My “Storage Yard Find” ‘86 1ton

[861tonoffun]

Hello all! I’m Joe and I’m here to share with you my story of my ‘86 I pulled out of the local storage yard.
Back in September of this year (2017) I purchased this 1986 GMC 3500 single wheel.
My shop The Auto Refinery (theautorefinery.com) on a U shaped roadway where this storage yard is located in which I drive passed on my daily commute. I always wanted to know who owned it, even though I never really liked long beds. One day the truck popped up for sale online. I immediately called them up and said I’ll be right over to check it out. After an hour or so of looking it over and negotiation we agreed to drag it back to my shop to have a better look on my lift. I offered to get it running and if I did I would purchase the truck that afternoon. 4 short hours later we had figured out the flywheel was cracked and the starter broke in a result of the malfunction. A couple new parts and the truck was running. I paid for the truck and started the “refine” process. Regular maintenance and checking all fluids as usual. Making sure all bearing and seals were greased and sealing properly. Removing a couple aftermarket trinkets in the cab so to make the interior simple again and less of a mess in wiring. The gauges only half worked, so that came out and got all new lights and the wiring was cleaned up, nothing was replaced gauge wise just cleaning the contacts. This truck came with no factory AC so one less thing to worry about. Next was the Paint which was “refined” through a thorough process of pressure washing, hand washing, degreasing, polishing with a light compound and then sealing with a paint sealant what was left of the paint so as to keep the original patina. This Truck wears its original paint on all its original sheet metal so I was not about to clear over it or repaint it at all. Yes, there is rot but it’s solid and may get fixed down the road but that means Paint so no time soon as I would like to keep the original look for as long as safely possible. This project is a great representation of what we do at The Auto Refinery and is a great use of advertisement. It has become my daily driver roughly a month after I purchased it and was able to go through it all to make it road worthy again. I’m sure there is much more to add but here are some pictures for you all to enjoy.

[grumptruck]

This is a great story (not just saying it because Joe's my brother) Wait until he posts the "after" pictures.

[861tonoffun]

First ride to the parts store 4 days after buying the truck ...

[861tonoffun]

Some 50/50 shots getting into the Paint refining

[old Rusty C10]

Nice truck.. glad to see it was brought back to use

[861tonoffun]

I hate to see them sitting rotting away they should be back on the road as much of them as possible!
QUOTE=old Rusty C10;8116257]Nice truck.. glad to see it was brought back to use[/QUOTE]

[LT7A]

That's a cool truck. I like your approach. Hope to see updates as you put life back into it. What do you use for a sealer? Is it a type that gets reapplied periodically or is it more of a one time coating?

[861tonoffun]

Thanks! I got more pictures I need to figure out how to upload. I use a yearly sealer made by Wolfgang. I use ceramic coatings in my business but with this old single being as beat up as it is it would never cure properly for a lifetime coating.

Originally Posted by LT7A

That's a cool truck. I like your approach. Hope to see updates as you put life back into it. What do you use for a sealer? Is it a type that gets reapplied periodically or is it more of a one time coating?