Hello, from east Texas.

[Chanman09]

So I typed a big long introduction and my phone didn’t seem to want to finish posting it.

Apologies if it posts more than once and this is redundant.

I just was gifted a 1986 C20 Silverado by my father in law. It was his fathers. And he parked it under some trees in 1996 and left it there. It was in a hole where years of sand and rain had made it seem if the truck had sunk. In the bed was a foot of the richest dirt I’ve ever touched or seen. It smelled beautiful. It was nearly 30 years of leaves that had rotted away.

I knew this truck was a keeper though. And as I swept out the rich dirt I found no rust in the bed. Father in law said there was enough diesel and oil in the back of the truck there’s no way it would rust lol.

Fil and uncle in law and I pulled it out with the help of a backhoe and loaded it on a trailer. It’s been in my back yard a couple weeks now and I find myself staring at it if I’m not working on it.

The 350 runs as long as I pour gas in the 4barrel carb. Pretty sure the fuel pump is done for and There’s enough wires and hoses eaten I’m sure I have plenty of work cut out for me even if it’s a solid truck that has potential.

I spent a day cleaning out the cab of tons of maps showing pipelines and property lines, as grandfather in law was a land man and I found tools and gloves and a hard hat along with 5011 toothpicks.

I spent this evening putting pex on the door strikers and dropping the plastic shield fro around the driver side gas tank. More rich dirt all in my face. Gas tank has rust on it, but it seems solid. I’ll drain it and replace the sending unit and get a fuel pump next payday. Maybe that’ll get me running. Then, chasing wires and busting up rusty bolts.

My plan is to use it as a weekend truck. Something I can load the dog up and go get some lumber or something. I’ll get the interior nice enough for my wife to ride with me. I can’t wait to have her slide next to me on that big bench seat and go pick up some dinner or something!

Thanks in advance for putting up with my questions and frustrations. I’ve lurked here a couple months and can say I’ve learned a lot already.

Thanks!

[Shifty]

Welcome from AZ!  Pics! Pics! We need pics! 

[bd]

Welcome!  That's quite a picture you painted with only a few modest words.  Well done!

It sounds as though you are off to a great start with a truck that will provide a solid foundation and some interesting challenges. 

Flushing the fuel tank and then replacing all of the rubber fuel hoses and filter(s) are likely prudent first steps.  Once the fuel plumbing has been validated you can accurately determine whether the fuel pump needs attention.

Wiring issues can fill a few chapters in and of themselves, depending on your experience and willingness to embrace them.

Be sure to peruse our Technical Forum for many useful references.

[zieg85]

Welcome from near St. Louis, MO.

[JohnnyPopper]

Welcome from SoCal San Diego, where the fruits and nut keep getting more and more 'rarefied'.

Agree with bd, nice story, look forward to you making the wife part happen. We love our big bench seat 

As to rusty bolts, I had been using PB Blaster. Found a superior product: Superzilla.

As Shifty would say, 'we like pics, no, we really like pics'

[Chanman09]

Trying to post pics.

Test 1

https://imgur.com/a/oTBlPY8

[Chanman09]

Welcome from SoCal San Diego, where the fruits and nut keep getting more and more 'rarefied'.

Agree with bd, nice story, look forward to you making the wife part happen. We love our big bench seat 

As to rusty bolts, I had been using PB Blaster. Found a superior product: Superzilla.

As Shifty would say, 'we like pics, no, we really like pics'

Thanks for the heads up on the superzilla. I will definitely try it out!

I think I posted some pics in a reply to this thread. I hope it worked.

Yeah! I like hiding stuff in a console, but all that space on the bench seat will be nice!

[Chanman09]

Welcome from AZ!  Pics! Pics! We need pics! 

I think I posted some. We’ll see if it actually works!

[Chanman09]

Welcome!  That's quite a picture you painted with only a few modest words.  Well done!

It sounds as though you are off to a great start with a truck that will provide a solid foundation and some interesting challenges. 

Flushing the fuel tank and then replacing all of the rubber fuel hoses and filter(s) are likely prudent first steps.  Once the fuel plumbing has been validated you can accurately determine whether the fuel pump needs attention.

Wiring issues can fill a few chapters in and of themselves, depending on your experience and willingness to embrace them.

Be sure to peruse our Technical Forum for many useful references.

Yes. I believe the passenger side tank is empty. I know there’s gas in the drivers side tank,but no clue how much. My luck, it’s probably full. Lol.

So I’m deciding if I want to crawl in and out from under the truck or take the bed off, power wash,paint, and do it up big time. Probably just crawling under for now. Then may go the extra mile later on.

Thanks for the heads upon the technical forums. I’ve actually been printing volumes from there already, so I can have them at my disposal under the hood.

[Mike81K10]

Welcome from AL.

To post pics click on the Attachments and other options, then Attach (Choose File) and the pics you post need to be 500KB or smaller and it is good to use Jpeg.

[JohnnyPopper]

Great pics, great truck!!

You're fortunate to have bed intact...

Look for software called pixelresizer, it will shrink your photos so you can post them to the site.

[JohnnyPopper]

Correction: Pixresizer is your go to.

You can find links on this site as well.