mattdarko
Junior Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2014
- Posts
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Orange County Ca
- First Name
- Matt
- Truck Year
- 1987
- Truck Model
- V20
- Engine Size
- 350
Alright so i'm here to get the opinions from the experts here on the question I've been asking myself for months: Is this Chevy truck worth fixing up? Or should I just get it out of my driveway...
Background story:
I inherited the truck back in April from my grandfather (Side note, I had no relationship with my grandfather. His stuff was left to my mom because she was next of kin). He had about 5 trucks on his property and I was left to pick whichever one I wanted. Being a german car kind of guy, I wasn't thrilled by any of them. That is until I drove the chevy down to get pizza. There was something about how raw and powerful this beast was. I made my decision to take it.
The vehicle:
1987 Chevy V20 pickup. 350 motor, 3 speed manual trans. The truck is in pretty rough condition cosmetically, but it was running like a top. Drove it about 500 miles home and it ran beautifully the whole way. When I got it home, I noticed a few issues with the brakes which prompted a very expensive $1400 repair bill. But after that it was even better. Until one day when it just died on me driving down to the store. Engine cut completely. No warning, no recovery.
The trucks current state:
Sitting in my driveway leaking oil and coolant everywhere. Hasn't run since May. Engine was waterlocked due to a small fire my dumb ass started by pouring gasoline into the intake to try and start it and rule out a spark or air issue. The truck started, reved up a little, backfired and lit the intake on fire. So instead of smothering the fire with the air box cover, I panicked and poured a half gallon of water on it
I did pull the spark plugs and turn the engine over to get all of the water out of the combustion chamber. But that was the last thing I did to it.
The dilemma:
Is it worth fixing? I really don't have time to work on my cars anymore due to long work hours. It's not impossible, and if it's worth keeping I will put the time into it. But with the way the trucks been sitting all of this time I'm not sure if I've ruined the engine now or not. I want to keep it because I am $1400 into it which only got me a few miles until the engine quit, and it's a badass truck that is a perfect work truck. I find myself too often using my old jetta to haul stuff which is not ideal.
What do you guys think. Is it possible that i've wrecked the engine beyond reasonable repair? Or is it just a matter of finding the fuel issue, fixing it, changing the fluids and starting her back up.
Background story:
I inherited the truck back in April from my grandfather (Side note, I had no relationship with my grandfather. His stuff was left to my mom because she was next of kin). He had about 5 trucks on his property and I was left to pick whichever one I wanted. Being a german car kind of guy, I wasn't thrilled by any of them. That is until I drove the chevy down to get pizza. There was something about how raw and powerful this beast was. I made my decision to take it.
The vehicle:
1987 Chevy V20 pickup. 350 motor, 3 speed manual trans. The truck is in pretty rough condition cosmetically, but it was running like a top. Drove it about 500 miles home and it ran beautifully the whole way. When I got it home, I noticed a few issues with the brakes which prompted a very expensive $1400 repair bill. But after that it was even better. Until one day when it just died on me driving down to the store. Engine cut completely. No warning, no recovery.
The trucks current state:
Sitting in my driveway leaking oil and coolant everywhere. Hasn't run since May. Engine was waterlocked due to a small fire my dumb ass started by pouring gasoline into the intake to try and start it and rule out a spark or air issue. The truck started, reved up a little, backfired and lit the intake on fire. So instead of smothering the fire with the air box cover, I panicked and poured a half gallon of water on it
I did pull the spark plugs and turn the engine over to get all of the water out of the combustion chamber. But that was the last thing I did to it. The dilemma:
Is it worth fixing? I really don't have time to work on my cars anymore due to long work hours. It's not impossible, and if it's worth keeping I will put the time into it. But with the way the trucks been sitting all of this time I'm not sure if I've ruined the engine now or not. I want to keep it because I am $1400 into it which only got me a few miles until the engine quit, and it's a badass truck that is a perfect work truck. I find myself too often using my old jetta to haul stuff which is not ideal.
What do you guys think. Is it possible that i've wrecked the engine beyond reasonable repair? Or is it just a matter of finding the fuel issue, fixing it, changing the fluids and starting her back up.
