The old '85 Chevy shop truck got tired and started fouling plugs, the body was covered in primer spots, so we yanked the carbureted 4.3 V6 and dropped in a fresh Vortec 4.3 as well as all the components to make the swap CA legal...which proved to be a nightmare. That and the money black hole it turned into made it something I would never do again, but have to admit that now that it's done it's nice to drive and looks great. Much easier to drive and more nimble than my 3/4 ton trucks. The longbed is exaclty what i need since it hauls a lot of stuff and I drag junk to the car swapmeet 5 times a year. Tuck was originally a plain Jane, no optoons truck, but along with the modern engine, we added A/C, PW, PDL to it and slapped on some new Silverado emblems in place of the Custom Deluxe emblems. Most everything mechanical is new, the windshield and back window are new, bluetooth stereo, alarm, etc.
Unfortunately it took about a year and a half to get done mechanically with the guys working on it in between customer cars, etc., then drove it about 6 months to work out the bugs, then disassembled for paint. Sat at a (supposedly) Buddy's body shop for a year and a half without anything being done, then finally made it to the new guys next door to my shop. Basically right at 2 years from the time we took it apart to when it was back together a few weeks ago. They did the bodywork and sprayed it inside and out in the same paint code white as on my '99 F250.
Unfortunately it took about a year and a half to get done mechanically with the guys working on it in between customer cars, etc., then drove it about 6 months to work out the bugs, then disassembled for paint. Sat at a (supposedly) Buddy's body shop for a year and a half without anything being done, then finally made it to the new guys next door to my shop. Basically right at 2 years from the time we took it apart to when it was back together a few weeks ago. They did the bodywork and sprayed it inside and out in the same paint code white as on my '99 F250.
