Dont you just Luuuuv pickup trucks? I really like some --and not so much others. Im doing a quickee rehab of a silverado I got so this is my truck ramblin thread about modern type haulers, ones to drive, ones not to. I'll be very detailed about some details--and very vague about others - and ramble too. Ford guys who have no appreciation for my perspective -- or whoever who has no appreciation for my rambling somewhat coherently should take their barby dolls around to the back porch where they wont embarrass themselves or anyone close to them anymore.
A long long time ago, and I can still remember - a place called Custom f/X auto and truck acessories 1 800 972 KITS in Dallas Texas. We were doing camaro, corvette, firebird, and mustang kits- then about 1991 we started concentrating on the 1988 up chevy pickups- The smoothest and most beautiful to date and the model that brought the SPORT TRUCK trend to a zenith it had never seen before-(and since).
I was the pattern tool maker there and did most all the truck stuff, the manager larry-and later the owner- when the name was switched to Eliminator sport trucks, had never seen a plaster splash done. I came from 2 miles west of the Dallas county line in tarrant co. Ft worth was and is a small city-but a big aerospace mfg town--its where the USA's fighter jets come from a mile long hanger at lockheed on the west side of town-and where lots of tooling tecniques get the job done ( even if it is by groups of 10 guys doing a 1 man job).
Anyhow larry tells me we are gonna do a smooth cowl induction hood for the chevy pickups and goes over and pulls out a 70's corvette stinray hood out of the rack for pulling a quick mold to get started.. i tell him---if he would just listen to me for once - we could do it in 1 hour instead of 2 half days time dealing with the usual f-glass mould.
So he agree's and i get him to drive over to the supply house in s Ft worth and we get a bag of plaster and finagle a small amount of hemp fibers -Because-No Way larry would cough up $120 for a whole bail. On the way back to big d I ask larry if there are any old potato sacks at the shop, "yup" - So I know we would have just enough material for the plaster splash. Anyway once we get back I get some buckets and mix two pails of slurry plaster and tell Larry to get on the other side and do what I do..........
The corvette hood is sitting there on a work bench with the scoop area masked off and waxed ... and I stick my hand in the wet runny plaster - cup a hand full and slam-splash it onto the surface--splashing it all over larry too with a big GRINN
&^$^#$^$#^%$% "What the phuch you think your doin --ill fire your sorry ass" .. 'Yea Sure" I told you to do just what i did " so he scoops some in and half splashes me too, we get the surface and some of each othercovered in the plaster and before it starts to thicken I bump the hood with a piece of 2X4 to get the air bubbles to rise to the surface and migrate away from the tool face. Thats the fun of plaste splashes-its messy but thats just the way it is--its just white dirt anyway. I then have to mix up some more and use the cut up burlap for the main layup and the sparce amount of hemp we begged for to shape into reinforcing rope bands to use along the sides and as cross ribs. larry tries forming the hemp to the surface and says--"This sux' -I get a handfull of wet plaster and showed him how to smooth it down... so an hr later we popped the plaster splash off the hood and set it outside in the sun to dry. later I waxed it a few times and got it ready and sent it back to the production flunkees running the "machine from Hell' -the chopper gun.
After we get the scoop section and set it on the brand new pickup hood and start measuring... we notice something strange, a stock corvette stingray hoodscoop is 5/8 wider on the PS side of the center crease than the DS........ so we had to cut it down the center and remove the amount - then reglass back together ( using the splash as a holding fixture) to get a correct part for the model.

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Good trick to know

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Back in the mid eighties the original name of F/X was USA-1 and it was owned by an obnoxious jersy type of italian guy named JW Abbie who always spoke in a sort of whiny tone, abbie was and is a crook.
When they were somewhat producing stuff to sell for locals paying cash--there was plenty of shady **** going on too like - the place being used for a chop shop (and im not talking about lowering the rooflines of 33 fords) , and also lots of credit card fraud, which eventually got abbie time at club fed in seagoville-east of dallas.
I was working at a boat shop then in Ronoake Tx where I bought my first -"pickup" a car/truck, 1960 elcamino like this Way Cool sedan delivery looooooNg roof still wearing the original copper paint -photod in Needles Ca ten yrs later in the mid ninties.

A Real estate co bought usa1 and changed the name to a brilliant Custom F/X and for a while it was right up there with the big outfits
Traders, Choo choo customs, and the arch rival Harwood in Tyler Tx.

The smooth cowl hoods were also done for the little s10 and the earlier ugly square chevy pickups and the smooth 88 up ones ended up going on lots of conversion trucks-- something that didn't exist before the 88 hit the scene- there were only custom vans. Thru the early ninties, one of these could not be kept on the rack, they were bought as soon as they were cranked out. Larrys full inside liner panel idea made a better hood than harwoods- , theirs started looking droopy after a couple yrs--like something made out of wax that sat out in the texas sun and deformed.

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My second pickup was designed by AMC and was from the last yr they existed before being gobbled up by chrysler 1986, The jeep cherokee-- and Comanchee pickups are -almost- as classic a style as the w123 benz. and ran for approximately 17 yrs--almost TWICE as long!

During that time they were powered by -you name it and they probably stuck one in there with the exception of - any V8 engine from any maker.
The rest--There were the AMC 2.5 4 banger like mine had-the only amc 4 with fuel injection--that yr only 86 im thinking. The jeep 4.0 litre straight six started life much earlier -apparantly was designed br amc but was installed in international scouts for a few yrs. Every thing else - there were iron duke gm 4 bangers , 2.8 gm v6's, a renault diesel engine, and all kind of transmissions fro gm , asian warner etc.
mine was powered by the 76 hp gutless amc 2.5 and a 4 speed. The configuration and color and the price made me snag it for $1500.00 in 94 a 4WD pickup -cool as hell, and 8 yrs old for that paltry sum was a GO DEAL.
Even with no over drive I drove the hell out of it- many times to the west side of Texafornia! Sadly the last trip - I hauled a bunch of parts I made out to the pomona Sway Meet in So cal and while sitting in a pizza parlour-- Someone broke in and stole it. The Ontario police didn't give me much hope--saying it was probably being driven across the mexico border as we spoke.

The police telling me this later made me think again of a low budget brando movie from 1966 " The Appoloosa". Go rent it tonite.
The yr earlier I was driving the jeep up a trail from the mojave up the east side of the San Bernadino mountains. The area was used for filming lots of westerns..... ^ the crappy pic ^ above was in the lower canyons near a community called landers. It was where the movie "tell em willie boy is here" with Tony Blake and Robert Redford.
Anyway I took the trip up to Big Bear - the scenic route up 2n02, and was up above--in the snow. There were these giant sub-species of joshua trees much more jumbo that the scraggly kind everywhere else around JT- gradually they gave way to pine trees in the transition zone. All the sudden I was looking at this ridge on the left--- And knew instantly where I was.
It was the where the apex of "The Appoloosa" was filmed. Whoever has seen it remembers the arm wrestling scene with the scorpoins.
The bandito "general Cuey" who stole brando's beautiful black appoloosa with the white spotted ass, was an over the top caracter


who torments brando thru most of the film, like when brando "mateo" goes down to the generals holdout in mexico and gets caught trying to get the horse back.. Then theres the arm wrestling scene complete with scorpions.



Only about the last 20 minutes of the move is really good, "mateo' is hunting the general down and has his sharps buffalo rifle --and the bandito pinned up on the ridge hiding behind the bushes. The sun glinting off a concho gives the general away and brando shoots the bush he is hiding behind-pluggin him with a lead implant, and the bandit comes rolling down the hill.




Anyway no one told me this movie was filmed here but im certain the ridge near the rose mine is where they shot the scene, It was the same time of yr as when I was there.


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a boy and his pickup...... ( and a really junkie digital camera).

For a pick-up truck, I prefer GMC..older model...350 V8..easy to work on...solid.

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CHILCUTT~
The secret to a long life. Is knowing when it is time to leave.

...and legroom...have to mention that......not like the tiny "Lorries" I am subjected to over here across the big waters.

__________________
CHILCUTT~
The secret to a long life. Is knowing when it is time to leave.

My third pickup-- I dont mean to bring anyone down- a 91 Ford ( what a bummer.



the only good things about it were-
It was fuel injected-and usually started right up with no fuss.
It only cost $700.00 -Fut my friend still had to finagle me to buy it because - it was a fORD.
It had a 8 ft bed and tow package (the 351 could pull whatever but was drunken glut at the pumps).

Whenever I had to use it I felt like such a buh-buh.
like a character from a -king of the hill- episode, the bad kind that you didn't want to be, like a working stiff-in his own little world, that didn't know there were better things to drive.
boxy, utilitarian and as exciting as a farm tractor, twin i beams that you bounce around on - giving you the sensation you're being taken for a ride in a run away boat. the same platform that was from MUCH earlier days -when chevies also had a junky feeling ride.
The 88 up chevie was like ridding in a cadillac-- and ford still had this JOKE.
This truck was what i had to use for 5 yrs unfortunately. There was so much crap on top of the engine--I couldn't get a mechanic to do a side job replacing the leaking valve cover gaskets, and no way i wanted to hassle with it--becaise it was a friggin fORD, last trip I used it.... I was crusin thru Roanoke Tx and pulled into a strip center next to a walmart to get some more erl, went over to the wally world, purchased and came out-- heard the sirens and looked over at the strip center- and saw a black colum of smoke rising above-where the fire engines were headed, I knew what it was before walking over and looking around the corner, and seeing the white pile o junk with flames seeping out of the frontend.
I went back in and returned the oil and started walking to a friends house a few miles away -Laughing to myself, glad to be rid of the piece of cheet.

I thought for sure I'de done a mugg shot o Ma'h Silveraddoo,
nope.

Well here it is, a plain ole-abused- fleet white longbed. So typical of a texas pickup.
Ahh--so special to be riding around in one of the Generals better contemporary vehicles.

Old beat up silverado pickup, How do I love thee? let me count the ways.

I love the fact that its not much more than a mild revise of the 88-98 pickups. When they were introduced, the critics were complaining that it was so much like the 98 and earlier trucks------ Yea, well they had to whine about something to have a comment. Me YESSSS.
Excelentee! so much like the earlier--- Just where they want to be!!!!!

I love the wide bold look-- slightly wider appearing that an 88.

I love the twin pipes sticking out from under the rear bumper and the Quiet rumble from the 4.3. You cant really tell its a v6, a kid next door has a sierra with the 4.3 and some flowmasters on it--it sounds ridiculous.

I love the overdrive --but not the sometimes leaking seal front seal have to redo.

I love the frontend, so similar to the earlier, it is perfect fodder for the custom tricks we used on them a smooth grill shell/ billet grill, smooth bumper cover with accompaniing airdam w the monte carlo SS driving lights would all work easily. ( but I got different ideas)

I love the rack and pinion steering-- a noticable improvement over the old box always used before.

I love the operating cost, this big pickup costs the same to operate as the typical diesel w123, only slightly more than my 85.

I love the 8 ft bed. A pickup is meant to haul stuff and not sorta be able to, guys that want a 4 door pickup and a 5.? bed-thats their thing I guess, But I mean buisness when I have to fetch.

I love how reasonable priced whatever i have needed is for one of these- craigslist turns up whatever at dirt cheap prices-- I dont have to do a skinflint routine to get the stuff, its already no haggle priced.

Ma'h Silveraddooo.



When these things came out I took one look at them and was disappointed by the indented "eyebrows" over the wheel wells, They are a styling glitch that should have not been put on these trucks. I told myself- whenever i get my hands on one of these-the eyebrows would be removed. I wouldn't try cutting and hammering them out and rewelding. Im just using the old standby, Marine -tex.




I got my $41.00 poxy pooky kit here, but first i have to take care of the regular bodywork-- the BeaT UP Bed.
This truck -a typical work truck from here -- They like to beat them up as a hobby. The bedsides are made of pretty flimsey stuff for such a wide -long expanse , acres and acres.
This pickup incurred a severe trauma the the driver side, looks like someone lost control in a icy sleet coverd road and smacked a telephone pole sideways leaving a giant kink from top to bottom behind the fuel filler door. then the nimrods got some 2x4s and sorta somewhat pried it back out- with no backup board against the inside dent surface, so it had thes 2x4 corner dents all pried into the dent bumping it out here and there,

It was a f-nn mess!
The passenger side was just the usual lower rear beang crunched which I easily took care of with short boards and c-clamps and long vice grip clamps- pulling the metal back into line.


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I did the same to the lower front section of the DS where i was able to get at it, clamping pieces of wood-and pieces of steel,, moving along tightening the clamps and pulling it back out.
Up inside the bedside I slipped wood in there and used more 2x4s like the dumbasses did except with a chunk of plywood flat against the inner face so it wouldn't put more damage back in than I was trying to remove.


I broke out the ole lenco, and cut me some 1/2" steel sheelmetal strips and ground out the low spots and zapped the strips in the lows.



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Using regular vice grip lock pliers, I pulled on the tabs- pulling out the low spots while hammering down the highs adjacent to them at the same time. A coulpe hrs in several evenings - in the sweltering metro heat- with a few corona's, I had it looking pretty good but there was a noticable bulge-swell in front of the work site. This is dealt with-w a slapper file.
Didn't have me a slapper-- so I went over to the scrap pile and found a perfect shaped piece of steel strap that was originally a 38 chevy rear inner fender bracket, and also a brand new steel rail rd spike that I had stolen from Warren Buffet .
I got the Lincoln welder out with its nasty flux core wire and fried me a slapper together.

Anyway - you use a slapper to move metal.

If some curved panel has a distorted bulge or too much crown in an area, you use a slapper file , smacking it with glancing blows - striking it in the direction you want the wave- swell to "disappear" to.



So now I pretty much got the big kink dent whooped and ready for smearing the stuff on.
Me and other pro people like to mix bondo and finishing glaze 50/50 all in one batch - it gives a much less tacky surface, makes it sand a lot nicer , and wastes lots less file board or bondo buster sheets.

Yup, I think you guys know what I mean, Our nation-Our truck, Its like baseball, hotdogs and apple pie, its like a ROCK,
Silverados are the heartbeat of america, An american revolution,

It runs Deep................


Well mabe the 2002 and earlier ones, but post 02 thang's got -uh , well..........

but supposedly the new versions-- with those _rugged _good_looks will survive the appocalypse..


Im callin BS. unless the general is gonna pull his head out o where he's had it crammed and bring some MWM diesels up from south america-- Th full mechanical ones with no computers for the emf's to fry......