BillyBob
1/2 ton status
Hello all,
I'm not sure I even know anyone anymore on this forum other than Rene... Well, over a decade and a half ago, I joined this forum under the suggestion of my highschool friend who got me into these trucks (BigGray71) and found it to be a huge help as a teenager not knowing what in the hell I was doing with a two and a half ton GM SUV.
With assistance from the community here, I was able to swap in some 3/4 ton differentials and a 4" lift with my own hands. The very weekend after doing that, I drove 300 or so miles to the now gone Paragon adventure park for the UCP on the Rocks charity trail ride, where I met Wayne, Donna, Cowboy and a few other folks who were on CK5 in the 2001-2002 era.
A few years later, the K5 began to have the usual rocker rot, despite being a Florida truck and having the factory Zebart option. I shelved it until I could find a body shop to do something with it. In early 2007, it went into a local shop where it would be worked on on the side, as I had found a beater by then.
Fast forward nearly a decade later, life had me busy and the body shop never really called me. Out .of sight, out of mind. The owner suffered a massive heart attack, but survived it. He needed to sell the business, and I needed to get my truck back. Mind you, it was the last thing on my mind, and now I needed to find space for this thing in the suburbs of Northern NJ, which is no easy feat.
So I get the truck back, in full primer, and it looks great. Only issue is, well, it has no door or tailgate glass. It's literally parts except for a shell. Being that it lived inside a body shop while they sprayed everything around it, the interior has a thick layer of overspray silt on the wheel. It didn;t have much of an interior beforehand, so that's not as big of a deal, but still annoying.
Not being all that mechanically inclined, I feel overwhelmed. I should theoretically have most of the parts, but some things are notably missing. I'm not sure a chilton's manual alone is going to help me. So I am stuck at an impasse. Do I sell this truck, or do I work on it slowly?
I could use the money for sure, as the wife and I are in a good amount of debt and the body is in excellent shape for a 32 year old truck now that it's patched up. Thing is I would need to find someone that knows what they are looking at to appreciate the work. I'm not sure if I can find that in my region.
If I keep it, the immediate concern is getting the truck secured so no animals decide to reside in it, which means putting glass and rubber in the doors and tailgate, then slapping everything in the doors to keep them latched. I'm sure this sounds like a cake walk to someone who has done it before, but hell if I know what I'm doing. And then after that, I need to get this thing undercoated before the weather starts rotting it out again. If I had the money, I'd get it finished, but aforementioned debt makes that impossible. Doing it myself runs into the issue of time and limited experience. However, I'm willing to do it, as it isn't my daily driver.
I could use some advice if anyone has any. I'll try and post pictures as I mess around with things in the truck and try and tear it down.
I'm not sure I even know anyone anymore on this forum other than Rene... Well, over a decade and a half ago, I joined this forum under the suggestion of my highschool friend who got me into these trucks (BigGray71) and found it to be a huge help as a teenager not knowing what in the hell I was doing with a two and a half ton GM SUV.
With assistance from the community here, I was able to swap in some 3/4 ton differentials and a 4" lift with my own hands. The very weekend after doing that, I drove 300 or so miles to the now gone Paragon adventure park for the UCP on the Rocks charity trail ride, where I met Wayne, Donna, Cowboy and a few other folks who were on CK5 in the 2001-2002 era.
A few years later, the K5 began to have the usual rocker rot, despite being a Florida truck and having the factory Zebart option. I shelved it until I could find a body shop to do something with it. In early 2007, it went into a local shop where it would be worked on on the side, as I had found a beater by then.
Fast forward nearly a decade later, life had me busy and the body shop never really called me. Out .of sight, out of mind. The owner suffered a massive heart attack, but survived it. He needed to sell the business, and I needed to get my truck back. Mind you, it was the last thing on my mind, and now I needed to find space for this thing in the suburbs of Northern NJ, which is no easy feat.
So I get the truck back, in full primer, and it looks great. Only issue is, well, it has no door or tailgate glass. It's literally parts except for a shell. Being that it lived inside a body shop while they sprayed everything around it, the interior has a thick layer of overspray silt on the wheel. It didn;t have much of an interior beforehand, so that's not as big of a deal, but still annoying.
Not being all that mechanically inclined, I feel overwhelmed. I should theoretically have most of the parts, but some things are notably missing. I'm not sure a chilton's manual alone is going to help me. So I am stuck at an impasse. Do I sell this truck, or do I work on it slowly?
I could use the money for sure, as the wife and I are in a good amount of debt and the body is in excellent shape for a 32 year old truck now that it's patched up. Thing is I would need to find someone that knows what they are looking at to appreciate the work. I'm not sure if I can find that in my region.
If I keep it, the immediate concern is getting the truck secured so no animals decide to reside in it, which means putting glass and rubber in the doors and tailgate, then slapping everything in the doors to keep them latched. I'm sure this sounds like a cake walk to someone who has done it before, but hell if I know what I'm doing. And then after that, I need to get this thing undercoated before the weather starts rotting it out again. If I had the money, I'd get it finished, but aforementioned debt makes that impossible. Doing it myself runs into the issue of time and limited experience. However, I'm willing to do it, as it isn't my daily driver.
I could use some advice if anyone has any. I'll try and post pictures as I mess around with things in the truck and try and tear it down.
