Tank's '02 Z71 Tahoe Rescue

[Tankueray]

After 3 years of regret over trading in my '02 Yukon for a Walking Dead Hyundai Tucson, nearly 10 years of regret for selling my '95 Tahoe 4x4, and my neighbor getting a steal on a '97 2 door 2WD Tahoe, I just couldn't take it anymore. I found this poor wreck at a drug confiscation auction and wondered whether I could take on yet another proje... SQUIRREL!!! It's actually not as bad as it sounds, I've done this before. Here's the method to my madness:

I ran the VIN and found an old dealer listing from when it was sold in 2014, it was in pristine shape with 200,000 highway miles. I then found the last registered owner and stalked him on Facebook. My fiance messaged him and we found out that he'd put a new transmission in it two months before it was rear-ended. He took the insurance money and sold it to a guy who was pulled over two days later and arrested for drugs. It sat in impound for two years and finally went to auction...and I became it's new mistress.

The previous owner loved this truck, but also off-roaded the hell out of it and did a few of the less expensive mods found on this forum. It was really clean, driver's seat badly worn as expected, off-road flowmaster system that dumped right under the back seat, HID conversion, LED interior conversion, and plasti-dipped rims, lower front headlights, and tail lights...I suspect that's why the other guy got pulled over in the first place. Here are the auction photos.

 

[Goodinblack]

Dang.

What a shame what to see what they did to it over the years.

Glad to see you wanting to bring it back to life.

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[Tankueray]

We drive two hours over to Fort Worth on a Thursday (you usually don't get much time to pick them up once you've won), waited a half hour to get the key, then drove to the towing yard to get the truck. We put in a battery and 3 gallons of gas and it started right up. They don't let you work on them in the lot, so we headed straight to an auto parts store to check it out. Once we arrived, my fiance informed me that he couldn't see my brake lights or blinkers at all because of the plasti-dip. Oh yeah, it had no tags either, all I had was the auction receipt and my pretty green eyes if I got pulled over. After trying to remove the too thin plasti-dip, we decided to go hit salvage row and get some new tail lights. A quick search of car-part.com told me which yard had a white Z71, and I picked up the black tail lights, running boards, and a spare rim for $170. We still had plenty of daylight left, so we played around on salvage row for a few hours looking for various other parts for our other vehicles. We hit the road home around 4pm.

So I'm driving an untested giant wind sail at 75mph on Interstate 20 (a drug corridor) with no plates, no A/C, no radio, and the smell of exhaust in the passenger compartment, on an annoyingly windy day, with way more than "normal chevy play" in the steering wheel, and I was as happy as an engineer in an argument to be back in a truck again. The engine and transmission were strong and steady, it made it up Ranger Hill without so much as a downshift. On the other side of the Hill, just as all the 18-wheelers are getting back up to speed and packing both lanes behind us, I feel a thud-thump-thud. Crap, WTF was that? I look in the rear view to see my fiance hitting the ditch in my Hyundai. I hit the ditch and go back down the feeder road to find him trying to get the spare tire into the back of the car. Luckily it went off to the right and he was able to dodge it without distressing any other vehicles in the pack behind us. That was the most exciting part of the trip. We passed one local LEO around Cisco and that was about it.

I don't know if it had to do with the 7-wire trailer harness being missing or something with the burnt out 3rd brake light, but the cruise control started randomly shutting off after I turned on the headlights near the end of the trip. My fiance said the brake lights came on like I tapped them whenever it happened, so my working theory is the harness.

Here are a few pics the morning after I got it home. Yes, that's my GTA by the garage.

 

[Tankueray]

That Sunday I cleaned and treated all the black plastic with TriNova Plastic & Trim Restorer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AAZ1OAE
did all the other plastic with 303 Aerospace Protectant: https://www.amazon.com/303-30313-CSR-Protectant-Plastic-Fiberglass/dp/B00KN0UOEE
and started cleaning the leather (sorry if the seat pics trigger anyone's OCD).



I used Krud Kutter to clean the leather seats (50% dilution), then coconut milk shampoo or saddle soap, and finally 303 Aerospace protectant.

Krud Kutter works for an amazing number of cleaning jobs. I buy it concentrated by the gallon at Lowe's or Home Depot; Wal-Mart and grocery stores carry it too. I buy plastic spray bottles at Dollar Tree and mix to whatever ratio I need for the job.https://www.homedepot.com/p/Krud-Ku...oncentrated-Cleaner-Degreaser-KK012/202525368

 

[RED TAHOE LS]

You have to be the luckiest on finding this Z71 that I've heard of. On top of that it's black and I see your wheels spinning with your restore in progress. Post pics as you go when possible. Good luck.
David g........

 

[Tankueray]

It took two weeks to get the paperwork from the auction company so that I can transfer the title. I did get a nice, shiny, new title signed by the City of Fort Worth. During that time:

• We pulled parts from a wrecked '03 at a metal recycler yard ($0.10/lb);
• I found an identical (except grey interior) donor Z71 in Lubbock for stupid cheap and had it trailered to my house;
• We replaced the back hatch, bumper, and exhaust from the donor, installed the running boards, replaced all the exterior bulbs (LED headlights and DRL, regular tails and blinkers);
• We pulled the seriously filthy back carpet from the donor and I cleaned it (and forgot to take a before picture ), I used a recipe from "Sweet Project Cars" on Youtube, Krud Kutter, and a Spot Bot;
• I bought and installed some Husky front floor mats, and picked up some cheapo rear mats at Dollar Tree; and,
• I bought an '03 dash bucket and Double Din Android Stereo (install planned this weekend).

After irreparably splitting the trim panel over the rear subwoofer, I decided to change out the tan interior with grey from the donor Z71. The seat trim is gray but the seats are tan leather. They are in horrible shape, so eventually I'll either get salvage yard seats or change out the plastic on my frames and and recover in gray. I would really like to do captain's chairs for the 2nd row.

I don't have any pictures of the above just yet, but here are links to the items I mentioned:

LED Headlights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B65WJ2S
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075R7S5NK
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A4Z3FOS

DD Stereo: https://www.eonon.com/Android-Car-G...Panel-7-Inch-Radio-Double-Din-Car-Stereo.html I bought mine on eBay with the OBDII reader: https://www.ebay.com/itm/OBD2-HD-Oc...-32GB-GPS-OBD2-Mirriong-DVR-BT-R/302667860460

Krud Kutter, I buy it by the gallon at Lowes and use it for all kinds of cleaning: https://www.amazon.com/Krud-Kutter-KK012-Concentrated-Degreaser/dp/B005FMZ40Y​

Ordered, but not installed yet:

Rain Guards: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07958TTCG
3rd Brake Light: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019HZSJY2 Need to get the Inspection and License Plates!
42mm Festoon Bulbs: https://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-Whit...Interior-LED-Light-Bulbs-578-569/282376432587
T10 Red LEDs for dash/interior change out: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KV6HKL0
LED Strip Brake/Blinker: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076KL889C​

After reading this thread and post by ScottyBoy: http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/nbs-third-brake-light.35348/#post-414453, I bought a Power Probe III because everyone on YouTube said I couldn't live without it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007QV0R7W

Sweet Project Cars Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDNfhsWyNOz8foxx5p8unQ
Most of my auto parts have come from Advanced Auto Parts, they have a rewards program, good sales, and almost always a 20% online code.
Other places I can't function without visiting at least once per week: Harbor Freight and Dollar Tree, and the Pawn Shop next to Harbor Freight!

Future Plans and Ponderings:

• Factory Amp Bypass and eventually replacing the whole speaker system.
• Leather look black vinyl dash wrap for the top dash
• Color change to grey leather
• Different front seats and moving the seat belts to the pillar (I feel like this will be a PITA for safety reasons)
• Soundproofing in sections while the interior is being upgraded
• Dual pipes, maybe full dual, I'm not sure yet
• OnStar delete, reuse it's antenna and mic with the new stereo
• Painting/wrapping and installing the center console from the '03
• Front window tint
• Escalade instrument cluster
• Suspension/brake replacements and upgrades
• Fixing the loose steering
• Black Plasti-Dip the rims again
• Paint protection film on the grill, partial hood and front fenders, black bumper, and mirrors (guess I should just do it all!)
• Replacement Z71 emblems and bowtie
• Stealth Knight Rider light behind the grill (because my first love will always be an f-body)
• Engine dress up
• If we make it through all this without killing each other, getting married.

 

[adventurenali92]

Looks like quite the project. But what’s life without an adventure?! Haha. Good luck on the progress and keep us updated!!

 

[Tankueray]

The donor truck I picked up on Craigslist. One of the wheels is bad, the grill guard was removed and damaged, no transmission, and a bad running board. It's lived a hard life, but parts is parts.

 

[Shaw520]

A very ambitious build,..love it!

 

[Goodinblack]

F Body FTW

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