2001 Silverado

I inherited this truck from my wife's grandfather. It was a surprise when I was informed. I never expected it and when he died I never even thought of it. My wife's grandmother had a hard time parting with it, but finally gave me the go ahead a few weeks ago. The truck has been sitting for a bit. It wasn't driven that much to begin with and only has 83k miles on it.

Went to go get it and the battery was dead. It jumped fine and I drove it home. It was covered in tree poop and mold. I couldn't resist and dug out the power washer. A quick wash later and the truck looks pretty good. Especially considering it's 20 years old. The tires were dry-rotted so I order some new ones. And when you get new tires, you should get new wheels, right?

The truck is pretty well stripped. Roller windows, vinyl floor, and barely cloth seats. No power anything. Fortunately, it does have the 5.3.

I'm not sure what to do with it. I HAVE to keep it. The grandmother was in tears as I drove away. So for the time being it stays with me.

At the very least, it'll be a weekend working truck. I may start commuting in it. As dumb as that might seem.

So far: wheels and tires. I reconditioned the tool box (had to). That involved new lifter struts, a new locking latch and weather-stripping. And a good cleaning. Works great now.

And I got the underhood light working with a quick cleaning and new bulb. It's the little things.

Replaced the serpentine belt, tensioner and idler. Thought it was making noise. I was wrong. The A/C belt is separate. It has a tensioner. So that's on the way.

I have a front-end rebuild kit waiting to go on.

I'm in the process of replacing the vinyl floor with carpet. I'm about halfway through. While I had it all out, I ran wiring for a mild stereo installation. A little modernization and better sound. Nothing crazy.

Cat-back exhaust is on the way. That was a little rough to find for an extended cab, long bed truck.

I have images in my head of what I'd *like* to do with this truck. Whether it happens or not is a different story. I'd like to leave it a work truck, but add a ladder rack to it, air bag suspension and vintage steelies with Chevrolet hubcaps. Maybe breathe on the engine a little. Sort of a modern rat rod work truck thing.

 

Carpet in. Molded, my ass. There's a few spots I'm not happy with. I'm hoping they'll just settle. Husky Liners cover most of them anyway. Decided to ditch the center jump seat and attempt a center console. We'll see how that works.

 

Easiest engines to work on and maintain. Vortecs are good engines

 

Indeedy. Buddy had the same truck with 200k on it and still ran great. Sold it to someone and they are still tooling around.

 

I’ve worked for Chevy for about 4 years now. I rebuild engines all day and anything basically from 2013 and below is really reliable, in my opinion

 

Tuffy center console. Install ended up being a little more involved then I thought. Had to get some different bolts for it. And of course, the spot where I drilled the holes for the rear bolts went right into a boxes support for the cab. Drilled a hole in the side of it and was able to get to the end of the bolt for the nut and washer. Plugged the holes with a grommet and it almost looks OEM.

 

Some of the stereo install. Went with a cheap headunit. Components are Memphis. The amp in the picture is Infinity, but it's being returned because I think it might have a bad channel. Still not 100% on what's wrong. Headunit was replaced and I still don't have boom.

 

Replaced one of the 12v power points with a USB plug. Got everything back together and it wasn't working. Thought I had seen the light on the plugs, but it was the sun. Take it all back apart just to find out a fuse was blown.

Also figured out the headlight switch was bad. Easy replacement. Could've kept on with the old one, but the interior light wouldn't come on manually.

Replaced a few interior lights with LEDs. Much better. I've been spoiled by LEDs.

 

Didn't take any pictures because it was kicking my butt. I bought a front suspension kit. Started taking apart one side and it's all got rust on it. Not major. Just annoying. After I get everything apart I'm looking at the lower ball joint and it's riveted onto the control arm. Then realized the kit doesn't include lower control arm bushings. Nope. Ran up to the auto parts store and got some loaded lowers.

I fought to get the other side to separate from the knuckle. Just when I was a about to buy a new knuckle I have it one last wack and it came apart. Sheesh.

During this I decided to replace the front shocks. Probably get to those tomorrow.

Painted the frame with some paint over rust stuff while I was in there.

 

This brings back memories. We used to have a grey 2001 Silverado standard size extended cab, 2wd, LS, cloth, power everything, Bose audio, and 5.3L with the 3.73 rear end. That truck had so much raw torque with the 3.73's. It was such a blast getting on freeway on ramps and seeing people's reaction of a full size truck hauling ass back in 2001. We had it for about 7-8 years and racked up 80k miles before trading it in. I still miss it. That's back when chevy had their sh*t together and made good trucks for under 30k. Back when full-size trucks were still affordable for the average working class anyway. I always like the front end of these ones compared to the boxy cat eyed ones of 2004 and on.

I really like the wheels you have on this one. I'd probably do a mild exhaust, maybe some airbag suspension, and keep it for home improvement projects/ errands. Keep an eye on the head gaskets for any leaks. The iron 5.3 blocks last a long time and are very reliable. I believe the aluminum heads can develop some warping issues due to the gasket material gm used. Ours never had a problem in the 7-8 years we had it. Also, keep that orange dexcool coolant flushed on a regular basis or switch to the green.

 

Thanks! I've ordered an aFE cat back. There wasn't much to choose from for this wheelbase.

 

Dropped this thing off for the state safety inspection, alignment, and transmission service. I realized I hate doing transmission services on the ground. Just not a whole bunch of room to move around. After finding out the labor cost, I wish I had done it myself. Too late now.

Best part is the truck failed the inspection. One of the rear calipers is dragging badly. They wanted to do lines, rotors, calipers, and pads. I trust this place so I get it. Got the price and decided I would do it myself. $1100! Insanity. Parts are like $300. This is why I keep doing my own work. I wonder if this officially makes the truck a money pit.

I also think the truck is going to need a battery soon. And possibly a power steering pump. I'm hoping the pump is just me being paranoid. It's not super loud, but it is making the "Ford" noises. Think I'll push these two things until they really die. Power steering is a luxury and I have a jump box! What could possibly go wrong??

 

Brakes did. Inspection passed. Actually drove the land yacht into work today.

Power steering pump has officially gotten worse. Causing the serpentine belt to squeal when making hard turns. Pump on the way. Also ordered rear shocks to have a matching set. I'm hoping this is the last maintenance item for a while. Time to do some fun things..

 

Took the polisher to the paint and it really shined the paint up. Looks real purty now. Also put a ceramic coating on it that I had lying around.

Lowered the rear a couple inches to get rid of the stinkbug look. Not real noticeable, but I'm happy.

Cat-back showed. Fitment was not so great, sound was perfect.

Added and auxiliary fuse block under the dash. Planning for the adding off power accessories. Power lock kit is here. Mirror harness is being built and I'm making decisions on windows.

Cat-back makes me want more power. Crate motor is speaking to me!

 

Brian Tooley Racing (BTR) makes some gnarly cams for ls motors as does tick performance. Might be worth checking out vs swapping the whole motor.

 

Don't worry! Already window shopped there! All said and done a crate long block is $3500 with better heads and cam. Trick flow heads alone are about $3000.

I have time to decide on what I'm going to do. Still need some supporting stuff beforehand. Headers and electric fan conversion to start with.

 

Slapped a new grille on. Looks exactly like the old one. Just newer. And of course a billet bow tie. Can't not do that.

I started my adventure in wiring. I have aftermarket power door locks. I probably could've done it more OEM, but this was easier. Less wiring and splicing into keyless entry is a ton easier. Speaking of which, I got keyless entry and remote start. Gets cold in the mornings!! I found this company called Motor City Remotes and they basically figure everything out for you and write instructions. I haven't gotten to it yet, but I don't have to track down any wiring. This is nice.

And power mirrors! This is going to be pretty close to OEM. I found a guy that makes wiring harnesses for a kit car. He uses GM plugs and switch for it. The switch is from an Express van. The mirrors are just OEM replacements. So that's nice.

I'm still trying to make decisions on power windows. I can buy the motors and regulators as one assembly from any parts store. I can't decide on switches. It's not a big decision. Mostly cost differences.

And the truck has thrown me some uh-ohs. It's just proving to me that letting a vehicle sit for a long time is bad. Can't remember if I said anything about the power steering. The pump was making some noise and the belt would squeal a little. I replaced the pump and it's all still there. I'm guessing there's trash in the lines. Trying some rebuild in a bottle for the cheap fix.

Truck also has a CEL. It's for a knock sensor. Guess these things are notorious for causing problems. Solutions are many. I'm starting cheap first. Gonna run some

$25 BG 44k Fuel System Cleaner Power Enhancer 11oz.

BG 44k in there and see if it's just a dirty cylinder deal. If that doesn't work? Considering where they are, I suppose it's a good time to start with a new performance intake and throttle body? I see no other choice.

I'm also noticing a lifter that doesn't like building pressure until after the others have. It's not super loud yet, but I'm watching.

And finally... I was getting gas last night and went to go leave. I start the truck and the check engine oil level light comes on. That was a surprise because I only have about 2000 miles on the oil change. I checked the level and it was about 1.5 quarts low. Uh oh. Either this is the truck telling me it really wants a crate engine or something else isn't happy. Of course, I'll try a rebuild in a bottle first and see what happens. I'm willing to bet the valve seals have just gone rotten from sitting and the oil is sneaking past.

This could end up being a very short build!!