Injured 2017 Silverado Z71 Build Project

[FixitNick]

Picked up a project truck. Was looking around at insurance auctions and saw this thing. 2017 Silverado Z71 with 700 miles. It was in San Diego with AZ title, thats usually a bit fishy but it seemed like a good risk to take. Seems like someone bought this new in AZ and drove to San diego and crashed it and the insurance company didnt see like it was financially smart to tow it back to AZ to try and fix it and instead just decided to salvage the truck and sell it where it crashed, thats just my guess. For insurance to see if they can repair it, first they would have to tow it back to AZ, then take it to a shop to estimate the repair and see if its worth repairing? Well anyways, seems like i got a great deal on this thing at $16,800 for a $45-50k truck, the only reason i think it didnt go for more is because of the AZ title in CA.

The goal is to repair this thing, and bring it to a driving condition, then start planning upgrade for it, such as exhaust, lift, wheels, tires, tune etc etc... Enjoy the build guys, ill try to keep it fun and interesting if i can

 

[FixitNick]

The 2017 Silverado Z71 project arriving home, Will have a good look over at things and see how bad she really is, so far things are looking promising, so rta start and runs/rolls lol ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrL4c9Q-s1Q&t=60s

 

[zora]

Good luck with the project. Have you tried registering the vehicle in CA ?

 

[FixitNick]

Good luck with the project. Have you tried registering the vehicle in CA ?

thats in progress right now, few loopholes need to jump thought cuz AZ title, blah blah

 

[FixitNick]

Taking a look at the damage a bit closer to see how bad it is and what parts ill be replacing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnUipYZj3EA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ0bd8o1GBw

 

[FixitNick]

After a quick wash it looks a little better and can see the damage better. The suspension is less damaged than i expected, the body is still pretty bad, will be looking for black painted fender and black doors if possible to find.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvGttFnenjA

 

[FixitNick]

The upper control arm arrived and it was time to install it with my little helped guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFFl1EWBeP8

 

[zora]

i'm still amazed that the insurance company totalled this vehicle, could the cost back to Az been that much to make them handle it this way. keep the video's coming.

 

[FixitNick]

i'm still amazed that the insurance company totalled this vehicle, could the cost back to Az been that much to make them handle it this way. keep the video's coming.

the way i see it, in a way i got lucky, and from insurance point of view, for them to tow it back to AZ then to go thought shops to get estimates, it seems better financially to just dumb it at the nearest auction in CA where it crashed. Plus it was only start and not "drivebale" so they assumed the damage was much worse. The damage is not easy, plenty of things to replace, but i simply changed the upper control arm and i can now drive it to work and back as is lol

 

[FixitNick]

Upper control arm was installed, everything was checked and double checked and shes now on the ground and ready to roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZpmWkSkmUw

 

[FixitNick]

It was time to do a little test drive around the yard with the little baby mechanic, to make sure it rolls around fine and turns fine with no issues etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fr8E0FfFaI

 

[FixitNick]

It was time to remove the side steps, never liked the look of them anyways. Little helped was there once again helping out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcVTP9D-zcc

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[zora]

I enjoyed the usage of a brick as the fine adjustment tool for the door, good idea. No noticeable pulling one way or the other in your brief test drive?

 

[FixitNick]

I enjoyed the usage of a brick as the fine adjustment tool for the door, good idea. No noticeable pulling one way or the other in your brief test drive?

it was actually a 2x6 piece, didnt wanna scratch up inside pillar lol , i drive perfectly straight, i just als got alignment done and it drove fine without alignment and slightly improved after alignment

 

[FixitNick]

It was time to remove the headliner and those annoying blown airbags. The headliner is such a pain, maybe ill just strip the interior and remove all 4 doors and drive it like a jeep lol. AFter that was done it was time to drive to to an alignment shop and get everything checked out and adjust what needs adjusting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYj2KvCEIxk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDx51EQqTy4

 

[zora]

that headliner removal looked like a pain. have you done this before? are you a professional?

 

[FixitNick]

that headliner removal looked like a pain. have you done this before? are you a professional?

no im not a professional, but i have worked on a few different cars in the past, mostly as a hobby. I have build a few 67 mustang classics, those are my fav to work on, newer cars are more a pain in the butt lol

 

[FixitNick]

Baby Mechanic and I removed the front silly chrome mustache from the truck, well mostly because it was damaged, but it does in fact look like a freaken mustache and i would love to find one just all black, anyone know why some get the chrome mustang and some just get the black lip valance even tho the models seem to be identical?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6F1N9wp4B4

 

[zora]

couldn't find a black bumper extension option on the Chevy build your own site

 

[FixitNick]

couldn't find a black bumper extension option on the Chevy build your own site

i found a few with the front lip just black without the chrome mustache, so they made both different kind, so what ill do is order at the dealer the part that matches the VIN of the truck with the all black.