Holy Grail of Squarebodys

[CheemsK1500]

I dunno... if a fellow had a 1987 with a TBI 350 would he really be satisfied? He might want a V1500 short bed. He would probably want it to be fully loaded, power windows and locks, the whole 9 yards. Then he might get picky and insist on the SM465 and 4WD. A Sierra Classic maybe...and with that very hard to find Mahogany interior color too. Yeah, that would be a heck of a truck to find and if you did find it the stupid thing would probably be painted that ugly tan color instead of something cool like red or blue.

I kind of think that while some options and packages are harder to find than others, it is all in what each individual likes. I like almost all of them. I shopped for a long time before Mrs. Redfish decided we were buying this one.

My current "holy grail" is sitting under the carport right now. I love everything but the color.

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My 84 has that same Mahagony interior. Thankfully, USA1 seems to have pieces in that color, so its not too hard to freshen it up. Does your truck have tilt steering?

 

[CheemsK1500]

Do you have any pictures of any LWB stepsides? I cant remember ever seeing one.

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[Redfish]

@Redfish I am in love with your truck aside from the manual trans, lol. Super clean 4x4.

Thank you. I was trying to somewhat duplicate the 1977 Sierra Grande that I grew up driving and that manual transmission was a huge part of that. Sadly, most '77s rusted away. The SM465 manual was part of my purchase criteria. I wanted it and wasn't going to spend money no matter how nice the truck was if didn't have that transmission.

Obviously, the "holy grail" isn't the same for everybody.

My 84 has that same Mahagony interior. Thankfully, USA1 seems to have pieces in that color, so its not too hard to freshen it up. Does your truck have tilt steering?

No, doesn't have tilt or the cargo light. It does have (working!) Cruise Control and a few other things that I wasn't expecting but I was happy to get.

My floormats came from USA1 and they are significantly darker than they should be. I like them and don't regret spending the money.

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[85K304SPD]

Same wheels, different truck. Old picture of the Chevy and new picture of the GMC. There is something about a GMC that I prefer.

 

[sgrinavi]

Do you have any pictures of any LWB stepsides? I cant remember ever seeing one.

long wheel base stepside square body chevy - Google Search

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[Rickf]

I'm partial to round headlights.

 

[CheemsK1500]

Thank you. I was trying to somewhat duplicate the 1977 Sierra Grande that I grew up driving and that manual transmission was a huge part of that. Sadly, most '77s rusted away. The SM465 manual was part of my purchase criteria. I wanted it and wasn't going to spend money no matter how nice the truck was if didn't have that transmission.

Obviously, the "holy grail" isn't the same for everybody.

No, doesn't have tilt or the cargo light. It does have (working!) Cruise Control and a few other things that I wasn't expecting but I was happy to get.

My floormats came from USA1 and they are significantly darker than they should be. I like them and don't regret spending the money.

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That's a very clean interior. I was asking about the collumn, because I've never seen a tilt collumn in a factory manual equipped square.

 

[85K304SPD]

That's a very clean interior. I was asking about the collumn, because I've never seen a tilt collumn in a factory manual equipped square.

My '85 has tilt wheel and SM465 manual...

 

[CheemsK1500]

My '85 has tilt wheel and SM465 manual...

Interesting.

 

[Designo614]

Squarebody Holy Grail? Hmmm... maybe a 454, SM465 1 ton dually with an 8 ton crane on the back-

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[bucket]

Man. I don't think I can answer this one. I don't have a holy grail truck... there are so many variations and options through the years. So many of them could be a "holy grail" truck to me.

 

[TotalyHucked]

I have too many to list them all but I'll give ya 2. If we're talking OE, a '91 CCLW 4x4 with the 454/4L80/4.10 combo (but I'd have to backdate the front end because )
but if we're talking what I'd consider a holy grail/no budget that I'd like to build, that'd be a square headlight, CCSB 4x4 power everything/tilt/cruise/AC with a Cummins/Allison/F450 axle combo.

 

[85K304SPD]

Interesting.

I also have another '85 1/2 ton 4 x 4 4 speed with tilt steering. The column is all wore out from PO using it to climb in and out of it. My '84 GMC does not have the tilt steering. So I have seen them both ways.

 

[Redfish]

I have too many to list them all but I'll give ya 2. If we're talking OE, a '91 CCLW 4x4 with the 454/4L80/4.10 combo (but I'd have to backdate the front end because )
but if we're talking what I'd consider a holy grail/no budget that I'd like to build, that'd be a square headlight, CCSB 4x4 power everything/tilt/cruise/AC with a Cummins/Allison/F450 axle combo.

I know you know a lot and you are in the business of customizing things but I have to respectfully disagree with you on one point here.

I don't like seeing Chevy engines in Ford Model A Roadsters and I won't even entertain the idea of a Cummins in a GM anything. You do know that GM has a superb diesel that is capable of some very big HP and Torque numbers?

If you are going to swap an oil burner into an old GM why not use:

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[TotalyHucked]

I know you know a lot and you are in the business of customizing things but I have to respectfully disagree with you on one point here.

I don't like seeing Chevy engines in Ford Model A Roadsters and I won't even entertain the idea of a Cummins in a GM anything. You do know that GM has a superb diesel that is capable of some very big HP and Torque numbers?

If you are going to swap an oil burner into an old GM why not use:

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Lol I do like the Duramax as well but my only personal experience was with an LB7 that liked to eat injectors. A 12 valve 5.9 Cummins is impossible to beat for simplicity, reliability and fuel economy, so that's what I'd go with.