1972 Jimmy Resurrection

[audaciousduo]

Well, this, like most old vehicles has turned into more of a project than I had wanted but it's still a great find. I thought I'd throw together a quick build thread. The plan is to have her on the road for the summer, which comes in June in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and paint her in the fall. So far I've run into; rodents living in the cowl, a silver dollar sized rust hole under the passenger seat the previous owner fixed with duct tape, a very tired 350 and toasted TH350. The body is very solid and thats why I took months to find the right truck to start with. Welding in patches is time consuming and in my experience a little rust always turns into ten times the work you thought it would be. I've learned the hard way a few times find the best and most complete vehicle to start with. A cheap rust bucket has been false economy when I've gone that route in the past.

So far I've done; ORD 4" rear shackle flip, 4" front spring lift with flush mount frame bushings, extended brake lines, yanked the old power train and started the color change. I Patched the small hole in floor, pulled off the rocker panels which were held on with four very poor plug welds and low and behold the lower cowl supports were crusty! I'll never understand why people don't do it right the first time, why weld new rockers to a rusted out pillar ? The inner rocker and floor are solid and intact at least.

The to do list; Spray in a high quality box liner now that I've fixed what rust I did have in the floor, get the new power train in and drive it for the summer. In the fall I'll take a week off and knock down the wonderful paint job the last owner did and spray the new color. I'm sure there will be more surprises but here it goes. The project, as I bought it .... good from far but the paint job is terrible.


Here she is as I found it

[audaciousduo]

The worst rust on the tub, nothing through just some light surface rust.

[audaciousduo]

The new hart, just waiting for my TBI conversion kit to throw it in.....

[audaciousduo]

The new color, the GMC only terrace blue.

[audaciousduo]

The old blue vs the new blue

[audaciousduo]

The GMC smile, love it or hate it. I like it better than the blazer grill but it just my preference.

[briank]

Nice work...Im doing the same but am in the process of doing the pass side rear floor where it lips up and attaches to the bed floor on a 70 k5. Having trouble getting the plug welds to stick/penetrate. What welder and settings you using?? I have a hobart 140 using gas/solid core wire. I have a 68 gmc burb as well as my k5 blazers so im not partial....like them all!

[audaciousduo]

I'm using a Lincoln 180 HD but on a low setting with .023 wire. If your having trouble with plug welds make sure the surface is very clean. If it was a bit rusty on the surface try treating it with Picklex 20 the night before. The stuff seems to make the welds flow better. Other tricks are to make sure the two panels are as tight together as possible. You can't get to the back there so tap around the hole with the pick end of a body hammer ore use a sheet metal screw to suck the together and weld up the hole afterward. I always clean off the metal around the plug weld, start just outside and drop in. Then work the puddle around the edge and fill in the centre last. If there is a bit of spatter you've got to wait for it then keep the puddle moving smoothly.

Hope this helps

Dave

[briank]

Wasnt rusty at all where Im trying to weld. Ill try cleaning it again and using more screws to get it really tight. Thanks

[audaciousduo]

Well, The crate motor and transmission are in. A 45 minute job took a week and a bit because we don't make anything in North America any more. I borrowed a buddies engine hoist and the made in China ram blew a seal. I bought an engine hoist in the big city some three hours away and the made in China Ram didn't work. The plunger didn't even have an oil seal. So I drove to the larger town 2 hours away to buy a replacement ram while I waited for the company to reply to my phone messages and bought a, you guessed it made in China hydraulic ram. They didn't have one made anywhere else!!! At least this one worked but a 33% average on their products re-enforces what I already know. Avoid made in China crap if at all possible.

[audaciousduo]

Now I just have to figure out what the heck goes in the threaded hole above the oil filter housing on the crate engine. A assume it is just another location for an oil pressure. Once I confirm that I'll likely throw a plug in it.

[wauto]

Isn't that the hole where a clutch linkage pivot threads into ?

[audaciousduo]

The pivot is on the bell housing. This is a small half inch threaded hole in the block right above the oil filter housing. tough to see in the picture.

[audaciousduo]

As it turns out you are right! I have a franken clutch set up from the wrecker and for my truck the clutch ball does mount on the block. I'm not sure if I can get this part anymore so I may fab one up with the ball stud out of the bell housing.

Originally Posted by wauto

Isn't that the hole where a clutch linkage pivot threads into ?

[audaciousduo]

Well,

The project is on hold for a few months. I had a grinding disc explode and have a nasty hand injury that required reconstructive surgery. I managed to keep all my fingers despite some shattered bones and severed tendons. I'll spare you all the gory pictures as the surgeon described it "a horrific wound". Barring infection I should recover most of the use. About a dozen projects under my belt over the last thee decades and up until now I've gotten away with a few stitches. After a google image search of grinder injuries, I am fortunate, it could have been much worse.

[wauto]

Sounds horrible. Hope you make a speedy recovery.

[Sacramento70]

Sorry to hear that, grinders scare the sh#t out of me. I had a disk fly apart and almost caught my face. i always wear thick gloves and a face mask when using grinders now

[Tumbleweed]

There, but for the grace of god, go I, and probably a bunch of us. Sorry to hear about your injury. I just had one fly apart the other day and caught not a single piece of it. Lucky. Hurry back, I was really looking forward to you motivating me to work harder on mine! Really in need of it, heavy snow here in northern Michigan this morning had me in a very bad mood and not wanting to do anything!

[audaciousduo]

I've had a few go in the past and took a few stitches despite the gloves but this one was a claymore mine. I will see the aftermath tomorrow at the surgeons office when they unwrap it. In the big picture, I'll have an ugly but functional monkey claw. Never having had aspirations to be a hand model I'm a lucky guy. I should be able to run the fly rod fine just about the time the fishing really picks up in the Canadian rockies. A friend of mine is a safety consultant in the oil patch and told me a horrifying story about a fellow that had a grinder climb the string on his hoodie ....... not as rosy of an outcome as my accident. I'll be back at it soon I think. Thanks for the kind words.

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed

There, but for the grace of god, go I, and probably a bunch of us. Sorry to hear about your injury. I just had one fly apart the other day and caught not a single piece of it. Lucky. Hurry back, I was really looking forward to you motivating me to work harder on mine! Really in need of it, heavy snow here in northern Michigan this morning had me in a very bad mood and not wanting to do anything!

[straps57]

Good to see you are ok. Scary stuff.

[Tumbleweed]

Good God, that is a mess. Pictures puts in even more perspective. I smashed my finger in between the wood boiler door and a big log this winter and got 3 weeks off work and a mangled middle finger. Yours is much worse. Little tasks you take for granted become a challenge, like zipping your damn pants. I feel for you, hope it heals quick. I need to put the guard back on my grinder...

[audaciousduo]

I wont even touch the 7" grinder anymore. The nearest I can figure is the piece sheet metal I was cutting off wrapped around the arbor and thrashed my hand before grenading the disc. I'm super cautious even with my 5" grinder now as it makes me nervous. If you google images for grinder injuries you may never use it again. The pictures of my hand when it happened are gruesome. It's been a long recovery and not something I want to go through again.

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed

Good God, that is a mess. Pictures puts in even more perspective. I smashed my finger in between the wood boiler door and a big log this winter and got 3 weeks off work and a mangled middle finger. Yours is much worse. Little tasks you take for granted become a challenge, like zipping your damn pants. I feel for you, hope it heals quick. I need to put the guard back on my grinder...

[audaciousduo]

Threw the old Holley 650 out and started to install a TBI system. Despite the age and sparse creature comforts there isn't a hole lot of room under the dash to mount the brain. I had to fab up a bracket and weld it to the under side of the cowl. I didn't want to punch holes in that water trap so I migged it up there. Of course when I went to clamp it down the usual happened. All my bolts are too long with a shoulder or too short. Enough for tonight anyway. Now I have to find an 1 1/2 grommet for all the extra wiring and a couple bolts.

[audaciousduo]

I had what I hope to be the last surgery 10 days ago and almost have the full use of my hand. Being awake, strapped to a what looks like the lethal injection table while they skin your fingers and cut out a bunch of scar tissue is an interesting experience. Anyway I'm able to get back at it despite being sore and stitched up again. I painted the rad support and new fender wells today. The underside is a bed liner and the top a single stage urethane. I've posted a WTB add as my drivers door is not worth fixing if anyone has a clean one they would like to part with.

[mx289]

Glad to hear you are doing better.

And good to see you working on the truck again.