1988 GMC Sierra SLE 2500 - First project ever.

[droberson]

Hello! I'm new to the forums, and just picked up a 1988 GMC Sierra SLE 2500 from my girlfriend's father. I basically wanted a truck to haul around stuff that will not fit in my Jeep and to have a second vehicle in the event that my daily driver is out of commission.

Additionally, I need a hobby. I've always wanted to learn more about working on cars and now that I have a second vehicle I won't be as apprehensive about working on it. To me, pretty much anything beats coming home and watching TV every night. I'll try to document my progress on this truck the best I can. Hopefully someone finds this thread interesting or it helps somebody some day.

I'd like to start off saying that I don't have a whole lot of experience with mechanical work beyond basic maintenance like fluid changes, tune ups, changing brakes, and the occasional part replacement (radiators, belts, alternators, etc). This truck runs solid enough for what I need at the moment, but needs quite a bit of cosmetic work.

My girlfriend's father was the second owner of this and drove it daily to and from work for 20+ years, used it to haul firewood, make trips to the dump, and pull his boat to and from the lake. It recently had the engine and transmission rebuilt and the radiator replaced. I don't know which engine or transmission is in it currently. Other than oil changes, he did pretty much nothing to maintain it. The interior is thrashed and it is pretty much filthy all around.

Doing a quick once over on it, here are the things I saw wrong with it:

- There is a small oil leak. I don't know where from.
- The oil pressure pegs out on the gauge when its running. I don't know if this is normal or if there is actually a problem. It has been driven this way for years, however. Hopefully this is just a sensor or a broken gauge or something simple.
- The parking brake does not work.
- The brake light in the lower right corner of the instrument flickers while driving.
- The seat belts do not work.
- The steering wheel has a bit of up and down play in it, but the steering feels tight. Hopefully this is just something needing tightened.
- The horn cap is missing
- The drivers side power window doesn't work and is stuck down about 2"
- The door panels are thrashed. The handles to close them are missing, several clips are missing to hold them in place, and someone held them down with hex head sheet metal screws.
- The drivers side door lock does not work. I suspect that the linkage is broken/disconnected.
- The glove compartment has broken hinges and just falls out when its opened.
- The bench seat needs new cushions and upholstery or replaced.
- It can be started without a key. The ignition switch needs replaced
- The sun visors are missing fabric and are just pieces of plywood
- It has four mismatched tires in various stages of wear.
- Missing tailgate handle bezel.
- The trim strip across the back of the tailgate is loose and held on with hex head sheet metal screws.
- The engine bay is extremely dirty. If there are any other leaks, I wouldn't be able to tell where they're coming from.
- It still has the original shocks. They are worn out and need to be replaced.
- The headlight switch is very lose.
- 4x4 works, but I don't know if the diffs have ever been serviced.
- The tail lights work, but the lenses are very old and brittle. They feel like they will disintegrate if I ever have to take them off to change a bulb.
- Missing pads on the gas and brake pedals.
- The bezel around the instrument panel is sun rotted and cracked. Its held in by mismatched screws.


I haven't got around to checking much under the truck or in the engine bay, but it runs strong, starts easily every time, transmission doesn't slip, it passes smog, aren't huge puddles of fluid under it, and I don't notice any strange noises while driving it. From what I see currently, it is mostly cosmetic damage and expected wear and tear on a truck driven for over 20 years.


My initial goal with this truck is to make it comfortable to drive and have everything work as intended. After that, I might add a few basic performance mods. This is mostly going to be a learning experience for me and something to occupy my spare time. I'll post some "before" pics as soon as I get around to taking them.

[droberson]

Took some before pictures today. Will upload them from work if I am not slammed. I have a 70 hour week this week, so there won't be a lot of time for me to get much work done.

First things first, I am going to give this truck a thorough cleaning. I'm leaving a half hour early to pick up some cleaning supplies. Hopefully I can get a bit done when I get home tonight.

[bufmatmuslepants]

Rockauto is your friend for alot of that. The tailgate handle is like $6, trim and linkages are cheap, parking brake cables, pedal pads, all brand new for cheap. Alot of the rest of that can easily and cheaply (and fun) to get from a pick n pull. Just remember gloves and a flashlight, I forgot mine yesterday and was sad.

[droberson]

Originally Posted by bufmatmuslepants

Rockauto is your friend for alot of that. The tailgate handle is like $6, trim and linkages are cheap, parking brake cables, pedal pads, all brand new for cheap. Alot of the rest of that can easily and cheaply (and fun) to get from a pick n pull. Just remember gloves and a flashlight, I forgot mine yesterday and was sad.

Bummer on the flashlight. I hate misplacing and losing tools. I haven't had good experiences at the junkyard nearest my house in the past, but I'll check it out next week when I get a day off.

I finally got a few minutes free at work, so I figured I'd paste some "before" pictures. Its pretty haggard right now, but over time I'm sure it will be a lot better.

[IMG BROKENNEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141022_070944_zpsxy6xqeyb.jpg~original[/IMG]
Don't have a whole lot of room where it was parked to get a better angle.

[IMG ROKENNEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141022_071446_zpshynrvpea.jpg~original[/IMG]
Under the hood. Pretty dirty.

[IMG ROKENNEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141022_071228_zpsdyk46fjo.jpg~original[/IMG]
Dirty interior. You can see the missing horn button, torn up bench seat, and the three broken seat belt receivers. Does anyone know a good spot where I can get new sets of seat belts? These seem like a pretty bad design. One of them fell apart in my hands last night while I was trying to get it to work. It was full of plastic pieces and broken into about 10 pieces.

[IMG BROKENNEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141022_071201_zpsjtogfopc.jpg~original[/IMG]
Door panel held in with hex head sheet metal screws. Door lock won't work, just flops around.

[IMG BROKENNEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141022_071221_zpsrxerlhrp.jpg~original[/IMG]
Steering wheel rocks up and down. Their solution: binder clips!



Anyway, I'm not very proud of how dirty it is, but these are true "before" pictures. I haven't done anything to it at all yet, not even wiped it down. Saturday, I'll have a bit of time to give it a bath and see about fixing a few things.


Edit: Need to resize images, they were obnoxiously huge. Will get to it as soon as I can.

[droberson]

I had a couple of hours free before I had to go to work this morning, so I figured I'd remove the drivers side door panel to see if the door lock linkage was broken, missing, or simply unhooked. The plastic clip to hold the linkage was snapped clean off:

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141024_073255_zpste92lh5o.jpg~original[/IMG]

The entire plastic assembly is very brittle and cracked in numerous places, so I ordered a new set for each side from Rockauto, along with new door panels, the plastic clips to hold it in place, and parts to fix the power windows. The sun in Vegas is extra brutal to plastics, so I plan on replacing all of it.

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141024_072209_zpsgdjm0nbs.jpg~original[/IMG]

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141024_072223_zps6w3cd8wp.jpg~original[/IMG]

As you can see in the picture above, the clips holding the switches in are broken in a lot of places. After messing with the door motor and regulator, I THINK that the only thing wrong is the switch doesn't work when you press it up. it will roll down just fine.


I am kind of bummed out that the door is in such rough shape from age and abuse. A lot of the hardware to hold the innards of the door is missing, stripped out, or the threads are broken. Additionally, the door panel itsself has a crack in the metal:

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141024_072214_zps7tntltqq.jpg~original[/IMG]


In the meantime while I'm waiting for parts to arrive, I plan on cleaning the truck up a bit. I have tomorrow off, so hopefully I can get some stuff accomplished. I figured I'd start by cleaning it up and getting the interior buttoned up so I can drive around without getting filthy before I started getting too heavy into the mechanical problems.

After everything in the doors is working, I'll probably get seat belts and fix the steering column. I know this truck isn't much, but I am excited to work on it. I've been wanting a truck to tote materials and bigger stuff around that wouldn't fit in my Jeep for a while, and always wanted to learn more about working on cars, so this is perfect for me for now.

[droberson]

By the way, does anyone know if there is a way to resize images via the IMG tag on the forums, or will I have to resize them and re-upload them to Photobucket? I am kind of new to this and couldn't find a straight answer on Google. Thanks.

[droberson]

I had a little bit of time on my day off to get a bit of work done. I basically started cleaning the interior and replaced the rubber piece on the brake pedal.

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141025_074559_zpsrrqn8r3t.jpg~original[/IMG]

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141025_074823_zpsymzdkmrm.jpg~original[/IMG]

This was pretty straightforward. I cleaned the muck off the metal with some simple green and snapped the rubber piece on.

I put some full strength simple green in a spray bottle and started wiping everything off. It was absolutely filthy. I went through an entire roll of paper towels. It looks a lot better now. I will take some pictures when I can. All of them came out really bad because it was insanely bright outside.

The dash piece on the passenger side that houses one of the air vents was cracked where it fastens in. I'm going to attempt to fix it. The glove compartment is also missing the plastic post hinge on one side, and is snapped on the other side. This is why its falling out when its opened up. Since the right side post is missing, I don't know what I'm going to do about it yet.

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141025_112847_zpsmxcxt3qc.jpg~original[/IMG]

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141025_112518_zpsrn0vrzjq.jpg~original[/IMG]

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141025_112526_zpsgh8oy3ui.jpg~original[/IMG]

Later in the evening, I went to Home Depot and bought a new wet/dry vacuum. This will come in handy for a lot of things around the house, so I didn't really mind picking one up. I used my girlfriend's cordless vacuum to get a lot of the dirt and rocks up, but it wasn't cutting it. The new vacuum will definitely do the trick.

The weather seals around both doors are pretty much rotten. I'll be looking for a replacement kit to replace all of it shortly. I found some change to put towards the cause inside of part of it that was rotted out:

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141025_113959_zpslpvwpeyt.jpg~original[/IMG]

Next up is cleaning the exterior and engine bay if I have enough time after work one of these nights. My hours right now are pretty awful, so it might have to wait until the weekend.

I ordered a new ignition switch and the tools to disassemble the steering column so I can tighten the tilt assembly up. They should be here just in time for the weekend. My dad is a locksmith and I've helped him replace a number of these, so I'm pretty confident that I can get this done. Hopefully the plastics inside the column arent too bad. I'm kicking around the idea of replacing the steering wheel while im at it.

I'd like to do a bit of adjustment to the doors while I have them pulled apart. The passenger side opens and shuts fine, but the drivers side is pretty hard to close. It appears that the hinge pins were replaced recently, but they are already bent. The post that the latch assembly locks onto is pretty worn out on both sides also. Its kind of hard to see, because it was so bright outside when this picture was taken, but both sides have a fairly deep groove worn into them:

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141025_114059_zpshhwbwgbl.jpg~original[/IMG]




I still have to go to the DMV on one of my days off to get the title transferred into my name. This shouldn't be a big deal, but it is very time consuming to go to the DMV here in town. They just "upgraded" their system to call people to the counter by their telephone number rather than pulling a number and waiting. This sucks because you have absolutely no idea how long you're going to be waiting. I never look forward to going to the DMV, and they made it even worse.

Before this is road worthy, I am going to have to do something about the seat belts. A forum member on here sells replacement kits, and I'm just waiting for her to respond. $170 for all three, with metal buckles rather than the plastic junk in there now. I looked on ebay for replacement receivers, and it would cost around that just to replace those with used ones, so I guess that isn't too bad for new ones.


In closing, I am pretty amped about fixing this truck up, even though it isn't anything special. I'm not a great mechanic or anything, but I am really excited to be learning as I go. I had $5000 set aside to buy a truck originally, and feel that if I put that much into this, it would be a pretty sweet ride.

[droberson]

Came home and wanted to do something to the truck. I'm waiting on stuff to come in the mail, and am kind of stuck until then.

I researched ways to fix broken plastic at work today and stumbled upon a video on Youtube of a guy mixing superglue and baking soda to make a strong paste. I had never seen this before and figured that the broken air vent on the passenger side would be a good candidate to test this.

Basically the process is as follows:

- Clean the area needing repair with rubbing alcohol. I dry fitted the pieces together to make sure it was a clean break.
- Apply a generous amount of superglue to the area to be repaired. I basically ran a thick bead across the crack.
- Cover the glue completely with baking soda.
- Pat the baking soda down into the glue until it forms a solid paste.
- Repeat on the opposite side of the crack.
- Sand the excess baking soda/glue mixture off for a cleaner surface.


This worked surprisingly well. The pieces were back together with a strong bond quicker than it took to write this post. I can't find the particular video right now, but a quick search on Youtube for "baking soda and super glue" showed about 5 videos outlining the process.

Here are a few pictures of what I did:

Before:
[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141026_202031_zpshtzz7xca.jpg~original[/IMG]

Stuck them together with a light bead of superglue:

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141026_202549_zpseid8vykn.jpg~original[/IMG]

After dumping baking soda on it, letting it dry for a few seconds, and dumping off the excess. I would have taken more pictures, but I didn't know how quickly it would set up. It was VERY quick.

[IMG NEEDTORESIZE]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/dbroberso/88%20gmc%20k2500/IMG_20141026_203645_zpsws5w7j8m.jpg~original[/IMG]

I basically hit the excess off with a small scrap of sandpaper I had laying around in the garage after that. I'll screw it into place tomorrow morning after I let it cure for the night.

This wasn't that big of a job, but I thought it was neat.

[bufmatmuslepants]

For posting pictures from my phone, I always email them to myself and when it asks for size, send medium, then save them to my phone from my email, then attach them to the reply. I only say this because its easier to see the pictures on the actual thread rather than always clicking links. Or the other way to do it is to right click on the image in your photobucket if your not doing it on your phone, click "open image in new tab", then copy the URL in the new tab with the just the picture, then click on the little picture/mountain and a sun icon, and paste that URL there. Like this.







Nice project man, subscribed. Be careful before you spend money on a part at a pick n pull, always check the price of that part new on rockauto first. For example. They wanted MINIMUM $35 for an outside door handle at the pick n pull, and rockauto its $6 new and you dont have to deal with pulling that part from an old moldy truck.

[droberson]

Originally Posted by bufmatmuslepants

Nice project man, subscribed. Be careful before you spend money on a part at a pick n pull, always check the price of that part new on rockauto first. For example. They wanted MINIMUM $35 for an outside door handle at the pick n pull, and rockauto its $6 new and you dont have to deal with pulling that part from an old moldy truck.

The junkyard closest to my house is terrible. I've gone there and gotten upsold twice. They hardly ever have anything I need, and its just a terrible place. I'd rather pay more money for brand new stuff than deal with them. Apparently, I'm not alone. They have 1 star on Google reviews. There ARE other yards in town, but I haven't gone to any. They may be better. If I happen to get a few free days I'd like to check them out. To top it off, I've typically been working 60+ hours a week for the last few months and usually can't even make it in during most shop's business hours. My days off are usually spent cleaning the house and running errands.



Edit: apparently I can't edit my older posts anymore. I'll resize and repost later.
Thankfully there's Amazon, Rockauto, Ebay, etc. I've ordered literally hundreds of items this year and not had to return anything, had anything lost in shipment, or boxes stolen off my doorstep. I guess I have good luck with this so far.

I'm all about saving money, but free time is a premium commodity for me. I feel my time is better spent shopping around online and spending extra rather than blowing my one free afternoon a week on trips to the junkyard where I may not even get what I need. At least I can shop around online during my breaks at work or late in the evening..

I am going to resize all the pictures later today via photobucket so people don't have to click on links.

[droberson]

Busy weekend!

-Fixed the tilt on the steering wheel
-Replaced ignition switch so it can start with a key now!
- Replaced the disgusting steering wheel with a Grant steering wheel out of my non-operational RX7
- Fixed the power door lock actuators
- Fixed the drivers side power windows
- Replaced both interior door handles.
- Replaced both door panels.
- Cleaned the inside of the doors up
- Greased the tracks for the power window tracks
- Put split loom around wires inside the door panels.
- Replaced tailgate handle bezel.
- Replaced tail lights. Just as suspected, they literally crumbled and fell apart when I took them out.
- Went to the DMV to transfer the title into my name. Two hours of waiting and 5 minutes at the counter.


Notes:
- I had to buy a heavy duty riveter to replace the power window actuator. My hand riveter that I use normally was too small to fasten the huge rivets to hold on the window actuator. The Harbor Freight one is $20 and works just fine. It seems it will last a while as long as someone doesn't fasten things with rivets for a living.
- The power locks were not working because the actuators were so gummed up, they couldn't move. I cleaned all the crud off of them and magically they started working again.
- The drivers side door has a big crack and bend in the interior. This will need to be replaced or fixed later.
- The drivers side door lock will not open with a key, but will with the mechanical AND power switch inside. Something is broken inside the handle. The passenger side's lock is just fine. Both handles get stuck in the up position sometimes, so I think a spring or something inside the handles is worn out.
- Discovered that the tailgate handle is messed up when I replaced the tail lights and tailgate handle bezel. I had to jimmy it open with a flat head screwdriver to replace the tail lights.
- The turn signal cancelling cam is cracked. I ordered a new one They are cheap.
- Ordered a pigtail to make the horn work again.
- The switch to turn the brights on is broken.
- The face plates for the interior door handle/locks/power window buttons are cracked, one has a hole drilled in it, and some jackass hot glued one back in place. I'm going to attempt to salvage these because a new one costs $45.
- Goop hand cleaner is the truth for wiping off old electrical tape residue from wires and cleaning up plastic electrical clips.
- Seat belts are on the way.
- My boss is friends with an upholstery guy. I'm going to get a quote to fix my bench seat soon.
- Sun visors are surprisingly expensive, so I am looking for other options to fix these.
- Once I get seat belts installed, I am going to insure + register this so I can drive it around.
- The inside no longer stinks like sweaty armpits.



I uploaded some pictures of my progress. After I eat dinner and go grocery shopping, I'm going to resize them and post them.

[droberson]

Been extremely busy with work and having visitors from out of town for the last few weeks. I hate living in Vegas sometimes because everyone expects you to be a tour guide if they aren't from here. I do not know the good clubs. I do not know where to get $5 prime rib. I do not know the fun bars around the strip area. In fact, I never go to that part of town unless I have to for work. I also do not know how to count cards or know which bets to place at the sports book. Those casinos were not built by winners.

Anyway, since last time I posted, things got somewhat stagnant on this build. I got the seat re-uphostered for $350 at a local shop. This was less than it would have costed me to do it myself, so I am happy. I also cleaned and painted the seat riser. It looks much better now. There was about 25 years worth of sunflower seeds and spilled soda on the old one

Other than that, I replaced the battery because the old one would no longer hold a charge, painted the wheel wells, and replaced all four shocks with new Ranchos. These were pretty straightforward fixes. The hardest part of the whole job was putting the rubber boots onto the shocks. These made a HUGE difference in the way the truck drives. I don't feel like the truck is going to roll when taking turns, and there aren't any loud clunking noises when I hit bumps anymore. I also don't feel seasick when driving around.

TODO:
- finish cleaning the engine bay
- figure out what is leaking. Everything is so filthy its hard to tell.
- replace all the old rotten split loom and fix any electrical connections
- replace ball joints, tie rod ends, pitman arm, idler arm, etc. with non-rotten and servicable pieces.
- tires
- replace blown speakers
- check diffs + transfer case for functionality. I don't think the 4x4 has been used in over a decade.

Pictures will be uploaded as soon as I get some time at work.