Picked up my first truck: '84 Silverado!

[jrblanke]

I have broken this post into sections.

This describes my adventure to get this truck from looking, to purchasing, to driving home. Also gives background on truck:

After looking for a truck for some time, I finally found one that fit my budget and had the style I was looking for. It was on craigslist about 1h 15m from my location. I went last week with my father in law to check it out. The truck had only been driven about 30k miles in the last 18 years, so it definitely needed some TLC. It had been painted 8 years ago, and the trans was rebuilt at that time as well, but has pretty much sat since then. The only thing that would need immediate attention before getting it inspected would be the exhaust and headlights. I test drove it and it ran/braked fine, so after thinking about it overnight, I decide to make the purchase. The only thing that made me uneasy was the salvage title. Evidently it was hit from behind, but I got underneath and frame was straight, so no big deal.

My wife and I drove down, signed the title, paid the man, and started back on the 75 mile adventure to our apartment. Things went well for the first part of the trip. I was worried about the fact that the truck had sat so long and would now be stirring up whatever trash was in the fuel tank, and stirring up whatever trash was in the carb.

About 45 miles into the trip I noticed the truck was not tackling the hills like it did during the first part of the trip, then it began to overheat. I have never been in a vehicle that was overheating before, but I was paranoid about things going wrong, so I noticed the gage and pulled over once it crept past 210F. I opened the hood and smoke came out. I assumed that this from the oil that was dripping from the valve covers onto the exhaust manifold. I shut it off for about 10 minutes, then decided it was better to start it and run it in neutral to circulate the coolant. The temp cooled back down from 260 to below 210, so I took off back down the road. It ran like a champ when I could get it over 60mph, but between 50 and 60 I felt like it couldn’t decide what gear to be in. It was like the torque converter wasn’t locking up.

After about 15 more miles, the truck was over heating again and the power loss was worse. Now when going up hills I could not get over 45 miles per hour. There was something definitely wrong, but I couldn’t tell if it was starving for fuel or if it was ignition issues. I was now definitely questioning whether I would make the final 15 miles. I thought, what the heck, lets give it a shot. So I took off down the road again. This time, cooling off did not help, and the power loss started to feel like a time when the points went out on a previous car. When I was about 6 miles from my apartment, I stopped at a traffic light, and when pulling away from the light, I could only get up to 10mph. I knew I wasn’t making it all the way home so I picked a neighborhood and just as I turned in, it died.

I popped the hood and took the air cleaner off and told the wife that we should go get some carb cleaner. Then after a few minutes of talking with her, I noticed the truck still had not stopped smoking, like it had previously done. I looked back at the area where the valve cover was leaking and then turned to my wife and said…hmmm my truck is on fire. Two spark plug wires were on fire. The flames were about 5 inches high. My wife gave me her water bottle and I poured it onto the flames and surprisingly it put the fire out. I was ready to take off all my clothes and smother that fire. I was not going to have my freaking new truck go up in flames. My wife joked and called it…flamerado. I think that will be its nickname. All kidding aside, I was very lucky and learned a very good lesson. And that is to be more prepared when dealing with an unknown classic vehicle. I had thought about what I would do if I broke down, but I did NOT think about what I would do if something caught on fire.

Assessments after the 75 mile drive home:
All four spark plug wires on the driver’s side had burned completely in half and were dangling under the truck. The passenger side looked ok, but I did not like the way they were routed. I think a similar thing could happen on that side, so I will route them differently when I replace them. I think the plug wires did not all burn off at the same time, which is why the truck gradually lost power. This also could explain the overheating? I checked the trans fluid level and the dip stick was dry, So I will add more and see how it does (after I get it running again). I think the low fluid level may be the reason it wasn’t shifting well into overdrive.

About the truck itself (options):
The truck seems to be a very well optioned truck. Here are the options from the sticker below. Not sure what some of them are. Please feel free to address my questions if you know what the answers are.

• Front color keyed FL (Not sure what this means)
• Intermittent wipers
• Pickup box side rails
• Front stabilizer bar
• Power Brakes
• 5.0 V8 (now appears to be a 350 crate motor)
• High Alt Emission E (Not sure what this means)
• Tilt steering column
• Rally Wheels
• Cargo Lamp
• AM/FM Stereo ( is this the original one in my picture?)
• Chrome rear step bumper (not sure what difference is between step and regular bumper)
• P235/75/15 TBL S HWY (Not sure what TBLS HWY is, and not sure why it is on the sticker 3 times)
• XSSL Saddle tan cus (Interior color? Not sure what XSSL is)
• Tinted glass all windows (as opposed to only windshield maybe?
• Door edge guard mold
• Air conditioning
• Fleetside body
• Rear axle 3.73 (this is the standard ratio correct?)
• Electronic speed control
• 4 speed auto transmission (Found a receipt in the glove box for a trans rebuild for 2k)
• Auxiliary fuel tank (how many gallons does each tank hold? 12?)
• Power steering (var?)
• Halogen Hi Beam (is this different from regular headlights? What brand should they be?)
• Quartz clock
• Chrome front bumper (were bumper guards standard with this bumper?)
• P235/75/R15 TBLS HWY (tire size again, but on the other side of the sticker. What gives?)
• Sequoia special ( What is this?)
• Operating convenience (What is this?)
• Exterior décor package (what does this include?)
• 66 Indian Bronze 61 (paint?)

Some problems I have noticed:

• Some of the trim is missing off the truck, including the tail gate trim and the driver’s side window molding. It is also missing one rally wheel cap thingy.
• The AC needs to be charged
• The spare tire needs to be mounted underneath, I have not checked to see if there is a chain or anything to hold it up there. (may be gone from when it was rear ended)
• Needs a new exhaust system. Old one is rusted out.
• Headlights are pointing in every direction but straight
• Windows don’t roll back up after being rolled down, can’t physically pull them up either.
• Power door locks will unlock the truck, but not lock it.
• Owner never used driver side fuel tank due to it missing the cap to the tank. I’m sure I will need to remove tank and at least drain the old fuel from it.
• A/C does not blow cold
• Belts look old…they don’t look to be in bad shape…but just old and dirty…makes me uneasy.
• Dash lights do not work, nor does the dome light

Short term plans:
Plans are to get the headlights straightened out, replace the plugs/wires/cap/button, air/fuel filter, new exhaust, charge AC. I may replace the belts and flush the coolant system. Once I replace the plugs/wires/cap/button/airfilter/fuel filter, I will evaluate whether it runs good enough, or do I need to rebuild the carb (which I really don’t want to do). I also need to figure out why the windows and door locks don’t work. I also need to find out why the dash lights, and dome light don’t work.

Here are the pictures:






Notice the thing that is at the bottom center of the windsheild, it almost looks like a defroster wire thing? You cant see the wires, but two of the run up the center of the windsheild and then run out to the sides.






Original radio?


Engine compartment. Goodwrench 350 in place of the orignal 305.


Picture of burnt spark plug wires. Also behind the spark plug wires closest to the cab, there is a wire plug that may have melted. not sure what this is yet.


Documents I found in the glove box, including an inspection sheet from the date of purchase and the dealership name.


Option List. Not sure what some of the options are.




Last but not least, my ford lovin', mustang drivin' wife thought it was funny that my truck got towed to my apartment by a ford.





I am looking forward to learning more about these trucks.