1981 Chevrolet Scottsdale K-10 from North America - Comments

Timing chain.

Water pump.

Fan belts.

Radiator hoses replaced.

Odometer died at 234000 miles, but it's no thing, I'm never selling my buddy.

Axles rebuilt from the third members out.

The antifreeze tank had a big crack in it, but I got some of that putty cement and that fixed it right up.

The windshield washer tank has survived the thrashing from mechanics, but the hose to it has retired.

The bench seat has 2 cheek grooves right below the steering wheel, but the passenger seat is as firm and comfortable as the first time I sat over there. This is not to say that the driver side seat is not comfortable, on the contrary, those groves were worn into the seat over a matter of 22 years by my grandfather and by my father, and I feel more comfortable setting on that bench behind the wheel of my truck than in my own bed.

The speedometer needle flings around like crazy whenever I'm driving faster than not going at all, but it's no thing, I don't drive faster than gravity pulls my truck down the hill.

As far as gas mileage goes, I get more than 0 miles to the gallon that is a fact... since the odometer is stuck on times from the past I can't exactly say how many miles I get to the gallon, but a few years back when my buddy belonged to my dad he got 11 miles to the gallon. Didn't matter if he was hauling a load, pulling a house, dragging the back yard, cruising the mountains, driving on the highway, he always got 11 miles to the gallon. I can estimate that around now I get more than 5 miles to the gallon and less than 10.

My Scottsdale K-10 is my buddy. It has personality flowing out of it's spark plug holes. I mean when you set in it and you try to turn it over its like judgment day. If it turns over it's because you are my dad, my grandpa, or I or you really have an appreciation for trucks. My buddy will only listen to some music, it cannot stand music that my dad never listened to, it will always start hard and squeal loud whenever I don't have my trucks favorite tape in the tape deck.

My buddy will like have a day where it gives me a hard time and dose not have power and will be squealing and such and then a guy will ask for a ride after school and then all that stops, because they set in it and start talking about how cool and bad my ride is and it goes to my trucks head and it shows off because it wants more comments.

The heater in my truck is great! I live in the desert and it gets really cold when it finally makes up it's mind to cool off. So most people dread going out to warm up their cars, but my truck, I march out there hop up in it and flip the heater all the way up and the fan all the way over and you hear this flop and a whoosh and then your feet feel like they are on fire through your shoes, never wear sandals when my trucks heater is on, my sister learned that the hard way.

If you are looking for a truck. A real ruff, mean son of a rivet from an M1 tank. If you want your truck to complement you, and you want to turn heads. Then maybe once in a million years you will have an opportunity to buy a 1981 Chevrolet Scottsdale K-10 step side with original Everything, colonial yellow paint with the chocolate brown and orange pen stripe, and if you do have that opportunity seize it like there's no tomorrow!

Yeah I got a 1981 Chevrolet Scottsdale, it's never done me any harm whatsoever. When I first got it, I thought it was just your average truck, but I grew to love and cherish it like a child. Granted I bought it from a guy who had fully restored it, original as the day it rolled of the factory, and to this day I wonder if I would have liked it as much as if it had been used and abused. As for your comment on the heater, you're dead right, I live in Minnesota, so the heater is probably the most valuable part of the truck, and believe me, I feel like I'm sitting outside roasting marshmallows on the fourth of July when I get it warmed up.