After moving to St George, UT 8 years ago I noticed a 1st gen GMC S15 (Chevy S10 cousin) sitting in a car port not far from where we live, buried under a bunch of boxes and trash. Over the years on a regular basis I've driven past and thought I'd like to own that when I'm in a position to pick up another project. A few months ago I noticed a large dumpster in the driveway full of garbage and the boxes and junk removed off the truck. I stopped by a couple times and knocked on the door but no answer. Looking around the yard and how the house appeared to be maintained it was likely an older person or someone not quite together lived there. My guess was that the truck was broken down and therefore sitting long enough for the tires to go flat and badly dry rot. No luck with talking to anyone so I let it go, but kept on eye out to make sure it was still there whenever I drove past
Running Saturday errands a couple weeks ago I noticed another dumpster full of trash in the driveway, I guessed they're cleaning out the house because someone isn't living there anymore and figured it's now or never. I dropped by, luckily this time finding Karen, the gray haired wife of the grandson of the owner of the home and truck. She was super friendly and we talked about the house and truck. Her husband's grandad owned the home, whose wife had passed away in 2009 and he then in 2010. She was 92, he was 94 (!). Karen and her husband are in charge of the trust, and both have been involved in home improvement down in Las Vegas area for many years. She was there to start gutting the home to prepare for renovating to start renting it out. She said Granddad bought the truck new in '85 at a car dealership here in town. This man's younger brother took over the home and truck when they passed, and lived there until about 4 years ago. He was a hoarder, had some other health/ mental issues, and has been living in a facility for about 4 years now. Apparently he didn't use the truck much at all, 2009 was the last year it was registered, was parked sometime in 2010, he left the keys in the ignition, locked and shut the doors, and there it sat.
I thought to myself this would be just right for my younger son, 2.8 V6, automatic trans, and a great candidate for a mild V8 swap if the motor or trans was toast. Besides my G-bodies, I also have an '88 S10 Blazer and my older son has a Pro Touring build '84 S10 short bed with a very nasty 383 and T56 going into it. This S15 truck would be a perfect new member of our GM family. After explaining that my 17 yr old son had just got his learner's permit and that he and I were looking for a truck project to work on for him to drive I asked if I could buy it. She said she had already promised it to another older fellow but she'd heard he was now unfortunately in the hospital battling cancer. She said she needed to check with him first and then would let me know. Monday morning she called me and we made a deal, part of the payment was simply helping her clean out some of the heavier items in the home. I'm lucky enough to work from home, set my own hours, and have been taught all my life to serve others so I was happy to oblige. I spent Wednesday and Thursday of that week helping her move stuff, throw stuff in the dumpster and clean up a bit. The hard work was refreshing, conversation between Karen and I was nice and I also scored a TV, a bunch of old tools and some vintage Christmas decorations she didn't want. At the end of the day she handed me the title and said good luck with it.
Saturday my older son and I took the tow dolly and some spare tires over to pick it up. Without keys it took us maybe 15 minutes or so to get the door unlocked. The windows had so much dust on them I couldn't see inside real well so I was anxious to check out what the mileage was. First thing I noticed was a seat with no real wear on it. Next I noticed the rubber floor mat had little wear nor did the pedals have any wear. Looked at the odometer and said "Shut up!" as I read 35,557. I looked at the paperwork in the glove box and some service records documented that was indeed the original mileage. Popped the hood and found a lot of dust, spider webs, and a very clean engine, completely intact and looking like it matched the mileage. Trans fluid and engine are oil both clean. Also found the a/c had apparently been converted to R134, a very serious bonus since high temps average around 112 here in the summer. Rather than try to start it there I wanted to bring it home to where the tools and supplies were so we swapped tires, pulled the driveshaft and loaded it onto the tow dolly. My '77 454 Suburban as usual hauled it home like there was nothing behind it.
First thing I did was spray wash it, top to bottom, and then we got it in the driveway for inspection.
The bad:
Running Saturday errands a couple weeks ago I noticed another dumpster full of trash in the driveway, I guessed they're cleaning out the house because someone isn't living there anymore and figured it's now or never. I dropped by, luckily this time finding Karen, the gray haired wife of the grandson of the owner of the home and truck. She was super friendly and we talked about the house and truck. Her husband's grandad owned the home, whose wife had passed away in 2009 and he then in 2010. She was 92, he was 94 (!). Karen and her husband are in charge of the trust, and both have been involved in home improvement down in Las Vegas area for many years. She was there to start gutting the home to prepare for renovating to start renting it out. She said Granddad bought the truck new in '85 at a car dealership here in town. This man's younger brother took over the home and truck when they passed, and lived there until about 4 years ago. He was a hoarder, had some other health/ mental issues, and has been living in a facility for about 4 years now. Apparently he didn't use the truck much at all, 2009 was the last year it was registered, was parked sometime in 2010, he left the keys in the ignition, locked and shut the doors, and there it sat.
I thought to myself this would be just right for my younger son, 2.8 V6, automatic trans, and a great candidate for a mild V8 swap if the motor or trans was toast. Besides my G-bodies, I also have an '88 S10 Blazer and my older son has a Pro Touring build '84 S10 short bed with a very nasty 383 and T56 going into it. This S15 truck would be a perfect new member of our GM family. After explaining that my 17 yr old son had just got his learner's permit and that he and I were looking for a truck project to work on for him to drive I asked if I could buy it. She said she had already promised it to another older fellow but she'd heard he was now unfortunately in the hospital battling cancer. She said she needed to check with him first and then would let me know. Monday morning she called me and we made a deal, part of the payment was simply helping her clean out some of the heavier items in the home. I'm lucky enough to work from home, set my own hours, and have been taught all my life to serve others so I was happy to oblige. I spent Wednesday and Thursday of that week helping her move stuff, throw stuff in the dumpster and clean up a bit. The hard work was refreshing, conversation between Karen and I was nice and I also scored a TV, a bunch of old tools and some vintage Christmas decorations she didn't want. At the end of the day she handed me the title and said good luck with it.
Saturday my older son and I took the tow dolly and some spare tires over to pick it up. Without keys it took us maybe 15 minutes or so to get the door unlocked. The windows had so much dust on them I couldn't see inside real well so I was anxious to check out what the mileage was. First thing I noticed was a seat with no real wear on it. Next I noticed the rubber floor mat had little wear nor did the pedals have any wear. Looked at the odometer and said "Shut up!" as I read 35,557. I looked at the paperwork in the glove box and some service records documented that was indeed the original mileage. Popped the hood and found a lot of dust, spider webs, and a very clean engine, completely intact and looking like it matched the mileage. Trans fluid and engine are oil both clean. Also found the a/c had apparently been converted to R134, a very serious bonus since high temps average around 112 here in the summer. Rather than try to start it there I wanted to bring it home to where the tools and supplies were so we swapped tires, pulled the driveshaft and loaded it onto the tow dolly. My '77 454 Suburban as usual hauled it home like there was nothing behind it.
First thing I did was spray wash it, top to bottom, and then we got it in the driveway for inspection.
The bad:
- Karen told me the guy that was living in the home let his son borrow it once who backed it into one of the carport poles. Luckily just the driver's door was what took the hit, no damage to the cab or fender. So I need a new door. This one may be fixable but the dent is weird shaped, has a couple slight creases and not sure I want to mess with it. I can probably find a replacement door way cheaper than the time and supplies needed to fix this one.
- The insurance card showed Granddad the original owner had two other cars, so it's likely he only used the truck for truck duties. I found some rope, a big heavy canvas tarp and a couple pairs of leather gloves behind the seat, I wonder if maybe he was an old rancher or something. Because of the truck being used as a truck, there are multiple scratches on the bed sides, in the bed and on the tailgate. There's also a small dent near the rear bumper on the driver's side and a minor crease dent near the taillight on the passenger side. Besides the damage to the bed and door the rest of the truck is in amazingly good shape.
- The roof has some surface rust near the top of the windshield, looks like road debris put a gagillion tiny paint chips in it and there's surface rust there. Luckily this is a super dry desert climate here so no concerning rust or rust through anywhere.
- Paint is badly chalked over with some paint chips and scratches here and there. I think a good lovin' buffing will easily make it shine again.
- Dash pad top is badly cracked. rest of the dash is dusty but in great shape.
- Front bumper is bent forward, looked like it was pulled out by a hook on the top of the bumper. Rear bumper is bent down on the driver's side.
- All 4 tires heave great tread, but are toast. Dry rotted real bad and rubber is separating where they were flat and creased, sort of like when you fold crispy toast in half.
- Dash has warning lights instead of a gauge pack. Can't have win 'em all I guess, lol.
- Vinyl seat has only one small tear, looks like the proverbial screwdrivier in the back pocket type incident. The rest of the seat is slightly dirty but perfect otherwise. Driver's side door panel was a little dirty (see pic) but some simple green later cleaned it up nicely.
- New looking stock style muffler and tailpipe. That's nice but that won't be there long, even with a V6 I need to hear the engine, lol.
- Honest to goodness low mileage survivor, so the truck is in relatively great shape everywhere!
- Still has the original issued in 1985 license plates on it. I'm hoping under the circumstances the DMV will let me keep these plates on it and just transfer them to my ownership.
