Bugs Palace!

Truck is offically legal. Plates are on, insurance is paid and its officially Canadian.

wOOt

Well, for the first time since 2003, I am once again  a pickup-man. Dad and I made the flight down to Adel Georgia to get my new truck. Flight was pretty quick and painless, as was the (long ass) drive home.

Details : 2000 Chevrolet Silverado, Extended Cab (4 door), Short box, 4.8L V8, 5speed manual, in pewter. Love it. Truck made the 1100 mile trip home without so much as a hiccup. A couple small nit-picky things need to be fixed up, but nothing major. Border crossing was alot easier then I had anticipated. About 20minutes on each side of the border (US and Canada Customs), and I was on my way.  All thats left is to wait for a form in the mail, and have a safety inspection done. Then she’s 100% legal.

Truck Page is HERE.

Only tough part about buying the truck was leaving my lovely wife, baby and two dogs behind for a couple days. Missed you guys!

Lastly, I have to send a HUGE thank you out to Andrew (Heliox). Without his step by step instructions, this may not have been possible. It sure as hell wouldn’t have been as easy. 

My shopping list started out somewhat broad, as I have considered alot of different options. Some very different vehicles, such as Ford Mustangs, Dodge Chargers, Subaru WRX’s, Chevrolet Camaros, Honda Civic SiR’s, VW Corrados, another Mini CooperS, and Ford F150 Crew Cabs are just some of the cars that have been strongly considered and dismissed for one reason or another (price, not available in manual trans, older then i want, not enough space for family etc). In the end, I was left with a few which are more ‘me’. What does that leave on the maybe list? Well, a couple different options are left. Here they are, each with the requirements that must be met.

1.) 1999-2002 Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra

• Extended Cab/ Short box (3 or 4 door, and not a stepside)
• 5 Speed manual transmission, 2wd
• 4.3L V6 or 4.8L V8 (prefer the 4.8, but not essential)

2.) 2002-2003 Dodge Ram

• Quad Cab / Short box
• 5 Speed manual transmission, 2wd
• 4.7L V8

3.) 2002-2004 Volkswagen GTi

• 1.8T or VR6 Engine
• 5 (or 6) Speed manual transmission
• moonroof required

After looking extensively, I couldn’t find GTI in my price range that hasnt been beaten all to hell, and Dodges are more Grants thing 😉

In the end, I finally found my unicorn. A 2000 Chevrolet Silverado, Extended Cab 4 door , Short Bed, LS model with a 4.8l v8 (85K miles), 5 speed manual. As some of you may know, extended cab with a 5 speed is more then a little rare, ESPECIALLY with the v8 (hence the nick name unicorn).

The truck is located in Adel Georgia (2 hours from Jacksonville Florida). Dad and I will be flying down, and driving it home (17hr road trip). I can’t wait! The old diesel will continue it’s daily driver duty till likely May, at which point, the truck will become the daily hauler. During the period of rest (Jan-May) the truck will be treated to some additions and upgrades 🙂

As for the Beetle: Paul has finished up the touch ups, wet sanding, and buffing. I haven’t seen it yet, but Alex says it looks incredible. Looking forward to stopping by soon! Also, I dropped the engine off with Dion early this week. Hes going to be doing a full rebuild for me. She’s already disassmbled and ready for cleaning and inspection. So far, I’m looking for new heads 🙁