Trusty Rusty - 72 GMC LWB

[Possmguts]

Originally Posted by KY_GMC

After spending the month of July traveling in Europe and weekend trips with the wife, I was ready to get started on this again. With the front end of the truck ready for paint, started on the fuel filler in the taillight option. This has been done before, so it is not new, but I like the clean look.

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Looking forward to trying this out at the gas station!

Truck loos real nice.. I was wondering that since the gas filler thread is pretty much dead.. is there any way I could talk you into getting the pattern for the pocket?

[KY_GMC]

I'll look to see if I still have the measurements.

I will say that if I were to do this again, I would try to raise the height of the filler neck. When I go to fill it at the gas pump, the fuel does not flow very well. I think that if it were higher and the line had a better slope into the tank, it will fill better. I have two vents to help with the flow, but it still takes around 10 to 15 minutes or so to fill.

[Average Joe]

Wow! Nice truck. You did a heckuva job breathing new life in her. Well done sir.

[KY_GMC]

Well, it's been awhile since I have updated, but I have been working on Rusty.

I've been driving it quite a bit an working out minor issues along the way. After the 400 mile mark, I drained the oil and charged it with some high ZDDP Valvoline Racing Oil. The engine sure has woken up and sure has more power than I expected. There are times when it scares me, but I have gotten used to it

I also added an alarm system with power door locks. This is a great upgrade that provides me with some assurance when I park it out and don't have full view access to it.

I picked up a tailgate off craigslist for $200 last summer. It needed some work so I didn't have it ready when I painted the rest of the truck.



It looked like the tailgate took a hit around the "M" and pushed in the panel. I struggled with how to pull this out and make it look right. My experience with the stud gun produced more problems than solutions. The tailgate was pretty straight, so I didn't need to do a whole lot of work to it. So I decided to dissect the skin off the tailgate so that I could push the dent out from the backside.



From here, it was easy to straighten out the panel. Once it was good, and all of the other minor dents were straight, the panel was welded back on. I fabbed some internal brackets so that I could insure that the panel went on straight and the gap was correct.



After cleaning up the welds and other minor surface defects, I thru a coat of epoxy and high build primer on it.

[KY_GMC]

After spraying the first coat white, I had the dubious task to mask off the background around the "GMC" letters. Even with 1/4" nylon stripping tape, this was not an easy task. It took some time to figure out the method for stretching the tape to contour to the curves in the letters.

I kind of liked the color scheme with the lime green tape, blue border and white paint.



Then it was time for the Hugger Orange paint. It always scares me when I open the Hugger Orange paint for the first time and start second guessing the choice. But once it is on the panels, it looks great!



Then, the fun stopped! When I was putting down the final clear stage, I got over aggressive with the last coat of clear and the whole coat of clear slipped off the tailgate. Time to stop and go cry in my beer




That was a long day and I just had to walk away before I did any more damage.

The next day I started wet sanding to get as much out as I could. If you don't look to closely, you can't really tell. But and experienced body man will pick it out right away. Oh well.

[KY_GMC]

Since the tailgate was complete, it was now time to finishing the bed with a spray in liner. The next weekend was tasked with spraying the bed liner. I know a lot of purist poo poo against spray in liners, but I plan on hauling stuff and the bed was not in the best shape, so I decided it would be a good choice for me.

Of course, like anything to do with body work, it is all in the prep work. Prepping, masking and tarping everything, I sprayed in the liner. It took me a long time to figure out how I wanted it, over the rails or under, on top of the head board or not. So I think it turned out well and it should be functional for me. I also like the contrast orange and black.







Finally getting the tailgate on the bed was a major milestone. It was great that I was able to mount the tailgate, adjust the bedsides, and it closed perfectly without slamming and the gaps were perfect! I was stoked!





Even the original tailgate didn't close this well!

It's great when you work with original sheet metal. Don't have to worry about having to make it fit.

Now, I am working on refinishing all of the side and tailgate trim. I think that there are 24 pieces that need stripped, sanded, buffed and painted. Hopefully I can this completed in a couple of weeks instead of months!

[rsgt]

Nice looking truck. You have done a great job.

[flashed]

I like the bed liner ,bodyshop did mine same as yours ,I haul stuff too. My truck is Medium red ,cant tell what your is but looks similar.

[KY_GMC]

Well, it has been a while since the last post. Been driving the truck a lot and fixing minor issues here and there. One of the items that has been bothering me the most was trying to get the frame straightened. During the tear down, I found the frame was bent. After talking to the local body shops, they are said complete the built and then bring it to them so that they can straighten the frame to the body. After I put the body on, the cab and bed did not line up, the fenders and doors did not fit the best, and the bumper sits 2" to the right and the front tires sit 2" to the left, causing them to rub the inner fenders while making tight right turns.

So after the build, I to it to them. Then they said that I should have brought it to them with just the frame so they wouldn't have to mess with taking the body off. I kept hearing that so and so body shop could do it, then I would go there, and then they said that their frame rack wouldn't be able to pull it and to go to so and so. So I was getting the run around and not getting the truck fixed.

So this weekend, as I was trolling craigslist, I saw a long bed frame for sale with leaf springs. After talking to the owner, we worked out a deal to get the frame with the rear end, leaf springs and minus the front spindles, steering gear and power steering for $150! He bought the rolling project to get the body panels for a chevy forest service truck that he is fixing up. I just had to come and pick it up 2 hours away. So after renting a trailer, talking my buddy into taking an excursion into the hills of Eastern Kentucky, I picked up the frame in the midst of rusting Ford Torinos and goats!





The frame was clean and straight with no major issues and will make my project complete.

So after making it home and unloading the frame, I took a review of what I had. Turns out that the frame is from a 1972 GMC C15 LWB Fleetside, which is identical to the truck I have! How lucky is that!

So, the plan is to strip the frame of all that I don't need (see classified section for upcoming parts sales), clean up and paint the frame, and then swap everything over from the existing frame to the new frame. Sounds easy, right!




But, in the end, I will have a lot less into the frame swap than into paying an auto body shop to disassemble and straighten my frame. It will be a lot more work, but what else is there to do? Spend a weekend at a B & B with the wife?

[KY_GMC]

Well, its been awhile since the last post, and a lot has happened. Not necessarily with the truck.

I got the frame cleaned up and painted and then did the swap in a weekend.









The body fit the frame like it should and everything lined up great. The only issue was that I dropped the engine during the sawp

After much trial an error, I determined that the crank was bent. There was a nasty vibration and it got worse when running around 50mph. That meant that the motor had to come out, put it on a stand and start the bottom end tear down. I got lucky and still had the balance sheet from the original crank and was able to get a new one balanced to the correct specs. After re-installing, it runs great.

But, it was getting to be winter time and I still had the trim to restore (strip, sand, sand, sand,....buff and paint). Didn't think it would be a good time to try and paint in cold weather, so I planned to put it off for a while.

[KY_GMC]

Then my son decides to buy a basket case Honda CB500T that someone tried to turn into a cafe racer. As you can see, they didn't do a very good job.


So, I decided to tear into and make him a bike that he could ride. Turned out both pistons had bad rings and the wiring was a total CF. Many countless hours later, I had a bike for him that he could feel confident to ride.

He seemed to like it!



And that thing will pull like a freight train from down low.

[KY_GMC]

Still didn't get to work on the truck during this time cause we decided to take a family vacation to Germany and Austria. The highlight of the trip was renting some BMW touring bikes for the day and riding through the Alps. We hit the Gross Glockner High Alpine Road. It was one of the most memorable experiences that I have had on or in any vehicle.





Some of the most beautiful scenery that I have ever seen and the ride was incredible.

[KY_GMC]

It wasn't until after our two week trip that I was able to finally complete the trim on the truck and say that I was done! I'm really happy with how everything turned out and it is such a joy to drive. Looking forward to putting many more miles on it.





It was the 8th year anniversary of my dad's passing, so I drove the truck with my mom to his grave site. It was such a beautiful fall day that I couldn't pass up a photo op. My dad would have enjoyed the ride also.

[flashed]

Wow , what a beautiful truck .

[Aus69c20]

Job well done and kudo's for your perseverance.
The bent frame and then crank would been a tough to take.
Beautiful end product.

[KY_GMC]

Thanks guys!

[builtbyKane]

Excellent job. Reminds me of my dads 70 gmc long bed he used as a work truck my entire childhood.

[SatinSeventy2]

Awesome truck and thread!!!

[trac209]

Awesome truck,thanks for sharing the process with us

[68Gold/white]

As Dave Kindig would say, That's one Beech'n Ride!!!

What brand or type of fuel filler did you use for your tail light filler neck??? Nice job!!! Is that filler cap easy to remove??? I read where you have 2 vent hoses, and taking too long to fill. What size are the vent hoses?

Is that carrier bearing the stock type unit?

Glad you chose a Quadrajet! Buying parts from Cliff is the only way to go. Folks buy a new carb, spend mega $$$ and never get the carb deal under control...

[KY_GMC]

Thanks for the comments guys!

The fuel filler is from West Marine. I got one with a vent on it.

If I were to do it again, I would look for one that had an angle bend to it and then get the opening higher in the tail light. I have some issues filling if the truck is not pointed downhill. The opening is a little tight to unscrew the cap, so I make sure not to tighten it down too much. There is an o-ring on it so it seals it fairly well.

The vent hoses are 1/2" I think. One goes up to the cap, and the other is on the passenger side and is hidden up in the bed side with an air trap valve on it.

The carrier bearing and u-joints were replaced at Cincinnati Drive Line with NEAPCO parts. It is the same style that was originally on it. Couldn't beat it. $200 for total rebuild and balancing!

The Quadrajet is a great carb once you learn how it operates and how to tune it. The other aspect is making sure it is correctly setup for the application. Cliff asked me a lot of questions about my engine build before he sold me the jets. I have to say, that he was spot on. It idles smoothly, pulls great off the line without hesitation, and once the secondaries open, it makes a wonderful sound. It's scary on the interstate when it kicks down at 60mph to pass and before you know it your doing 80.

[rustytruck50]

Awesome job & super sharp!!!!

[KY_GMC]

So, I never installed a radio in the truck when I built it and after driving for a couple of years, I decided I needed something to keep my company on my drives.

After a long search and investigating various options, I pulled the trigger on a 5 speaker system. I couldn't convince myself to cutting the dash for a single DIN unit and I couldn't justify buying a RetroSound head unit. So I came up with a solution where I hid the head unit in the glove box and ran an infrared repeater out to the dash and am able to use the remote control.

I chose a Pioneer multimedia head unit, Pioneer 5 channel 1000W amp, Pioneer 10" subwoofer and enclosure, 6-1/2" Kickers in kick panels and 6x9's in the cab corners. I built a board to mount the amp and sub woofer to put behind the seat and ran the wires from the glove box to the amp via RCA cables. The install kit I got from Crutchfield came with 4/0 power and ground cables and I was able to run a ground from the amp straight to the frame, and the power cable from the amp all the way to the battery.

The passenger kick panel required some trimming but the drivers when in with no problem. After covering them with speaker cover carpet, I just pulled away the door jab seal, removed the floor vent screws and placed it in there. The seals and screws hold it in there pretty well. I also made my own spacers to move the speakers out so that the backs didn't hit the cab kick panels.

After getting the amp finally setup, I am really impressed with the tonal quality and the ability to crank it up without very much distortion. And this is over bluetooth.

Now I am working on a mount in the ash tray to hold my iphone so that I can change music and charge it at the same time. I also need a place to mount the infrared eye (you can see it in the dash picture) so that it is not noticeable.

[cornerstone]

Very cool stereo setup my friend. I will be in the same predicament soon and love this plan. In my daily driver I use the same pioneer sub so I know it will be sufficient for my tastes. I really love the look of my original GM am/fm radio and don't like the look of the digital readout in the retro sound radios so this solution is great for me, I can just re-install my original and not wire it, plus the would be thieves may just move along... Thanks for posting! I guess the only issue I might face will be if the modern head unit fits in the dinky glove box that I have to use with my Vintage air kit, no big deal if it doesn't, just mount it under or behind the seat.

[Low Elco]

We are starting a 67 GMC. I also bought an AAW kit. How did you like it? Beautiful work!