Well, here goes another one. I bought this 2007 Sierra Denali Classic yesterday on 29/10/14, and plan to save it from it's previous life. I plan to just clean it up and use it as a second truck for highway trips, towing, and obviously start throwing parts at it to give it some extra power.

My previous build was my 2005 GMC Sierra SLT, I has a Castech head crack so I built a new long-block with 243 heads, a 212/218 114 lsa cam, rebuilt the 4L60E, and it was great. But ultimately when I came back to university my money situation took a turn and I sold it.

But I've since corrected that and am eager to have a project to pick away at. So, enough chatter, here it is, the bad, the bad and the ugly. Keep in mind I wanted to get this pictures before I did anything to show just how bad it is.


The battery is toast, I tried to save it, but it's too far gone.



The grill looks like it has sagged. I can hold it in position, but it lacks support. I'm guessing broken clips back there somewhere.



I honestly don't understand these. I tried to peel one off, but it just broke. Terrible style.



Apparently the head gasket went in the middle of the winter, so instead of washing it and storing it, they parked it covered in road salt and dirt



These need to come off. I am very much against stick-on chrome plastic accessories. They make everything look cheap.



Badly oxidized aluminum gas cap. Have an OEM one on its way already.



Same thing with my last GMC, it was in an accident on this side, and the bed rail is coming up because the clips were broken when removed or re-installed. The damage was repaired very well, I can't see any overspray, the lines are straight, spot welds are nice, no bondo. That's a plus I guess.



Need a new one of these for sure.



Already ordered a new one of these, black, with a locking bezel to make the box inaccessible when locked.



A few little door dings I'll try to pop out with my glue-puller.



The bad. Blown head gasket. I drove it straight to a Jiffy Lube and had them drop the oil/coolant milkshake. Added fresh oil and topped up the coolant and drove it the 10 minutes to my place. Ordered a Fel-Pro top end gasket kit and Fel-Pro head bolts already. Going to tear into it sooner than later to asses the damage. Worst case Ontario the block is cracked or something and I need a whole new rotating assembly. In that case I'll build on myself and throw all the goodies in now.



The ugly. I just... I can't... Who lives like this?




Possibly need a new carpet. Or a miracle.



Definately need some seat skins.





I have to peel the rest of this rubber texture off. It comes of easily and looks the same underneath. Unless GM or someone makes a replacement coating.



Damage.



This is kind of nice, should come clean with some elbow grease.



Great spot for rust





So that's it, the starting point. It needs a ton of elbow grease to make it something I'm not embarrassed to drive, but I'm more than willing to bring it back to its former glory and ultimately make it a showroom condition grocery getter that heads to the track on weekends.

 

Aftermarket carpet usually sucks (if you go that route). What I've done that works best. Pull it ou, spray with degreaser and pressure wash. Then hang over a fence to a few days. in the sun. Good as new.

 

I was considering that as my first option. It will give me a chance to check to floor for any rust, and get the seats dealt with. I just need to track down a good degreaser. Any suggestions?

 

Simple green, purple power, greased lightning. They are all good.

 

I used spray nine once and it discoloured my floor mat. Speaking of which, this truck doesn't have any. Anyone know of a place that sells OEM fitting floormats that will match?

 

Just get Weathertech mats, I have those in my truck and they're great

 

A real Kijiji gem there...... lol. Trust me..... there are oodles of GMT800's on that site that are in the shape of yours or even worse. And then most guys want $10K plus for them to boot! People are just pigs and don't give a damn. Then I laugh at the guys asking over or even around $20K for a 05-07 Denali truck with over 160K on it..... they need a reality check..... maybe if it had 50K on it it would be a reasonable starting point for trucks 8-10 years old.

I would be a little worried about the bottom end if it sat for a year with antifreeze in it.... bearings would probably be a little worse for wear. I doubt the block is cracked lol. More than likely a warped head that popped the gasket. I have a friend with a head shop in Westlock and it's not common on the LS's but it happens. Toss some 243's on it instead and make an iron LS2 out of it!

A friend of mine on here (black04) took an 03 extended cab LT that was worse than this truck interior wise and made a really nice truck out of it. That said..... he also found a same color leather interior complete for $500 and changed everything lol. I think the guy that he bought his from excreted acid from his hands...... and grey carpet was permablack lol. Not to mention the engine, trans, and front end were garbage and replaced..... all from Kijiji! Now it rocks an LQ9, 60E with a transgo kit and 6 cylinder trailblazer convertor instead. With 4.10's it moves not too bad.

Assuming you are from Edmonton I am sure i have seen that truck before..... I just can't pinpoint where lol. Probably Kijiji.

 

a good heat gun will get the stick on chrome junk off
and some decal remover will also help
i like the engine cover better than a lot I've seen from the factory

 

Yeah I picked it up off Kijiji, guy from the West end. I got it for a decent price so that helped. I started detailing the interior last night and it's turning out really nice. I'm excited to keep going and get it done but I had to shut it down last night because all the kids were skipping my house when they saw me cleaning the truck haha.

Definitely going to pull the entire engine and strip it down. I'm going to build it right so it's going to take some time. I figure 243 heads, a decent cam, and then next time I head down to the Hat I'll stop by Wester's and have him tune it.

 

I used the heat gun and pulled most of it off. I used xylene to get the glue off, but in some spots it seems the glue oxidized the paint so I picked up some rubbing compound to try and get it polished out. Couldn't test it last night because it started to rain.