bdt115
Member
Hey guys, just bought myself a new (to me) 2000 Tahoe. As much as I work on cars, I didnt mind the mileage on it (218,000). Just recently got married so I let my wife use my 2004 F150 until I found a vehicle I liked for myself. In the time between I bought a 1987 Toyota Celica for $600. Car ran like a dream so why not.
About a month and a half later I found a nice Tahoe at a dealer. Went and looked at it to see if it might be a good choice. 5.3, 4x4, leather, clean, stock except for the wheels and tires. Pretty good vehicle except for the mileage and left plenty of room for the custom stuff I like to do to my vehicles. So, I made them an offer and sure enough it was accepted. Drove home the next day with my new vehicle. 11/29/13.
First things first, have to clean it and look it over more. So, I took it to the carwash (live in an apartment so can't do it there) Cleaned up nice, didn't notice too many imperfections. Then, took it to the garage on base (for those of y'all who don't know, I'm in the Navy) to get it on a lift and really look at it a lot better. Everything checked out fine to my standards. No oil leaks to be found, very minimal rust on the frame (will be resprayed with undercoating), nothing missing, broken, or cracked.
The next day (11/30/13), I found some lens tint I had from when i did my f150 taillights, and some good black spray paint and clear coat.
Took out the taillights and the third brake light. Cleaned everything up and prepped everything the way it should be. Taped off the clear where the reverse lights shine through, and put 4-5 coats of tint. Once dry, I cleaned the area where the taillights and third brake lights would go so nothing would start to rust (plus it would annoy me if I just left it like that). Everything back in, checked the lights. Everything still works!
Good to go!
For the Bow-tie up front, instead of just popping it out, I took the entire grill out. Cleaned everything up and noted some spots that are going to get re-done when I return home, but for now, they'll have to stay. Back to the actual project. Popped the bow-tie out of the grill and prepped it (same process used for any other paint job), painted with 3 coats of base and 4 coats of clear. While waiting for everything to dry, I cleaned up the grill. The next morning, everything was put back and another small project finished.
12/1/13. New month new projects right???
On to the inside. For whatever reason, the aftermarket head unit in the Tahoe was sticking out about 3 inches. This annoyed me...a lot...so, time to get to work. I'm sure most of you guys know how to take out these radios and all that so I won't go into detail. While it was out, I figured I'd rob some stuff out of the F150. A few months before all this, I installed some subs into a friends car and he gave me the two old 10s he had (still working great) as payment. I bought a box and a 1000w amp off craigslist and hooked them up in the F150. They didn't sound too great because it was vibrating the plastic in the back of the truck. I just disconnected them and left everything back there until I either sold them or fixed the noise issue. So, a Tahoe with a big open back area and a stock sound system seemed like a good fix to the problem 
. Got all that hooked up and all the wires hidden in about an hour. Moved some wires around behind the radio and put it in the way it should have been the first time. Started the Tahoe up and listened to my hard work.
Pics soon.
Obviously, these are all quick, cheap projects. The next day 12/2/13, I parked the Tahoe and flew out to Idaho for work. We're supposed to return by the end of the week so hopefully I'll be able to get back to work on her soon. Ordered some 8000k HIDs while I was here. Progress is probably going to be fairly slow on the build as I have other priorities that come first but any chance I get, something new will be put on.
Future Plans:
New Fog Light Housings
6000k HID Fogs
6000k HID Highs
New Headlights and Running Light Housings
3 inch leveling kit w/ 1 inch blocks and new shocks
33 or 35??? inch mud tires
Headers
CAI
Tune
High flow cats
Magnaflow exhaust on true duals.
Roof Racks
New front leather seats
Navi
Aftermarket Door speakers
The Tahoe's going to be my daily driver but should see less than 10K miles a year because of how much I'll be away from it and my very short commute. It will, however, be lightly wheeled and will need to pull an occasional boat/trailer (nothing huge). If anyone else is in Washington state and knows about Mt. Baker or Walker Valley ORV, I'll be taking it to one of these two places about once a month. Baker for snowboarding and Walker Valley so I can ride my dirt bike, but I do go down some trails first before I park. Any input would be great! Had a 1995 Tahoe about 6 months before I got this one and loved it so I'm looking forward to this newer one! Updates will come with new upgrades and projects, of course.
Pictures will be up later of the taillights and the bow-tie. I'm having a friend take some pictures. I will be better at getting pictures from now on but didn't think to take any for a build thread before I left. Thanks guys!!!
The old 1995
About a month and a half later I found a nice Tahoe at a dealer. Went and looked at it to see if it might be a good choice. 5.3, 4x4, leather, clean, stock except for the wheels and tires. Pretty good vehicle except for the mileage and left plenty of room for the custom stuff I like to do to my vehicles. So, I made them an offer and sure enough it was accepted. Drove home the next day with my new vehicle. 11/29/13.
First things first, have to clean it and look it over more. So, I took it to the carwash (live in an apartment so can't do it there) Cleaned up nice, didn't notice too many imperfections. Then, took it to the garage on base (for those of y'all who don't know, I'm in the Navy) to get it on a lift and really look at it a lot better. Everything checked out fine to my standards. No oil leaks to be found, very minimal rust on the frame (will be resprayed with undercoating), nothing missing, broken, or cracked.
The next day (11/30/13), I found some lens tint I had from when i did my f150 taillights, and some good black spray paint and clear coat.
Took out the taillights and the third brake light. Cleaned everything up and prepped everything the way it should be. Taped off the clear where the reverse lights shine through, and put 4-5 coats of tint. Once dry, I cleaned the area where the taillights and third brake lights would go so nothing would start to rust (plus it would annoy me if I just left it like that). Everything back in, checked the lights. Everything still works!
Good to go!For the Bow-tie up front, instead of just popping it out, I took the entire grill out. Cleaned everything up and noted some spots that are going to get re-done when I return home, but for now, they'll have to stay. Back to the actual project. Popped the bow-tie out of the grill and prepped it (same process used for any other paint job), painted with 3 coats of base and 4 coats of clear. While waiting for everything to dry, I cleaned up the grill. The next morning, everything was put back and another small project finished.
12/1/13. New month new projects right???
On to the inside. For whatever reason, the aftermarket head unit in the Tahoe was sticking out about 3 inches. This annoyed me...a lot...so, time to get to work. I'm sure most of you guys know how to take out these radios and all that so I won't go into detail. While it was out, I figured I'd rob some stuff out of the F150. A few months before all this, I installed some subs into a friends car and he gave me the two old 10s he had (still working great) as payment. I bought a box and a 1000w amp off craigslist and hooked them up in the F150. They didn't sound too great because it was vibrating the plastic in the back of the truck. I just disconnected them and left everything back there until I either sold them or fixed the noise issue. So, a Tahoe with a big open back area and a stock sound system seemed like a good fix to the problem . Got all that hooked up and all the wires hidden in about an hour. Moved some wires around behind the radio and put it in the way it should have been the first time. Started the Tahoe up and listened to my hard work. Pics soon.Obviously, these are all quick, cheap projects. The next day 12/2/13, I parked the Tahoe and flew out to Idaho for work. We're supposed to return by the end of the week so hopefully I'll be able to get back to work on her soon. Ordered some 8000k HIDs while I was here. Progress is probably going to be fairly slow on the build as I have other priorities that come first but any chance I get, something new will be put on.
Future Plans:
New Fog Light Housings
6000k HID Fogs
6000k HID Highs
New Headlights and Running Light Housings
3 inch leveling kit w/ 1 inch blocks and new shocks
33 or 35??? inch mud tires
Headers
CAI
Tune
High flow cats
Magnaflow exhaust on true duals.
Roof Racks
New front leather seats
Navi
Aftermarket Door speakers
The Tahoe's going to be my daily driver but should see less than 10K miles a year because of how much I'll be away from it and my very short commute. It will, however, be lightly wheeled and will need to pull an occasional boat/trailer (nothing huge). If anyone else is in Washington state and knows about Mt. Baker or Walker Valley ORV, I'll be taking it to one of these two places about once a month. Baker for snowboarding and Walker Valley so I can ride my dirt bike, but I do go down some trails first before I park. Any input would be great! Had a 1995 Tahoe about 6 months before I got this one and loved it so I'm looking forward to this newer one! Updates will come with new upgrades and projects, of course.
Pictures will be up later of the taillights and the bow-tie. I'm having a friend take some pictures. I will be better at getting pictures from now on but didn't think to take any for a build thread before I left. Thanks guys!!!The old 1995
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. So there it was good for 2 months until I decided to start looking for a different one. Talked to a buddy back home in North Carolina who was willing to swap payments so come December when I go home I will be picking up my new (to me) 2007 tahoe LTZ. Already ordered new parts for the already upgraded 07 tahoe. As for the '00, I took the lift off and put the street tires on the 22s and got it ready for shipping across country which is where I stand now. Pictures tomorrow when I can get on my phone instead of my iPad.
here are the pictures of the tahoe
instead of just sitting in my shopping cart dreaming about it. Sitting up in my bedroom are my new grille, some interior lights and some individual LED bulbs for some custom light work I'm planning. Next I'm debating on the light bar or tow mirrors 
I will say I do want at least one more thing sitting in my room/garage before I pick it up.
pretty straight forward swap?
