- Joined
- Oct 29, 2012
- Messages
- 1,328
My dad got this 1991 Chevy S10 from an estate sale years ago because it was in great shape and the price was too good to pass up. He didn't need it so it just sat under a tree growing moss over 10 years. In 2016 he put fresh gas in it and drove it to town for an inspection but that was the only time he had it on the road other than to bring it home.
My daughter wanted a truck for her first vehicle and he said if we wanted it we could have it. So I trailered it home and we tore into it.
New fuel tank, fuel filter, fuel pump, rubber fuel lines. Painted the frame with POR15. New brakes, belt, hoses. Rebuilt the TBI. We drained/flushed the oil, coolant, and transmission fluid. Runs great.
I have never done any paint and body work so it was a learning experience for us both.
(Her boyfriend lent a hand, just as clueless as we were)
It was at this point in the timeline that my wife crashed the party. Initially she was supportive of all this but the longer she had to think about it the less comfortable she was with my daughter's first vehicle being something without any modern safety features. So work on the project truck halted, my wife got a new car (funny how that work out, eh?) and my daughter got my wife's hand-me-down 2013 Mazda 5.
The truck sat under the lean-to clad in white primer all summer long. The approaching winter spurred me to do something with it, so I got a couple gallons of Rustoleum International Harvester Red from Tractor Supply and sprayed it with the $30 Harbor Freight HVLP gun.
It was sprayed out in the yard so gnats, dirt, mosquitoes, moth wings, bee legs, grass, and misc was in the paint.
I'm a total noob with inferior equipment so of course it was orange peel Heaven. That's why I sprayed 2 whole gallons on it; plenty of meat to sand off.
Here it is in various states of sanding/buffing:
I just finished the wet sanding (600, 1200, and 2000 grit) and buffing today.
EDIT:
It sits higher in the back because my daughter wanted it lifted. We bought a 2" lift kit and put the lift in the back but I could not get the taller springs to fit in the front. The second time I nearly killed myself trying to get those springs in, I called a safety stop on that operation and just put the original springs back in the front. I can't decide if I want to put lifting spindles on the front or take the lift out of the rear. I am going to see how it looks with some weight in the bed, because if I end up using it, the bed will be full of tools and it might actually ride level.
My daughter wanted a truck for her first vehicle and he said if we wanted it we could have it. So I trailered it home and we tore into it.
New fuel tank, fuel filter, fuel pump, rubber fuel lines. Painted the frame with POR15. New brakes, belt, hoses. Rebuilt the TBI. We drained/flushed the oil, coolant, and transmission fluid. Runs great.
I have never done any paint and body work so it was a learning experience for us both.
(Her boyfriend lent a hand, just as clueless as we were)
It was at this point in the timeline that my wife crashed the party. Initially she was supportive of all this but the longer she had to think about it the less comfortable she was with my daughter's first vehicle being something without any modern safety features. So work on the project truck halted, my wife got a new car (funny how that work out, eh?) and my daughter got my wife's hand-me-down 2013 Mazda 5.
The truck sat under the lean-to clad in white primer all summer long. The approaching winter spurred me to do something with it, so I got a couple gallons of Rustoleum International Harvester Red from Tractor Supply and sprayed it with the $30 Harbor Freight HVLP gun.
It was sprayed out in the yard so gnats, dirt, mosquitoes, moth wings, bee legs, grass, and misc was in the paint.
I'm a total noob with inferior equipment so of course it was orange peel Heaven. That's why I sprayed 2 whole gallons on it; plenty of meat to sand off.
Here it is in various states of sanding/buffing:
I just finished the wet sanding (600, 1200, and 2000 grit) and buffing today.
EDIT:
It sits higher in the back because my daughter wanted it lifted. We bought a 2" lift kit and put the lift in the back but I could not get the taller springs to fit in the front. The second time I nearly killed myself trying to get those springs in, I called a safety stop on that operation and just put the original springs back in the front. I can't decide if I want to put lifting spindles on the front or take the lift out of the rear. I am going to see how it looks with some weight in the bed, because if I end up using it, the bed will be full of tools and it might actually ride level.
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