1983 chevy pickup and introduction

maxmamo · August 11, 2020

Hey everyone,

To start off I want to introduce myself and my truck and give a little story behind the truck.

Within the last couple of days I had a 1983 chevy pickup fall into my hands from the original owner's family. The truck has 150,000 miles and looks to be in excellent shape. The truck is very clean and optioned nicely compared to other models I've seen online, but honestly I feel like I may be in over my head.

The truck is completely original besides the tires and bed liner which was line-x'd sometime in the past.

I was going to start fixing little things on the truck(headliner, bench seat upholstery, ..) but after looking at what these things are worth I see now that it may be more valuable if kept original.

My plan with this truck was to do a simple tune-up and minor repairs like the seat cushion and things like that and list it for sale. Now I'm not sure if I should change anything about it.

As of today, the truck is running and driving and stopping and its a blast to cruise around on.

This post is either the start of my restomod, or just a general update thread.

If you guys have any insight for me I would highly appreciate feedback. I'm new to this community and wasn't particularly interested in these trucks until I bought it two days ago as an impulse buy.

Things I'm currently trying to figure out:

Who would fill the AC for me on such an old rig

If I should reupholster the seat

If I should have the headliner re done

If I should buy a carburetor or leave the original

What the truck is worth

If i got a good deal

So here it is, my 1983 3-on-the-tree 7.4l 454 big block v8 metallic bronze and almond silverado with the trailer tow package and premium chrome wheels

maxmamo · August 11, 2020

Tomorrow, I'm getting an appraisal done by a specialist in these trucks. Hoping to get more than a price from him as I'd like to keep the truck and maybe restore it to its previous glory.

garagerog · August 11, 2020

Welcome, very nice looking truck, exterior paint looks great, maybe just a little dent on top of the tailgate? Interior pictures would be helpful if you want opinions on replacing the seat upholstery and headliner. I used to have an 84

K20 HD camper special so I'm very familiar with this era of square bodies. You mentioned that the transmission was a three on a tree but that refers to a manual transmission, I would speculate that you have the TH400 automatic with that 454, if a manual was available with the 454 it would have been a HD 4 speed with compound or granny low. My 84 was just a 350 with the HD 4 speed manual and 3.73 gears. Also those aren't premium chrome wheels, they are just the premium hubcaps with a painted steel wheel underneath. I had the same ones on my 84 with the exception that the front hubcaps had the cutout for the 4wd hubs, steel wheels were painted white. I notice that your spare tire has been relocated to the bed, did a previous owner add an auxiliary gas tank in it's place? If so, that's a bonus! I assume you already have the dual saddle tanks, but no pictures of the passenger side so I can't confirm that. Again nice looking truck! Oh, one other thing, your truck appears to be a C20, not a K20 4wd which you have listed along with your Avatar.

Edited August 11, 2020 by garagerog

maxmamo · August 12, 2020

10 hours ago, garagerog said:

Welcome, very nice looking truck, exterior paint looks great, maybe just a little dent on top of the tailgate? Interior pictures would be helpful if you want opinions on replacing the seat upholstery and headliner. I used to have an 84

K20 HD camper special so I'm very familiar with this era of square bodies. You mentioned that the transmission was a three on a tree but that refers to a manual transmission, I would speculate that you have the TH400 automatic with that 454, if a manual was available with the 454 it would have been a HD 4 speed with compound or granny low. My 84 was just a 350 with the HD 4 speed manual and 3.73 gears. Also those aren't premium chrome wheels, they are just the premium hubcaps with a painted steel wheel underneath. I had the same ones on my 84 with the exception that the front hubcaps had the cutout for the 4wd hubs, steel wheels were painted white. I notice that your spare tire has been relocated to the bed, did a previous owner add an auxiliary gas tank in it's place? If so, that's a bonus! I assume you already have the dual saddle tanks, but no pictures of the passenger side so I can't confirm that. Again nice looking truck! Oh, one other thing, your truck appears to be a C20, not a K20 4wd which you have listed along with your Avatar.

Thanks for the reply and it’s good to be here. I was rushing when I made the post, it is a c20. And you are right about the TH400. I’m learning this all as fast as I can. I have a left and right gas tank, yes. The build sheet shows the side mount spare wheel as an option(P13) but I believe the original side mount hardware was replaced.

I took a few pictures of the underbody and interior for you guys to see. It’s a very clean northwest truck with *minimal* rust. There is a dent on the driver door a small ding on the rear of the cab and some other small scuffs.