2003 Tahoe LT - Sister's 1st Vehicle [Update 12/8/19 - Pillars + Brush Guard]

[Galandorian]

Hey all,

You may have seen my other thread:

or one of my many other vehicles...

anyways, my sister just picked up this Tahoe last weekend as her first real vehicle. before that, she had been driving our parents' hand me down 1999 s10 blazer

2003 Tahoe LT 5.3l v8, 3.73 gears, 4wd
157k miles
minimal rust

$4400 cash

and of course you know we can't leave anything stock, so at minimum we'll be doing some cosmetic upgrades

 

[Galandorian]

the vehicle is currently at my parents house, and my dad has been fixing most of the quality of life things (heated seat not working, window switch, cosmetic interior, etc)

the first time I walked in to see it, he already had ripped the bumper off

evidently it was rusted through in some spots that I hadn't seen, so they're gonna replace that

hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll have it plastidipped with new headlights and tail lights

 

[OR VietVet]

I recently thought my 2002 Tahoe LT needed to be replaced with something newer. Got very frustrated with that search after a month. Decided to keep my 2002. Been putting money into it. Cosmetic and performance. I am having fun and that keeps me out of trouble. If I was you and the dad I would get her in there and get her dirty helping out. Cannot have more fun than that.

 

[Galandorian]

I recently thought my 2002 Tahoe LT needed to be replaced with something newer. Got very frustrated with that search after a month. Decided to keep my 2002. Been putting money into it. Cosmetic and performance. I am having fun and that keeps me out of trouble. If I was you and the dad I would get her in there and get her dirty helping out. Cannot have more fun than that.

Haha I think we've all been there everyone in my family has looked at newer and "better" vehicles, and we keep on ending up just buying more GMT800s

a great reliable platform, and there are so many different things you can do with them to make each truck unique

unfortunately the sister doesn't really care to understand how anything works, she just wants the end product

but dad and I have fun building out the vehicle and making sure it gets her from A to B safely

 

[OR VietVet]

Then the least she could do is be there to hand wrenches and tools and keep the cold beer flowing. She may say she doesn't care but if you get her under the vehicle on a creeper and have her hold this or that, she may surprise you. My wife, before she passed, always made sure I got her keys when it was maint/repair time on her Trans Am and she had never cared about working on it till I got her under there one day changing out plugs from the bottom. She was fascinated about it and then started pointing at things and wanting to know what they were and what they did. Then she wanted me to let her change oil ad then something else.......etc. She would talk my ear off when I wanted to watch something on tv but she wanted to talk CARS.

 

[Galandorian]

Then the least she could do is be there to hand wrenches and tools and keep the cold beer flowing. She may say she doesn't care but if you get her under the vehicle on a creeper and have her hold this or that, she may surprise you. My wife, before she passed, always made sure I got her keys when it was maint/repair time on her Trans Am and she had never cared about working on it till I got her under there one day changing out plugs from the bottom. She was fascinated about it and then started pointing at things and wanting to know what they were and what they did. Then she wanted me to let her change oil ad then something else.......etc. She would talk my ear off when I wanted to watch something on tv but she wanted to talk CARS.

maybe one day she'll take an interest lol

right now we have 2 weeks to get this car all set before she comes back from college to pick it up

since she goes to school a few hours away, it wouldn't be easy for her to come over every night to work on it anyways
-----------------------------------------------------
basically all I've done so far is 10 ish hours of plasti-dip

she wouldn't let me de-badge or remove the moldings, or the running boards

we threw in some of my old aftermarket lights, and on Saturday it'll be going in for tint. 20% on the front windows and 70% entire windshield

we pulled the system out of her Blazer and hope to have it installed in this vehicle by the weekend

 

[HiHoeSilver]

maybe on day she'll take an interest lol

right now we have 2 weeks to get this car all set before she comes back from college to pick it up

since she goes to school a few hours away, it wouldn't be easy for her to come over every night to work on it anyways
-----------------------------------------------------
basically all I've done so far is 10 ish hours of plasti-dip

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she wouldn't let me de-badge or remove the moldings, or the running boards

we threw in some of my old aftermarket lights, and on Saturday it'll be going in for tint. 20% on the front windows and 70% entire windshield

we pulled the system out of her Blazer and hope to have it installed in this vehicle by the weekend

Wouldn't normally say it, but with the dipped parts, I kinda like the moldings and running boards.

 

[Galandorian]

Wouldn't normally say it, but with the dipped parts, I kinda like the moldings and running boards.

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

running boards are only for lowered vehicles and moldings are for never

I do think it has turned out really nice so far. amazing what some cheap rubber color coating can do to a vehicle.

I'm super excited to see what it'll look like with tint and a brush guard

 

[HiHoeSilver]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

running boards are only for lowered vehicles and moldings are for never

I do think it has turned out really nice so far. amazing what some cheap rubber color coating can do to a vehicle.

I'm super excited to see what it'll look like with tint and a brush guard

Change the running boards for some nerf bars then!

 

[OR VietVet]

Can you still buy nerf bars! WOW!