My 97 sierra z71 rebuild.

[cflvulcan]

First off, let me say new york sucks. For many reasons but mainly because of the salt they use in the winters which kills our vehicles. This is my 1997 sierra z71. I bought back in 2006, it was rust free and had just under 100k miles on it. After two winters of me owning it, it just starting rusting uncontrollably. I started collecting body panels here and there for a few years. I like using used body panels just because i know theyll fit. OEM and aftermarket parts just dont fit right on this body style for whatever reason. This is my daily driver so i was only able to work on this little by little between my job and working on side jobs for people plus i had to drive this everyday up until a month ago i decided to rip it all apart. Im on a very limited budget due to a baby on the way.

This is what it looked like when i first got it in 2006, and i drove it like this for a few years.


Summer 2010, i put on a roll pan and picked up some 2010 chevy wheels/tires for $400 with like 2k miles on them. There ugly but i needed tires and couldnt pass that up. you can kinda get the idea of the rust that started.


The original box was complete junk underneath. I found a florida 91 box with a few little dents in it for $200 plus tax at a local junk yard. its the red and silver one in the background.


Some rust...



I stripped the original paint off cause it was checked from the florida sun. Then i did the body work, primed it and drove it like that for about eight months, lol.