of the block and top of the manifold.

I discovered that Harbor Freight carries brake cleaner a few dollars cheaper than the parts store so I loaded up while I was there. I also bought a few of their cheapo wire brushes and lots of paper towels. Combine all that with a few hours of elbow grease, and I can now see a nice clean motor. At least the top and front anyways. The rest will come later.

[N2TRUX]

While I was in there, I decided to replace the water pump. If your going to remove the old one, you may as well install a new HD unit with a lifetime warranty. I blasted it down with some cheap brake cleaner and covered it the Duplicolor high temp brushed stainless paint. I looked at several different choices, but really like the satin sheen of the brushed stainless.

[68Timber]

Ken, sorry for asking the obvious, Auto Custom Carpets didn't have that color? I thought they had everything. Beautiful detail work.

[N2TRUX]

I spent the day cleaning and painting parts while Chris logged in a lot of hours at the blasting cabinet. If you dont have a blasting cabinet, you should get one. Chris and I in love with that big red machine. It's amazing how much time it saves prepping parts for paint.

As mentioned, I plan to use Dupli-Color high temp brushed stainless paint for the motor and brackets. I wanted an accent color that was darker, but not satin black. I found Duplicolor DE1651 cast iron engine enamel to be exactly what I was looking for. It is graphite gray with a slight bronze tint to it. Its satin finish is the perfect accent to the brushed stainless silver.

[aggie91]

Nice work, only 31 days left before LST...

Did you get the HF bast cabinet?

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice work, only 31 days left before LST... Did you get the HF bast cabinet?

Yeah, I told Chris it will be the nicest looking non running motor at LST if we dont get going.

Yes, I caught the HF cabinet on sale. I also had an additional 20% of code so it was 60% off. Its a good deal for the average garage shop. If you buy one, go ahead and buy a spare roll of 3/4" foam weather strip and seal everything extra tight.

I also picked up the HF 5 gallon shop vac to use as a dust collector. It does the job just fine, but it has a really high pitched exhaust note. I will be working on a muffler for that soon.

[LEEVON]

I love this build. I owned this one-owner '87 from California, it had the Mahogany interior. I had trouble finding the correct color parts, but I was able to match some SEM dye very well. The guy who bought it from me took it to the next level like you are doing.

Keep on posting!

Leevon

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

I love this build. I owned this one-owner '87 from California, it had the Mahogany interior. I had trouble finding the correct color parts, but I was able to match some SEM dye very well. The guy who bought it from me took it to the next level like you are doing.

Keep on posting!

Leevon

Thanks for the kind words. I'm hoping I haven't got in to deep with not enough time.

Did you find the matching dye in spray cans or have it mixed up?

[LEEVON]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Thanks for the kind words. I'm hoping I haven't got in to deep with not enough time.

Did you find the matching dye in spray cans or have it mixed up?

I had it mixed at a paint/body supply shop. If I recall correctly they actually had a book that had the right color sample. I have also brought in an interior piece and mixed to match before. Mahogany is weird though, the color fades and some parts are much more brown, others red.