Hello All,
I am brand new to this forum. I look forward to learning everything I can from all of you here. I just bought a 1990 K5. It runs fine, needs a bit of body work, new tires, and one outer wheel bearing in the rear as far as I can tell. I would like to know where to start a restore...Im not talking frame off, I just want the beast to look great and run great and have a great interior. I dont have tons of time, so most of the jobs will be paid for and have someone else do the work. I just want to know where to start. I would like to end result to be able to go off road, but be driveable and comfortable on road too. Thanks

 

Well your best bet is to get it mechanically sound. That is half the battle with these old trucks. Once that is complete I would get the body straight and then the interior. There are lots of sources for trim pieces and the like. I find items for my Blazer on eBay, 1aauto.com and rock auto. But first and for most, get it running like a champ.

 

thanks man,
I think it is relatively sound mechanically as I drove it 60 miles back to the house with no issues whatsoever. It is in the shop as we speak getting checked out from head to toe so we will see what the wrench says. I know of a wheel bearing issue..but it is an outer and minor...so...
Anyway, thanks for the response and the info on where to get stuff. It is much appreciated. Once I figure out how to post a picture I will and will post more as the job comes along. As chance would have it, I have come into some "fun money" so it will be faster than first anticipated.

 

Honestly if you are going to have somebody else do all the work stop right now unless you've got a really good K5.

You are better off selling what you've got and spending $12-$15K on a completely done top to bottom K5 that already has everything done to it.

"Wait, but I want to do the work myself" you might say.... Bull $h9t... If you're not doing the work then you'll spend $25-$30K to build a $15K rig.

If you were working on something super rare like a big block numbers matching hotrod maybe, but you're working on a very common vehicle that at least in the 76-91 half cab versions do not have a ton of classic or historic valuation yet.

Just my $0.02.