Project Ol' Blue

[bulldog2513]

This is my baby. A 1988 GMC Sierra SLE, 2 door, short bed, 2WD. I fell in love with this truck the minute I saw it and had to have it! After about 6 months I finally convinced the PO to sell it to me. I paid one thousand dollars for it in 2003 and it was in great shape other than the paint. It had a 5.7 in it which had a little bit of work done to it and had a GM reman 700r4 tranny. In 2005 the block cracked on me and me and a buddy (I call him my brother) put a 305HO and 700r4 in it from a 92 Camaro and it still sports it today. During the time it sat, I backed into the front of it with a New Holland skidsteer. Hence the primer hood. Around about 2010 the door striker bolt broke off driving down the road and Ol' Blue was parked for a while until I welded it back in a few months ago. When I first got it I raised the truck 3 inches and put 31x10.50's on it. Now it has been lowered 2 inches in the front using aftermarket coil springs and 4 inches in the rear by fabricating new shakles. With new shocks the ride is still like factory. There are a lot of ideas and wants I have for this truck but with low finances it will be done a little at a time. I plan to document Ol' Blue's growth on here for all to see. She will not be a showstopper but WILL be something I am proud of and proud to say "I built it!"

[bulldog2513]

This is the finished product after I welded the door striker bolt back in. I put a 16ga plate behind it, placed the striker back into its original position, welded it up and then grinded down the welds to dress it up. There is no bondo over this repair, only self-etching primer. This was my first time welding any part of an automobile body. Pretty good job, if I do say so myself.

[bulldog2513]

Well Project Ol' Blue has officially began. This evening I filled in all the holes on the bed rail where different things have been bolted down over the years. I cut sheet metal and formed it to make the fillers for the stake pockets. No bondo as of yet but I put self-etching primer on it to prevent rust. I only got one side done but I will do the other one tomorrow evening. Loving the smooth bed rails. I think its gonna make a big difference in the overall appearance of this build. I'm starting to get the hang of this auto body welding thing. lol I'm looking forward to the other fabrication projects for this build which will include a custom fabricated hood scoop (thanks to this website). Ya'll stay tuned!

[dragonwrecker]

looking good but it the first post you forgot to mention how we took out the old 350 i will let you do that.now get over here and help me with my ambitious build

[bulldog2513]

yeah i dont think people want to know that we were drunk and pulled the engine out of this truck with a Caterpillar 953 loader. LMAO ok well they do now!

[dragonwrecker]

Originally Posted by bulldog2513

yeah i dont think people want to know that we were drunk and pulled the engine out of this truck with a Caterpillar 953 loader. LMAO ok well they do now!

wish we could find the pics from that night so we could have some proof.surprised no one *****ed about us running the loader at 1 in the morning

[bulldog2513]

OK, well fabricating a cowl hood for Ol' Blue will be put on hold. I lucked up and found a steel cowl hood at pull-a-part that is in pretty good shape and only paid 45.00 for it. Sure beats 500.00 or hours on end fabricating. It needs a little repair due to someone removing a hood hinge on one side thereby collapsing the other side which dented and ripped the hood frame. But with my trusty welder, and a little bondo to cure minor imperfections, it will be better than new. I am going to fabricate and install some 16 gauge support plates in the weak areas above the hinge mounting locations so this doesn't happen again. 2 of the pics below are after me and my brother (see project dragonsbreath) tacked the torn metal after straightening the hood frame and test fitted the hood for clearance. I will post more pics tomorrow when I finish the welding repair and have the hood ready for permanent mounting.

[dragonwrecker]

looks good now we got it on.now just dont forget me when i call you to come help :p do you still feel like a whore at a penis festival lol after finding that hood?

[dragonwrecker]

found this pic on my phone

[WheelsCamaro]

She's coming along! I love cowl hoods on this body-style truck! When am able I will fill the holes along the bed rails like you did, but I'm gonna wait until I have the money to get it repainted.

Have you thought about just primering the whole truck? In my opinion it would look better, even if you don't plan on doing a full paint job soon.

[bulldog2513]

Originally Posted by dragonwrecker

found this pic on my phone

good thanks man. for some reason i dont have that one. and YES im still giddy about the hood find LOL

[bulldog2513]

Originally Posted by WheelsCamaro

She's coming along! I love cowl hoods on this body-style truck! When am able I will fill the holes along the bed rails like you did, but I'm gonna wait until I have the money to get it repainted.

Have you thought about just primering the whole truck? In my opinion it would look better, even if you don't plan on doing a full paint job soon.

yeah im gonna get all my body fabrication and repairs finished and just prime it for now. prob gonna be a while for paint. im as broke as a junkyard ford LOL. im about to put up some more pics of the bed rails (finished) and some other stuff i did yesterday.

[bulldog2513]

Got a lot done yesterday. Finished smoothing my bed rails and got them in bondo and primed, pulled the bed liner out (no rust! I was glad), got my cowl hood repaired and installed, started smoothing the sides by removing the factory trim, removed a mounted antena on the roof and filled in the hole and repaired a couple of dings. Her are a few pics........

[bulldog2513]

Here is the finished hood. I straightened the damaged metal and added a 16ga plate for strength. then used bondo to hide the repair. When I put it on the truck I found that the hood rolled due to the heat of the welder and it was raised above the fender about 3/4 inch. Had to make a relief cut to bring it back down and re weld it. A little filler and primer and this will be finished. It is now resting comfortably on Blue.

[dragonwrecker]

looking good

[bulldog2513]

The PO mounted a radio antenna on the roof. I removed it, welded in a patch and used bondo on the repair. I also repaired a couple of dents in the same area.

[bulldog2513]

Originally Posted by dragonwrecker

looking good

Thanks brother. And thanks for the assistance on the hood. I was ready to get my hammer out and tear crap up!

[bulldog2513]

I am removing the factory trim on the side to give Blue that "smooth" look

[bulldog2513]

Here is the finished product on the bed rails. (In the middle pic you can see "The Beast" in the corner. My 95 GMC Sierra SLE, Z71, x cab, long bed. That will be my next project. I also have a 96 Chevy Tahoe 2wd. YES I love Chevy and GMC!!)

[dragonwrecker]

Originally Posted by bulldog2513

Thanks brother. And thanks for the assistance on the hood. I was ready to get my hammer out and tear crap up!

i know thats why i took over we have that effect on each other

[dragonwrecker]

Originally Posted by bulldog2513

Here is the finished product on the bed rails. (In the middle pic you can see "The Beast" in the corner. My 95 GMC Sierra SLE, Z71, x cab, long bed. That will be my next project. I also have a 96 Chevy Tahoe 2wd. YES I love Chevy and GMC!!)

i hate you now i gotta go work on mine

[bulldog2513]

Originally Posted by dragonwrecker

i hate you now i gotta go work on mine

you dont hate me. hell we both gettin to where all we do is work on our trucks lol

[bulldog2513]

Here are my 3 toys. I did a restoration on the 4 wheeler too it is a 92 Yamaha Moto4 and used to be faded grey with a red seat. Unrelated but I'm proud of my toys.

[bulldog2513]

Did a little more work between rain storms yesterday. Here are a couple of updated pics. One frontal view showing the tag bracket removed from the bumper (I'm thinking about painting the front bumper body color since I will have a roll pan on the back. Whatcha think?)and one showing the bed where I smoothed the top rail and removed the factory trim on the rockers.

[98GMCSierraGuy]

Looks good