My Fix & Flip Project

Fri Guy

15 Year Member
May 10, 2007
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I purchased a 2001 Silverado Z71 with 126K miles from a buddy of mine who had it sitting outside of his 4x4 shop for a good while. Prior to him getting it, it had been parked since around 2014. Truck belonged to a co-worker of ours so know the history on it. I purchased the truck for $500 with the intentions of trying to fix it and flip it for some extra cash for my Fox Body. Before trying to start the truck we drained the fuel tank and replaced the fuel filter, air filter, spark plugs and wires. Had a new fuel pump installed less than 2 years ago. When I tried firing it up I quickly knew something was wrong. Truck was very loud and wouldn't run under it's own power. It was missing really bad. I looked under the truck and saw that someone stole the damn catalytic converters. They cut them clean off.

I knew the missing cats wouldn't cause the misfiring issue so I started troubleshooting everything I could, I didn't want to just start throwing parts at it due to trying to keep the cost down. After about a week or so of tinkering with it I finally got it started and running on it's own power. Turned out that the fuel rain and injectors were so plugged up that only 2 cylinders were firing and barley firing at that. This truck had been driving me nuts trying to figure out what the issue was. I was so happy when I finally got it running. I still have lots to do though. Have high fuel pressure which I believe is the return line, have a leak on one of the transmission cooler lines, coolant leak at the radiator hose connection and the exhaust to address. I did find a parts truck that I was able to remove the stock Y-pipe with catalytic converters for $50.

As of now I installed new tires and gave the wheels a coat of paint, replaced all the brake lines, hoses, calipers, rotors and pads. Found a hood from a parts truck to replace the one on the truck due to a rust spot. Also did the tune up parts. I'm into it as of today for about $2700.

Here is a video of when it was running horrible and after I swapped the fuel rail and injectors.


View: https://imgur.com/zTwBtCj



View: https://imgur.com/nKYhM6a
 
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Reactions: General karthief
Just looked up the values on KBB. Not sure how accurate they really are though or if i could get that king of money. According to their info:

Fair Condition - Trade Lowest $5400 and Private Party Average $6800
Good Condition - Trade Lowest $6200 and Private Party Average $7700
Very Good Condition - Trade Lowest $6900 and Private Party Average $8500
 
Just looked up the values on KBB. Not sure how accurate they really are though or if i could get that king of money. According to their info:

Fair Condition - Trade Lowest $5400 and Private Party Average $6800
Good Condition - Trade Lowest $6200 and Private Party Average $7700
Very Good Condition - Trade Lowest $6900 and Private Party Average $8500
You probably know this but....
Somebody is ALWAYS looking for a truck. AND the way the used car market is now, I bet your high book price is pretty good.....
New trucks selling for 50K for basic ones and loaded are 100K now.....
 
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Reactions: Ronin38
You probably know this but....
Somebody is ALWAYS looking for a truck. AND the way the used car market is now, I bet your high book price is pretty good.....
New trucks selling for 50K for basic ones and loaded are 100K now.....
Yeah I just always look at the lowest as what I might get but I will price it higher when the time comes to put it up for sale. I just hope that I don't like it when I'm done with it and want to keep it.
 
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Reactions: limp
I’ve always been a Ford guy, but I really liked those trucks when they first debuted. They looked much better than what came before or after. Only downside was how cheap the interiors were.
 
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Reactions: Fri Guy
Thanks fellas, I didn't realize how desirable these trucks are. I learned a lot working on this truck and still had some more things that I had wanted to do with it but was ready to let it go and focus on my Fox Body. The buyer was super happy with it and he knows it still needs some things but I sold it to him for a fair price even though I know I could had got more. I'd rather it go to someone who is going to appreciate it and continue to work on it. I was a little bummed to see it go but the $2500 profit made me feel much better.