New To Forum, Found Denali Powerbuy...

[D is for DENALI]

Hey guys and gals, new poster, recent lurker, just bought a 2003 Denali xl with 175k from a friend. $2k... so maybe the most recent cheapest denali in the country.

But it needed work badly inside and out, except no rust, body damage and the interior was solid but caked in years of Thai food oil and filterless cigarettes. It was so gross, i dont know how people live the way they do but he new it was jacked aesthetically and in the end spent over 30 hours on the detailing.

The transmission bands were toast in first and second, had to granny thru those as it would just hangout there in the gear till i let off, so i put in a 'beast mode' build from a performance trans shop... corvette servo, beast reaction shell, added steel to 3-4, eliminator valves, new torque converter, upgraded trans cooler, couple here and there's, but essentially, when I get on it, it has a shotgun style shift with awesome shift points.

So $2k went up to $3.4k . Lol

I also did a full overall tune up.... fuel filter, kn air filter, Maf, battery, battery bolts, serpentine and a.c. belt kits, plugs, wires, a.c. serviced, all new rotors, pads, wheel sensors, full grease ( Pittman and idler were in good shape), new/used tires from a tire shop as every tire was different and 2 were 255 instead of 265...

this guy just drove it 7 miles a day to work for 6 years and that's it... "rain baths" he called it when I asked him if he washed it ever...hahahhaha.. gave me a good idea on his upkeep so I decided that nothing was safe and replaced everything..
So now 3.4 k is up to 4.7k..

But the story doesn't end there!!!


I flushed the radiator, and did the royal purple treatment on the moving parts underneath , along with the rear end fluid, also not bad.

That annoying hum from the rear climate fan was present so I changed that out, which I found from lurking this forum along with the reduced engine power I was getting before I replaced the tps sensor and rewired the pigtail, along with finding the grounds and sanding them to a high sheen. 2 on the engine and the battery negative ground on the frame, which handled my issue.

So, add another 300 and we are at 5 grand.
Fully tuned up purring, I'm loving this ride!!

After a full month of daily working on this truck , I'm addicted. Lolz

So, next on the list is cats, and a airraid intake tube, and if the wife doesn't care anout the growl, I'm gonna splurge on the corsa sport exhaust with matching midpipe cats...

Hopefully I get this all done before fall because if blackbear performance is going to Tennessee this fall for in person tunes, I'm gonna get a 91octane tune.

So there you have it, I just wanted to say thank you to this forum for making my new truck life easier, and give you guys the scoop on my new ride!!!

I'm a new excited denali owner for sure...

Also, do you think that I got a good deal , with all this work, for 5k?

After the exhaust and intake, and BB tune, I'll be at 7 grand for a monster of a truck... can t wait!!!

I want to thank everyone who unknowingly helped me on working on it, as I'm not a auto mechanic and this page literally found my reduced power issue along with numerous other points of need for denali truck knowledge. I'll figure out how to put pics in and let you see the finished product...

 

[about20ninj45]

Is your front diff growling? Keep an eye on it, bit you got it for a steal all in all. Post a pic up of the rig so we can check her out. Welcome to the forum!!

 

[D is for DENALI]

No growl, everything came out great..
Dirty oil, but very little if negligible shaving presence..

I assumed he never changed it so i was waiting for globs of silver goop to come out but it wasnt..

The growl I'm referring to is the exhaust growl I'll get from the corsa upgrade.. I had her listen to a you tune vid of a start up and rev and she kinda rolled her eyes and said, " so is this for noise or performance?" I said , "both of course!! Just be happy I'm getting the sport and not the extreme.."

 

[D is for DENALI]

Not sure if the pics went thru completely, so im sending them again..

 

[Tonyrodz]

You got a great deal. You should post an interior shot. It must've been really nasty inside. With all the work done and money spent you're still ahead of the game.

 

[D is for DENALI]

I'll take a few for you, I wish I took inside 'before' pics, i just opened the doors and let it air out for 3 days while I applied massive elbow grease to.. ugh.. everything.

I didn't put the windows up for 10 days just to air it out... he owned a Thai restaurant and had years old spilt Thai grease on the side and up the bottom of the back section, completely blacked tar glued to the carpet..

It was one of those things where you just take a deep breath, crack a beer, and get started. 20 hours of the 30ish was on the inside.. I did a 2 stage meguiars cleaner and paste buffing, goo gone on some old duct tape leftovers from God knows when, just a giant turd coated in smoke and Thai oil..

I knew going in I needed a trans, and then went full tilt once started..lol

I worked on the inside over the course of 3 days so at the end of each day it seemed like I didn't get much done, so I didn't take pics because I was so frustrated that I just scrubbed, hard, a whole interior with different types of scrubs and brush so I didn't mess up the plastic... but, i saw the finished product in my head looking around, nothing was broken, things like that.. i thought, I can clean the shit out of this..hahaha

Well worth it in the end, getting 14.8 avg and rolling in my hard work.. I wonder where that avg will go once the intake, exhaust and tune gets done. 0

I'm the type of guy who tries for max mpg but will stamp it for a pass or something..
I'll get those pics for you

 

[D is for DENALI]

It's about to rain and the lighting is crap so i did the best I could..



On a side note, to fully wrap yourself in the filth that I had to clean, I did not know from my original jump in and drive that the seats were different shades... and that the center counsel wasnt dark brown.. i dont smoke, so for me it was even more brutal. I laughed when I jumped in thru the back door and looked at the far back seats and they were barely touched... I went," son of a ***** these seats are beige and tan... (deep sigh)" it was all cosmetic nd I had to keep telling myself that as I kept scrubbing, and wiping, and scrubbing, and wiping... it's done now, and I'm greatful to have a garage..

Edited to add:: I forgot to mention I replaced the low and high bulbs with Sylvania silverstar ultra, and found the diode trick to make a 4 hi mod..im going to order the 'all high' light mod piece from fleece performance, and I'm purchasing the new fog lights this week, Sylvania ultra as well. I wonder if I can get ultras for the daytime running too just to finish the kit.lol gotta see those deer and critters!

 

[Tonyrodz]

It's about to rain and the lighting is crap so i did the best I could..

View attachment 84621 View attachment 84623 View attachment 84624

On a side note, to fully wrap yourself in the filth that I had to clean, I did not know from my original jump in and drive that the seats were different shades... and that the center counsel wasnt dark brown.. i dont smoke, so for me it was even more brutal. I laughed when I jumped in thru the back door and looked at the far back seats and they were barely touched... I went," son of a ***** these seats are beige and tan... (deep sigh)" it was all cosmetic nd I had to keep telling myself that as I kept scrubbing, and wiping, and scrubbing, and wiping... it's done now, and I'm greatful to have a garage..

It came out amazing! Hard to believe what a little elbow grease will do for you! We're you able to get the carpet cleaned up good enough? If it was me, I would've gutted the complete interior and went from there. I'm not trying to burst your bubble, but you won't believe the crap that collects in the cracks and crevices that you don't see. Came out fantastic!

 

[D is for DENALI]

I did, I was entertaining buying a new 2 piece replacement, but I decided to do as much as I could with my scrubber and shop vac, then I brought it to a detail guy and he finished the rest for $100. 2 piece carpet was $250, and I have 3 younger kids so it's never gonna stay clean like it is now... that's the depressing part..lol

 

[adventurenali92]

Sweet score on a nice truck! Finally someone with the same interior color as my truck. Lol. I love the two tone tan interior. It looks so classy when it's all cleaned! Nice work man! It's a solid truck! With the right maintenance ive seen these trucks go a very very long way! Keep up the good work and show us progress lol