You'll become a decent mechanic owning older chevys like that. They are pretty much done at that point in their life and wont ever be dependable again and riddled with problems.
Best thing you can do if you want to drive old cars is to go with Toyota or Subaru and keep the old 2000 Chevy for a project truck. Unfortunately the **** have us beat on most things mechanical, engines, motorcycles, theres nothing that will compete and the jap stuff is usually cheaper now and lasts forever almost.
I stopped driving American junk when I learned that and now it's nothing to get 300k+ out of a jap car with little problems over the years, simple to work on and cheap.
You'll replace suspension components on a jap car long before you ever wear our major engine parts.
It's another option and one that can save ya big $$ over the years!