1965 GMC Short Wide Project

[Mandic]

A few months ago I picked up a 1965 GMC C1000 truck. No motor or trans, rust here and there, but a good base to start from. This has quickly turned into a bit of a shop showcase project. The aesthetics of the truck are not going to change much. I like the primer rusty look of it for now. However the suspension and drivetrain are getting a major overhaul. Low and fuel injected.



I was given a box of parts that started me rolling on the suspension portion of the project:


And I got myself a 5.3L/4L60E combo to go in it. Tonight I cut the low trans hump out, removed the I6 manual crossmember(bellhousing one), and dropped the engine/trans combo in for a test fit.



I have run into numerous issues right now. I reused the stock I6 towers and motor mounts on some conversion plates. The motor sits very far away from the firewall(as I have noted on other build threads too). Also the motor sits down so far and so close to the frame mounts that the stock 5.3L manifolds hit the frame towers. So I cannot run them as I had intended to. May end up building my own headers or most likely changing engine mounts. Likely a combination of the two.

Also the oil pan hangs a good 2-3" below the crossmember. As this truck is getting air bagged, this is unacceptable. Why? Well here is a photo of a truck pan that was on a lowered Nova LS1 swap:

We just changed out this oil pan earlier in the week after the last shop thought it was a good idea to install it in the Nova.

If anyone has some suggestions about motor mounts to move the engine back a fair bit and up that 2-3" I would love to hear them. As it is I am expecting to need to make my own engine mounts.

Tomorrow is front suspension day. CPP 2.5" Drop spindles, 5 lug disc conversion, new rims, and air bags getting installed up front.

[markeb01]

Welcome to the forum, and have fun with your build!

[Mandic]

Thank you for the welcome!

Made a fair bit of progress this past weekend. Test fitted the 5.3L engine with the stock I6 motor mounts. I don't like where it ended up so I will be making new motor mounts. The I6 mounts left the motor too far forward and too low for my liking. With the truck oil pan it hangs very low so I am going to raise the motor to correct this. I cut out the low style transmission tunnel so the trans and engine can go up without issue.




Then I worked on the front suspension. Installed CPP 2.5" Drop spindles, 5 lug brakes from an 80s model year C10, and some air bags. The bag parts are 7" Slam Specialties bags with Suicide Doors upper plate, and some lower plates we had laying around the shop. With the massive rake it has right now the control arms laying out on the ground.



Wheels are some 16" 5x4 3/4" Eagle Alloys with some 1" adapter spacers. They put the wheels just about perfect in the wheel wells. Now I need some bigger tires to fill out the wheel well a little better.



Slow progress but more will be made when the Porterbuilt parts arrive.

[westcoast5]

looking good!

[LostMy65]

Nice progress.
I really like the wheels.

[BR3W CITY]

Nice, dig the wheels also

[Mandic]

Thanks guys the wheels are hand me downs. I had wanted some smoothies but these were offered to me at a heck of a deal. They have really grown on me and I think they look pretty good on the truck.