Tell us about your first sqaurebody.

[RetroC10Sport]

Mine was a $350 1977 Big 10 Custom Deluxe longbed. 350/turbo 350, Gauges w/o tach, AM radio.

I was 15.

An old family friend's wife bought him a new Chevy W/T in 1995 and he had been driving a red 1970s Chevy longbed so when i saw him, I asked him what he was going to do with his old truck. He said I'd take $350 for it but it isn't running, not sure what is wrong.

So we struck a deal and my brother and mom went over to see if we could all get it running, when we tried to start it the starter ground BAD and I actually knew that the timing was WAY off. Finally got it started and it sounded great, nice quiet and smooth so we headed for home.

I didn't know that would be the last time it was driven on the road...

The trans first gear whined bad.

So it was used around the homestead until the trans went completely.

Even though it was never used on the road, that didn't stop me from doing some custom touches. It received a 1973 grille, rare 1971 Impala wheelcovers which were later stolen off it to replace the common 1971 Impala wheelcovers it had and replaced with similar 1971 Corvette wheelcovers which were also stolen off it. The 1973 grille went over big...My jackass brother had a black 1973 longbed and said I was "copying him." He also said the same thing when i bought a tailgate and taillights for $10 at a yard sale from a Silverado. I added the brushed trim to the truck.

I still had plans for it...A Sonny Leonard big block, Vintage Air digital A/C, L88 hood and a red/black Baldwin Motion paint scheme.

Sadly, that never happened and the truck was parted out and junked.

There was the lament of my first square body.

 

[bucket]

'79 2wd Blazer, bought it for $700 in '01. It had the 250 six, th350, tachless gauges and that's about it. Also had 32" AT's on it. I had it less than a year. I was dirt poor, living in an apartment, and also had an Impala, a Camaro and 2 Celebrities... the Blazer used more oil than gas and I couldn't afford to keep it.

 

[davbell22602]

Mine was a 86 C20 3/4 ton FF rearend 2wd. It had a 305 car motor in it that was special ordered from the factory.

I paid $200 and Stihl 038 super 24in bar for it back summer 2006.

 

[Irishman999]

My current pickup is the first square I have owned. My buddies in highschool all had one as well as my Dad but I finally joined the club last summer. My uncle is the original owner and gave it to me free.

 

[Old77]

My first square is the one I currently own but the first square I fell in love with was my Grandpa's. Had he known I loved it so much he would have just given it to me but my parents never let me ask him if I could have it when I turned 16 (or ask him if I could buy it after I'd turned 16!) so he ended up selling it when I was 17 to one of his neighbors who proceeded to then destroy it inside of 6 months! Once we found out it was sold (spur of the moment choice by him ) my parents finally let him know how badly I had wanted it. When he sold his 79 square in 1994 it had around 30k original miles and was all completely stock original. It was blue but a slightly lighter color than mine and the typical 70's paint job. It was a 2wd longbed with a little bitty V6, white wheels and hubcaps. He'd added aluminum running boards and that seat cover you see so often on those trucks back then. I only saw the tailgate on it a handful of times. The rest of the time it just sat in his basement. He swore it got better mpg without the tailgate. That thing purred like a kitten. Whenever we'd go up to visit I'd always ask him to take me for a ride so we'd go quite a few places. We'd go out to his farm, just tootle around town (St Joe, Mo), to the hardware store,... It didn't matter really. I just loved riding in that truck. I have the license plates off it in my garage and I'm currently tossing around ideas of what to do with them due to their sentimental value of sorts.

So today I have the truck that I have that now has it's own sentimental value. It wasn't my grandpa's but my dad and I spent many hours building her up just the way we wanted it (he mostly let me do what I wanted and come up with the modding ideas) and now my 2 young boys get to spend good quality time driving around town in it and they even help me wash it with VERY close supervision by me It's really a great time and I love it when they ride with me just cuz of how much they enjoy it themselves. My oldest (4 yrs old) thinks he's hot stuff sitting in that passenger seat and pretends he's driving too. My youngest (19 months) sits there with the biggest smile on his face making his truck sounds as we roar down the road. I hope that some day they'll find a truck that they just "have to have" and I can help them build it up and teach them how to do some of this stuff by good bonding time.

Anywho, this may be the longest post I've ever authored on this forum!

 

[89Suburban]

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[greencountry05]

Numero uno for me was a 1987 Fuel Injected V6, it was a black longbed that was pretty well oxidized by the time I got it. I did the traditional sixteen-year old stuff to it. Seat cover, smelly tree, painted the bow tie, replaced the carpet (it was this gray, thin all purpose carpet from Lowes lol), cheapo Pioneer cd player, an old MTX Blue Thunder sub and an old 90's RF amp. Worst gas pig I have ever owned. I checked it on several occasions and it got 9mpg. After I bought an '89 S-10 Blazer 2d/2wd it sat for several years until my buddy bought it for like 300 bucks. He drove the absolute piss out of it and then sold it to some whitetrash in town and they drove it for several years. I cannot believe that pile lasted that long. Haven't seen her in a while now. Her name was Charlene lol.

 

[Swims350]

mine was an old 76(in my sig), my dad bought in back in around 94 or so, paid $400 i think for it. It ran and drove but looked horrible. It was called by him " barnamen bailey circus truck" not sure I spelled that right or not. I mean every panel was a different color. it had a straight 6 and 3 on the tree, kept coming out of gear, converted to floor shift, motor had no power, swapped it for another straight 6. That one started to diesel bad and seemed to be knocking on take off. More on that in a minute. He painted it white and I was young and was around when he did it, playing with rc cars and stuff in the garage, I had to be like 10-12 age, drove it for a while to work, and when he wasn't working it sat parked. Well in 97 he decided the paint sucked and wanted to redo it, him and my mom got divorced, he painted it white like you see in my sig. he had a 305 before he painted it we started cleaning up and working on, turned out bad inside. So shortly after maybe 98 or o he bought a complete 350 for $100, guy rebuilt it, run like crap, sold it. The thing had a rocker arm busted laying in the head, 5 out or 8 pistons came out and the rings fell off because they were cracked. UNknown cam, crank bad, but we rebuilt it, rods or something were bent, wouldn't turn over by hand, got new gm x-rods and pistons, along with 2.02 heads for $150 off a buddy, put them in it. Unknown camshaft, turned out to be a big one. Traded some paint for a holley alum. intake, bought seom chrome dress up kit and dynomax headers for it. Left the 3 speed in it.
This is what replaced the last straight 6. He was taking my to school/bus stop each morning and wondered why it was so cold, the floors were gone, we're talking fred flinstone here, firewall had holes too, made him seriously debate putting the 350 in it. he tinned the floors over. it set parked for a year or so while he did the 350 since it was knocking, we tried to blow it up but it never give up.

Finally got the motor in it the 350, and it was NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!! it idled like a pure race car, and it had the ass to back it up. it would smoke the tires just barely touching it. it was posi too. 31x10.50's were no match for it, it'd smoke them off too. We drove it for a couple or years and it was great, funnest thing ever. Parked it due to a new job that required more travelling to work, bought an s-10. When he went to park it he nailed it from a stop, ran up to probably 8k or so slammed 2nd and bam, sounded like a hammer kept hitting the floor, pushed the clutch in and coasted for about a mile, kept hearing that noise the whole time, went to park it behind the garage and it locked up, not the motor, just the rear tires, he slippd the clutch some and it went, then done it again.

No clue what happened but would like to know. i think the 3 spd. went, had gear oil on the crossmember.

Got a saginaw car 4 spd. put that in, acted like it was stuck in 2 gears, wouldn't get out of it's own way. Trust sit behind the garage for years, starting it everynow and then. We moved, truck stayed, finally in like 2003 or 4 we had it towed to our house, it set in the garage, started it up alot and ran it, brake line rotted and blew, gas tank rotted and leaked. Body was shot, had been. i started looking for a cab, was going to rebuild it, we moved again, trck stayed behind, went bac a few months later and got it towed to my moms, continued search for a cab, found one, wanted to fix it, mom's bbf started running his mouth, so I said **** it I'll part it out and scrap it. Around that time I bought my monte carlo for $500 and pulled the motor from the 76, scrapped the truck.

I wished I had never did it. I should have just towed it to my house and rebuilt it right where I built the monte carlo. To beat all, the guy who came to haul it, we traded it to him, brand new tires, new seat, and thought to be good rear end, posi too, no chunks or metal in the case, in exchange for a trans and rear end for my monte carlo. Well the guy had a perfect rust free cab at his house!!!!!!!!!!!! I sure kicked myself over that one over and over. he screwed us, no rear end, only a junkyard th350, but it's still in the monte carlo and driving today. Just leaks now. Got a couple of seats from him too. he got the new $125 seat and used it and sold the new tires to somebody, then charged us for another trans we got from him, what a dick.

I dreamed many times of calling him and getting it and the cab and fixing it. When I finally talked to him he had scrapped everything he had. I wanted another one ever since.

Truck was a 76, had the 79/80 roung headlight buckets and grille, 77 and up door panels, blue interior, dark blue lower dash, maybe original paint color? I'm guessing 3.73 or 4.10's and it was a 12 bolt. short bed fleetside. Doors were repo's from another truck, fenders had huge holes in the lower backside, they had been tinned over, rockers were gone, supports were gone, cab corners were good, firewall had a fist sized hole over the gas pedal, and from the ps door to the trans hump had a 3 inch tall section all the way across rotted out, front of the hood had holes, bedsides were trash, the whole rear corner was rotted, arches were gone, front lowers were ok though. Bed floor and sills were gone. All the glass was good, the doors and the frame.

 

[1low4x4]

See build thread

 

[crazy4offroad]

Mine was a black 78 K10 SWB, when I was 17. I had a 70 Nova at the time, rebuilt the 307 myself, and drove around the neighborhood with the hood off and sitting on a milk crate. Then my buddy came down, reallllly liked the Nova, and offered to trade. I told him only if I could keep my motor. Truck looked like it might have had 2 or 3" lift, 32 or 33" tires, and a 250 straight 6. To my amazement he accepted the offer, and we swapped motors in one weekend. I remember the ***** took off with my 3/8" Craftsman ratchet, extension, and 1/2" and 9/16" deep well sockets. I really liked the truck, I would take up up the backtracks to the swamps and give it hell, never had it stuck. One thing I really disliked was the Holley carb, and the fact the battery wasn't strapped in lol. I was movin on down the trail, hit a big fuggin hole in the grass so hard the hood flew open, battery flew out, and we both busted our heads on the roof. About 3 months later I needed some cash to live on in NC where I was working and sold it to some ******** for $500 that "promised" to pay me another $300 later but never did. Never saw him again but someone that knew him said he hit a mud bog so deep he drowned it out, then when he got it fired back up he blew it up. I hate it for the truck, but glad it happened to that guy.

 

[89Suburban]

Great stories guys.

 

[85k10383]

My current is my first. An 85 K10 LWB. Bought from my "work wife" as my wife calls her. We had decided to get a truck to run around in the mud and have fun with and douldn't decide what to get when I started looking at squares because in my corner of WV they are plentiful and cheap. My friend Liesha had the truck that her husband had fixed up to run mud in and had lost interest in. We owned it about four months when the motor went Kaboom on I81 one night. The rebuild and improvements have solidified my love for the squarebody and all those who share my feelings. I would like nothing better than to get a 2WD shortbed square as a "street" truck to go with the big ol K10!

 

[HotRodPC]

My first Square was an 83 in 1996. I had must bought a Brand New 96 Crew Cab dually 6.5 Turbo Diesel, after trading in my 96 X cab 1500 350 Vortec first year. Then the gf which became my wife, got PG with our son, so we needed a bigger cab. Great excuse for a bigger truck huh? So I tranded in her brand new Standrard cab truck that was 4 months old and got her a 4 door Grand Am, traded in my Xcab that was about 7 months old for the Crew Cab. Made 1 payment on the Crew Cab and had my back injury. Instead of making 2nd payment, called the bank and told them my situation, back surgery, recovery, therapy, job retrain blah blah blah so I want to give it up. The let me drive it 2 more months for FREE hoping my situation would change. It didn't so I demanded they take it back and I drove it to Dealers Auto Auction with the keys and all and told GMAC where I parked it and that I checked it in already. LMAO, so they were forced to type up a repo order on it and sell it now. I needed something to get back and forth to Dr appts and carry my ATV which was purchases as my wheel chair to get around on the property since I could barely walk by this time. Ended up getting a 83 Long Bed 1/2 ton with a 305. Guy wanted $1200 for it. It had a miss in it that the guy said he could never find, plugs, cap, rotors all new, and he said his dad had the new engine put in it 2 years previously. He was selling it for his mother since his dad passed away. All I had was $900, and that is true, I was broke. So he took $900. On a good day, I got out working on the truck and checking #'s and realized Oh hell yeah, his dad had a 350 put in it, not a 305. So I scored there. Did a compression test, and found 2 weak cylinders. Pulled the head and found recessed valves from unleaded gas. Put a new set of heads on it with hardened seats, and it ran like a charm with plenty of power. I drove it 2 years for therapy and Dr. Appts, then after told I was done and best I was gonna get, to go get on disability. I said hell no. I started my Ebay biz with the Square. 5 months later, sold it to my daughters mother and her husband for $1000 and bought me a new truck. Of course this time I had to buy Ford cuz GMAC was still pissed at me for the voluntary repo and $11K deficiency that they charged off cuz they could't sue me and take my Workers Comp wages. So that was then. Then in 2004 got divorced, no more new trucks for me now. So I started collecting Squares in about 2007 when I seen them around for $100 or so. I have 7 now total, and have had 3 others since too, that have been parted out and sold, and scrapped. SO all together, 10 squares in the last 4 years.

 

[bigchevytruckdriver]

Before I ever owned my own my uncle had lent me his 77 c10 long bed for a few months while I was out of a vehicle. It had a transmission that was on its way out when I got it. You would have to let the transmission warm up in gear before it would move. The night that it decided to go out was the worst possible time ever. I was at my job which had a bar and after work sometimes we would get a few drinks after hours. This particular night a few turned into a few more and with impaired judgment I decided it was time to drive home.Well the forward gears went out completely again with impaired judgment I figured well I still have reverse. I proceeded to drive about 15 miles down the windiest road in town. Well I made it without any DUI's and safely. I was really smashed and when people asked how I managed to back it all that way in the dark (no headlights on the rear of the vehicle) I had to simply say I have no idea (alcohol erased my memory). There was only 2 parts that I did remember and that was fuzzy. First part I remembered was the one straight stretch the guy that was in front of me (going same direction) was giving me about a half mile berth (he must have figured I lost a bet or something) and was holding traffic, second, right by my house at the time was a stoplight I lived in at the time was probably the most frequented road by the police in town. There I was sitting there in reverse at the red light thinking if I get pulled over now I might be able to talk my way out of it (yeah right) by explaining I had just driven about 14 miles without incident and I think I could make it the last block safely. Needless to say no police came and I proceeded the final couple blocks home. Wow I am so lucky.

Ironically my first square (the big red one I still own) all forward gears went out in it too one time about 10 miles from home. I also drove it home in reverse figured if I could do it hammered sober should be no problem. It was but you should have seen the look on peoples face when they came up on me in that huge son of bitch backing up down the road, some people actually cheered. These are some of the deepest rooted memories I have. One more reason I trust Chevy's beyond all else although they had let me down to a point in all the years I have been driving chevy's I have never not made it hone.

 

[Savage]

I wrote a college paper about my first and current square body. I don't have it on my computer, I'd have to type it up. I intended to do that anyway, though, so I guess I'll start now.