After a long search I finally found my 80's model 4x4!!PICS UP

[trevor73402]

Hello all,

My name is Trevor and I just wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself and tell everyone about the my new truck and ask a few questions.

After over two years of looking around for my "perfect" truck I finally found it. Ive wanted a mid to late '80's model SWB 4x4 truck ever since I was a kid. My father had a 84 Chevy SWB 4x4 that he drove while I was growing up back and forth to work and on all our hunting and fishing trips. Well my father passed away very unexpectedly in Jan of 2008. After that I decided to find a truck like we had when I was a kid.

After looking and lots and lots of them that I was not satisfied with I finally found one in Eastern Kentucky. I live in Oklahoma so I hopped on a plane Wednesday and flew out to take a look at it and buy it if it was as clean as the pictures made it out to be. It is a 1984 Chevy SWB 1/2 ton 4x4 that has been fully restored (the best i can tell its been fully restored). It has a 350 with a 700R4 trans. The engine is new, front and rear end is rebuilt, front and rear drive shafts are new, truck has been nicely repainted black, the interior has been totally redone complete with a new (original looking) bench seat. It has the original '84 model am/fm radio, new carpet, ac/heater works, all the gauges work (even the clock). It looks almost like it would have looked in '84 sitting on the dealership floor, except for the American Racing wheels.

Here are a few questions that I have. They might sound stupid, but Im going to ask because I dont know.

1.) On the front fenders (both sides) the truck has the silver/chrome Chevrolet badging, but it is marked "C10" with the "C" above the Chevrolet, and the "10" below it. So were the wrong badges put back on the truck since its a 4x4, but it says "C10"? From what Ive read the "C10" is 2wd and the "K10" is the 4x4. Any ideas?

2.) The A/C works good (blows cold air), but when the lever is moved all the way to the left to the "off" position, the compressor still continues to cycle on and off and the A/C keeps blowing. It wont shut off in the off position. I have to move the lever to "vent" to get the compressor to stop cycling on and off. How can I fix this?

3.) The fan for the A/C really only blows low and high, there is no change in the different levels on the fan switch except for when you move it to the highest setting. It blows very low on all the settings except for "High" and then it blows really hard.

4.) I am aware of the wing glasses on these trucks being very noisy, but this truck is more than noisy when driving above 45mph. There is alot of air coming in both sides right in the area of where the very bottom most forward area of the wing glass curves down and meets up with the door panel area. The weatherstip apears to be in good shape and pretty new. Is there something I can look for that may need to be replaced to seal the door off? Maybe something was left off when the truck was repainted??

5.) The truck is stock height right now and I want to put on a small lift, prolly a 4" just so that I can clear 33/12.50's on 15" rims. I dont want to go real big with this truck because I already have a big lifted truck with 38's on 20's. Ive been looking at the Tough Country lift and Ive been reading on here about what is needed and what is not need, but I cant ever find a post that is straight forward saying you need this, this and this. Everyone say you do need this, then someone else say no you dont need that. I want the truck to ride decent, I want it to steer fairly well also. Im guessing I need to go new springs front and back, steering stabalizer up front, steering arm extension, and brake line relocators. What else?? Whats the deal with the transfere case drop and the other stuff??

Im sorry for the long post, I just figured Id get it all out of the way at one time. I really want to post some pics, but Im on my work computer right now and photobucket is blocked on it. Ill get on my laptop in a few hours and post some pics of my new bad  black 4x4.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Trevor  

[VileZambonie]

Welcome to the site.

1) You are correct it would be a K10 if it's original half ton. What's the VIN# say?

2) Is this factory AC or aftermarket?

3) Check the blower motor resistor

4) You can replace the seals on the vent windows but you will need to remove them from the doors. One piece windows are another option

5) With many trucks the 4" lift will cause the front driveshaft to bind if you don't space the crossmember or modify the driveshaft. There's many things you will need with a 4" lift but it varies by truck and by how you lift it. If you're going with an all spring lift you'll need to drop the brake hoses, a new steering arm, steering stabilizer and shocks, possibly lower the t-case and plenty of pb blaster.

[trevor73402]

The VIN is 1GCEK14H8EF338160

Yes it is the factory A/C as far as the controls. Im not sure if the actual A/C components are newer or not, but the controls are the normal A/C and heat controls that came in these trucks.

Where is the blower resistor and how do I "check" it?

The seals and the vent windows....well I knew it was going to be a pain in the butt.....Im sure Ill end up just cranking up the radio. Ive certainly thought about some one piece windows.

As for the lift kit....well why do they call it a "complete kit" if its really not? I was hoping that it was not going to cost as much to lift a 84 chevy 4" as it did to lift a 2009 F250 6", but it looks like its not going to be much different. Over a $1000 or right close to it. Thats just insane.

[trevor73402]

Guys forget about the question on the "C" and "K" stuff.....I guess that I thought I saw something that I really didnt....I dont know what I was thinking. It just says "10", there is no C or K on the badging.

[SMiller]

Sounds like you need to do some investigating into the a\c problems, sorry I can't help there. As for the lift I installed a 4in. lift and got along great with blocks in the rear and springs in front, I did have the front driveshaft get pulled out when pulling into a steep driveway once at a weird angle, there is no right or wrong when it comes to replacement driveshafts, some will work fine and some trucks will need new ones, I think it was around $266 to have new ones made out of my old ones, that was balanced out the door and much bigger\stronger then stock.

The truck should have K10 badges, these can be bought aftermarket from several places or you can search for some nice used ones, easy fix.

For the vent windows it's not that big of a job, nothing a easy day can't fix, just rebuild them once and they will be good for life, you will soooo glad you fixed them!!!

Lastly that truck is beautiful!!! Congrats, its a rough life, sometimes you just have to step back and think what makes you happy, my dad always had these trucks growing up and now I find myself buying\collecting clean\nice ones out west and shipping them home, I just hate to see them go to a bad home...

[trevor73402]

Sounds like you need to do some investigating into the a\c problems, sorry I can't help there. As for the lift I installed a 4in. lift and got along great with blocks in the rear and springs in front, I did have the front driveshaft get pulled out when pulling into a steep driveway once at a weird angle, there is no right or wrong when it comes to replacement driveshafts, some will work fine and some trucks will need new ones, I think it was around $266 to have new ones made out of my old ones, that was balanced out the door and much bigger\stronger then stock.

The truck should have K10 badges, these can be bought aftermarket from several places or you can search for some nice used ones, easy fix.

For the vent windows it's not that big of a job, nothing a easy day can't fix, just rebuild them once and they will be good for life, you will soooo glad you fixed them!!!

Lastly that truck is beautiful!!! Congrats, its a rough life, sometimes you just have to step back and think what makes you happy, my dad always had these trucks growing up and now I find myself buying\collecting clean\nice ones out west and shipping them home, I just hate to see them go to a bad home...

Thank you for the compliments! I feel very lucky to have found this truck and got it for what I consider a great price.

[beastie_3]

Great looking truck!

[VileZambonie]

Beautiful truck! Looks like my 84 K5 I had. I would check the heater controls and wiring. The blower resistor is in the engine compartment in the AC box.

[Grover 1]

Great looking truck, i wish my "86 looked that clean.

[Jesse Walter]

Wow, that is one nice looking truck.  Can you please rub it in a little more with some interior, engine and undercarrage pictures? 

This is really making me want to change the color to black on my truck.

[trevor73402]

I really appreciate all the good comments on the truck. Ill take some pics of the inside and post them up as soon as I can. Im kinda torn in a way because I want to do some stuff to the truck, but at the same time part of me wants to leave it as completely "stock" as possible. Ill have to put a decent stereo system in it, Im a music junkie, but Ill keep all the original components so that I could return it to stock if I ever needed too. I really want to put a 4" lift on it, but Im just not sure I want to do that to it since its so nice like it is. I guess Im just trying to say I dont want to "hack" it up in anyway and this is extremely hard for me since I NEVER leave anything alone after I get it. The "Mod" bug always gets me.

[SMiller]

You could always keep it simple and put a add-a-leaf in front and a 2in. block in rear, it would be very easy to put it back to stock if you ever wanted to, it would really look good since you have pretty big tires on it. I don't see why you would have to extend brake lines and driveshafts then.

The nice part is there is no hurry, you found the truck that you wanted now you can take your time and look at pictures and talk to guys that have done this stuff already to help decide what direction you want to go in.

[bigandrich22]

great looking truck..where at exactly in eastern ky did you buy it? i live there myself

[Canadian 4X4]

that is a Mint looking truck, Congrats on the purchase!

[bake74]

     Very nice looking truck, and great way to honor your dad.  Welcome