82 Silverado restomod - turbo LSx build

[mzsigler]

So, I've been looking for a project for a few months now. I was dead set on a turbo LSx setup, but couldn't decide what I wanted to put it in. A thread on another forum made me start thinking about square body chevy trucks. My dad had an 85 when I was a kid and loved it, I actually had an 86 step side that I bought and flipped right after high school. I came to this forum and started looking around at all the stuff the make for them now and I was sold.

I started scouring eBay, craigslist, Facebook classifieds looking for a truck. I wanted a short wheel base 2WD with factory AC (It's hot in the south, it's not even really optional). I hit upon this 82 on Craigslist. It runs and drives, has a newer 350, and has a very straight body with zero rust.

These are the pics from Craigslist:







We came to an agreement on the price and he met me in a nearby city. The truck checked out fine so I went ahead and bought it.



Drove it back to Memphis, about 50 miles. Did fine at 60-65 the whole way. None of the gauges work and the brakes are absolutely terrible, but otherwise it's in good condition and I mainly wanted the body anyway, as the drivetrain is getting replaced. Here it is as I got it back to the shop.



I'm going to tear into the brakes soon. They seem to be completely worthless, I was allowing like 10 car lengths on the way back. There might be something actually wrong with them, or I could be biased because my current fun car is a 96 Miata with aftermarket pads that will stop on a dime.

Nice straight bed:



Interior is all there and in fair condition. Obviously that seat is going to need to be recovered and the dash pad is busted up. Everything else looks to be in good condition.



SPID still in the glovebox.



What I'm guessing is the original 10 bolt. Can anyone tell me anything about them? I'm guessing for my power goals it won't be super long for this world before it's replaced with a 9" or something.



My first order of business was to order some suspension to lower it a bit and replace the ancient shocks. This should arrive shortly.



Here in the next day or so I'm going to pull the bed off and pressure wash the hell out of the frame and suspension in anticipation of new parts. Also gonna check out the crappy brakes. I'm also looking for a donor truck to swap in a 4.8/5.3/6.0 and a 4L80. Then it's gonna be time for turbos.