First time poster, long time reader. Here is a little vehicle info for you:
86 GMC Jimmy with Stroked engine from a 78 Blazer. Spring over lift, not sure the exact height of the lift. 32" tires. Old Tan paint and interior which the wife and I will be re-doing with a Superman theme, slowly over the next few years. Now to the questions. Keep in mind it's been 13 years since I've actually done any mechanic work so I'm a bit rusty in areas. Oh and links to threads with the answers are fine. I've done some decent searching but not found specific answers yet.
1. Wiring. The wiring is atrocious. The PO, or his son, added an aftermarket stereo and amp as well as a tachometer (which doesn't work and I don't plan on keeping in that spot). After removing the stereo because it was causing a battery drain I noticed the hatchet job and general mess under the dash that is the wiring. I want to re-wire the entire vehicle mainly because of the mess that is the current wiring because of the above mentioned add-ons. I have very limited experience with wiring and in fact that was the ACE cert test I could never pass. I don't know that I want to re-wire the vehicle myself, with the wife's help. Does anyone know what the cost would be to have someone re-wire it? I'd be willing to do it but this is also my daily driver right now so anything that would take more than a few days to a week of working on it after I get off of work makes that a shaky proposition at best. Any suggestions or ideas?
2. Gauges/Dash. In all this I plan on replacing the dash, since it has a few large cracks running from the windshield to the front of the dash, and the gauges and bezel too. To go with the theme we are wanting the dash will be black, the bezel will be powder coated red, the gauges will be blue numbers and needles, and the rings around the gauges will be yellow. With that info any parts leads and do-it-myself tips would be greatly appreciated.
3. Body work. the body is pretty good overall. There is really only one big issue and that is the PO installed an aftermarket external tire rack that would swing open to allow the rear to open up. This was a pretty poor installation job as the the weight of the tire over the years apparently started to rub the mounting holes to an even larger size. I have since taken off the spare tire rack and purchased an internal original mount that I will modify to accommodate the larger tire. For repairing the holes for the long term would it make more sense to take it to a body shop and have them weld in some patches or just use some good quality body filler/bondo? Included in this are the various holes from the emblems that have been removed.
4. Painting. The outside and any metal inside will be blue. The shell will be red, it is in good shape and only recently got a nasty scrape that took of the paint, since sprayed over to prevent further peeling. Chrome Trim pieces will be powdered or chromed yellow. And the hood will be receiving a Superman emblem that the wife will paint. Interior will be all black carpet and panels. Now the questions, any prep work do-it-ourselves-in-our-garage tips? Any tips for painting the shell? Tips on removing and re-using or buying new and painting the trim pieces? Interior tips (we plan on trying to salvage as many of the tan pieces and using the duplic-color vinyl paint kit or finding a parts Jimmy or Blazer that already had black interior)?
5. Seats. I'm kind of lost here. The seats we want will be red leather with yellow piping around them and in the pleats. The seats need to be re-done completely but I don't know if it would be cheaper to buy a set of seats and re-upholster them how we want. The foam is pretty worn out and the springs are probably in need of repair or replacing. The back seat is in much better condition and really only needs to be re-upholstered so this is primarily for the front seats. Any suggestions as to whether I should rebuild the current seats or go aftermarket? What about taking seats from a newer Jimmy/Blazer/Yukon...etc? How easy would that be especially with the difference between non motorized and motorized?
6. Center console, the current one is attached and the lid works. That's about all that can be said. It doesn't lock anymore and doesn't stay completely still. I plan on building my own but am unsure how to go about it. MDF, foam, and upholster. Make a mold and do a fiberglass one and paint. Buy aftermarket and go from there. Which would you do? The first two would be the most time consuming and a new experience but a lot of fun overall I imagine.
7. Carpet. The carpet is not only the wrong color from what we want but very worn and tired. I am stuck between wanting to take it out, clean things up, and just rhino line (or similar product) the floor pan (not sure how good a job this does of sound proofing but I did find a thread on how to do it just without an answer on sound proofing). Replacing the carpet and all sound/heat proofing with aftermarket pre-cut from a place like LMC or similar. Or replacing it with a vinyl "carpet" that you can also get from LMC and other similar places. Any ideas? Tips?
8. General/other. Any other general restoration tips? Customization tips? Parts sources? Donor sources? Thoughts on level of restoration, ground- up, frame off, and so on?
We won't be doing any real work until about 4 years from now due to an upcoming overseas move but I plan on reading up on, learning about, and slowly purchasing the necessary parts, equipment, and tools until we do start the work. I know this is way ahead of time but as you all know none of this stuff is every free or cheap when it comes to completely restoring things. Thanks in advance for all the help and thanks for all the great posts that are already on here.
Ty
86 GMC Jimmy with Stroked engine from a 78 Blazer. Spring over lift, not sure the exact height of the lift. 32" tires. Old Tan paint and interior which the wife and I will be re-doing with a Superman theme, slowly over the next few years. Now to the questions. Keep in mind it's been 13 years since I've actually done any mechanic work so I'm a bit rusty in areas. Oh and links to threads with the answers are fine. I've done some decent searching but not found specific answers yet.
1. Wiring. The wiring is atrocious. The PO, or his son, added an aftermarket stereo and amp as well as a tachometer (which doesn't work and I don't plan on keeping in that spot). After removing the stereo because it was causing a battery drain I noticed the hatchet job and general mess under the dash that is the wiring. I want to re-wire the entire vehicle mainly because of the mess that is the current wiring because of the above mentioned add-ons. I have very limited experience with wiring and in fact that was the ACE cert test I could never pass. I don't know that I want to re-wire the vehicle myself, with the wife's help. Does anyone know what the cost would be to have someone re-wire it? I'd be willing to do it but this is also my daily driver right now so anything that would take more than a few days to a week of working on it after I get off of work makes that a shaky proposition at best. Any suggestions or ideas?
2. Gauges/Dash. In all this I plan on replacing the dash, since it has a few large cracks running from the windshield to the front of the dash, and the gauges and bezel too. To go with the theme we are wanting the dash will be black, the bezel will be powder coated red, the gauges will be blue numbers and needles, and the rings around the gauges will be yellow. With that info any parts leads and do-it-myself tips would be greatly appreciated.
3. Body work. the body is pretty good overall. There is really only one big issue and that is the PO installed an aftermarket external tire rack that would swing open to allow the rear to open up. This was a pretty poor installation job as the the weight of the tire over the years apparently started to rub the mounting holes to an even larger size. I have since taken off the spare tire rack and purchased an internal original mount that I will modify to accommodate the larger tire. For repairing the holes for the long term would it make more sense to take it to a body shop and have them weld in some patches or just use some good quality body filler/bondo? Included in this are the various holes from the emblems that have been removed.
4. Painting. The outside and any metal inside will be blue. The shell will be red, it is in good shape and only recently got a nasty scrape that took of the paint, since sprayed over to prevent further peeling. Chrome Trim pieces will be powdered or chromed yellow. And the hood will be receiving a Superman emblem that the wife will paint. Interior will be all black carpet and panels. Now the questions, any prep work do-it-ourselves-in-our-garage tips? Any tips for painting the shell? Tips on removing and re-using or buying new and painting the trim pieces? Interior tips (we plan on trying to salvage as many of the tan pieces and using the duplic-color vinyl paint kit or finding a parts Jimmy or Blazer that already had black interior)?
5. Seats. I'm kind of lost here. The seats we want will be red leather with yellow piping around them and in the pleats. The seats need to be re-done completely but I don't know if it would be cheaper to buy a set of seats and re-upholster them how we want. The foam is pretty worn out and the springs are probably in need of repair or replacing. The back seat is in much better condition and really only needs to be re-upholstered so this is primarily for the front seats. Any suggestions as to whether I should rebuild the current seats or go aftermarket? What about taking seats from a newer Jimmy/Blazer/Yukon...etc? How easy would that be especially with the difference between non motorized and motorized?
6. Center console, the current one is attached and the lid works. That's about all that can be said. It doesn't lock anymore and doesn't stay completely still. I plan on building my own but am unsure how to go about it. MDF, foam, and upholster. Make a mold and do a fiberglass one and paint. Buy aftermarket and go from there. Which would you do? The first two would be the most time consuming and a new experience but a lot of fun overall I imagine.
7. Carpet. The carpet is not only the wrong color from what we want but very worn and tired. I am stuck between wanting to take it out, clean things up, and just rhino line (or similar product) the floor pan (not sure how good a job this does of sound proofing but I did find a thread on how to do it just without an answer on sound proofing). Replacing the carpet and all sound/heat proofing with aftermarket pre-cut from a place like LMC or similar. Or replacing it with a vinyl "carpet" that you can also get from LMC and other similar places. Any ideas? Tips?
8. General/other. Any other general restoration tips? Customization tips? Parts sources? Donor sources? Thoughts on level of restoration, ground- up, frame off, and so on?
We won't be doing any real work until about 4 years from now due to an upcoming overseas move but I plan on reading up on, learning about, and slowly purchasing the necessary parts, equipment, and tools until we do start the work. I know this is way ahead of time but as you all know none of this stuff is every free or cheap when it comes to completely restoring things. Thanks in advance for all the help and thanks for all the great posts that are already on here.
Ty
How about if I build a rolling self deploying awning that will fit in a duffel bag that you can drive under during those wonderful rainstorms you get in TX? Anyways. I still love your truck. I just put my ideas (wife helped) for the restoration of my Jimmy down in a post (link in sig block). I do want to go fairly original with just the color touches being the difference. You're build gives me the inspiration to do all the little things like nuts and bolts over time also and really give this truck the love it deserves.
