Just bought a '89 Jimmy 4WD (Full Size, 5.7L)

[FL335i]

Like the title states, just picked one up out of Jacksonville, FL. hardly any rust. Very clean truck. But still needs a lot of work. My main concern was rust. I saw a few and could not believe the amount of rust. I'm looking to get this truck as OEM as possible. The only mods it has right now is a hill-billy dual exhaust and some very sweet 33x12.50 BFT AT KO's that are like new and a trailer hitch receiver bolted to the frame. Aside form that and a CD player, it's bone stock. I don't know much about these things in regard to, which years had what, what was stock etc. Based on my VIN, how can I find out exactly what my truck came with?

 

 

-Front bumper pads. Truck does not have them. Were they stock on '89's?

 

-Dual front shocks. Had no idea this was a factory option. the front has 4 shocks.

 

-Factory '89 wheels? The guy I bought it from says they're stock. I'm not 100% I believe it. They are 15's. Brushed aluminum. Love them. But not 100% sure they are OEM's. What were the stock wheels on 89's?

 

 

What it needs: A lot It looks good and the a/c is cold. PO put a lot of new parts in it. I need to go through and finish/clean the jobs up really. I have it garaged right now. It needs the front end gone through. Ball joints etc. Lots of front end slop. And the engine has a really bad engine oil leak on the front of the motor. Could be timing chain cover, or front main seal. Or even the intake manifold for all I know. It smokes on startup. I'm pretty sure it's valve stem seals. Never smokes again when running and the motor is strong and starts easily. What I'd like to do is pull the intake manifold and clean the valves, put new stem seals on, and work the motor upward and get the thing painted and cleaned up. Again, This truck will be as stock as possible, minus a nice CD player, speakers and the wheel/tire combo it has on it. I've always wanted a K5. Just never worked out for one reason or another. And the past 10yrs they've gotten very rare (good ones).

[Tattooo]

Congratulations & good luck with it.....post a few pics

[2018GMC]

^ what he said. And ditch the hill Billy exhaust, the cops will hear you coming if you keep the cherry bombs or whatever it has LOL

[tgranthamfd]

Not sure about the wheels, from factory. I have a 1988 full sized Jimmy, and it has 4 shocks on front, as well. I have never worked on the front end, so I assume they are stock. My 88 has factory 6 lug, 8" rally's with beauty rings, on it. As near as I can tell, mine is mostly stock, too. Rust and all!

[FL335i]

If you have the 4 front shocks it's the HD suspension. My project is coming along nicely. Had the oil pan off and everything off the top and front. Used a air compressor to keep the valves up while I did the valve seals. She's now leak free and smoke free. Most of the valve stem seals were gone. As in not even there. I found a handful of them in pieces in the oil pan. Truck and motor have 113k on them from what I can tell. Engine bay is now presentable.

[Badass69]

My 86 rust goblin has the aluminum rims on it... They don't show up on my build sheet but they are the oem rim from those trucks.

 

 

Do they look like those?

 

Yes they could come oem with dual front shocks. The rpo code for them is z75 and can be on the sticker in the glove box if stock. Guys do add them though. Bumper guards are an option not all have.

 

I need a rust free truck lol... dealing on one right now to replace my rusty wiring nightmare that tries to light on fire. I am glad I got the truck for free lol.

 

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[FL335i]

My rims are aftermarket I believe. I found the exact rims in LMC. it's an outlaw rim. very similar but different to those ^. I like both rims.

[Badass69]

Yeah some goober that replied to my want ad for a rust free truck had some cheap similar looking replica wheels on his... but he also wanted $23,500 for a 1990 Blazer that honestly looked like a rust monster underneath, had a faded top that needed a repaint and whatever else wrong with it lol. Looked at another one that was mostly rust free. ... absolutely nothing worked, interior was trashed, truck was beat and looked awful... but only for $8500 lol

 

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[FL335i]

I feel your pain 1994Vmax. I saw one here in Tampa when shopping around. Rear fenders were ate up so bad the bottom skirt rod in the rear well was just sticking out in open air. Full of rust. Plus needed interior and mechanical work. $8,500 firm. Makes me feel better that i'm not the only one who ran into this issue looking for a K5. I think the problem is most of these trucks were molested and turned into woods trucks. Aside from small 3 spots with very minimal rust, i'm happy with my '89. Best color combo from the factory I could ask for. All original other than the 33" BFG's and 15" Outlaw wheels. 113k original miles. I'm the 3rd owner. accident free title. I got a little mad thinking I F'd up when I found the 3 little rust spots. But after months of continuing online searching for K5's up for sales..... I give myself an A- for my find and price. But the price of clean nice, factory K5's are going up like a rocket. I've seen some SELLING on ebay for 15-18k.

 

My rust spots are: LR floor pan corner. You can see it's eaten up a bit from the LR wheel well. Both rocker panel/floor spots under the door thresholds. I know I can easily fix the corner floor pan with some sheet metal and a flux core mig welder when I strip the interior out. The rocker panels I'm more intimidated by. But I've watched some good youtube videos and saw they sell complete cut in/out rocker panel sections. I might just do that on both rockers and call it a day. Oh, and the inner fender well under the battery is ate up. Battery must of leaked on it over the years at some point. That's a $60 fix.... R&R the RF inner fender. Aside from that the truck has less rust than my 2014's frame. Underside is so clean it's not even funny. Zero frame rust. Axles are both in great shape; saved by covered in grease and oil.

 

 

I just ordered a new dash and aluminum bar (passenger side) trim bezel this morning. $452 to the door. I went with the factory vinyl over foam OEM type. Not the cheap sponge $200 dashes that are urethane? And have terrible reviews. I went with the best dash I could find. I also have a Kenwood CD player stereo and Kicker 3.5" speakers ready to go in under that new dash. You would be surprised how dirty it was under the dash. Leaf blower and some cleaning rags and 3 hrs later it's clean as a whistle and going back together when the dash shows up later this week.

[Badass69]

Sounds like a nice find for sure. Up here with the salt on the roads decent ones are almost impossible to get and then the guys want stupid money for them. I found one that is a province over... it's an 89 and looks pretty well worn. The guy wants $5K for it but the body looks not too bad.... might need a rocker. But it sounds like it has all kinds of electrical issues and half the interior doesn't work which I don't really want.

 

LMC or someone just needs to release complete body tubs like they have with the 55-57 Chev cars and 67-69 Camaros and whatnot..... then I would be golden lol.

 

I might hit some of the desert like US states and see what I find. The interiors will be garbage but if it's cheap and the body is straight and not rusty that's what counts. I will pay for a clean truck...... but not some stupid number for junk that needs work lol.

[FL335i]

Exactly. Yeah, out west the trucks fair best. FL is ok, but we have humidity. Nevada, Arizona etc is where you need to go. So dry it doesn't rust.