1984 Shorty

[melks]

Hey gang, I've recently got my hands on my first square body (1984 SWB Silverado). I picked up the truck in North Carolina and I am more than happy with the purchase. Im currently working on hauling the truck back to Canada where I live so it will be a while before i get some updates flowing through here...I intend to run this truck as my daily driver so i am going for a clean original look. When i get it back up north i plan on going through the truck just to make sure everything is in working order and safe for todays roads...The original 305 was swapped out in favor of a 350 and the previous owner has put a set of Hedman headers on it along with a magna flow exhaust setup.
Near future plans: 2' 4' drop (havent decided on which brand to go with yet...was hoping a couple of you guys would be able to chime in and give some advice as far as different brands are concerned...djm, belltech.. but im leaning towards western chassis drop spindles up front and the replacement leafs out back) As well i would like to go through the interior and replace/clean it up. The clear coat on the truck is peeling off as we speak so shes definitely going to need some attention as far as the paint sector is concerned. Anyway enough talk for now...

[melks]

slowly but surely i've began to clean up a couple things on the truck before i can hand it off to my mechanic to go through the truck (tune up, fix some wiring issues, and pretty much safety it so i can get it licensed and on the road) My mechanics currently busy so i've managed to chip away at a few small things that needed to be done like the header gaskets and spark plugs. As well i called my glass guy in to replace the windshield.
Im waiting on a whole bunch of parts from LMC truck to help me achieve a restored original interior look so i managed to take apart the interior to a certain degree...as well i went ahead and ordered the Western Chassis 2.5'' drop spindles and 4'' drop lowering leaf springs to give the truck what i hope will be a sporty stance...On my free time i enjoy pinstriping so i decided to paint up some custom center caps for the rally wheels as well as letter in the embossed 'chevrolet' letters on the tailgate since my truck is missing the original trim panel that stretches across the tailgate. Let me know what you think

[CrazyJesster]

looks like it will be a good start for a project i like it. nice looking square my friend

[melks]

Thanks.
Got a shipment of parts in from LMC truck-new door panel trim, strap handles and hardware, rear speaker grilles, power window and lock switches, turn signal, and some color bond to dye various interior parts. As well i opted to change my dash bezel trim to silver to match within the interior better...
I managed to spray my door panels and various little pieces with the color bond product and i was pleased with the results.
Currently I'm playing the waiting game on the drop kit parts and another LMC shipment to help me finish restoring the interior.

[ringger14]

Thats awesome! Im a few thousand dollars away from just getting my project to look half like yours when you first got it. ha

[northern 85]

Looking good! How many coats did you have to put on the door panels?

[melks]

thanks, i put 3 light coats on with the color bond black, and then followed that with another 3 coats of the color bond satin clear. Really happy with the way they came out.

[melks]

Originally Posted by ringger14

Thats awesome! Im a few thousand dollars away from just getting my project to look half like yours when you first got it. ha

lol yea i was fortunate enough not only to find a great deal but also to start with a great condition turn key truck that just needed some TLC. As well i plan on driving this truck year round so i have to draw a line on what modifications are necessary and suitable for a daily driver...or else i would have opted to chop it up a bit and lay it out on air lol

[melks]

well i managed to start piecing back together the door panels, but I'm still waiting on lock switches and arm rest pads to finish them off.
Over the past year I managed to take up pinstriping and when I'm not workin on my trucks i usually spend time painting away...here are some of my recent pieces I'm working on to display at a car show up in Toronto this coming weekend...enjoy!

[northern 85]

Nice i think that i will try to do mine after seeing how good yours look!

[melks]

finally received some parts in the mail the other week...also i managed to get the truck over to my mechanics for a tune up and safety. Things like gaskets, rotors, filters, fluids and what not were all changed/replaced. As well the 2.5'' drop spindles and 4'' drop leaf springs from Western Chassis also arrived (along with my remaining interior parts), so with a quick modification to my current exhaust the truck now sits a bit lower to mother earth
I managed to reassemble the interior as well, and since i was so impressed with the results from the color bond vinyl and plastics die i decided to re finish just about every plastic panel in the cab.
Also I've attached an engine bay shot (which i plan on working on cleaning up next)

[melks]

and some pictures of how the truck sits now...when i get a chance ill post some pictures of the interior all back together as well as some better shots of the truck!

[cochino12]

Looks great! How was the quality of the new stainless dash insert? And how well does it stick?

[Gordonr1973]

Pinstriping looks great!

Nice truck too btw!!

[melks]

thanks, i ordered the dash insert from lmc truck and quality wise i was satisfied...the insert has some trouble adhering in the two main bends of the dash but perhaps this is something that can be eliminated after installation if weights are placed in the appropriate places to hold down the insert...as far as the insert cut outs lining up with the various gauges i was more than satisfied.

[melks]

thanks Gordonr1973

[northern 85]

Nice job im really diggn the stance

[luifer76]

nice looking truck man....

[RandyP]

Good looking truck, looks like a shorter version of my 87 (both directions).

[melks]

recently had an ls swap done and I am now in the process of trying to get a set of gauges to work properly. I took out my original 84 cluster in favor of an electronic 90-91 style suburban cluster because I wanted to keep the original look. I am having some trouble wiring up the cluster and quite frankly don't know where to start. I have acquired a couple wiring diagrams to familiarize myself with the harness'. Here is where I stand now

[melks]

you can see the backside of the electronic gauge cluster above as well as the wiring harness in my interior right now. The yellow arrow pointing to the main connection is about the only thing that I can plug into the cluster. When plugged in it gives me my battery voltage reading. The fuel gauge seems to get power but it is not giving me a correct reading because it shoots way past the full mark... I;ve been thinking about getting my hands on a 90-91 wiring harness out of a suburban so I can mate it to the harness that is currently in my truck and plug it into the back of the gauge cluster accordingly. Any suggestions, opinions or advice? Thanks in advance.

[melks]

could I get my oil pressure gauge, water temp gauge and fuel gauge working properly just by repinning the 1984 18 wire harness to match a 90-91 suburban 18 wire harness?

[jdmaffeo]

When I swapped out the cluster in my '84, I made 2 separate spreadsheets. The first one I literally used my voltmeter and traced down where each wire went from the plug to the truck somewhere. On the big plug there is a number, 1 through 18. I then did the same for the cluster tracing out which input goes to what in the cluster. Once you get both of those steps done you are going to have to remove the wires from the big plug and 're-pin' it to match the new cluster. I didn't have any issues once it was done!
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[melks]

Originally Posted by jdmaffeo

When I swapped out the cluster in my '84, I made 2 separate spreadsheets. The first one I literally used my voltmeter and traced down where each wire went from the plug to the truck somewhere. On the big plug there is a number, 1 through 18. I then did the same for the cluster tracing out which input goes to what in the cluster. Once you get both of those steps done you are going to have to remove the wires from the big plug and 're-pin' it to match the new cluster. I didn't have any issues once it was done!
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Thats what I was thinking...are you running an ls with 4l60E or 4l80E tranny? How did you go about making the necessary connection from the VSS?

[franky69c10]

Looking good bro
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