Little Blue

[GMC91]

I bought this truck last October for $2500. It was an all original 1991 Chevy Silverado: 1/2ton, swb, 4.3 and 5 speed, regular cab, fleet side. The first owner had put SS wheels on the truck when he had it. Other than that it was all stock.

The day after I bought her.



First thing I did to the truck was have the headliner re-done. I couldnt sit in the truck without it laying on top my head.



I drove the truck for another month or so and I couldnt stand how quite it was. So right before Christmas, I had a flowmaster single in/dual out muffler put on with 4in by 18in chrome tips. Then shortly after that I bought two 12s to go behind the seats. Pioneer head unit with Pioneer 4x6s in the dash and behind head. Two Rockford Fosgate 12s 800 watts a piece.

After all that I was pretty happy with the truck but then I got bored and had my income tax returns so I decded to lower the truck. A friend of mine helped me out and showed what to do.

First took the bed off.



Then some grinding and cutting and cussing.



And here ya go, 91 Chevy lowered 3/4

[GMC91]

The latest thing Ive finished on the truck is putting some truck rallies on it.

Here they are after my friend sandblasted them, 2 7in wheels, 2 8in wheels.



Here they are nice and primered, used some epoxy primer from PPG.



And then painted body color.



Tires mounted



On the truck



I also put smoked headlights and smooked tailights in the truck. Sorry aint got a pic of the taillights yet.

[1badgmc]

I prefer the SS wheels, but I still dig it. Now you need a fresh paint job on the truck to match the wheels. My '91 started life the same color too.

[GMC91]

Right now Im working on a 305 swap to take the 4.3 out. Ordered a comp cam int and exh lift are .490 int duration is 218 and exh duration is 224(trying to think from memory might be a little off). Found out the motor has roller lifters so thats what I went back with. Ordered the cam, lifters, and a gear drive from summit today. I also took the heads and dropped them off at the machine shop close to where I live to have the exhaust ports ported and polished, valves reseated, new valve seals, and bigger springs to handle the .490 lift. I got a friend that went to NADC but dropped out after one semester, lucky for me the semester he took was electronics and tunning. He will hopefully be able to re-tune my computer and chip to work with the v8 and cam. At least he says he can, if not overnight parts from summit work nice too just cost more. Hoping to have the motor in the truck by this weekend. Everything Ive read so far has said the computer is the same for a 4.3 as it is for a small block. The chip is what is different.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CCA-08-422-8......the cam
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ED...4..........the lifters
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRO-66917C........The gear drive

[jb1016]

Nice man. I'm with 1bad on the wheels, but then we both own a set of 'em, so we're a little biased I actually like the faded paint, but it needs a factory rear bumper. I'm definitely in for the V8 swap.

[GMC91]

Motor is in, but floods out and wont idle for nothing. I still havent got the EGR hooked up and I found out the TPS is different from a v6 to a v8. Gonna try to get all that done tomorrow. It will kinda idle when its cold but soon as it starts to heat up it dies. Anyones opinion on this? Also I still havent got a custom tune on my computer did swap the chip out and put a v8 chip in, didnt help much.

[GMC91]

Well I got the motor in the truck and got it to idle now. Heres a short clip of it running. Sorry the video is sideways, recorded it with my phone.

My 1991 Chevy Silverado-Lil Blue - YouTube

[GMC91]

Long time no up-date..been doing a lot with her since I bought another truck to drive around in.

First thing I did was junk the TBI and swapped it carbed.


Got tired of the engine bay looking like crap and the engine looking awesome, so now Im in the process of smoothing the inside fenders and firewall.Started out by welding patch panels into the big holes and just mig welded the smaller ones up.


Got the passenger side fender almost ready for paint tonight, shot it with some epoxy primer then some filler primer.


Sorry all pics were takin with my phone, not the best on being the same size.

[GMC91]

Had another productive night in the garage. Few more good nights like these and I will have this engine bay whipped.

First I wet sanded, then re-primed, and then wet sanded again the passenger fender. Its almost done now, little bit more sanding and she'll be completely smooth.



Next, I made the last patch panel for the driver side fender.



Tack welded in place



And all welds ground down and ready for some body work.



Tomorrow I'm hoping to be able to get the passenger side fender done, and get the first and possibly second layer of filler on the driver side.

[GMC91]

Heres a quick link to a clip of the truck running before I tore it down. Just click on the pic I guess, and also heres a pic of both my trucks together the day I bought my 97.

[GMC91]

Got a little more done tonight. I got the passenger fender done, took about 2 more hours to get every little spot. I also almost got the driver side fender done, little bit more work and Ill be able to prime it. Sorry the pic is a little blurry.

[93redsled]

Nice...I hope to find a nice stocker to turn into my DD. keep the pic of the engine bay coming it'll help when I do mine. Hit me up if you want to part with those SS wheels.
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[GMC91]

Sorry redsled but the ss wheels are long gone now.

I did get a lot done today/tonight, the driver fender is done and waiting for primer.

[GMC91]

Got a little bit of an update for ya'll. This past Monday I pulled the motor and trans out of the truck. Tonight I got the the fire-wall gutted down and ready to be worked, I also decided to get the frame cleaned and painted first. Anyway, here are some pics for ya'll, finally got a new digital camera so the pics may be a different size.

[GMC91]

Got part of the frame done, started on it at 11am and finished at 10pm..what a day. Any comments, tips, suggestions?

[GMC91]

Got another up-date. Since I have everything off the front, common sence says to rebuild the gront suspension. I have everything ordered to do it. I started taking the passenger side apart and getting everything cleaned and painted, only took me about 3 hours to get from start to finish.

Already had started by time I took this pic, rotor and what not is off but thats it.



Everything off, now time for some wire brushing



Everything is clean that I could get to with a drill and wire wheel. Dont know exactly how Ill get all the little nooks and crannys.



Under side, still got some more to do under here.



Cant wait to get this engine bay done and see what it all looks like. Then time to start the interior, custom gauges and speaker set-up is the main thing to do.

[GMC91]

Dont think Im gonna up-date this build anymore. No one seems to be interested in it, so whats the point. Only reason I post is to see what ya'll have to say: tips, comments, critizism. Im not getting any replies so...

[91chickentruck]

nice truck nice work clening up the frame i also did it on mine verry time consuming but rewarding

[jb1016]

I've been keeping tabs on it. I've got nothing really valuable to add, but I think you're doing good work.

[lha1992]

First time i've seen this thread actually since i just got back on the site a few weeks ago after a longgg hiatus haha

Anyways I'm liking the build alot!!! Giving me some idea for my '89 actually.

My '89 is a long bed 2wd though. Has a 350 700r4 in it with 3.08s in the rear and 31in tires but getting ready to soon rebuild the rearend. Possibly lower?? Idk yet still on the fence as to if i want to or not.

Btw i know you already switched to carb but did you check out just buying a ALDL cable to hook up to your computer and download one of the free tuner programs off the web for OBD 1 before you switched?? You can burn your own chip that way actually which is what i may possibly be doing to my truck.

Gotta ask what kinda chassis paint did you use for your chassis when you were cleaning it up? I'm originally from Mississippi which is where my truck came from and the chassis in areas is coated with the good ole red clay on it and wanting to clean that up bad...

But don't take offense if no one really comments or not in your thread, i've had the same way too when i got started with my rebuild of my '89. They'll show up and comment!

[GMC91]

Well heres where Im at with the frame. Im using chassis saver for the frame, seams to be working pretty good.

[jb1016]

Looking good! It's hard to imagine my frame once looked like that...

[MotorHead Lon]

I might be biased but the truck is coming along nicely. Now that the front clip is off, it's not much more work to yank the cab, and the bed.

[GMC91]

Can someone tell me the proper way to put the front suspension back together? Like what order does everything go in and is there anything special I need to do while putting it all back together.

[squaredaway]

Keep on updating us on the truck! Most will watch until you hit a topic they are comfortable with talking about. You are doing what a lot of us are not doing, building!