Inquiry about an all original 81 Silerado

[Kim Burke]

I appreciate your guy's input. I told my cousin that I wanted to keep and he is not butthurt over it. Now to try and get my wife to like the truck...lol...

For some reason this truck is disliked by many people, even the previous owner hated it. His wife loved it. But I like underdogs, so this truck has had a spot in my heart for a while now.

Keep the truck, swap wives. LOL

 

[DoubleDingo]

@PrairieDrifter That's the feeling I got when I sent the pics. My stomach knotted-up, I felt physically sick. My wife didn't like when I said I am keeping it, but she isn't making me get rid of it either. I would push back if she was like that. There is nothing pressing to get rid of it, was going to help out my cousin because he needs a truck. But out of every vehicle he has owned since high school, he has none of them. I guess I don't either, sold my '56 210 Sedan to hire a lawyer to take my daughter's mother to court. Mean Green I daily drove until 2005 when I rolled it. Other than that I keep on to stuff and take care of it.

That said, I was driving up to help my cousin on Saturday, and a few ideas popped into my head about the fleet. The '81 got Crusty Biscuit's vortec heads, and I want them to be on the truck they were bought for. But there is a twist. I want to get the engine from the '70 3/4 ton I mentioned in this thread Scores from DIY Parts Yards, Pull A Part, U Pull It etc
My thought is to get that engine with the all the goodies bolted on it. Then see if it turns over by hand after soaking the top and bottom end for a few weeks. If it turns over, plastigauge the mains, and rods, and inspect the cylinders, etc. If it looks good, tear it down, have the block cleaned up, honed, and have the vortec heads gone through just for the fun of it. Then refresh the bearings and such, and run it in Crusty Biscuit, then get another set of vortec heads for the '81 some time down the road because I like the power they produce with the torquey cam I have in there. That's the short version...lol...

 

[DoubleDingo]

Keep the truck, swap wives. LOL

She's a good one, not getting rid of her. It took 46 years to find her.

 

[Kim Burke]

She's a good one, not getting rid of her. It took 46 years to find her.

Well..... She sounds like a keeper! Good for you. I've got a good one too. I really was just making a joke, I couldn't help myself.

 

[Rusty Nail]

I thought it was funny Kim...

 

[DoubleDingo]

It was funny, I just had to make sure it was clear she is of the keeper variety of the female species

 

[PrairieDrifter]

@PrairieDrifter That's the feeling I got when I sent the pics. My stomach knotted-up, I felt physically sick. My wife didn't like when I said I am keeping it, but she isn't making me get rid of it either. I would push back if she was like that. There is nothing pressing to get rid of it, was going to help out my cousin because he needs a truck. But out of every vehicle he has owned since high school, he has none of them. I guess I don't either, sold my '56 210 Sedan to hire a lawyer to take my daughter's mother to court. Mean Green I daily drove until 2005 when I rolled it. Other than that I keep on to stuff and take care of it.

That said, I was driving up to help my cousin on Saturday, and a few ideas popped into my head about the fleet. The '81 got Crusty Biscuit's vortec heads, and I want them to be on the truck they were bought for. But there is a twist. I want to get the engine from the '70 3/4 ton I mentioned in this thread Scores from DIY Parts Yards, Pull A Part, U Pull It etc
My thought is to get that engine with the all the goodies bolted on it. Then see if it turns over by hand after soaking the top and bottom end for a few weeks. If it turns over, plastigauge the mains, and rods, and inspect the cylinders, etc. If it looks good, tear it down, have the block cleaned up, honed, and have the vortec heads gone through just for the fun of it. Then refresh the bearings and such, and run it in Crusty Biscuit, then get another set of vortec heads for the '81 some time down the road because I like the power they produce with the torquey cam I have in there. That's the short version...lol...

And that stuff is understandable, you were in need of money and had a way to get it. Classic vehicles aren’t only personal possessions that we love whole heartedly but are also great investments if need be, and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. But only as a last resort of course, and there’s always a line in the sand lol.

I’m glad to say I still own all the vehicles I have acquired, other than my first car, a 1 owner 81 caprice that was my grandparents, which I didn’t technically own, cuz I was only 15 and drove it only a couple years before getting a little truck.

It still bugs me to this day that we let go of that car, did a trade in for a 06 Colorado, they had like a “push,pull,drag” deal and were guaranteed 1500 dollars. I needed something that was gonna get me through the winters so we traded it in. Such a clean car.
It had 180k on it but you couldn’t even tell other than the paint was kind of faded from baking out in the sun during harvest in the fields.

Also it sounds like you’ve got a pretty solid plan going there, it’s not like there’s no plans for them and they’re just sitting around, if anything they make some pretty good eye candy and yard art haha

 

[Shorty81]

In the fall of 1981 there was a new 82 red\white Scottsdale setting out on front of Niswonger Chevrolet. I had to see it everyday as I worked across the street. I was just starting to finally warm up to the 81 body change, and this truck, WOW... In love. But as a young man I could not afford the.. Gasp....12000 price tag. Lol. So in my warped mind I never see these trucks as old, I still see them as new. Still remember when my brother pulled in with a new orange 74 K20, my first love lol.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Lol