bubba39047

howdy fellers. I am new to the forum, unfortunatly i didnt just buy a chevy, although i would love to ditch my dodge for a gm but at the moment it aint happenin. anywho, the reason i joined is because a good buddy of mine recently told me that he had an old truck from his grand dad sittin at his uncles house. well i love vehicles and have never had a project, i am only 18 so that plays a apart. i was interested, so we went to look at it and it is a 1980 scottsdale 20 (3/4 ton, or 1 ton? 30 is 1 ton if i am correct) it has the 454 7.4l v8. It was his grand dads work truck, he was a carpenter, and it never went farther than 20 miles from his town. it has ether 70k or 170k ish, not sure. it is a little worse for wear as the cosmetics go but stephon (my friend) said it worked when they parked it 5 years ago when his grand dad got sick. we plan to restore it and use it as a fun truck. I think yall should look foward to my stupid novice questions, and keepin up with two young guys have the luck of a tinkering truck. i have one picture for now, thanks guys.

Rock642

Let the fun begin!

Mille Racer 69

Good luck.
There should be barely any electrical stuff on that truck so it should make
An ok project. Although as a "fun" vehicle, that thing is probably gonna kill
Gas, but good luck with it.

Oh, and IIWY I wouldn't even attempt starting that truck until I drained out all
Of the existing gas, oil, and transmission fluid. Then I would drain out all
Other fluids I.e. Power steering, brake, coolant etc etc and refill with fresh fluids.

Oh and also,
Regardless of how much tread may or may not be on those tires,
If it has been sitting for 5 years the tires are shot and need to be replaced.

JK23112

Ah, I used to love those "square body" trucks! The two-wheel-drive Chevy trucks were known as the "C" versions, while 4x4 versions were known as "K" trucks. My high school girlfriend's father had a 1979 'K' Chevrolet pickup truck (also a 3/4 ton with the 454 V8 under the hood). It had that ubiquitous two-tone brown paint job that was so popular back then. He bought it new and it still looked great three or four years later (when she and I were together).


The "Scottsdale" was a trim level assigned to Chevrolet trucks back in that era (they had Silverado, Cheyenne, Scottsdale, etc.) - much as GMC had Sierra, Sierra Classic & Sierra Grande. If memory serves me correctly, the Scottsdale was a mid-line trim level that was above a 'work' truck, but likely below the top-of-the-line Silverado model.

Seeing as how the truck in your photo has eight wheel lugs - rather than five, the truck is indeed a 3/4 ton model. The "20" also indicates that (as opposed to a '10' model). If my memory is correct, the "30" was a one-ton that had dual rear wheels.

Previous advice about replacing all fluids, filters and even the tires was spot-on! I would also get the carburetor (remember those?) rebuilt or exchanged, install new spark plugs & wires.....and obviously throw in some new fanbelts, hoses and a new exhaust system (preferably duals, of course).

Even if it is only 70k miles (which I highly doubt), this is still a vehicle that is more than three decades old. Corrosion, rot, mold and mildew are going to take a toll on it, especially if the vehicle has sat outside for any length of time.

Good luck with this "project" truck & be sure to take photos of its resurrection. Done right, it will really turn heads, sound great and perform well. Don't forget some oil company stock, too; as it will only get about 10 to 12 miles per gallon.

Keep us posted and WELCOME to this forum!


< MERRY CHRISTMAS!! >

bubba39047

thanks guys, of course i have taken into account pretty much all of this. unfortunatly today we hooked up a battery to it and the left tank is FULL! the right tank is bone dry. we tryed to turn it over for kicks and it wont turn over, the distributor wont rotate when you take the cap off. we will be transporting it from its location in canton ms to flowood ms where my friend lives. (bout a 15 mile trip) gettin my buddy's f250 and a nice big gooseneck to do it to . from there it will be put on jack stands and we need to figure out how to drain fluids and stuff. do these gas tanks have a drain plug? i know i have heard of the older vehicles having something liket his. it would make that whole starting process a breeze.

RacerX

I wouldnt bother draining fluids. If one tank is full and the other isnt, take some out of the left and put it into the right. You can add new gas to old gas and it will recompose its original structure. If you re not going to drive it dont worry about the brake lines until you get it running. Just make sure your trans. case is fluid AND RED and your radiator is full AND GREEN. Your first goal is to get it started.

I think your truck is a 1-ton. 8 lugs and a 454 say C30 but it was built as a C20. Your gramps probably ordered it from the factory or the dealer did a special request order for your part of the country.

Try turning the motor by hand to see if it is seized or if the distributor cog or rotor is seized. Or it may not turn because the starter is no good. Take the starter out and apply battery to that and look for the solenoid to pop out and the motor to whir. After all of that, snap on the left tank, spray some starting fluid in the carb. and try to turn it over.

My grandpa had a truck like that too, we still have it up in his garage way Upstate. He has a 1973 GMC longbed pickup and a 1969 GMC Suburban. I keep looking for the titles so I can take them and rework them. The 73 body is way rusted out(and has a 350). The Suburban is one of them 3 door jobbies.

bubba39047

i tryed to spin the fan when we were there and i could not. so that aint a good sign. like i said, we are just gone wait till we get it to my friends house before we try anything else

RacerX

nah man. turn the crank pulley with a breaker bar and a 1" socket by hand and see if its free.

bubba39047

ill try that. once we get it moved. his excursion needs a new alternator so we waitin to do that so we have something to pull it to the house with.