1983 K20 - Pep her up or leave her alone??

[Rusty Nail]

If you begin to modify it, - you will begin to change part of what you like about it.
She will never be the same and your feelings will change.
The functionality and reliability will change.

Do you think she would benefit more from "mods" or from leaving well enough alone?

'Ain't broke - don't fix it' comes to mind.

 

[Allan Abley]

Go go go big block ..!!

 

[SquareRoot]

If you begin to modify it, - you will begin to change part of what you like about it.
She will never be the same and your feelings will change.
The functionality and reliability will change.

Do you think she would benefit more from "mods" or from leaving well enough alone?

'Ain't broke - don't fix it' comes to mind.

Except if your driving it, it's usually on the edge of being broke. ahh the dilemma.

 

[Midnightmoon]

Except if your driving it, it's usually on the edge of being broke. ahh the dilemma.

If something does fail, one of the great things about these trucks is that for the most part, you can still walk in to any auto parts store and come out with the part you need. No custom orders, fabrication, etc. necessary. Once you start down the path of modifying, that begins to go out the window.

 

[Blue Ox]

I struggled with this for a while. My current square was all original when I got it (something that was unlike any other I've owned before) and I was tickled to have such an unmolested vehicle. But then as things started to wear out and needed to be replaced, I came to a realization that a lot of the stock parts were junk.

Some random mid 80s suburban or late 70s pickup ain't a collectors item. If it had 10k original miles and was still in the plastic wrap sure that's worth something for a whole other reason. But we're not talking a numbers matching '63 vette or a convertible 1970 4spd Hemi 'Cuda. Exhaust got rusty, why not replace it with something that flowed freely and sounded great? Pulley on the air pump started to bind up, was I really so concerned with preserving the history of a ****** era where big American V8s were choked out by emissions to match economy *** car power levels? Dry rotted tires and worn out suspension? You know those little station wagon tires were starting to look pretty lame anyhow...

I'm not talking about dropping in some stupid LS or ripping out your bench seat and putting in leather Escalade seats or replacing your factory gauges with some dumb **** that looks like it belongs in Tron, or tearing off a nice round eye nose and grafting the front of some newer truck on there. Nothing that will take away from the core essence of the vehicle and defeat the purpose of what it is. But if you want some free flowing heads or a bigger cam or something else, hell I doubt the guys at Mecum are gonna have much to say about your '83 K20 with a real world daily driven amount of miles on it not being nut and bolt original, because they would never be interested in it anyways. You got a great truck, but being "original" only means so much and only in certain situations. Do what you want, it's your (and the wife's) truck, make it put a smile on your face!


However, if you tear off that beautiful '83 Silverado grille, we're gonna have some ******* problems lol (semi-kidding. But don't do anything stupid there, out of the square eye trucks, you got the best one as far as I'm concerned, I plan to convert my '87)

Imagine GM putting parts on a truck that only lasted thirty years. What cr@p.

Guys, I'm not talking Concours restorations here. I'm just saying, at this point if you have a truck that hasn't be forked with it's worth preserving that character. There's plenty of trucks out there that have been boogered up by someone that you can take and booger up to your standard of boogery.

If you do insist on changing things see that they're reversible. I understand nobody's going to preserve that 305 when it dies. But if you just put a crate 350 or even one that's tuned up in it's place you're not harming the character of the truck and you can always go back. If it's got aluminum heads, a high rise manifold and headers, well yeah, it will run better, but it's not going to fool anybody.

I kind of liken it to watching an old movie or TV show from, let's say the '70s. You look at the cars that were just people's cars and wish you could find one today. At the time they were just old cars and nobody thought twice about them. Today it makes the news when one pops up in a barn somewhere. Now they're unique and special. In 1995 these we're just an old pickup truck.

 

[idahovette]

Original wheels AND TIRES that were on my 75 K20 delivered 7-12-1975(I think) Stored out side right now, were inside

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for YEARS!

 

[DoubleDingo]

Imagine GM putting parts on a truck that only lasted thirty years. What cr@p.

Guys, I'm not talking Concours restorations here. I'm just saying, at this point if you have a truck that hasn't be forked with it's worth preserving that character. There's plenty of trucks out there that have been boogered up by someone that you can take and booger up to your standard of boogery.

If you do insist on changing things see that they're reversible. I understand nobody's going to preserve that 305 when it dies. But if you just put a crate 350 or even one that's tuned up in it's place you're not harming the character of the truck and you can always go back. If it's got aluminum heads, a high rise manifold and headers, well yeah, it will run better, but it's not going to fool anybody.

I kind of liken it to watching an old movie or TV show from, let's say the '70s. You look at the cars that were just people's cars and wish you could find one today. At the time they were just old cars and nobody thought twice about them. Today it makes the news when one pops up in a barn somewhere. Now they're unique and special. In 1995 these we're just an old pickup truck.

Well said

 

[DoubleDingo]

Original wheels AND TIRES that were on my 75 K20 delivered 7-12-1975(I think) Stored out side right now, were inside

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

for YEARS!

Seeing those are making me want to get the Traxions even more now! Traxions on the back, highway tread on the front, old school. If I could only find 3/4 ton hub caps for a '65 C20, that would be even better. Talk about a unicorn!

 

[Grit dog]

'Preciate all the feedback. The wife and I are still on the fence about this. lol

That being said, if we WERE to perform the upgrades, as I pull pieces off of her, my plan was to clean them up, good as new, oil 'em down real nice, and seal them up. I could always go back to stock if I want to.



Regarding the smog equipment, I'm actually not contemplating removing smog for performance reasons. As Derek would say, I would probably only gain about 0.69217 HP out removing all that. LOL What I WOULD gain, is a cleaner engine bay. Dreams of a nice, clean small block 350 sitting in there WITHOUT 4273 miles of vacuum lines, hoses, doo-dads, and what-nots fill my head. lol

Oh, and I should probably go up and edit my original post. If I go down this rabbit hole, aftermarket heads would definitely be included in the upgrade list.

For now, I'll keep running her like she is. And anyway, I've got a few issues I need to get taken care of before the top end of the 350 gets opened up (if ever):

• Get my factree gauges working (maybe install the RPM gauge where the fuel gauge is?)
• Replace headliner
• Repair/replace dash
• Replace cigarette lighter (no smoking, but I don't like things that don't work lol)
• Replace door hinges
• Fix the danged vent window seals
• Clean and undercoat the frame/under belly
• Detail the engine bay

Better get started...

Thanks again for y'alls thoughts!

All that stuff below is easy to keep “original looking”. No offense to anyone who has a “custom” interior, but those imo detract from the value and the character.
But engine wise , if it’s a fun truck, make it fun to drive! Unless you just like driving slow. Otherwise a clean hot rod engine doesn’t detract a bit.
And like said, save the old grease bomb 350 if you like and pickle it. Re seal and clean it up at some point if you want to go back original then it’s easy if it’s all there.

 

[SquareRoot]

Wow. Tires here in the desert last about 7-8 years before they dry rot and turn to goo inside.

Now that my truck has all the amenities of a modern day vehicle, I drive it as much as my brand new Canyon Duramax AT-4. It's literally a 50/50 split.

The thing I still have a hard time with is the K20 riding like a carriage from the 20's! I don't see anyway around that. I don't think ANY leaf spring from anywhere can overcome that fundamental fact? Somebody please prove me wrong.

 

[Bextreme04]

Wow. Tires here in the desert last about 7-8 years before they dry rot and turn to goo inside.

Now that my truck has all the amenities of a modern day vehicle, I drive it as much as my brand new Canyon Duramax AT-4. It's literally a 50/50 split.

The thing I still have a hard time with is the K20 riding like a carriage from the 20's! I don't see anyway around that. I don't think ANY leaf spring from anywhere can overcome that fundamental fact? Somebody please prove me wrong.

I don't know... Modern 3/4-1 ton trucks are still mostly leaf spring and they ride pretty darn good. I had a 2004 F350 for a while and it was all leaf spring and rode smooth as silk with about 5-800lbs in the bed. I just switched my K25 to 97 K2500 63" leaf springs and shackle flip in the rear and Tuff Country soft rides in the front... It rode OK with the factory suspension before, so I'm hoping it will ride very nice now. You don't have to have a ****** ride just because it's a 3/4 ton....

 

[RecklessWOT]

Wow. Tires here in the desert last about 7-8 years before they dry rot and turn to goo inside.

Now that my truck has all the amenities of a modern day vehicle, I drive it as much as my brand new Canyon Duramax AT-4. It's literally a 50/50 split.

The thing I still have a hard time with is the K20 riding like a carriage from the 20's! I don't see anyway around that. I don't think ANY leaf spring from anywhere can overcome that fundamental fact? Somebody please prove me wrong.

I got a way around it-
When you want a cushy ride, go drive your brand new Canyon. When you want to enjoy banging around town in your old K20, just do that

Just think, at one point in time (1985) a K20 Silverado with radial tires, air conditioning, power windows, cruise, and an FM tape deck already had all the modern day amenities. If people survived back then (and even enjoyed it), surely it's not unbearable today. If you just can't stand to bring yourself to drive such a horrid old fashioned uncomfortable truck with its barbaric old fashioned leaf sprung suspension, I will gladly remove it from your driveway free of charge and leave you free to enjoy your plastic cellphone with wheels and leather attached to it that one might mistake for a truck...

 

[SquareRoot]

I got a way around it-
When you want a cushy ride, go drive your brand new Canyon. When you want to enjoy banging around town in your old K20, just do that

Just think, at one point in time (1985) a K20 Silverado with radial tires, air conditioning, power windows, cruise, and an FM tape deck already had all the modern day amenities. If people survived back then (and even enjoyed it), surely it's not unbearable today. If you just can't stand to bring yourself to drive such a horrid old fashioned uncomfortable truck with its barbaric old fashioned leaf sprung suspension, I will gladly remove it from your driveway free of charge and leave you free to enjoy your plastic cellphone with wheels and leather attached to it that one might mistake for a truck...

Wow. I wasn't expecting that kind of beatdown! I was just wondering out loud if it was reasonably possible to improve the ride quality of a 35 year old suspension. Where you at @AuroraGirl ? I assume you want to jump on the dogpile as well?

 

[AuroraGirl]

the ride quality of a 35 year old

What’s this about leaf springs

perhaps taylor can get some leaf springs for both trucks because they are surely lacking in mechanical soundness

 

[AuroraGirl]

Seeing those are making me want to get the Traxions even more now! Traxions on the back, highway tread on the front, old school. If I could only find 3/4 ton hub caps for a '65 C20, that would be even better. Talk about a unicorn!

What do the hub caps look like? I’m seriously asking because I have like 200 hubcaps mostly from 50s-70s a few 20s-30s but mostly the range yours would be in. I’ve seen a crap load of the silver dish GMC ones laying around but I’m not certain what that looked like. I have a sm420 so it’s stands to reason an old Chevy came through and my grandpa decimated it for parts and scrap many ions ago.
The only gmc I have is my Square the only other gmc is technically an30s looking GMC truck that was stripped apart for a rat rod project that never came to be.

hell my 53 Ford custom line still has its hubcapsnsitting on it. Only shiny thing on it.
Laying in the back of a 40s dodge truck rotting out back, for some reason, is a flathead Ford block, an old porcelain sink all busted, a come along rusted away leaving the cable , a **** load of hubcaps, and a bumper off what I presume was an 75 grand am because that sitting next to it. Without a bumper.