Silverado #2 😎

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Dang, thats some love. Looks good.

Thank you Motormonkey! This was somewhat of a "Trial run" to see how filthy things truly were underneath this truck. The worst part is up front, so I figured I'd start with that area and see what it's going to take. Unlike my SS, this truck is considerably higher above the ground, so sliding up underneath it to work is SOOOO much easier. I've got a long road ahead of me, but you have to start somewhere!

 

[mattyc]

Everything was nice and dry this morning so I reinstalled the plastic shield with all new hardware. What a difference! It just makes the rest of the chassis look even worse!

Man I've got a LOT of work left to do on this thing!!!

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Damn, never seen one look like that! Beautiful. That goo gm puts on their frames is terrible. Mine next??

 

[Backlash]

Damn, never seen one look like that! Beautiful. That goo gm puts on their frames is terrible. Mine next??

It's a nasty wax that they (GM), uses to protect the truck frames. Yes it works, but Man it looks like crap. I did this same process to my Toyota truck and it's held up surprisingly well all these years. I don't know when I'll actually be finished doing this on this 1500HD, but no, yours is not next. LMAO!! I've got WAAAYYY too many other honey-do's and projects to finish up before I start messing around on other people's rides. But thank you for the offer!

 

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Good evening!

I did some more scrubbing underneath this truck and decided it was time to take a break on that mess. I'll get back to the chassis soon enough. I needed a little change of pace and decided to start working on a different area. The part you actually do see.

I started with the front passenger fender and wiped it all down. There are a lot of imperfections in this paint (Which I knew prior to making the purchase). But, that doesn't mean it has to look cruddy. I stripped off whatever wax was on it and ran a clay bar over the surfaces to get rid of any contaminants. This is how the finish looked after the claying process.

The next step was utilizing Mequiar's polishing compounds which got rid of all of the water spots and majority of the scratches.

 

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After polishing this panel by hand, I switched over to a random orbit polishing machine and foam pad, and made some significant improvements with the finish.

There are some minor nicks and other imperfections that will remain, but overall, it turned out pretty good.

After the final polish, the results speak for themselves.

Because I was running out of daylight and dinner was calling my name, I called it quits. I sprayed on a quick coat of ceramic wax and considered this panel "Done."

Enjoy your evening and thank you for following along!

 

[Backlash]

Good evening!

I was able to get majority of the passenger side of this truck pretty well dialed in. It took a few hours due to some deep scratches and other nasty imperfections in the doors and bedside. I'll give the passenger side another wipe down in the morning and then put a few coats of ceramic wax on.

 

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Nevermind the miscellaneous items piled up in some of the reflections.

I couldn't help but snap this pic.

 

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Good afternoon!

The cleaning continues.

I pulled the corner support and the brackets above the inner fender panel between the firewall and radiator overflow tank. This area was a complete mess. As is the driver's side.

 

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I got to work scrubbing and cleaning and removed as much built up crap as I could reach. There is still more detail work to do up near the windshield above the firewall, but I can focus on that at a later time.

While doing a little research, I learned I can remove the factory brackets on the passenger side inner fender well, and install a second battery tray from a 2500HD. Well, I don't have a need for a second battery at this point.....but it couldn't hurt. So, I picked up the Dorman replacement bracket from the local O'Reilly's and set it aside.

The downside to this replacement part.....Made in China.

After wasting quite a bit of time on this project, the outcome was better than expected. I cleaned everything I could reach, then gave all these surfaces a quick polish. A few coats of wax and the results look halfway decent.

 

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Before detailing.....

After......

 

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I dropped the new second battery tray in and bolted it in place. It fit perfectly!

And with that, this little part of this giant project is wrapped up. Next up is the rest of the front core support area and then on to the driver's side inner fender.

 

[Cooter01]

Keep up the progress and great work!

 

[mattyc]

I dropped the new second battery tray in and bolted it in place. It fit perfectly!

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And with that, this little part of this giant project is wrapped up. Next up is the rest of the front core support area and then on to the driver's side inner fender.

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Dammit, I thought my truck was super clean for its age, you're making me reconsider, please stop

 

[Backlash]

Good afternoon!

This cruddy overcast L.A. weather isn't good for much......but at least I wasn't baking in the sun today. I managed to get some more scrubbing done and man, what a mess!!!

This is what I started with earlier today.

And a few hours later, this is what I ended up with. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the outcome. This side of the engine compartment has a lot more going on than the passenger side does, so it's a pain. It isn't perfect, but it's a helluva lot better than it was!!

 

[WTR&PWR]

Have you been using a steamer? Looks great!

 

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Have you been using a steamer? Looks great!

Thank you! No Sir this is just good old fashioned elbow grease with various cleaning products. There is a ton of caked on grease and crud in every nook and cranny. Once I get all that gunk removed, I go back over those areas and polish the surfaces by hand as best I can. Final step is spraying everything down with a few coats of wax. I'm sure there are more efficient ways of doing all of this, but this process is somewhat therapeutic and enjoyable to me.

 

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This corner of the engine compartment on the driver's side took forever to clean up. There is a black support bracket deep down in the corner that had layer upon layer of caked on grease mixed with dirt and debris. It had "Baked" into a dried crusty mess with the texture of a spray on bedliner. Combine that with the wiring looms and the sharp edges of the fender panel, and it's a lovely area to work in. There was no easy way to reach it without laying across the front core support stretched out like a blanket.

I'd soak this area with cleaning products, then wipe out whatever I could. I'd spray it down again, let it soak, then wipe it all out again. My thought process was to spend the time to get it all as clean as I could, because I don't want to have to do this $#!& again anytime soon.

Now that this area is detailed and waxed, it will be a LOT easier to keep it clean.

 

[Cooter01]

Lookin good!

 

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Good evening!

I hope you're all doing well! We've been busy with work, last minute Christmas shopping, a slew of gift wrapping sessions, work-related holiday parties and an impromptu L.A. Kings hockey game. I managed to pick up a few non-essential parts for miscellaneous projects around the house, but haven't spent much time working on this truck.

During some late-night browsing sessions on RDP, I stumbled in to some miscellaneous parts in the classified section and made arrangements to pick some items up. I didn't know where else to post these up, so I thought this thread would be appropriate even if the parts don't end up on this truck.

One of the classified ads consisted of a slew of AN fittings and stainless hose that had been removed during the restoration of a 21' Schiada. While I don't have the immediate need for a boatload of fittings and hose, I struck up a deal to acquire them anyways. My wife was obviously thrilled when I told her I was picking these up "Just because."

This is just some of what I came home with.

There is a decent assortment of sizes and styles that still have life left in them. Others, like these below, are destined for the recycle bin. It just goes to show you.......even AN fittings have a service life.

 

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I spent a few minutes sorting through the fittings, removing the ones with corrosion damage. Then I separated the fittings into two plastic containers. There are also a large number of fittings that are still attached to numerous stainless hoses.....I'll worry about those later.

I stripped the good fittings and removed all the Teflon tape and putty from each one. I then tossed a handful of fittings into a bath where I left them to soak.

My wife and I took off to run some more errands while these guys baked in the sun.

 

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Once home, I wiped these fittings off and ran each fitting over the polisher. While the end results aren't perfect, they are MUCH better than when I started.

Since I haven't decided where I'll actually use these fittings, I'll leave them in this condition. Once they have a final resting place on one of my many upcoming projects, I'll make the decision to leave them polished or add a finish/color. Until then, Ill keep adding to the stripped collection.

 

[mattyc]

Once home, I wiped these fittings off and ran each fitting over the polisher. While the end results aren't perfect, they are MUCH better than when I started.

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Since I haven't decided where I'll actually use these fittings, I'll leave them in this condition. Once they have a final resting place on one of my many upcoming projects, I'll make the decision to leave them polished or add a finish/color. Until then, Ill keep adding to the stripped collection.

What are you stripping them with?

 

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What are you stripping them with?

I tried drain cleaner but that didn't work as well as it used to. It took some of it off, but then I resorted to a brass bristled brush to get into the corners and the threads. The polishing/compound did the rest.

 

[RiverRunr]

I found oven cleaner to work really well to strip the anodized fittings. Gloves, mask, and eye protection are required.

 

[Cooter01]

Good deal! I was going to follow up with what RiverRunr said, oven cleaner works real well!

 

[mattyc]

I tried drain cleaner but that didn't work as well as it used to. It took some of it off, but then I resorted to a brass bristled brush to get into the corners and the threads. The polishing/compound did the rest.

I just stripped some anodized stuff. Used 100% lye drain cleaner. Worked well and periodically brushed it with a chip brush. I used greased lightning on something a long time ago and that worked well too. The lye drain cleaner is powder and can mix it to whatever strength you want and the jar was $5

 

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Good evening!

My wife and I spent the day lounging around the house smoking a pork shoulder for dinner. That left me with a little time to continue working on this project. I've wrapped up majority of the cleaning under the hood, so I turned my attention to the topside. The roof and the hood of the truck are going to need to be repainted, period. The clearcoat is already gone and the paint is fading because of that. It is what it is. Again, this was something I was aware of when I purchased this, so it wasn't a surprise. But that doesn't mean I can't brighten it up a little bit.

Here is how the hood looked when I started. Dull with barely a reflection.

I used a number of products and spent majority of the afternoon working on this. The end results are decent. The hood still needs to be repainted, but I can live with this for awhile.

The next step will be to finish the tonneau cover on the bed, the roof of the truck and then the driver's side. Baby steps.

 

[Backlash]

One of the Christmas gifts from my wife was a new set of Weather Tech floor mats. To some of you, that may seem silly. But for me, it's kind of a big deal. My wife is NOT a car person, at all! She sees vehicles as a tool to get from "Here to there," and that's it. Any other effort spent on a vehicle is wasted time, money and energy.

I could point out a Corvette ZR-1 or a badass Chevy prerunner.....and she could care less.

These fit perfectly and it was nice to support a company where things are still "Made in the USA." I'll pick up the matching set for the rear seat in the upcoming weeks.

Thank you Sweetie!

 

[Cooter01]

I am with you, every vehicle gets a set of weathertechs!

 

[Backlash]

I am with you, every vehicle gets a set of weathertechs!

I'm happy with their products and need to pick some more up for my other truck. I've just been busy funneling money towards other priorities.

 

[Cooter01]

I'm happy with their products and need to pick some more up for my other truck. I've just been busy funneling money towards other priorities.

Sometimes I get lucky and find them brand new on eBay for half price. Sure no warranty, yet in the 10 years plus of using them I never had to use the warranty.

 

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Good afternoon!

I haven't had a ton of time to devote to this ride, but when I have a minute, I try and chip away at it.

I like the truck the way it is, and really don't "Need" to do much to it. I've just been cleaning and polishing wherever I can. One of the things I've always liked about the HD line of trucks, is the factory aluminum wheels. I think GM did a good job with the design for this generation of truck. Currently, this truck has some aftermarket 17" chrome wheels which look decent. They aren't my favorite, but they will work for now. No sense buying tires when there is some life left in these. But I've always had a soft spot for those factory aluminum wheels......

Last night, I fell down the Craigslist rabbit hole and stumbled into an ad.

So, I sent an email and waited for a reply. For the price, I was intrigued.

 

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This morning, the owner of the shop replied and said they did still have it. Bitchen!!

Being the greedy bastard I am, I asked how many of these wheels they had. His response......several. I confirmed the price and told him I'd be there this morning to pick up 5.

I've purchased several things from this particular yard and I was happy to give them some more of my money. We loaded these up and headed home! Shitty mismatched tires and all!!

 

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Keep in mind, these are "Used" and were manufactured in 2002 and may have spent a considerable amount of time in a salvage yard. They aren't perfect which is what I expected. Based on the tire selections and the various wear patterns on the tires, they may have even come off of different trucks. Or someone was driving around with some redneck shit. Either way, I was happy!

I got home, unloaded these and gave them a quick bath. What a difference! 4 of the 5 wheels look great, and only one has a minor bump and some curb rash on the inside of the wheel. The clearcoat is peeling off of all of them, but that's fine with me.

I'd say they cleaned up pretty well with some soap, water and some elbow grease.

Total cost......$250.

I'll let these dry for a bit then squirrel them away for the time being.

As always, thank you for following along! Have a fantastic day!

 

[Backlash]

Well, I couldn't help myself.

I started on the first wheel just to see how much work it's going to take to get these to look how I want them to look. I started on the backside of the first wheel and hit it with a wire wheel to knock off the remaining factory clearcoat. Once I got most of it off, I switched to a random orbit sander and 120 grit. Once I finished that, I went back over the surfaces by hand to clean up any residue and to orient the sanding marks in the same direction. This is where we're at!

Not too shabby if I don't say so myself!

Next I'll hit all of this with 220, 320, 400, 600 and finally 1,000 grit.

The good news is, I get to do this to four more wheels!






I knew how much work this would be which is one of the reasons I was trying to get a used set as inexpensive as possible. This project will take more time and energy than money.

 

[Cooter01]

Man you got a steal of a deal! I too, very much like the look of those wheels! The refinishing process sucks, yet once all polished out they look amazing!

 

[Backlash]

Man you got a steal of a deal! I too, very much like the look of those wheels! The refinishing process sucks, yet once all polished out they look amazing!

Have you looked at the price for replicas for sale online?? They are ridiculous! At this point, I could do a simple wash, then drop the wheels off and have someone else do all the hard work and still be ahead. But that's no fun and I seem to enjoy torturing myself. So whenever I get some free time, I'll plug away on these and see what I can do to bring them back to their former glory.

I figured it would be nice to have a set of OG factory wheels in case I were to ever sell this truck. Maybe the new owner would appreciate having them. You never know.

Thank you for the kind words and for following along!

 

[Cooter01]

Have you looked at the price for replicas for sale online?? They are ridiculous! At this point, I could do a simple wash, then drop the wheels off and have someone else do all the hard work and still be ahead. But that's no fun and I seem to enjoy torturing myself. So whenever I get some free time, I'll plug away on these and see what I can do to bring them back to their former glory.

I figured it would be nice to have a set of OG factory wheels in case I were to ever sell this truck. Maybe the new owner would appreciate having them. You never know.

Thank you for the kind words and for following along!

Oh yes, they are RIDICULOUS lol! I think what you are doing with some elbow grease will be light years ahead! Work on it 30 mins each night after work and boom you'll be done in no time.

 

[Backlash]

Good afternoon!

Small progress on this sucker.

The previous owner installed an aftermarket stereo system in the truck, which works, but it isn't anything to really write home about. I looked at a few options, but wanted a double-din head unit, the ability to use a rearview camera and still be able to slap in a CD on occasion. The "Want" for the CD player left me with very few options. I pulled the OG Alpine unit out and took a peek inside the dash to see what I was dealing with. Well, let's just say there was a ton of wiring going on behind the dash.

As Clint Eastwood said.... "A man's got to know his limitations."

I took it to a local shop in the SGV and handed them my new head unit and asked for them to install it. I also wanted them to double-check the wiring under the hood to make certain the amps weren't drawing unnecessary power from the battery. That's another reason I wanted "Professionals" to take a look at this mess. They pulled the old head unit, wired everything in and did an outstanding job making it all work.

I haven't received the new double-din dash trim piece. For this reason, I requested the installer not completely secure the head unit. I'm sure I'll need to adjust the head unit slightly, once the new trim piece arrives.

Speaking with the installer, the two mismatched amps in the truck aren't providing consistent power to the door speakers. The power to the speakers is weak with a low volume, but increases as the volume is turned up. Once it's uncomfortably loud, the power evens out and the speakers work just fine. Needless to say, these old amps will also need to be upgraded in the near future. One thing always leads to another.

 

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I've been slowly working on the factory wheels that I picked up, but they aren't ready for tires just yet. There is still a lot of work left to do.

The Nitto tires that are currently on here have plenty of tread life left, but the date code is from 2019. When looking at the tires, you can see small cracks in between the tread lugs. There aren't any bubbles, cuts or knicks anywhere that I can see, but the fact they are 5 years old has me concerned.

My wife and I are planning a short trip in the near future, and we will be towing our trailer. I'm not thrilled about driving this truck at freeway speeds while towing, so I need to bite the bullet.

I'm not a fan of these current 17" wheels. They are "OK," but they aren't really my style. I hate spending money to put tires on wheels that I'm not excited about, but I'm afraid I'll be pushing my luck if I leave these tires on here.

I didn't really plan on dumping $1500 on a new set of tires, but I don't think I have much wiggle room at this point. So the search was on.....

I have had good luck with online tire sales such as Tire Rack and such, but couldn't find anything reasonably priced in this size range. I looked around and considered a number of different brands and styles, but nothing really caught my eye.

I eventually found a deal on some Bridgestone tires and reached out to the seller. The tires are less aggressive than the Trail Grappler's, but appear to be a good quality tire with good reviews. I offered a "Cash and carry" price which the seller agreed to, and picked them up. The price was right, so let's see how these work out.

As always, thank you for following along! Have a great day and stay safe!

 

[Backlash]

Good morning!

I stopped by the shop this morning and these guys knocked it out of the park. They pulled the old tires and mounted/balanced the new Bridgestones. These tires are slightly taller but it isn't noticeable. What IS noticeable is the ride. Holy smokes what a difference! I backed out of the parking lot and made one turn and realized the difference!

The new Bridgestones have already impressed me and I've only put 10 miles on them. I hope this love affair continues for a few more miles.

The "Look" of the tire is less aggressive than the Nittos, but the ride is much nicer. That part of this neverending project is complete!

Like I said in a previous post, I didn't really want to spend the money on new shoes (For these particular wheels), but it was probably a smart choice considering the trips we have planned.

 

[Backlash]

Good morning!

It's time to put this thing to use and see how she does. My wife and I both agreed......we needed a quick getaway!

 

[Cooter01]

Safe travels!

 

[Cooter01]

Post up how it does when you are done with the trip

 

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Good evening!

The truck did great during our little weekend getaway. We made it "There and back" without any issues! My wife and I had no agendas this weekend and planned to use this trip as somewhat of a trial run.

I have a Curt weight distribution hitch on this truck and used it with our little Airstream. It levels the weight out and incorporates an anti-sway bar as well. The setup seems "About right" as the truck/trailer combo works really well together. Even with crosswinds, semis passing us and during downhill descents, I never really felt the trailer wiggle much. It tows really well. Here is a picture showing the lack of "Bro squat."

The engine ran perfectly and didn't act up whatsoever. It didn't run "Hot" even when towing up a few different grades. I didn't see any temps over 210°. The temp stayed right at, or just below, 200° on our way to the lower desert and then back to L.A.

This transmission has a 2000 rpm stall converter in it which didn't skip a beat. I left the trans in 3rd gear majority of the drive, and kept the RPMs around 2-3K while on the freeway. Downhill, I'd slide it up into overdrive and it would let the engine RPMs drop down around 1800-2000k. I was impressed with how well the truck, engine and transmission performed.

I'm so thankful I spent the money on new tires for this truck before we departed on this quick little trip. I'm sure the old Nittos would have survived, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary chances. These new Bridgestones did exceptionally well. I'm stoked I found them! The tires were quiet on the freeway and they soaked up all of the nasty seams and potholes California roads are so famous for. I'd buy them again in a heartbeat! (I may do just that for another project I have.... we'll see!)

All in all, the truck performed better than I expected!

 

[Cooter01]

Good to hear! I am sure the aftermarket converter helped a bunch towing, they usually do. When locked up generates less heat and puts the power to the ground way better.

 

[Backlash]

Good to hear! I am sure the aftermarket converter helped a bunch towing, they usually do. When locked up generates less heat and puts the power to the ground way better.

Thank you for checking in!

I was really happy with the way things worked. Obviously, having the 2000 RPM stall makes it a little slow off the line, but once the RPMs come up and the load is moving, it's all business from there.

I'm happy with how everything worked this trip. Next on the agenda is continuing with cleaning some other stuff up.

There is a nice fiberglass bedcover on this truck that has seen better days. It works well and keeps everything in the bed secure and out of sight. It's also red, faded and has a number of knicks in the paint. For kicks and giggles, I did a little test-run on a corner to see if I could bring this back to life. After a little elbow grease and come compounds, this was the result.

I was able to restore the color and in this small section, you can see it almost matches the paint on the truck. Before I do any more work on this bed cover, I want to try and fill in some of the paint chips. It only makes sense to do that before I continue with polishing out the rest of this top.

Like I keep telling myself.....baby steps.

As always, thank you for following along!

 

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Good morning!

This took more work than I thought it would. The "Paint" on this cover is completely shot. I'm not familiar with how they spray these when they make them, but there isn't any form of "Clear coat" on this tonneau cover.

If it is indeed paint, well, there isn't any clear. If it's just a layer of gelcoat, then there isn't any clear. Either way, I'm making progress.

I started off with a very fine grade of polish on a random-orbit machine. The goal was to bring back the gloss without removing too much material. After working on a small section for about a half hour, I honestly wasn't impressed. Its ironic too, because I was told "You're going to be blown away with the results using this compound and this pad."

Ummm.....I wasn't. I put away the cute stuff and figured it was time to step it up a few notches.

I broke out the variable speed Milwaukee polisher, a pad and a bottle of Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. Using products and methods more familiar to me, this is how the cover looks after just the first pass.

Obviously there is more work to do, but I'm beyond impressed considering I'm using over the counter products versus "Boutique" detail shop supplies.

 

[Backlash]

Good evening!

When I purchased this truck, the previous owner handed me two keys and only one key fob. One of the two keys somewhat worked in the ignition, while the second key didn't work at all. The one that worked, had a broken piece of plastic which meant it wouldn't stay on a key ring. I know, keys..... Third world problems. The key that didn't work, was of course, all metal and would stay on a key ring until the apocalypse comes.

The fiberglass bedcover has two lock assemblies to secure the top to the truck. Well, of course there were no keys for those locks. Off to my local locksmith to try and fix these issues.

I explained what was going on with the ignition keys and he smiled while listening to me. I told him how the worn key barely worked, and the second all-metal key didn't work at all. He smiled again and said "I know. Someone cut the aftermarket key using the original worn key. So the cuts in the key were all in the wrong place." The locksmith spent a few minutes working his magic, and handed me two brand-new keys that worked perfectly! Now that the ignition key issue was resolved, we moved on to the bedcover locks.

These locks proved a little more challenging because these had also been rekeyed. Since the original key combo was unknown, and the lock had been re-keyed, the locksmith had to start from scratch to make keys for these. About 10 minutes later, he handed me a few more keys that worked flawlessly! The gentleman handed me the bill which was money well spent!!

 

[Backlash]

The key/lock issues had been resolved, so now it was time to move on to the actual bedcover.

The cover is held in place with two stationary metal tabs near the front of the bed. There are two hatch lift shocks on each side and the two lock assemblies at the rear. Pretty simple and straightforward.

The pin is easily removed in case there is a need to remove the bedcover. Unfortunately, the pins both flop around and have scratched the paint on the back of the cab. It's a minor problem but annoys me. I pulled these pins and replaced them with stainless keychain rings. Now, the metal rings don't touch the back of the cab.

On to the actual locks.

I pulled the locks and replaced the dried out rubber gaskets with a similar sized cork gasket. I searched high and low and couldn't find a rubber replacement, so cork it is. Looking above and underneath the cover, there is nowhere for the tab on the bottom of the lock tumbler to latch on to. Even when the key is inserted and turned to "Lock" the cover in place, there is nothing even remotely close for the tab to recess into.

This is on the driver's side of the truck, looking up at the inside of the cover and the lock from inside the bed. Nada.