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2003 Z71 going under the knife

robertmee

Full Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
133
Location
Raleigh, NC
Hey guys/gals.  Thought I'd start posting some of my thoughts/progress/failures/successes on my new to me 2003 Z71.  I've been searching for a truck the past couple of years and almost bought a RAM Rebel, but at the end of the day, couldn't justify dropping 50K on a truck.  So I started looking around something a bit older that I could fix up and make my own, good as new again.  I found a local 2003 White Z71 fully optioned for 4.5K.  It has high mileage at 230K, but I didn't care because engine mods are down the line anyway.  So, last week, I ordered my all new leather Katskins, and started the progress.  The interior is going to be modeled a bit after the RAM Rebel...Mostly the current platinum but with some very modest red accents.  Let the games begin!
 
First up is gut the interior.  The previous owner had left her in the snow, with all the sun roof drains plugged.  So, alot of water later, I had a smelly mess.  No worries, as everything comes out.  I give everything a diluted vinegar bath to kill any mold spores from the nasty carpet/padding.

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The Dash has some wear spots, so I have a friend that does dash repair.  He's going to strip it and re-dye.  Will post the results when done.

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Seat trim badly worn and broken (see all the funky screws/washers).  Found replacement pieces at a local pick and pull.  All this trim will be going red to match the two tone leather wrap.

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Can't wait to watch the progress and see the finished product.  (y)
 
Been down with the Flu and it's rained here it seems non-stop.  So progress is slow.  But I did add sound dampening to the floorpan.

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Am I the only one not seeing these images?

???
 
Hmm....don't know.  Using a Google Shared album, since photobucket went kaput.

Can any of you see the pics in this link:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/t29Yf3jHV3LkLDEm1
 
I also modified each IMG URL to add ?.jpg as suggested by some other forum sites.  Refresh and see if that helps any of them show up.
 
robertmee said:
Hmm....don't know.  Using a Google Shared album, since photobucket went kaput.

Can any of you see the pics in this link:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/t29Yf3jHV3LkLDEm1
I can see them fine.  Man, you've been busy.  (y)
 
frito said:
I can see them fine.  Man, you've been busy.  (y)

Thanks...going slower than I'd hoped being sick for a week and the weather.  Today I ran my cables from the radio to the rear for a camera.  No pics of that as pretty straight forward...I used the floor grommet for the ebrake cable and routed in 3/16" wire wrap, following the cable route to the rear lights which are on top of the frame.
 
So yesterday, reinstalled all my headliner parts.  I changed over from Shale to Pewter, and luckily found an 03 Tahoe in the Junkyard that had minty Pewter headliner parts...the handle assist, front console, sunroof handle, overhead lights, sunvisors and sunroof trim.  Kept me from having to paint all my pieces.  There were some differences between the Tahoe and Avalanche Console though.  Weird for the same year.  Other than the upper heating controls of course, the homelink controller was a different model # and the two dome switches were two wire instead of three wire.  So, I cut out the avalanche harness from the Shale console and spliced it into the Tahoe Console.  You'll also note the cubby in the Avalanche is plastic welded in, so I couldn't swap it into the Tahoe.  For now I'm keeping the Tahoe upper HVAC control.  It's a separate unit and has its own connector.  Might research what it would take to actually use it as I've always felt the upper cubby was useless anyway.


Upper (Tahoe), Lower (Avalanche)
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Tahoe Homelink (Left), Avalanche Homelink (Right)
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Avalanche harness soldered into Tahoe Console
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Let me chime in with thanks for the story. I was lucky enough to find a 2004 several years back with about 260k miles on it. Was driving 1/2 ton Chev trucks so this is absolute heaven!. Your task sounds more daunting and will stay tuned to learn. Keep up the great work. I'll mention I've been in the OLD car restoration stuff since I quit rebuilding and driving planes. I'd mention the brand but would surely be banned from ever posting here again, so I'll just try to post a link to my web page. Before I do that tho' - my Avalanche is my real first love for real transportation. Now I'll try to post a link - - http://dunlavy.us/
I will be reading and learning.   
 
Beautiful Ford.  I don't think it matters what we restore...as long as we are saving vehicles from the crusher and bringing back a bit of history.  My last restore was a dodge factory convertible dakota.  My daily I tinker with is a mercury marauder.  My other toys are buicks and gmcs.  So it's all good.
 
robertmee said:
So yesterday, reinstalled all my headliner parts.  I changed over from Shale to Pewter, and luckily found an 03 Tahoe in the Junkyard that had minty Pewter headliner parts...the handle assist, front console, sunroof handle, overhead lights, sunvisors and sunroof trim.  Kept me from having to paint all my pieces.  There were some differences between the Tahoe and Avalanche Console though.  Weird for the same year.  Other than the upper heating controls of course, the homelink controller was a different model # and the two dome switches were two wire instead of three wire.  So, I cut out the avalanche harness from the Shale console and spliced it into the Tahoe Console.  You'll also note the cubby in the Avalanche is plastic welded in, so I couldn't swap it into the Tahoe.  For now I'm keeping the Tahoe upper HVAC control.  It's a separate unit and has its own connector.  Might research what it would take to actually use it as I've always felt the upper cubby was useless anyway.

I have switched upper consoles around before.  You can drill out the plastic rivets that hold the cubby or HVAC bracketry, and use a self tapping screw to mount it in another console.  If you need something to put there other than the cubby, you could put in some switches, or maybe an Edge CTS for some more gauges or a backup camera, etc.?  I did the latter on my Duramax.


 

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camaroz1985 said:
I have switched upper consoles around before.  You can drill out the plastic rivets that hold the cubby or HVAC bracketry, and use a self tapping screw to mount it in another console.  If you need something to put there other than the cubby, you could put in some switches, or maybe an Edge CTS for some more gauges or a backup camera, etc.?  I did the latter on my Duramax.

Man, that edge CTS looks NICE!  I'm going to have a 12" Android down below where the other cubbies are in the dash, but I like that look.  I have an NEX 8200 that replaces the stock head end for backup camera duties.
 
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