Old60Driver
1983 K20 Silverado
- Joined
- May 17, 2020
- Posts
- 210
- Reaction score
- 231
- Location
- Houston
- First Name
- Michael
- Truck Year
- 1983
- Truck Model
- K20 Silverado
- Engine Size
- 350
Bit of a long story, but I figured I'd share.
I met my wife back in '11, and went to meet her folks. They had this '83 K20 that they used here and there on their property, but she really only got run once a year when they used it for dump runs. The rest of the time, she was open barn. Her dad had bought it new in '83, and my wife actually learned how to drive in that truck. Every time I'd go up there, I'd try to get her running right, but never had enough time or my tools. Her dad passed a few years back, and on one of our checkup trips, her momma asked me to take a look at 'Blue', and see if I could figure out why she wouldn't start, and why she was leaking oil. We walked out, and man, it was ugly. Maybe an eight foot diameter of fluids had collected around that truck. Engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering, brakes. Everything. Only thing that was solid was the cooling system. Told her I was pretty sure I could get her running okay, and that while I could fix it, I'd have to come back, as they don't have any real tools up there. She told me she was just going to take it to the dealership to get it back up to speed. I obviously talked her out of that. She didn't really drive the truck at all, and for her, the repair cost wouldn't have made sense.
Then she says, I kid you not, "Well, I'll just call Mike". I ask who that is, and she says that it's the guy that owns the local junkyard, and that he probably wouldn't charge more than $500 to haul her off.
And that was the day I took ownership of my first square body. She wouldn't take any money for her (I still try though lol). So I guess I paid zero? lol
Took me a bit, but she's runny pretty fine these days!!
I met my wife back in '11, and went to meet her folks. They had this '83 K20 that they used here and there on their property, but she really only got run once a year when they used it for dump runs. The rest of the time, she was open barn. Her dad had bought it new in '83, and my wife actually learned how to drive in that truck. Every time I'd go up there, I'd try to get her running right, but never had enough time or my tools. Her dad passed a few years back, and on one of our checkup trips, her momma asked me to take a look at 'Blue', and see if I could figure out why she wouldn't start, and why she was leaking oil. We walked out, and man, it was ugly. Maybe an eight foot diameter of fluids had collected around that truck. Engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering, brakes. Everything. Only thing that was solid was the cooling system. Told her I was pretty sure I could get her running okay, and that while I could fix it, I'd have to come back, as they don't have any real tools up there. She told me she was just going to take it to the dealership to get it back up to speed. I obviously talked her out of that. She didn't really drive the truck at all, and for her, the repair cost wouldn't have made sense.
Then she says, I kid you not, "Well, I'll just call Mike". I ask who that is, and she says that it's the guy that owns the local junkyard, and that he probably wouldn't charge more than $500 to haul her off.
And that was the day I took ownership of my first square body. She wouldn't take any money for her (I still try though lol). So I guess I paid zero? lol
Took me a bit, but she's runny pretty fine these days!!
