My 80' silverado

[rchadhaney]

Finally beginning to work on my old truck. This truck means a lot to me and I finally have the monetary means to fix it right. Here is a little history of the truck:

Late 1979 My grandfather purchased this truck new from the local Chevrolet dealership. It is a 1980 Chevrolet Silverado 1/2 ton LWB. It came with an Olds 5.7 Diesel, two-tone gray (gray/charcoal), tilt wheel, a/c, p/s, p/l, p/w.
As many of you are probably aware the truck suffered the same issues as most with that motor. The head bolts kept stretching out by 1983-84 or so the dealership refused to keep fixing it and my grandfather parked it in his shop. The truck only had 36,xxx miles on it.

The truck remained in the shop covered in dust until around 1994-1995. I used to play in this truck pretending to drive it when I was a young child.

In 1994-95 my grandfather put in an early model 6.2L diesel motor. Within 3 months of the install the motor started getting water in the oil. My grandfather once again parked the truck except outside this time. In 1996 my grandfather passed away with the truck still sitting outside.

In 1998 I turned 15 and my grandmother gave me this truck to be my first vehicle. Not having much money I ended up putting stopleak in the radiator and oil stopleak in the oil and drove it that way for a year before it finally blew up.

After the 6.2L diesel I put in a 455 buick out of an old electra. The motor was supposed to be a good motor however it was instantly apparent that there was at least piston that had stuck rings. I've never seen so much smoke come out of a truck.

Out came the 455 and in went a 305 pulled from a chevelle. The 305 had a mild cam, holley intake and carb. 3-5000 miles later the truck was parked yet again. Life happened and I moved on. The truck sat for another 2 years.

Then my gf's dad gave me a "good" motor so in went a 307 Olds this time. Yet again motor was no good.

Present day: The truck has been sitting since 2006. The 307 Olds had no oil pressure. I have started working on the truck again and this time I'm doing it right.
The motor is a 350 bored .60 with mild cam, edelbrock performer intake and carb. I am replacing all suspension, lines, gaskets, seals, whatever can go bad from the firewall forward. here are some pics from the tear down last weekend. I'll have more pics after this weekend.