85 GMC Sierra "Scarlett"

[N2TRUX]

I had to run for supplies this morning and spent a couple hours in my office. I got in the shop after lunch but didn't have a helper today so progress was slow.

I pulled all the clamps and bolts for the fuel lines and bead blasted them. The factory uses self tapping bolts that stick through the frame. I hate the way that looks so I cut them down so they fit flush. After a bit of tweaking on the lines and clamps I reinstalled the freshly painted parts. It's still not as clean as custom bent lines but much better than what it was.

Once the lines were topped off with fresh paint. I moved to the crossmember. It had been previously blasted and painted so it just needed to be bolted in. Sounds simple except those two bolts that came from the top of the frame a are a ***** to get to. With everything cinched up tight I touched all up and called it a day.

[N2TRUX]

Check out the artwork for the @c10sinthepark cruise. This show flyer will be available on shirts too. Designed by @hiddenhotrodart of @graphicdisorder for @c10sinthepark.
This one day fun run on September 17th is growing like wildfire. Open to all 47-87 GM trucks (88-91 Blazers and Suburbans) Sponsored by @brotherstrucks and hosted by @squarebody_usa @c10clubtexas
For more information follow @poweredbychevy79 @hectic_hec @pedr0ski

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Check out the artwork for the @c10sinthepark cruise. This show flyer will be available on shirts too. Designed by @hiddenhotrodart of @graphicdisorder for @c10sinthepark.
This one day fun run on September 17th is growing like wildfire. Open to all 47-87 GM trucks (88-91 Blazers and Suburbans) Sponsored by @brotherstrucks and hosted by @squarebody_usa @c10clubtexas
For more information follow @poweredbychevy79 @hectic_hec @pedr0ski

Looks good Ken! I hope to grab some local guys and join you this year.

[UKNOWME]

As much as I planned to be there it doesn't look like it's happening. How can I get a shirt?

[Desert1957]

Originally Posted by uknowme

as much as i planned to be there it doesn't look like it's happening. How can i get a shirt?

x2

[RUN GMC]

X3

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Looks good Ken! I hope to grab some local guys and join you this year.

I heard there was a run being organized to cruise from Oklahoma. If you need help promoting it just let me know.

Originally Posted by UKNOWME

As much as I planned to be there it doesn't look like it's happening. How can I get a shirt?

Originally Posted by Desert1957

x2

Originally Posted by RUN GMC

X3

Heres a link to C10 Club of Texas page LINK and C10s in the park page- Link Information on ordering shirts will be posted soon.

[N2TRUX]

Work week is finally done and it wasn't a pretty one. I did end it with a couple of positive points. I got home not physically and mentally drained despite the heat and spent some time in the shop.

I decided to work on the bumper brackets and license plate housing. The plate housing was tweaked in a couple spots so I spent some time gently finessing it back in shape.
After a nice hammer and 2x4 session it looked great. Yes, it's a minor victory and wouldn't be seen once the plate was on, but it felt good to beat on something with hammer and actually make it better. A trip to the blasting cabinet and fresh paint would make it good as new.

My happy dance was brief. Out of 11 cans of silver colored paint from several different sources, not one of them was close to correct. I got dull and shiny silver for days, but nothing close the argent.

I will prevail but all I have are before pics for now. Look close to see the long crease that run horizontal across the housing.

[N2TRUX]

Part two of my Friday night shop session focused on the rest of the rear bumper assembly. I pulled the bumper with brackets before I removed the bed and set it aside. It was time to take a close look at what was needed to make it shine.
The brackets and bolts were bead blasted and sanded as they actually had some real rust that had been neglected on the previous clean up. Unfortunately I haven't located the correct inner brackets so these Blazer/Suburban inners will do for now, as they are need to correctly space the bumper bolts.

[N2TRUX]

Ok let's go ahead and get this out of the way. I know I am anal about certain things that really don't matter but still bother me. One of those things is the back side of a bumper. I don't like that the way it looks unfinished and eventually will rust and flake. Consequently I resolve this concern by painting the back side with a bright silver paint. No, I don't think it looks as good as the chrome side but it does look much better.

[N2TRUX]

With my OCD issue resolved it was time to move on the the bottom of the bed. We stripped the wiring harness out of the way and started the tedious task of cleaning and sanding the bed floor. We got the entire floor sanded then cleaned it thoroughly. After several hours of fun in the heat we called it a day.

[N2TRUX]

With the bulk of the work done it was time to address some small details. There were a couple of large dents in the bed floor that I wanted to fix. We also discovered a small section of surface rust along the front edge and and the first crossbrace. It appears that a caustic liquid had spilled and seeped under the bed.
I pulled all the bolts at the bottom of the front panel and sanded the spots in question to raw metal. Once I was confident the metal was clean I painted all the raw spots. While the bolts were out I cut off the extra length so the fit flush. It's another detail that most might never see but it makes me feel better knowing it's done.

I revived my hammer and dolly skills on the bed floor and got most of the big dents smooth again. Its not flawless but it is better and the spray in bed liner makes it almost impossible to see.

In the top pics you can see the deepest Dent with a few smaller off to the left. You can see the raw metal on the crossbrace where it was sanded clean. The bottom pic shows the repairs and seal coat of paint.

[N2TRUX]

The detail work is done and it's time to spray some undercoating. Chris masked everything while I cut the wheel tub bolts down. I hate the way the ends protrude in to the wheel wells so I pulled them and cut them down to the correct size to slightly protrude to ensure maximum use of thread.

We used the same Dupli-Color undercoating for the bed floor that was used under the cab. It covers very well and gives a moderately smooth finish that won't trap dirt. In the wheel wells I wanted more protection and sound proofing so we used Medallion rubberized coating. We applied it with an undercoating gun with moderate pressure to get a larger splatter.

[N2TRUX]

For those that may be interested, heres what we used.

[LDO]

Thanks for the info on the black. That sure is cheaper than the sem stuff,,, gonna give it a shot for sure.

[aggie91]

Nice progress! We started on the Sonoma this past week. We will be using some of these same thoughts and processes you are using here. I hope to start a build thread this week.

[mcbassin]

Nice progress Ken! looks great! Keep up the good work.

[N2TRUX]

My weekend didn't go as planned, so my shop time was confined to one day. Friday I go home at a decent time but had to go back out on a service call. It killed my shop time but I did go by Harbor Freight and grabbed new gloves for my blasting cabinet but that was it. Saturday I had a funeral to attend and dinner with family after, so no shop time again.

Today I was on a mission to accomplish as much as possible. I started with cleaning up the old hangers that were welded on the pipes. It's sad to see someone spent good money on premium quality mufflers and had them installed by an incompetent shop.

They cut the collectors off the headers and made each side one piece so I had to cut them to remove them. Its good that I did because neither muffler was welded all around. It was hung so rigid that the truck vibrated from exhaust resonance. Time to resolve all of those issues is coming soon.

[N2TRUX]

After removing all the old hangers and and grinding the bugger welds clean I used some temporary hangers to mock it up. I searched for generic hangers and bought these because they weren't that expensive. I found out why they were cheap because they are cheap but they will work for now. Once I get the bed installed I can adjust them and tighten everything down. It's not pretty but it will get me to the muffler shop with a ticket.

[N2TRUX]

With the exhaust system temporarily done I had to decide what to do next. I wanted to start on the front suspension but realized I couldn't get it done with the time I had available so I moved to the front bumper. I'm not sure why but the passenger side brackets had been recently replaced and a new bumper installed.
Once again everything was installed with mismatched bolts. The bumper was held on with a few bumper bolts and a few carriage bolts. Fortunately I had already made note of this and ordered a set of the correct stainless capped bolts to correct the problem.

Meanwhile I proceeded with the same treatment as the rear bumper. All the brackets were bead blasted and painted satin black. The back side of the bumper was sanded and a nice coat of bright silver was applied. Once the frame rails are cleaned and painted the assembly will be ready to reinstall.

[N2TRUX]

I got home early tonight, so I slipped out to my shop for a bit. The rear bumper was still laid out on my work table where I left it to dry. I moved it to the bed of my 77 for safe keeping and ran across the tailgate band.

No one makes a tailgate band for the 81-87 trucks. LMC offers one for the Blazer but you have to do a handle flip to use it. Finding a NOS GMC band would require my to blow my budget so I decided to see what I could do to make mine better.

It comes to me with some minor scratches and a nice ding in one corner. Someone had tried to clean it with a wheel cleaner and the acid made the clear anodizing very milky. I figure I can't make it much worse so let's see if I can make it better.

[UKNOWME]

Maybe something like this?
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=342419

Btw I sent you a PM the other day.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by UKNOWME

Maybe something like this?
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=342419Btw I sent you a PM the other day.

Thanks for sharing. I will take a look to see what worked for them. Sorry I missed your PM, I got a new phone and I'm haven't been on the forum much while trying to set it up

[N2TRUX]

I looked in my tool box and didn't see anything that would work to fix the dent so I got creative. I found an old pool stick and cut a short section off. I ground a bevel on the tapered end until it fit in the work area. It's hard enough to finesse the metal back in shape but not too hard to cause damage as I go.

[N2TRUX]

Slowly I worked the dent out, then ground the tip again to create a sharper edge. This allowed me to get the stamped lines back in and remove most of the dent. It's not perfect, but you have to look close to see the last bit of imperfection. I was at a point that more forward progress might create other issues so I called it good.