# Bought Another Clunker.....



## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

I guess I don't NEED another truck, but ever since I had my '94 6.5 Diesel I've always had a soft spot for them and I really love the OBS GMT-400 trucks, so this thing came up for sale and I went and looked at it (BAD idea). As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it....

'98 GMC Sierra 3500 SRW
6.5 Diesel
128k miles
Wiring and frame for a Boss plow
.....and it's my color!










Guy wanted $4,400, found out real quick it had a blown brake line, so w wheeled and dealed and I brought it home for $2,500. The body is SHOT but its mechanically in outstanding shape. I'm prob gonna go WAY overboard with it and fix it up real nice. But oh well I need something to do in the winter, especially if we keep having winters like last year with lots of downtime!

My goal for right now is to get it driveable and give it a quick once-over and fix what needs dire attention and get a cheap plow for it. I'm not going to FIND work work it this winter, but I at least want it ready to go as a backup truck. I say that now, but I've already got a line on a southern bed and cab and I'm pricing out new fenders, and some performance parts prsport so it'll prob be completely dismantled as soon as we're done with leaf cleanups lol....by next spring I'd like to have a dump insert for it....and my end goal will be to have it be the only 6.5 around here that will crank out black smoke and burn rubber with 2 yards of mulch in it hahaha


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## maverjohn (Jul 23, 2008)

Did the plow come with it ?


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## IA Farmer (Nov 7, 2004)

Great find, take lots of pictures and post the progress.


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

maverjohn;1485054 said:


> Did the plow come with it ?


negative.



RAM_ON97;1485069 said:


> Great find, take lots of pictures and post the progress.


I will, prob won't be much visual progress until after lawn season is over and I get settled in for the winter.


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

MikeRi24;1485038 said:


> I guess I don't NEED another truck, but ever since I had my '94 6.5 Diesel I've always had a soft spot for them and I really love the OBS GMT-400 trucks, so this thing came up for sale and I went and looked at it (BAD idea). As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it....
> 
> '98 GMC Sierra 3500 SRW
> 6.5 Diesel
> ...


I was gonna say that wouldnt be true if you were closer to Syracuse lol! That first price was definitely high for the truck, but a lot better in the 2k area. Would have been sick if it came with a plow. Got a nice light on top too!


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

DieselSlug;1485093 said:


> I was gonna say that wouldnt be true if you were closer to Syracuse lol! That first price was definitely high for the truck, but a lot better in the 2k area. Would have been sick if it came with a plow. Got a nice light on top too!


actually part of the negotiation was the light bar, home-brew backrack, transfer tank and tool box came out before I took the truck. Fine by me, I dont have a use for the transfer tank or toolbox and I have a brand new backrack and light bar sitting in my shop for it anyway. I thought even the $4400 wasn't terrible, I looked at a truck a couple days before that was also a '98 Diesel but a 3/4 ton ext cab, and it was pretty rotted out, needed tires but the kid had a bunch of aftermarket performance parts on it and wouldnt take a dime less than $5300....


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## GSS LLC (Jul 7, 2012)

are those rims of a newer ford?


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## Banksy (Aug 31, 2005)

GSS LLC;1485167 said:


> are those rims of a newer ford?


No way. Those are just plastic chrome covers.

How hammered was he when he came up with a price of $4400? $2k is a great price. Good job on wheelin' and dealin'.


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## Holland (Aug 18, 2010)

Looks good, keep us posted! Love that body style!


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

GSS LLC;1485167 said:


> are those rims of a newer ford?





Banksy;1485183 said:


> No way. Those are just plastic chrome covers.
> 
> How hammered was he when he came up with a price of $4400? $2k is a great price. Good job on wheelin' and dealin'.


correct about the wheel covers! part of my master plan is to get a set of NBS steel wheels and center caps to match my '99. I thought I got a good deal on it, mechanically it is VERY sound has a newer tranny and transfer case with paperwork from a VERY reputable shop here in town, and has service records going back a number of years also from a VERY reputable diesel shop here as well. The A/C even works haha the only bad part about it is the body is beat up but its a work truck.



Holland;1485190 said:


> Looks good, keep us posted! Love that body style!


the OBS GM is my favorite of all trucks I think!


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## mass1589 (Jan 24, 2011)

i love those wheel covers!!! any way to tell who makes them or where to buy them!!?? those are for 16 inch wheels right?? truck looks awsome i just purchased a 2000 k 3500 not a clunker but i am going to do some work to it aswell!!


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

mass1589;1485243 said:


> i love those wheel covers!!! any way to tell who makes them or where to buy them!!?? those are for 16 inch wheels right?? truck looks awsome i just purchased a 2000 k 3500 not a clunker but i am going to do some work to it aswell!!


Theres a name on them, I'll have to look and see what it is


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

some pics....gave it the once over. Needs all brake lines replaced, needs an exhaust, and needs a glow plug relay.





































all in all, aside from the dents, the bed is actually REALLY solid, I may talk to my body guy and see if its possible to just fix that rather than getting a whole new bed. The cab on the other hand, is another story...the floor is rotted out so bad that a couple of the cab mounts completely let go, so I REALLY need to find a new cab and fenders. Hopefully soon.


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## durafish (Sep 6, 2011)

Anything new?


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## mercer_me (Sep 13, 2008)

Looks pretty rough but, not bad deal for $2,500.


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

durafish;1489651 said:


> Anything new?


Sort of.....I got a lead on a '99 2500 that does not have a motor but it has a service body and the cab/front clip are supposed to be in outstanding condition. Guy wants to get rid of it for cheap. Its not right around the corner from me, but close enough that I'll go get it. The good news is, he's not in a hurry to sell it, but thats also the bad news....

And for the record, I have no intention of using said service body, that will be sold off. This truck will stay a pickup.



mercer_me;1489785 said:


> Looks pretty rough but, not bad deal for $2,500.


Yeah the body is rough, but its all there. I know I'm going to sink way more into this thing than its worth by the time I'm done with it but I love these body style trucks and I always wanted another 6.5 to hot rod up and play around with. So I guess since my wife won't let me get a Harley yet, this is gonna be my "toy" for now and I'm perfectly ok with that!


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## thelettuceman (Nov 23, 2010)

What kind of plow are you going to put on the Harley when your wife lets you buy it. Nice find on the Chevy!!!


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## BOSS LAWN (Nov 6, 2011)

Looks great, good luck!


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

thelettuceman;1493259 said:


> What kind of plow are you going to put on the Harley when your wife lets you buy it. Nice find on the Chevy!!!


that made me lol....literally laugh out loud haha


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## Kajun (Jul 17, 2011)

That truck looks great compared to a couple of our trucks


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

I picked up the "donor" truck last week. The body is even better than it looked in the pictures! The interior is also very nice, so I'll be keeping that. It's dark blue, as opposed to the grey thats in the current cab. This will present a bit of a challenge though, because the PCM for the diesel trucks is located inside behind the glove box, whereas the gas trucks have everything in the engine compartment. Originally, after doing some quick research, the easiest way to to this would be to swap the whole dash out. That was fine until I realized the interiors are different, so I'm going to have to pull the wiring harness out of the diesel truck and put it in the dash of the new cab....should be interesting. I'm hoping to really get working on this in the next week or so. I'll make sure to take plenty of progress pics!


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

Finally made some progress on this project. First here are some pics of the donor truck I got. As you can see, its pretty clean, everything is really solid, and the interior isn't bad either:


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

I got started on dis-mantling the diesel truck today, and I got the whole front clip off. 

























The only major snag that I hit was with the radiator core support. I was really hoping to be able to use the original one because theres a LOT of radiators, fans and coolers attached to it, but unfortunately its rotted out really bad at the bottom so I'm going to have to carefully transfer everything over to the one off the parts truck. I'll hopefully have some more time in the near future to keep working on this!


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## durafish (Sep 6, 2011)

looks like you got something to keep busy on


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## 2_Djinn (Dec 20, 2004)

Sweet OBS, looks like a project. I have never tore into a truck like that. Maybe when I buy another I have some time to mess around with one. Heck im cringing looking at the brakes/lines on my OBS. lol Good Luck


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

durafish;1501451 said:


> looks like you got something to keep busy on





2_Djinn;1501467 said:


> Sweet OBS, looks like a project. I have never tore into a truck like that. Maybe when I buy another I have some time to mess around with one. Heck im cringing looking at the brakes/lines on my OBS. lol Good Luck


I thought the same, but in all honesty, this isn't as hard as it looks. I got that whole thing tore down to what you see by myself, no air tolls in about 6 hours. Grated, most of the inner fenders did not need to be unbolted because they were so rusted that they pretty much disintegrated lol. Swapping that core support makes me a little on edge though for some reason....


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## ajordan193 (Dec 6, 2006)

Looks like fun Mike, been there done that. A lot of bloody knuckles by the time you are done. Got a lot of plowing lined up this year? Are you planning on having this done before the snow flies and using this as a backup truck?


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

ajordan193;1501495 said:


> Looks like fun Mike, been there done that. A lot of bloody knuckles by the time you are done. Got a lot of plowing lined up this year? Are you planning on having this done before the snow flies and using this as a backup truck?


I'd like to have it done before winter, but my main goal with it is to be a backup truck. I have no doubt that we'll use it every day in the spring/summer/fall for landscaping next year though.


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

I replaced the whole front clip on my 94' 6.5 diesel. Had to replace old ore support also. I actually pulled my support off without unbolting it! Id try to find new mounts while you have it off. Wish i did. My old ones are so whooped i had to install spacers to line panels back up. I need to replace mine sometime.


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

DieselSlug;1501653 said:


> I replaced the whole front clip on my 94' 6.5 diesel. Had to replace old ore support also. I actually pulled my support off without unbolting it! Id try to find new mounts while you have it off. Wish i did. My old ones are so whooped i had to install spacers to line panels back up. I need to replace mine sometime.


I'm actually wondering if I can remove the sore support and fenders WITH the cab as a whole unit off the parts truck and swap it over as one thing, that might make my life a bit easier.


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

2 steps forward, and 3 steps back....









I know I do not need that whole wiring harness just the ECM part which is like 1/4 of whats there....I just need to figure out how to split it apart


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

Thats definately a large headache. I was gonna do a 95' dash swap in my 94' until i realized it wasnt going to be easy to swap the harness out! Since then sold all the stuff, just gonna live with the box interior.


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

Any updates on this baby?


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## FF/P215 (Dec 5, 2012)

He got a '92 gasser and sold the diesel, it's in his longer thread..


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

FF/P215;1536156 said:


> He got a '92 gasser and sold the diesel, it's in his longer thread..


^^Thanks, just checked it out.


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## ducaticorse (Oct 16, 2012)

Banksy;1485183 said:


> No way. Those are just plastic chrome covers.
> 
> How hammered was he when he came up with a price of $4400? $2k is a great price. Good job on wheelin' and dealin'.


Too funny....

I was just gonna ask how you start at 4400, and get down to 2500....


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

Yeah both of these things ended up in the scrap yard. I ran out of time to really work on this project. Between scrapping them and selling some parts off them I made most of my money back but was still a huge waste of time and resources. Oh well...Live and learn I guess.


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## woodchuck2 (Dec 4, 2010)

Oh damn, i just stumbled across this and was going to ask about a section of frame around the steering box. I am eye balling a 98 gasser RCLB 4x4 with only 100k on the truck, body in great shape and the interior is like new. Belonged to my former neighbor who bought it from an estate sale. He drove it until it failed inspection for the rotted frame and sold it to a friend of mine who is driving it around his christmas tree farm. I asked about it after looking it over because i could not find the rot where they always break such as the rear spring hangers. My friends told me it was around the steering box. I looked again and the frame is about 60% gone around the box, bad enough i can reach my hand through and touch the steering box. So he wants $2k for it. Truck has never plowed, never been beat on, never smoked in. Frame is solid except the steering box area, has new tires, only a couple spots of surface rust. My plan is to cut off the frame, replace with gussets, install my dump insert and use it in the winter for my sander.


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

woodchuck2;1539641 said:


> Oh damn, i just stumbled across this and was going to ask about a section of frame around the steering box. I am eye balling a 98 gasser RCLB 4x4 with only 100k on the truck, body in great shape and the interior is like new. Belonged to my former neighbor who bought it from an estate sale. He drove it until it failed inspection for the rotted frame and sold it to a friend of mine who is driving it around his christmas tree farm. I asked about it after looking it over because i could not find the rot where they always break such as the rear spring hangers. My friends told me it was around the steering box. I looked again and the frame is about 60% gone around the box, bad enough i can reach my hand through and touch the steering box. So he wants $2k for it. Truck has never plowed, never been beat on, never smoked in. Frame is solid except the steering box area, has new tires, only a couple spots of surface rust. My plan is to cut off the frame, replace with gussets, install my dump insert and use it in the winter for my sander.


With a frame that bad its worth scrap. Who would want it? He will never get close to 2K, unless parting it out.


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## DieselSlug (Nov 30, 2009)

MikeRi24;1539266 said:


> Yeah both of these things ended up in the scrap yard. I ran out of time to really work on this project. Between scrapping them and selling some parts off them I made most of my money back but was still a huge waste of time and resources. Oh well...Live and learn I guess.


Lol, that truck looked nicer than mine and it got scrapped. That new truck you got looks to be a good solid start though!


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## MikeRi24 (Dec 21, 2007)

DieselSlug;1539960 said:


> Lol, that truck looked nicer than mine and it got scrapped. That new truck you got looks to be a good solid start though!


Had to fix the frame on that one too....only 62k miles on it lol.


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