Wanted a 60-66 'burb or panel truck for several years now, (owned a rusty 1989 'burb for 5 yrs now, love the hauling capacity) after seeing a previously abandoned project purple '64 "not for sale" in a boneyard several years ago. Working my tail off for the past year remodeling our dream house (massive 3 story 1890 brick victorian), got this as a suprise 30th birthday present from my awesome lady, Jenn, in gratitude for all the hard work... The 71 RS/SS Camaro project will remain in pieces for a few more years while I swap parts off another 89 'burb - front end for disc brakes, 89 power steering using the Rez adapter plate kit, power brakes, possibly rear end (GMC Dana 44 rears are far superior to 10/12 bolts, but parts are rare), Tremec 3550 5 speed, 5 lug Torque Thrust wheels, stock or slightly lowered ride height with progressive rate springs (need to haul/tow still, might do some additional air shocks and keep at 0psi when not hauling), F#$d Taurus electric fan, big 2 wire alternator swap (has generator/regulator still), etc... Got a lot of the bugs worked out of this basket case already, still working on more.
Got a custom HEI distributor for it, 8mm plug wires, some fancy spark plugs, machined out the carb bore of the intake to bolt on an adapter to run a Holley 500cfm carb, oil bath air cleaner was already gone, and it already has dual exhaust (almost bone stock and original otherwise, plus wheels/seats/2 paint jobs/new bed wood).
GMC big block V6's are hard to get parts for! Not so much a hot rod engine (no real aftermarket parts, & has a truck cam), that's what the Camaro is for, but want it to run good, and try to break 17mpg highway. The GMC big block V6's are hard on gas (massive bore and ancient combustion chamber/port design), but dead reliable, last 200-300,000 miles, TONS of low end torque (doesn't rev very high though without), and strong as hell. Dual exhaust, HEI ignition, and a 500 cfm holley 2bbl REALLY wake them up though (and rev higher). Custom ground cams are available that will make it have more upper end street power. Still, they're a bit heavy, and hard on gas, so when I scrap the rusty 89 body when it's completely gone, I might might save the GREAT RUNNING 270,000 mile 350 TBI setup and swap the computer/TBI or the whole engine plus vortec heads some day, if gas prices get any worse. that 350 in a 5200 lb truck gets 22 mpg highway with cargo last I checked! in a 4100 lb panel, with vortec heads, it should do the same easily despite the additional aerodynamic disadvantage.
The GMC engines are awesome other than the gas mileage, order-only parts, and to a lesser extent, the 200 lbs extra over a 305 V8. When the 89 body goes to the scrapyard, I'll be saving the whole engine/trans (700R4 as spare), computer, front end parts (for the other 89 front end I'll put on it for discs and cost/availability of rebuild parts), brake parts, rear end, and gas tank to possibly swap into over time. Gonna give the 305 V6 a long trial first, as it's original, and I have no time to even swap the front end and tranny for now! a TBI swap would be a challenge (intake!), but may be worth it. I've heard of two others doing it on the GMC V6's, but no details.
Oh yeah, probably also doing some solid del-a-lum a-arm bushings if Global West or someone makes them for the 89 front end, poly body mounts, maybe even bigger than the stock 89 sway bar, and a third gen Camaro rear sway bar with some spacer blocks to make the frame mounts work. It'll no longer drive like a tractor, but more like a sport truck!
Paint looks good from 20 feet, but has some rust bubbles low and on the hood (by bracing) and on the fenders low (same as hood, collected leaves and squirrel nest debris over time and rotted!). I'll touch it up for now, rat rod and daily driver style. It's a truck, a bit of a rod, but it's gotta function as a truck and look b@d@$$ to boot...
Chuck in Ohio
1962 GMC 1000 Panel