That's a cool short-bed, square-body Silverado, takes me back to the '80s. I love that green, too! While I don't care for the lift, I appreciate that this was once her dad's truck.
The removal of the lift kit - to it's OEM height would certainly make driving more enjoyable for the new owner - i.e. easier for entry and exit and far better stability at highway speeds.
I'm well familiar with these old ignition systems. They were easy to diagnose. All you need was a test light. Very common problem with old GM HEI systems. I've replaced so many of those i cam do it in my sleep. If it wasn't the module, it was the pickup rotor.
First time I experienced it, old c60 was idling in the lot, warming up to go make money, and just died. The control module in my f600 died once too, "duraspark" nowhere as good as the chevy style
Thank you Wizard and Mrs. I owned an 83 K20, heavy-duty extra leave springs from hauling 5th wheel. I bought it 20 years and 100k miles later. Leaked every fluid except windshield washer fluid, but ran like a tank, especially in snow.
I have a 1986 Square body Chevy Suburban two tone black/gray, gray interior with a 454 big block GM crate motor. That thing sounds like a real beast lol
wizzard, shop owner from Texas here brother, Ill give her 15K cash right now brother - great truck! Yes my young techs are brilliant at CPU controlled cars, the ole rigs like this the old man comes out and we direct their genius, also note my first guess was no spark
I have an 87 c10 that did the exact same thing. Sooooo simple to fix. I’ve been told that these ignition systems go bad after 30 years. Incredible, huh???
This is actually one of their least viewed videos and truck videos normally do quite well, I think this whole fear of long videos of bogus as far as 90% of TH-cam viewers go
This brought back memories for me. I'm in the north-west UK not too far from Manchester and in the early 90's bought a second hand Lancia Delta and after a few months it started running really rough. I asked a local mechanic to take a look and he isolated the ignition module as the culprit and he said it was the first time he'd come across one of these, but they were mostly used on American cars. The module was mounted on the back of a huge heatsink the coil sat in and the whole assembly was bolted to the inner wing. I called the only parts place I could find that stocked Lancia spares and they said I'd have to buy the whole coil, heatsink and ignition module assembly for £180, but then pointed me to an American car importer in Manchester and suggested to try their spares department. I gave them a call and they said they could provide a new module for £25, so I went down and bought one, fitted it and the car started right away and ran perfect.
A short box 4wd square body is quite desireable. When you said "no start", I had a strong suspicion it was the HEI module. I find on my hotrod it needs the header bolts tightened every year.
Dad had a 76 Square body. 350 with 3 on the tree. Drove it to about 300,000 miles then gave it to my Brother. He drove it another decade or so...eventually the drivers door hinge failed and the door literally fell off. He drove the doors off it.
Love that truck and the color. It's not mine, but I would want to lower it back to the original factory height. My mechanic worked with me on my Silverado. Addressed one thing at a time in order of importance. Took a while, but all sorted out now. Well worth it.
Yes, definitely. Don't bother with a step and handle. Bring it down to a reasonable height and fit sensible tires. The current setup looks ridiculous, and it actually may not be legal.
@@bdw66 I agree, as it sets the front end is actually higher than the rear. I'm sure the geometry is way off. I'd be afraid the front tires might go into some sort of "death wobble" at speed. Just better to keep the stock configuration and tire size for the truck.
My friend had a 84 Silverado 2 tone white and blue and let me tell you the driving experience was great I felt at home in it so calm and comfortable if I had the money I'd buy one myself
Based on the information provided - which was next to nil - selecting the correct failure for the truck is purely a guess - i.e. 25% chance of getting right. For such trucks, the simple rule is check that it has fuel, spark, and that timing is set correctly - and 'go from there'.
Short wide with a Goodwrench crate engine and very little rust is definitely worth fixing. Although the newer paint would have me worried about rust that was covered in body filler or fiberglass.
Boy does this take me back the problems wizard mentions I have been through with one I had. But I always had problems with steering, lack of tracking, sudden farting around when steering at highway speeds etc. a bit scary and unsafe. And all the old school HEI stuff was old hat to us back in the day.
I still have my 77’ K10 truck, mine’’s definitely a rust bucket but runs very well though. Lol I just recently bought a 94’ K2500 as a temporary truck so I can begin cutting out rusty steel from the body on the 77’ and get ready for paint. My fuel selector valve was also bad when I bought my 77’ so I replaced it with a more modern selector valve but I had to rig up a pair of double acting relays to operate it off the factory switch on the dash but its been reliable over the decade I’ve owned it. Also had to replace the ignition module a year ago but it was fast and cheap as I already had a spare laying around the shop.
I had a green '78. First thing to do is throw out the headers, and put the stock exhaust on, then get it down out of the rafters before it rolls over or ruins the U-joints.
I owned a 85 Chevy just like that. It had a rebuilt 350 with Edelbrock manifold, carb. Short bed, lifted 6inch, with 35x12.5 on 15 inch rims. I painted it black metallic. Awesome truck for my high school years in the 2000,01
Speaking as one that has worked on hundreds, if not thousands, of these distributors the rotor was either bad or on its way out. When you saw a rotor that had a dark spot on it in the center contact area that usually meant the engine had a misfire sometime earlier and was usually a faulty plug wire. The fire from those coils would look for a ground and the distributor shaft was usually the place it would go. After the fire ate a big enough escape route in the rotor all the spark went to the distributor shaft and you wound up with a no start problem. A few of the early modules had intermittent no start problems. The pole piece (hall effect unit) was by far the least problematic unit. This old man misses the cars of my youth.
In 1974 I ordered a new Camaro, one of the options was HEI. I did not pay the extra $35.00 for the HEI because I knew how to put in points and condensers. Probably not a good decision.
I swear I wish someone could help me I got my distributor changed out Idk if it's set right but once I fired it up it started tapping like 4 to 8 seconds later and turn it off soon as it started and I ain't let nobody touch her since I just ask people about it and tell them what happened and this and that idk I don't won't anybody play under my hood
Good lookin' truck. I just bought a brown 85 K10 short bed Labor Day weekend from a coworker who inherited it after it sat up for over a decade. Body is pretty good and has years and years worth of service records in the glove box. My coworker's husband tried to throw things at the truck to get it running such as a new gas tank and fuel pump, but still would only sputter off starting fluid. I towed it home and got to work. First thing: half a dozen broken and deteriorated vacuum lines had to be replaced. Fuel line was pinched. Bad transmission line at the radiator. Then I finally got to to real culprit: bad carb. It was ruined by ethanol fuel sitting in it for over a decade. Bought a re-manufactured quadrajet to keep the truck stock, and it fired right up after I installed it and runs great...except for a slight exhaust leak. Plans are to fix the power window motors, recharge the a/c, recover the seat, a new dash pad, and replace the missing body molding. I really like this ol square body chevy.
I've owned every single configuration of square body they made over the years and none of them were over $1k. Most were in good shape also. Makes me sick what they try to sell them for these days. Still probably the best trucks Chevy ever made.
Hey wizard nice truck. I build these for a retirement job only criticize is that the distributor should be clocked so the coil is parallel with the firewall.
If not what will be the out come I got a 84' shortbed I'm talking about it was a beast when it was running then one day it just cut off at a stop sign couldn't figure it out now I got a good mechanic to check I out he removed my mds box and the msd distributor then changed it to one of those distributors so as we fire it after 4 to 8 seconds we got some tapping on the driver side I turn it off as soon as I heard it and haven't let nobody touch her she been down for almost 2 years now I ask around and a few people say it might not be push down far enough idk I'm just wondering cause I'm not educated on the distributor part I just don't wanna keep throwing Money at all these different mechanics and playing the guessing game I kno if I home in broward county fl my truck woulda been back on the road but up here in GA it's alot of people got shortbed and I'm not from here and they don't like the fact that I have two one is a s scottsdale and they just seen pictures and videos but if had it here they probably set fire to it I've seen 4 or 5 people cars got done like that out of hate you can't out do or shine on these folks here I don't understand them but I just keep everything mutual.. Yeah but I really want my truck back on the road she sounds so go and I can cruise her or nail her and it's like she feed so good when in the gas but I never dog her out or put to much pressure on her I really love cruising and going thru alleys to hear her cam drum 🥁 roll if you hear it ull love my truck a man and his family was tryna pay me 30k I just hit him with hey its nor running and it might be something major I just to him that I really don't wanna sale I truck his daughter was in the back of there truck I believe they had a black 2022 gmc she roll her window and she said please sir we was riding around after church and I spotted it and told my father turn around the girl was like 10 years old she said sir we want that truck then she said I want that truck I said sweetie I can't do it the truck mean something special to me this my 4th one and I lost 2 one of had no paperwork and the other one was stolen I have one here and one in Florida so when I go home to visit I take her out of storage and cruise from city to city just to get they attention now my Scottsdale she ugh you gotta see her she silent and the horsepower she kick out specially when the A/c pumping she so solid
A K5 Blazer is not the same as the truck you have in the shop: the wheelbase is shorter, therefore the frames are different (fuel tank is placed differently etc). The Jaguar in the background seem to have the licence plate illuminate Wizard, empty battery in a near future maybe?
I own a 1982 K10 Step Side Silverado Short Bed, and yes, it's brown. Out of all the vehicles that I own, it's the only one that is garage kept. I guessed the ignition module in the distributor and found it strange that both modules had failed. I would have liked to have seen the interior review.
I wish her many happy and safe travels in her beautiful old truck and I'm looking forward to seeing her truck in your shop again when she can afford the other repairs
l had a BIG10 series 78 Chevy Truck just like this with a straight 6 engine.....lt was the best truck i ever owned and i put over 300K miles on it......Thanks David and wife 👍
Chevy made those "square bodies" for many years, for good reason. They were nice and still look good today. Some years did have green paint but usually in a two-tone with white. A lot of people converted the old stock points ignition with an HEI, it was pretty much a drop-in, provided you had clearance at the firewall.
I had a 1980 SB 4x4 Silverado factory buckets, factory 350. Really wish I had it back. Same problem...turns out the HEI advance weights were stuck in the full open position, timing was off enough that it would simply not start. Replaced with a new set from NAPA and voila! started up and ran better than ever. So we had power, fuel and spark, but timing was just off, so it was a non-starter.
My dad had one of those trucks when i was a kid with a straight six and you could drive that thing threw anything. I witnessed him doing it, thats when trucks wherebuilt tough
My dad bought a 78 C10 4x4 Silverado that I picked out for him at the dealer. Metallic blue with pretty much all the options. Short bed like the one in your video. The bad news was that I think Chevy made these out of rust and painted the rust to make a truck. After 3 years, the thing was rusting like crazy (New England). My sister was in an accident and it needed to be redone and repainted which made it look better for a while. We had the same problem with the dual tanks where the solenoid valve failed and we were told that this happens all the time. I picked it up and went on my way. The dealer said it was all set. What they meant was, they didn't have the part yet but I could take the truck. So it ran out of gas. Lucky for me, I kept a really long siphon hose in the truck so ran it from the driver side (full) tank over to the passenger side (empty) tank and got enough gas in it to get to a gas station. That green one looks pretty cool. Needs to be lowered in the front and tires that actually fit put on it.
I love those old trucks, I have had three of them and they were all great. We used to have quite a lot of chevy trucks and vans from this era here in Sweden but now most of them have rusted away and they are getting rare. The few that are left are getting very expensive.
Those tires are K01 BFG All Terrains. They'll need replacing soon, as well. I had a 1978 Chevy Silverado short bed, put a 12" lift on it (6" body lift and 6" spring lift as well as lengthened drive shafts front and rear) and ran 40" Monster Mudders. Still the best truck of my youth. :)
That’s a cool truck I would like to see on the channel again. And a good way to keep his memory alive. Too bad there is no fund to help her save this truck.
My condolences to your customer's family! I really like these old K5 trucks! However like all cars as they get older parts can become more and more difficult to find and somewhat expensive given the inflation that we are currently experiencing. As for the carburetor, I would highly recommend that whenever the funds do permit for your customer if she's considering holding onto her late father's truck for any significant amount of time that she consider installing an edlebrock carburetor or simply converting it to electronic fuel injection. I know they do make conversion kits for both of those. A lot of people who own these trucks do typically prefer to go either one of those routes as it's a lot easier to maintain and frankly from what I've heard they will run a lot better. Hope this helps and hopefully your customer will be able to enjoy her late father's truck for many more years to come!
Nothing will run better than the original quadrajet. I have an 85 c20, drive daily, all factory. 16 mpg. Aftermarket parts are utter garbage. Gm still makes the ignition parts. Cliffs high performance has the restoration parts for the q jets. Driven daily for 10 years, btw. Parts are more expensive than they used to be, but still relatively cheap. Tons of n.o.s parts available, and LMC sells almost every part, as does brother's. Not sure where you get your information. Napa, Carquest and O'Reilly has tons of aftermarket parts, and still gm parts. Like in stock. Possibly not as much in the rustbelt, but there are a lot of these trucks all over the country daily driven.
My dad taught me how to drive in a 87 GMC variant of one of these when I was 10 out in the country. Wouldn't mind getting one. Too bad I can't afford one.
Grandpa had a similar year C10(2wd) reg cab/long box Silverado. It was two tone silver/grey, silver top/bottom, grey in the middle part. Pretty truck, had the rally wheels, all the chrome trim, power windows, nice seat/thick carpets, color matched camper top on the back as was the style back then. Really wish grandma had sold it to me back around 2000 or so when I got my license, dad put a stop to that though. It was showing its age by then(silver lacquer paint back then didn't last), but man was the body laser straight with ZERO RUST, the inside of the bed and black interior looked brand new.
I encountered a no start HEI distributor in 1981. Replaced the module, still no spark. Looking closely at the rotor, I noticed an arc flash where the plastic on the rotor broke down, allowing the spark to jump to ground on the advance weights. Glad I noticed or I would have chased my tail for a while.
Wizard you made the sun paper online. Title: NO DICE I’m an expert mechanic… garages will refuse to serious engine issue - don’t get caught out, it’ll cost you thousands. AN expert mechanic has warned garages could refuse to fix a serious engine issue - and it cost thousands even if they have a go. David Long, known as the Car Wizard, urged drivers to keep an eye on a vital car part to avoid being slapped with huge repair bills. In a video uploaded to his TH-cam channel, David used a "beautiful" 1999 Jaguar XK8 to demonstrate just how damaging the problem can be. Stopping there you are now Famous. Great lesson with the Silverado, it's a great looking truck.
I always got the broken wires at the ignition module, old 1984 went through a few fuel pumps etc but ran daily for 25 years - I wish I still had that truck now
Ah, the HEI. I have a buddy who years ago had a '75 Grand Ville convertible that would sporadically die when it got hot, so he was afraid to drive it. I helped him with it, he already had a spare module and a factory shop manual which had a pretty good test chart, so was able to do some diagnostics. Anyway it was not the module but the pickup coil like this K10...had to pull the dizzy shaft to replace the coil and the car ran very reliable after that. I ended up buying the car, and still own it, but the that old dizzy needed new bushings so instead of fixing this nonoriginal discount store-built unit, I put in a Davis DUI dizzy and car runs awesome with a mild performance curve and stable spark. Simple dist that can be reliable and built for performance. Awesome K10 BTW.
Great video, had several of those trucks back in the 80s early 90s. I think the best year to own is the 87 with 350 TBI motor, last year for the 1/2 ton version. The 86 was a PIA with the electronic controlled carburetors, was glad that only lasted that one year before going to the TBI. Love that dark green, however I believe your correct that was not ever a factory color on the 80s square bodies.
Love the color! I miss my Dad's late 70's (think '77) GMC 4x4 dual tank (needed for sure) 350 V8 Auto Light green/white two tone with green/white interior. But rust would not leave it alone.....especially after driving it on the beach in OBX (NC) for surf fishing @ Cape Hatteras. It was fixed until it couldn't be.
I’ve never had much luck with headers on a 350, and have a collection of manifolds as they do crack on occasions but they don’t need constant replacing the header gaskets
I've been watching Roadkill on Motortrend and there's an episode where they were having problems with a vehicle they were driving. The problem was the distributor.
One of the things I loved about GM products is their compatibility and cross parting of their engine parts. I drove a 72 Nova around with my wife doing sales across several states. I got tired of the points constantly burning out or getting out of adjustment, so we stopped at this self pull junk yard, found a 1982 car with a straight six and pulled this particular part out and installed it on the '72 straight six, fit perfectly and it drove fine after that.!
Car wizard, it's so nice to see your channel again after being without a phone for over a year. Keep up the great work you do. Love Your number one fan.🙂
I remember the HEI Distributor coming out in the mid 70s with unleaded gas. My brother's 77 Camaro melted the whole thing. The module failed on my 78 Firebird when it was just a year old
Boxy trucks like this always give flashbacks to watching "The Fall Guy" on TV as a kid, or more accurate "Ein colt für alle fälle" as it was on German TV.
It pains me that I didn't know more about engines and diagnosing when I was younger. I had to let go of a 73 Charger because I lacked the know-how and money to address the issue. Would've been such an amazing car to own. But at least now I not only have the money to address things but I also have the knowledge. One day I'll acquire a cool muscle car again and do a proper restore and all that. Love seeing these older vehicles.
My favorite truck! I had an 82 and 84..Regret getting rid of the 84. So easy to work on. Transmission Swap a breeze. I could change the fuel pump in 7 mins in the rain. Comfy seats. CHEAP CHEAP Parts...wah wah wah.
I have only got one of your quizzes wrong so far. I am not even a shade tree mechanic . I do however like to watch video's about fixing auto's and I think I learned a few things
Awesome K10 Silverado! WAAAAAAY better than a new one! Damn it looks so good!
Box body Chevy are worth the investment. Including the SHORT beds. IDK Why the short beds are worth so much! Really cool seeing this.
That's a cool short-bed, square-body Silverado, takes me back to the '80s. I love that green, too! While I don't care for the lift, I appreciate that this was once her dad's truck.
She’s a beauty for sure.
The removal of the lift kit - to it's OEM height would certainly make driving more enjoyable for the new owner - i.e. easier for entry and exit and far better stability at highway speeds.
My thoughts exactly. Great truck!
I got a 84' shortbed wit the sliding glass in the back Metallic blue love her to death
Please also recommend a kill switch, cat cage and an apple air tag 👍🏻
I'm well familiar with these old ignition systems. They were easy to diagnose. All you need was a test light. Very common problem with old GM HEI systems. I've replaced so many of those i cam do it in my sleep. If it wasn't the module, it was the pickup rotor.
First time I experienced it, old c60 was idling in the lot, warming up to go make money, and just died. The control module in my f600 died once too, "duraspark" nowhere as good as the chevy style
and the red rust under the rotor
Those square-body Chevy trucks are so good looking. Only getting better with age.
Thank you Wizard and Mrs. I owned an 83 K20, heavy-duty extra leave springs from hauling 5th wheel. I bought it 20 years and 100k miles later. Leaked every fluid except windshield washer fluid, but ran like a tank, especially in snow.
You definitely picked the right word wizard when you said sweet to describe this old square body
I have a 1986 Square body Chevy Suburban two tone black/gray, gray interior with a 454 big block GM crate motor. That thing sounds like a real beast lol
wizzard, shop owner from Texas here brother, Ill give her 15K cash right now brother - great truck! Yes my young techs are brilliant at CPU controlled cars, the ole rigs like this the old man comes out and we direct their genius, also note my first guess was no spark
I have an 87 c10 that did the exact same thing. Sooooo simple to fix. I’ve been told that these ignition systems go bad after 30 years. Incredible, huh???
Thank you guys, it is very smart to keep the videos around 15 minutes or less, I believe you will get more views this way
This is actually one of their least viewed videos and truck videos normally do quite well, I think this whole fear of long videos of bogus as far as 90% of TH-cam viewers go
This brought back memories for me. I'm in the north-west UK not too far from Manchester and in the early 90's bought a second hand Lancia Delta and after a few months it started running really rough. I asked a local mechanic to take a look and he isolated the ignition module as the culprit and he said it was the first time he'd come across one of these, but they were mostly used on American cars. The module was mounted on the back of a huge heatsink the coil sat in and the whole assembly was bolted to the inner wing. I called the only parts place I could find that stocked Lancia spares and they said I'd have to buy the whole coil, heatsink and ignition module assembly for £180, but then pointed me to an American car importer in Manchester and suggested to try their spares department. I gave them a call and they said they could provide a new module for £25, so I went down and bought one, fitted it and the car started right away and ran perfect.
A short box 4wd square body is quite desireable. When you said "no start", I had a strong suspicion it was the HEI module. I find on my hotrod it needs the header bolts tightened every year.
Dad had a 76 Square body. 350 with 3 on the tree. Drove it to about 300,000 miles then gave it to my Brother. He drove it another decade or so...eventually the drivers door hinge failed and the door literally fell off. He drove the doors off it.
that truck is super nice you can tell her dad loved it and took really good care of it damn I'm in love with it.
K10. Nice truck. Pretty much all of these in my area have returned to the ground from whence they came.
Some years ago I owned a C10 that looked somewhat similar. I sold it really cheap and I regret selling it now
Love that truck and the color. It's not mine, but I would want to lower it back to the original factory height.
My mechanic worked with me on my Silverado. Addressed one thing at a time in order of importance. Took a while, but all sorted out now. Well worth it.
Yes, definitely. Don't bother with a step and handle. Bring it down to a reasonable height and fit sensible tires. The current setup looks ridiculous, and it actually may not be legal.
@@bdw66 I agree, as it sets the front end is actually higher than the rear. I'm sure the geometry is way off. I'd be afraid the front tires might go into some sort of "death wobble" at speed. Just better to keep the stock configuration and tire size for the truck.
My friend had a 84 Silverado 2 tone white and blue and let me tell you the driving experience was great I felt at home in it so calm and comfortable if I had the money I'd buy one myself
Let's not forget, these rusted on the dealer lots. Let's be honest, rustproofing was bad very had.
I bought my 87 R20 for $2300, and put a couple hundred into basic maintenance and it's been great, I daily drive it without an issue
Based on the information provided - which was next to nil - selecting the correct failure for the truck is purely a guess - i.e. 25% chance of getting right. For such trucks, the simple rule is check that it has fuel, spark, and that timing is set correctly - and 'go from there'.
Short wide with a Goodwrench crate engine and very little rust is definitely worth fixing. Although the newer paint would have me worried about rust that was covered in body filler or fiberglass.
Had that year 4x4 with a short box. Loved it !
square body chevy is the most iconic design by gm
easy maintenance and decent price spare parts
ex owner 1991 v1500 suburban
As a 43 yr old i remember these trucks and I would drive an 80s era square body truck any day
Boy does this take me back the problems wizard mentions I have been through with one I had. But I always had problems with steering, lack of tracking, sudden farting around when steering at highway speeds etc. a bit scary and unsafe. And all the old school HEI stuff was old hat to us back in the day.
I still have my 77’ K10 truck, mine’’s definitely a rust bucket but runs very well though. Lol
I just recently bought a 94’ K2500 as a temporary truck so I can begin cutting out rusty steel from the body on the 77’ and get ready for paint.
My fuel selector valve was also bad when I bought my 77’ so I replaced it with a more modern selector valve but I had to rig up a pair of double acting relays to operate it off the factory switch on the dash but its been reliable over the decade I’ve owned it. Also had to replace the ignition module a year ago but it was fast and cheap as I already had a spare laying around the shop.
I had a green '78. First thing to do is throw out the headers, and put the stock exhaust on, then get it down out of the rafters before it rolls over or ruins the U-joints.
That is a sweet truck! I hope the customer returns to give it some much needed TLC.
I owned a 85 Chevy just like that. It had a rebuilt 350 with Edelbrock manifold, carb. Short bed, lifted 6inch, with 35x12.5 on 15 inch rims. I painted it black metallic. Awesome truck for my high school years in the 2000,01
Beautiful truck, love the green. I have a 86 .
Speaking as one that has worked on hundreds, if not thousands, of these distributors the rotor was either bad or on its way out. When you saw a rotor that had a dark spot on it in the center contact area that usually meant the engine had a misfire sometime earlier and was usually a faulty plug wire. The fire from those coils would look for a ground and the distributor shaft was usually the place it would go. After the fire ate a big enough escape route in the rotor all the spark went to the distributor shaft and you wound up with a no start problem. A few of the early modules had intermittent no start problems. The pole piece (hall effect unit) was by far the least problematic unit. This old man misses the cars of my youth.
In 1974 I ordered a new Camaro, one of the options was HEI. I did not pay the extra $35.00 for the HEI because I knew how to put in points and condensers. Probably not a good decision.
I swear I wish someone could help me I got my distributor changed out Idk if it's set right but once I fired it up it started tapping like 4 to 8 seconds later and turn it off soon as it started and I ain't let nobody touch her since I just ask people about it and tell them what happened and this and that idk I don't won't anybody play under my hood
Good lookin' truck. I just bought a brown 85 K10 short bed Labor Day weekend from a coworker who inherited it after it sat up for over a decade. Body is pretty good and has years and years worth of service records in the glove box. My coworker's husband tried to throw things at the truck to get it running such as a new gas tank and fuel pump, but still would only sputter off starting fluid. I towed it home and got to work. First thing: half a dozen broken and deteriorated vacuum lines had to be replaced. Fuel line was pinched. Bad transmission line at the radiator. Then I finally got to to real culprit: bad carb. It was ruined by ethanol fuel sitting in it for over a decade. Bought a re-manufactured quadrajet to keep the truck stock, and it fired right up after I installed it and runs great...except for a slight exhaust leak. Plans are to fix the power window motors, recharge the a/c, recover the seat, a new dash pad, and replace the missing body molding. I really like this ol square body chevy.
You were smart sticking with the QuadraJet. Great carburetor. Don't put headers on either especially if it has "ram's horn" manifolds.
@@adotintheshark4848 keeping stock manifolds and refraining from putting true dual exhaust on it either...y pipe and single muffler going to stay.
keeping it stock, not racing? Wise choice. If you went true duals you'd need two cats. Expensive and not really worth it.@@notyourtypicalchad6778
Great way to keep a connection with her Dad. Great video, Wizard.
I've owned every single configuration of square body they made over the years and none of them were over $1k. Most were in good shape also. Makes me sick what they try to sell them for these days. Still probably the best trucks Chevy ever made.
Her dad left her one nice truck. I hope she eventually gets everything done to it that she wants to do. 🤞🤞
I remember when those came out. You could actually buy conversion kits to get rid of points. Points were a major pain in the butt.
Bought a 71 el Camino and bought a Mallory unispark dizzy for 200 bucks in 73 ran like snot but had a whine. To it
Points, hmmm, easy enough to set and diagnose, but wasn't all that sad to see them go either.
The truck in the video was HEI, it didn't have points
Hey wizard nice truck. I build these for a retirement job only criticize is that the distributor should be clocked so the coil is parallel with the firewall.
If not what will be the out come I got a 84' shortbed I'm talking about it was a beast when it was running then one day it just cut off at a stop sign couldn't figure it out now I got a good mechanic to check I out he removed my mds box and the msd distributor then changed it to one of those distributors so as we fire it after 4 to 8 seconds we got some tapping on the driver side I turn it off as soon as I heard it and haven't let nobody touch her she been down for almost 2 years now I ask around and a few people say it might not be push down far enough idk I'm just wondering cause I'm not educated on the distributor part I just don't wanna keep throwing Money at all these different mechanics and playing the guessing game I kno if I home in broward county fl my truck woulda been back on the road but up here in GA it's alot of people got shortbed and I'm not from here and they don't like the fact that I have two one is a s scottsdale and they just seen pictures and videos but if had it here they probably set fire to it I've seen 4 or 5 people cars got done like that out of hate you can't out do or shine on these folks here I don't understand them but I just keep everything mutual.. Yeah but I really want my truck back on the road she sounds so go and I can cruise her or nail her and it's like she feed so good when in the gas but I never dog her out or put to much pressure on her I really love cruising and going thru alleys to hear her cam drum 🥁 roll if you hear it ull love my truck a man and his family was tryna pay me 30k I just hit him with hey its nor running and it might be something major I just to him that I really don't wanna sale I truck his daughter was in the back of there truck I believe they had a black 2022 gmc she roll her window and she said please sir we was riding around after church and I spotted it and told my father turn around the girl was like 10 years old she said sir we want that truck then she said I want that truck I said sweetie I can't do it the truck mean something special to me this my 4th one and I lost 2 one of had no paperwork and the other one was stolen I have one here and one in Florida so when I go home to visit I take her out of storage and cruise from city to city just to get they attention now my Scottsdale she ugh you gotta see her she silent and the horsepower she kick out specially when the A/c pumping she so solid
I'm usually not a fan of most of the lifted trucks I see on the road, but this one is tastefully done.
I absolutely love these old squarebodys
At the cost of a new one, a fella can afford some double labor rates to get it fixed. Gorgeous 🚛. And I am a basic Ford guy but these 🚒 are great.
Nice truck! Thanks for the video! 👌👍
A K5 Blazer is not the same as the truck you have in the shop: the wheelbase is shorter, therefore the frames are different (fuel tank is placed differently etc). The Jaguar in the background seem to have the licence plate illuminate Wizard, empty battery in a near future maybe?
Agreed, that is a fine looking example of a Chevy truck.
This is a prime pick up being 4x4, lifted along with a good drive train and fairly straight means a lot of money.
I have a '79 Chevrolet K10 which is my next project. Has not run in a decade now, but has the potential of being a lovely truck. Dreams into reality.
I own a 1982 K10 Step Side Silverado Short Bed, and yes, it's brown. Out of all the vehicles that I own, it's the only one that is garage kept. I guessed the ignition module in the distributor and found it strange that both modules had failed. I would have liked to have seen the interior review.
Gorgeous simply gorgeous,but just one thing I would change,have it lowered to factory spect,and fantastic in green🙏🙏🙏🙏🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
I wish her many happy and safe travels in her beautiful old truck and I'm looking forward to seeing her truck in your shop again when she can afford the other repairs
l had a BIG10 series 78 Chevy Truck just like this with a straight 6 engine.....lt was the best truck i ever owned and i put over 300K miles on it......Thanks David and wife 👍
Love that square old school style. The trucks now are so ugly. It's hard to believe. Definitely worth it. ❤👍
I just bought one that had been dead for 10 years. Brought it back to life.
Ugh yall make this sound so simple I need my truck up and running 😮💨
That is a very beautiful truck. The new ones don't compare to this. I prefer that truck to anything new today.
Chevy made those "square bodies" for many years, for good reason. They were nice and still look good today. Some years did have green paint but usually in a two-tone with white. A lot of people converted the old stock points ignition with an HEI, it was pretty much a drop-in, provided you had clearance at the firewall.
Our family had several of these, as well as the square body Suburbans when they were new!
I had a 1980 SB 4x4 Silverado factory buckets, factory 350. Really wish I had it back. Same problem...turns out the HEI advance weights were stuck in the full open position, timing was off enough that it would simply not start. Replaced with a new set from NAPA and voila! started up and ran better than ever. So we had power, fuel and spark, but timing was just off, so it was a non-starter.
My dad had one of those trucks when i was a kid with a straight six and you could drive that thing threw anything. I witnessed him doing it, thats when trucks wherebuilt tough
I had a truck just like this one and loved it!
Pretty truck, I owned a 85 c10 and always carried an extra ignition module just for this. I loved that truck
Nice truck !! when trucks were just trucks and love this series of look & learn
My dad bought a 78 C10 4x4 Silverado that I picked out for him at the dealer. Metallic blue with pretty much all the options. Short bed like the one in your video. The bad news was that I think Chevy made these out of rust and painted the rust to make a truck. After 3 years, the thing was rusting like crazy (New England). My sister was in an accident and it needed to be redone and repainted which made it look better for a while. We had the same problem with the dual tanks where the solenoid valve failed and we were told that this happens all the time. I picked it up and went on my way. The dealer said it was all set. What they meant was, they didn't have the part yet but I could take the truck. So it ran out of gas. Lucky for me, I kept a really long siphon hose in the truck so ran it from the driver side (full) tank over to the passenger side (empty) tank and got enough gas in it to get to a gas station. That green one looks pretty cool. Needs to be lowered in the front and tires that actually fit put on it.
I had 84' silverado shortbed same color she's a bad ma'ama jamma
I love those old trucks, I have had three of them and they were all great. We used to have quite a lot of chevy trucks and vans from this era here in Sweden but now most of them have rusted away and they are getting rare. The few that are left are getting very expensive.
Those tires are K01 BFG All Terrains. They'll need replacing soon, as well.
I had a 1978 Chevy Silverado short bed, put a 12" lift on it (6" body lift and 6" spring lift as well as lengthened drive shafts front and rear) and ran 40" Monster Mudders. Still the best truck of my youth. :)
I knew the answer right away. I had an 86 Silverado, and always had a distributor problem.
That’s a cool truck I would like to see on the channel again. And a good way to keep his memory alive. Too bad there is no fund to help her save this truck.
My condolences to your customer's family! I really like these old K5 trucks! However like all cars as they get older parts can become more and more difficult to find and somewhat expensive given the inflation that we are currently experiencing. As for the carburetor, I would highly recommend that whenever the funds do permit for your customer if she's considering holding onto her late father's truck for any significant amount of time that she consider installing an edlebrock carburetor or simply converting it to electronic fuel injection. I know they do make conversion kits for both of those. A lot of people who own these trucks do typically prefer to go either one of those routes as it's a lot easier to maintain and frankly from what I've heard they will run a lot better. Hope this helps and hopefully your customer will be able to enjoy her late father's truck for many more years to come!
Nothing will run better than the original quadrajet. I have an 85 c20, drive daily, all factory. 16 mpg. Aftermarket parts are utter garbage. Gm still makes the ignition parts. Cliffs high performance has the restoration parts for the q jets. Driven daily for 10 years, btw. Parts are more expensive than they used to be, but still relatively cheap. Tons of n.o.s parts available, and LMC sells almost every part, as does brother's. Not sure where you get your information. Napa, Carquest and O'Reilly has tons of aftermarket parts, and still gm parts. Like in stock. Possibly not as much in the rustbelt, but there are a lot of these trucks all over the country daily driven.
My dad taught me how to drive in a 87 GMC variant of one of these when I was 10 out in the country. Wouldn't mind getting one. Too bad I can't afford one.
I set my 85 K20 up like that with 6” lift and 35’s. I couldn’t go anywhere without getting a compliment.
Grandpa had a similar year C10(2wd) reg cab/long box Silverado. It was two tone silver/grey, silver top/bottom, grey in the middle part. Pretty truck, had the rally wheels, all the chrome trim, power windows, nice seat/thick carpets, color matched camper top on the back as was the style back then. Really wish grandma had sold it to me back around 2000 or so when I got my license, dad put a stop to that though. It was showing its age by then(silver lacquer paint back then didn't last), but man was the body laser straight with ZERO RUST, the inside of the bed and black interior looked brand new.
I encountered a no start HEI distributor in 1981. Replaced the module, still no spark. Looking closely at the rotor, I noticed an arc flash where the plastic on the rotor broke down, allowing the spark to jump to ground on the advance weights. Glad I noticed or I would have chased my tail for a while.
Wizard you made the sun paper online.
Title: NO DICE I’m an expert mechanic… garages will refuse to serious engine issue - don’t get caught out, it’ll cost you thousands.
AN expert mechanic has warned garages could refuse to fix a serious engine issue - and it cost thousands even if they have a go.
David Long, known as the Car Wizard, urged drivers to keep an eye on a vital car part to avoid being slapped with huge repair bills.
In a video uploaded to his TH-cam channel, David used a "beautiful" 1999 Jaguar XK8 to demonstrate just how damaging the problem can be. Stopping there you are now Famous.
Great lesson with the Silverado, it's a great looking truck.
I always got the broken wires at the ignition module, old 1984 went through a few fuel pumps etc but ran daily for 25 years - I wish I still had that truck now
Ah, the HEI. I have a buddy who years ago had a '75 Grand Ville convertible that would sporadically die when it got hot, so he was afraid to drive it. I helped him with it, he already had a spare module and a factory shop manual which had a pretty good test chart, so was able to do some diagnostics. Anyway it was not the module but the pickup coil like this K10...had to pull the dizzy shaft to replace the coil and the car ran very reliable after that. I ended up buying the car, and still own it, but the that old dizzy needed new bushings so instead of fixing this nonoriginal discount store-built unit, I put in a Davis DUI dizzy and car runs awesome with a mild performance curve and stable spark. Simple dist that can be reliable and built for performance.
Awesome K10 BTW.
Great video, had several of those trucks back in the 80s early 90s. I think the best year to own is the 87 with 350 TBI motor, last year for the 1/2 ton version. The 86 was a PIA with the electronic controlled carburetors, was glad that only lasted that one year before going to the TBI.
Love that dark green, however I believe your correct that was not ever a factory color on the 80s square bodies.
Love the color! I miss my Dad's late 70's (think '77) GMC 4x4 dual tank (needed for sure) 350 V8 Auto Light green/white two tone with green/white interior. But rust would not leave it alone.....especially after driving it on the beach in OBX (NC) for surf fishing @ Cape Hatteras. It was fixed until it couldn't be.
Beautiful truck!
I’ve never had much luck with headers on a 350, and have a collection of manifolds as they do crack on occasions but they don’t need constant replacing the header gaskets
Gorgeous truck! Love old school wrenching… so simple and satisfying
I’ve had so many of these.
Can’t believe what the prices are now.
Nuts.
I've been watching Roadkill on Motortrend and there's an episode where they were having problems with a vehicle they were driving. The problem was the distributor.
Hey wiz..really like your love for older viechles ..have a redone 79 ford 4x4 absolutely love it..runs great..easy to work on..thanks for the video 😊
WEEEEEEEEZERD!!!!!! Working his magic. Its number 1
I always carry a spare ignition module in the glove box.
One of the things I loved about GM products is their compatibility and cross parting of their engine parts. I drove a 72 Nova around with my wife doing sales across several states. I got tired of the points constantly burning out or getting out of adjustment, so we stopped at this self pull junk yard, found a 1982 car with a straight six and pulled this particular part out and installed it on the '72 straight six, fit perfectly and it drove fine after that.!
Car wizard, it's so nice to see your channel again after being without a phone for over a year. Keep up the great work you do. Love Your number one fan.🙂
I remember the HEI Distributor coming out in the mid 70s with unleaded gas. My brother's 77 Camaro melted the whole thing. The module failed on my 78 Firebird when it was just a year old
Boxy trucks like this always give flashbacks to watching "The Fall Guy" on TV as a kid, or more accurate "Ein colt für alle fälle" as it was on German TV.
It pains me that I didn't know more about engines and diagnosing when I was younger. I had to let go of a 73 Charger because I lacked the know-how and money to address the issue. Would've been such an amazing car to own. But at least now I not only have the money to address things but I also have the knowledge. One day I'll acquire a cool muscle car again and do a proper restore and all that. Love seeing these older vehicles.
My favorite truck! I had an 82 and 84..Regret getting rid of the 84. So easy to work on. Transmission Swap a breeze. I could change the fuel pump in 7 mins in the rain. Comfy seats. CHEAP CHEAP Parts...wah wah wah.
Gorgeous. I'd love to own one someday, square ones are so much prettier than the more modern weird designs.
sounds like the timing could be a bit to advanced from the hard start ...I love old trucks,,I work on them every day,,have 4 of them
I had a 85. One of the most smogged down low horsepower engines. I was so glad to get rid of it.
I have an 86 burb and an 87 crew cab dully.
Both completely rust free west coast trucks.
I have only got one of your quizzes wrong so far. I am not even a shade tree mechanic . I do however like to watch video's about fixing auto's and I think I learned a few things
Beautiful truck. Thank you for sharing
I owned a 1987 in white. I sold it to my brother to buy a 3/4 ton. I wish I kept it.
cool truck.. it could be any of those.. lol, i used to have to change header gaskets every 6 months.. old truck memories..
Nice truck, despite the lifting.Put it back down and it would be mint.
That's a GOOD LOOKING TRUCK...and that's from a Blue Ovel Gen.II Bronco guy.
I sat down to eat a burger and fries while watching this video. Just as I took the last bite the video ended. Perfect timing!