some of the new and remanufactured parts used under the hood
new production alternator (not rebuilt!)
-includes new fan and pulley (made in USA)
new production HEI distributor (not rebuilt!)
-all new parts, improved coil, machined aluminum (made in USA)
new fuel pump (made in USA)
new starter (not rebuilt!) features all new components and improved plated finishes for corrosion resistance, as well as better-than-OEM internals (made in USA)
remanufactured cruise control transducer
At reTruck, we're working on remanufacturing 1973-1987 Chevrolet/GMC trucks at a reasonable cost.
The idea is to build a new truck out of an old one by replacing, repairing or rebuilding all wearing, worn or damaged parts. A reTruck has the expected service life of the original.
Not only will we supply new old trucks, we're solving major environmental problems - the huge amounts of energy and emissions to build new vehicles from scratch and the massive environmental expense of retooling for every model year.
The truck is a 1981 Chevrolet Silverado, 350 CID, air, tilt, cruise, power windows and locks, headliner and carpet with a Turbo 350 trans and highway gears - 2.73. (We'll replace this with a zippier 3.42 gear set.) The sheet metal is rusty in the usual places, but the frame is good and there is no collision damage other than parking lot dings on the front bumper.
Philo Beddo, head shop cat (or so he says) is visible to the right of the picture. At reTruck, we guarantee our products to be mouse-free.
In the remanufacturing business we call the starting unit the 'core'.
This truck is a decent core - straight and reasonably well maintained, having been in the same hands since 1983. However, it suffered from a case of the uglies - nasty repaint with big stripes, velour interior and high-rise box cap. Add some rust and a set of running boards and... well, you get the picture.
So, we proceeded to disassemble the truck completely, frame off, everything stripped.
The frame is the first part to restore.
After the cab, bed and front clip were removed and all the lines, hoses and so on were stripped, the frame was degreased in a strong alkaline solution.
The picture shows the finished frame outside our shop in sunny Stony Plain, Alberta. Click to enlarge.
With the grease gone, the frame was blasted with glass, not sand.
We never use sand - learn why sand is deadly. We use approved air-supplied apparatus in our self contained blasting tent.
After blasting, the frame was treated with a zinc phosphate conversion coating, to resist corrosion and provide good adhesion for the primer. The primer we used was a black epoxy - the strongest coating you can get. After two coats of epoxy primer, the frame was topcoated in a correct semigloss enamel.
The engine was disassembled and the block, heads and crank sent to the machine shop. For a high miler, it turned out to be in excellent shape.
Here's what the machinist did:
New valves, both intake and exhaust as well as late model positive oil seals completed the head job.
We reassembled the engine with new:
Assembled and Painted
Spray-bomb jobs just won't cut it for a reTruck, so here's how we painted this engine:
The water pump, harmonic balancer, oil pump drive shaft, oil pump pickup, pushrods, pistons, rings and various other parts were all made in the USA. Other parts were made in the NAFTA zone - Canada, USA, and Mexico. We don`t use import parts unless absolutely necessary and we do our best to not buy any parts or supplies from communist countries such as China (PRC).
We decided to keep this simple - a good quality remanufactured original type automatic transmission and a remanufactured stock torque convertor. The transmission is a Turbo Hydramatic 350 (3 speed) with a lock-up torque convertor for good highway gas mileage.
Next, we'll look at some of the bodywork...
