What have you done to your square lately??

[K20SM465]

Omg. That cab is only $1.00 less than I spent on the 77 and a got a rust free shiny original paint truck that was rebuilt stem to stern.
Who would buy that cab?

Adding what I paid for the truck, the bed and parts to repair my cab, I will only have about $2000 to $2100 in it so far. One of my son’s friends, who works at an auto body shop, is helping me with all the work for a six pack of beer every time he comes out. By the time I’m done even with paint I won’t have the cost of that cab in my truck. I don’t mind the work and this will be my last project truck like this any way.

I can’t type.

 

[xm20k]

That cab is $4K more than I paid for my whole truck including shipping from Washington to Ohio.

 

[TotalyHucked]

I very much appreciate it! I can understand the delay for Burb-specific stuff since they are just beginning to gain in popularity. But crew cabs have been desirable trucks for a number of years now.

Yep, completely agree. I've also been fighting to do rear doors since they cross over between 'burbs and CCs

 

[TotalyHucked]

And that cab is about how much I have into the K20 not including the wheels and tires….
I’ve never seen these before. Who are these marketed to? Not the Saudis, they just buy clean overpriced whole trucks. Seriously, I could see if these trucks were super rare and super valuable and dropping $8-12k for a bare cab that presumably has the right size holes for the doors and windows actually was somewhat a necessity.
Buy a clean cab from (pick the location) and haul it or ship it home. I spent $1000 shipping a mower that was about the same size and weight halfway across the country. A bare cab should be similar cost.
Or to put it another way, the same $ as shipping one of those ‘glass cabs. So actually $0 if comparing.

I laugh only cuz I've been involved in the development and the heading in this direction. Idk if those guys are using our panels but Squarebody Headquarters in AZ is doing full cabs with our parts and they're right in that pricing ballpark.

Good donor cabs are quickly drying up, so this is the next best option. For alot of guys in the rust belt especially, these make sense. Especially for the guy that can't DIY, you'll have that or more in paying a shop to repair a cab depending on how bad it is. Obviously shops that are doing big builds/open checkbook builds love these for a starting point. But I've even talked to plenty of DIY/hobby guys that are excited for them and have been asking for years now when we'd have all the parts to make a cab. It's a bigger market than you think, even at that price point.

 

[Grit dog]

I laugh only cuz I've been involved in the development and the heading in this direction. Idk if those guys are using our panels but Squarebody Headquarters in AZ is doing full cabs with our parts and they're right in that pricing ballpark.

Good donor cabs are quickly drying up, so this is the next best option. For alot of guys in the rust belt especially, these make sense. Especially for the guy that can't DIY, you'll have that or more in paying a shop to repair a cab depending on how bad it is. Obviously shops that are doing big builds/open checkbook builds love these for a starting point. But I've even talked to plenty of DIY/hobby guys that are excited for them and have been asking for years now when we'd have all the parts to make a cab. It's a bigger market than you think, even at that price point.

Well the ignorance of consumers never ceases to amaze me then. I understand clean parts are difficult to find at best in the rust belt. But I don’t understand someone who would pay $10k ish for a cab shell which is obviously one part of a totally rusted out project when they could spend somewhere between far less and the same on a whole truck that is clean. It would be one thing if a rust free decent square sold for 400% or what they currently do. Glad there’s a market for them though. If you build it they will come!

 

[TotalyHucked]

Well the ignorance of consumers never ceases to amaze me then. I understand clean parts are difficult to find at best in the rust belt. But I don’t understand someone who would pay $10k ish for a cab shell which is obviously one part of a totally rusted out project when they could spend somewhere between far less and the same on a whole truck that is clean. It would be one thing if a rust free decent square sold for 400% or what they currently do. Glad there’s a market for them though. If you build it they will come!

All just depends on the kind of build you're after. Makes sense for some, not for others.

 

[ThreeLRanch]

Gave it a wash and did a little polishing on the 50 foot paint job .

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[89Suburban]

Mine moved to the ditch in front of the house for a while.
@Maxwellvis found another project to drag home and needs the driveway space to put this one back on the road.

Here he is in his new to him 1984 3/4 ton GMC Suburban as we pulled it off the driveway and into the yard so we could hook it up to mine.

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I expertly lettered the rear doors to let the people know what we were up to on the 1 mile long adventure to our house.
$130 in cool Harbor Freight towing stuff and we were off!

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My 1995 pulled the '84 home with relative ease.
I pulled it into the cul-de-sac across the street up to as close to the road as possible.
We unhooked and he got in.
When the busy road was clear enough, Dad pushed this thing across the road and into the driveway like a rented mule.
Here is the happy kid with his new project, never mind the other projects he has already...

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Honestly, he stole this thing for $1000.
It needs an engine and reassembly, but for how clean all of the metal is it is worth far more than he paid.
The PO had melted a piston back in 1998 and it was pulled into the garage and forgotten about.
Up until about 6 months ago, when the elderly feller pulled it out.

We went over for a couple of old VW engines he had and it was sitting there.
I simply asked "What is the deal with this?"
He said he was getting ready to move it along to which I asked how much?
The response was $1000 and Max told him he would buy it right then.

This is where we are now as of last Saturday.
All the lights work, the stock radio works and still plays tapes.
He told me even the dash clock works.

Happy man right there, I would be too!

 

[Camar068]

THought i had a rod knock a few weeks ago....but it didnt sound right. Monitored codes on the LS for about a week as it got worse. Drivability it didnt change....juat the sound. And neighbor was following the sound away from the engine to the back as it warmed up.

In the end the cheap ass quiet muffler outside case was pulsing/rattling.

So today I did a redneck tune on it with the handle of a long file.

Wonder if ill gain any HP/TQ/MPG? Might have to tune the other one lol.

 

[1STLS1]

I have been fighting an engine swap the past 3 weekends with the goal of it driving out of the garage next weekend.

I dismantled a '88 Suburban 4x4 a couple years ago that had a new Goodwrench TBi motor installed. It had about 10k miles before they gave up on the truck 10 years later. A wise man would have just bolted the motor in with its accessories and been done with it. No, I am a glutton for punishment, that is too easy.

Pulled the front bumper, grill, inner fenders, rad, condenser and core support. The truck had a aftermarket trans cooler and engine oil cooler fitted. I didn't like how the hoses were routed so bought a new transmission cooler with 6an fitting and a engine oil cooler with 8 an then plan to run hoses up to the core support, install a bulk head fitting then have a separate hose from the fitting to the coolers on the front side to clean it up. Every other truck in 'Mureca has hoses and hose clamps, no, I have to over engineer these simple additions. I took a $50 dollar problem and spent a couple hundred on it.

I have a '87 GMC short step side I have been building as my daily since before Covid and had been buying parts and getting stuff powder coated as I was just leaving it stock, lowered with wheels and tires. As a result, I had all new front engine accessories, hoses, tune up, had all the brackets and pulleys powder coated, new exhaust manifolds, along with chrome valve cover caps and air cleaner lid. Ohhh, I decided I will use all this stuff because I want to LT swap it now. Spent about 30 hours cleaning and painting then assembling it to go into my '87 two tone 4x4. 2 more Rock Auto orders and one trip to the parts store, I think I have everything.

The motor is on the stand, ready to go in, I start to finish unbolting to old 5.0, I can't get to the top bell housing bolts, weird. Start looking around, I had noticed the core support mounting bushings were junk, looked at the cab mounts and found them collapsed. Looked at the engine mounts, they are wasted.All of these are sitting in the cabinet, new. Just swap them out, right? No, the nuts on the front 2 mounts spun in their cage. Normally not a big deal, just cut an access hole above it and secure it some how, except I just completed fitting new carpet and sound deadener pads which I have to remove to cut the floor ....really?

Did I mention the field mice damaged engine wiring harness I am debating on how to address.

At this point I stopped for the day and will get back at it next weekend. I took a extra day next weekend so this should get done.

Arrrggghhhhh!!!!!

Thank you for hearing me out.

 

[TotalyHucked]

THought i had a rod knock a few weeks ago....but it didnt sound right. Monitored codes on the LS for about a week as it got worse. Drivability it didnt change....juat the sound. And neighbor was following the sound away from the engine to the back as it warmed up.

In the end the cheap ass quiet muffler outside case was pulsing/rattling.

So today I did a redneck tune on it with the handle of a long file.

Wonder if ill gain any HP/TQ/MPG? Might have to tune the other one lol.

Something in my new to me/used Corsa muffler has started rattling at certain times on my '05. At first I also thought I was having an engine issue until I was fueling up one day last week, left the truck running and heard the rattle. Crawled under and sure enough, it's the muffler

 

[justhorns]

New Trico "classic" wipers. I hate the black plastic., but why did Trico put that stupid silver plastic center fitting? 2" longer than stock is no problem. #33-183, $24.99 EACH on the jungle site.

 

[Rustisbest]

The Trico classics I posted and few pages back were still metal. They were the only the 15's though. Less than 1/2" per end didnt make a difference to me.

 

[ChuckN]

Yesterday got an invite for the Hooptie Cruise again. We went down Chuckanut Drive next to the water and ended up in Edison for some wings and cold drinks. Man it was hot! The Cold Case radiator did its job. Hottest it got was 190 or so (maybe less) pulling into the garage with the least airflow of the day.

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The GMC was awesome. He put a Denali AWD system in it- has a 6.0 turbo LS. He it the two step in the parking lot and it was downright intimidating.

 

[Grit dog]

The Trico classics I posted and few pages back were still metal. They were the only the 15's though. Less than 1/2" per end didnt make a difference to me.

Anyone bought the narrow snap to fit Trico inserts? I’ve exhausted my supply of new old wipers and inserts and the old CJ5 needs some new rubber. The wiper frames and arms are original cherry condition so just need inserts (like the old days… lol).
This should maybe be in the rant thread but I have a mental issue with paying $25-40 per wiper for new wipers. Unless they’re going on the company card it really pisses me off. Thank goodness for Costco and their decent priced wipers for newer vehicles.