Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

If I had a bigger budget I wouldn't be doing this much rust repair! lol

It has been a really good learning experience though!

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

That's a pretty sweet set up!

I did think about doing the same but I need to steal some parts off it.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Got both bed sides shortened, ended up cutting the inside panels out so I can do some hammer and dolly work. They are pretty rotten so I am going to use the ones from my parts bed. Shaved the stake pocket holes, and did a number of other repairs. I did my best to straighten the front panel using a torch and some clamps. It will need the bottom edge cut out and replaced.

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Took a trip out to the blaster and spent 3 hrs blasting all the bed parts and tailgate. Found a couple big areas filled with lead hiding some nasty secrets.

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Well that sux.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Duncan K It looks like your bed sides are shaping up nicely. You managed to duplicate the wheel opening shape closely! For your trip out to the media blaster, is it a place where you self serve (do it yourself)? Is it fairly cost effective around Calgary? (It's a bit costly in the Kelowna area to have blasting done).

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Consolidated Compressor has DIY outdoor blasting. $150 hr so its not cheap but I know its done right. Last couple times I took stuff to a shop to get blasted I felt like I got ripped off. Billed for 2 hours when I know I could have done it in one.

I have a small Princess Auto blaster that I do smaller stuff with back at the shop.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Did a bunch of rust repair on the bed sils, then a coat of epoxy followed by some black Tremclad.

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Welded up a few holes and did some body work on the tailgate. It got a coat of epoxy as well.

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I cut the bottom 4 inches off the front bed panel which was totally rotten. Had a piece of 16 gauge bent up to replace it. I used a long straight edge to cut the bottom off so I ended up with a perfect fit up with no gap. Clamped both pieces down on top of some heavy aluminum angle. I welded them up using pulsed tig with no filler. big plus to this method was almost zero grinding after!

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Clean, clean, clean....

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Damn fine job so far!

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Got the body work done on the front panel, and shot it with epoxy.

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I thought I would have a little fun. Masked off the letters on the tailgate and painted them.

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Now you're just showing off....
:sumo:

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Merry Christmas everyone! Can't believe it's been 10 months since my last post. I did a bunch more work on the box sides last winter and then didn't touch the truck until a few weeks ago.

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In the end I decided I don't have the skills or tools to fix these sides to the standard I want. I will end up buying some reproduction sides down the road.

I spent some time trying to salvage the passenger door that I warped. I tried welding a bead along the inside with no luck. I bent it on my bench with blocks and straps. I got it close but just couldn't get it to line up properly.

Starting over with another set of doors. I cut the skin off and blasted it inside and out. Shot with epoxy and started fitting the new skin.

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Continued work on the drivers door. Installed new pins and bushings in the hinges. Installed Kilmat on the back side of the skin, then fit and welded. Replaced the door bottom. This door ended up warping on me again. This time the bottom of the door frame ended up with a twist. Getting pretty discourage with these doors. Going to set them aside and deal with them later.

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Made some new drip rails for the A Pillar

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I wasn't happy with the bracket I bought to mount the DBW pedal so I fabbed up a different mount. Just a sheet metal box with nuts welded on the back. Welded it to the firewall. Much more solid than the one I bought

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Got the ECM and the tach module mounted under the dash behind the glove box. I will likely have to modify the glove box inset to fit

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Very good work, your truck must be a brother of mine, its sheet metal is destroyed as well, its bed looks the same, I look at their approach.
Yes, the outer skin is exciting work, I also had to do both sides. Your cabin work looks like factory work, I like it.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Taking a break from metal work for a bit. Pulled the cab off and shot some rubberized undercoat on the bottom. Also made a trip to the blasters with the hood hinges, battery tray, glove box door, heater box, and the gas/brake pedal brackets. Got them all shot with epoxy.

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

That's some very nice patch work you've got going on. It's nice to see you posting again.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

I figured since the cab was already on its back it was a good time to bodywork the roof. Followed that up with the firewall, kick panels, dash, and above the windshield where I welded in the patch. Sealed up the roof and firewall with a coat of epoxy, and got the seam sealer done in the drip rail.

Learned a lot of hard lessons doing this bodywork. I have to stop being so sloppy with the filler, lots of unnecessary sanding. I am also amazed at how a panel can look so flat until you hit it with a long block and all the highs and lows show themselves.

Going to paint the interior and the firewall before I put the cab back on the chassis. Will probably shoot the roof with high build primer as well.

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After waiting months my inner fenders finally arrived. I had done some rust repair on the original ones but they were going to take way too much bodywork so I treated myself to a new set.

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

They did a fine job there, the filler will never be my core competence either, I had too little or too much. Looks really good on them.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Man you're kicking ass on this thing! Makes me want to go back and redo all mine, because it's nowhere near that straight and clean.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Definitely some quality work. :)

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Thanks guys, its been a real battle to try not to cut corners to get this project done faster. I keep reminding myself that there is no deadline, the extra work will be worth it and show in the final product.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Got to work on the interior this week. Shot the floor with Raptor liner that was tinted to match the interior paint colour. I will be putting Kilmat and carpet down in the future but this will protect the primer in the mean time. Got a nasty surprise when I went to spray. Had the liner all mixed up in the bottle with the hardener and went to screw on my Shutz gun. Turns out a standard Shutz gun doesn't fit, you have to buy the "Raptor" gun. I got lucky and found a container that my gun fit onto and poured the liner in. It worked ok but went on really thick and globby. Went the next day and got another bottle mixed up and bought the raptor gun. It layed down much nicer the second time, the Raptor gun has a smaller diameter nozzle

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Got the interior painted with single stage. I did a couple spray outs to try and figure out how much flatener to add. I thought I had it right but it could have used a little more, still has a bit of shine to it. I may end up putting another coat on with a bit more flattener added, at least on the dash.

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

I found the same thing. I had the can all mixed and THEN discovered it didn't fit my Shutz gun. Same as you, I happened to have a can.

Looks good!

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Just getting ready to do my cab interior, yours looks very similar to what I envisage mine will be.

Hope it turns out half as good and I will be happy!

P. :D

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

So after my last attempt on the drivers door I decided it would be easier to try and find a rust free set of doors, or at least a set that only needed minor patching. I haven't had any luck with welding skins on. With all the rust repair I have tackled on this truck I am not sure why this is proving to be so difficult. I shopped around for a few months and ended up finding a pretty good deal on a set that had solid inner bottoms, and only minor rust in the bottom corners of the skins. I thought this was going to be the end of my door problems and I would finally be able to move on. I blasted them and shot them with epoxy. I hung them on the cab only to find they didn't fit at all. Gaps were terrible, and they didn't match up to body of the cab at all. I didn't take any pics, but I would have had to do significant chopping and welding to make them fit. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid.So much for the easy fix.

I had cut the skin off the original driver door up above the handle. The reproduction door skins I bought were only usable below the upper body line because the upper body line was 3/8" too low. I had written this door off and left it outside. I bought it in and hung it with original skin, fits pretty good.

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I put a new door bottom on it, mounted the striker on the cab and installed the door lock mechanism. With the door closed and locked in place the middle of the door edge did not line up with the cab. I made a relief cut and then welded in a filler to bring the for edge out flush. With that done I mounted the cowl extension and the fender. The door frame fit great everywhere including at the rocker. I cut the skin off the last driver door I attempted to fix and fit it to this one. I tacked it in and hammered over the corners to hold it in place. As per usual, now it fits like crap, the top pulled, and now it doesn't seem to fit at the rocker.

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I really hate doors!!!! Not really sure what I want to do at this point. This has really killed my motivation. as much as I want to do all the work on this truck myself I might have to admit defeat on this one and hire some to fix it. Going to move on to other things and leave the doors alone for a while, again.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

My wiring harness for the LS is just a birds nest of extra wire. I have the ECU mounted under the dash being the glove box. I put the cab back on the chassis and made a bracket that comes off the back of the motor and in through the firewall to the ECU. This gives me the exact location where the harness plugs in. With that done I pulled the cab off. I pulled each wire out of the plug, back through the birds nest to its source, rerouted it the way I wanted back to the plug, cut it to length and crimped a new pin on it. Just have to get some braided loom to dress it up and protect it now.

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I think I am going to run all the power wires to a relay/fuse box under the hood

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Now that's pretty ingenious. Should work out better than most. :)

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

I agree, damn clever.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Great idea. I'm going to have to use that someday.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

I'm with you on that challenges on door skins. I failed on the drivers outer btm, gave up and went on to A-pillars which were no problem. Worked on the passenger door outer bottoms and after a lot of effort finally managed to get good fit/curvature. Now back to try the drivers door again.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

I keep walking away and working on other things after every failed attempt. I have a big collection of doors now. I feel like I will have the whole truck complete and still be working on getting door skins on!

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Ya but when your done you'll be the best door fixer upper around. :)

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

On my '62, I changed the entire door skin and the bottom on both doors, it's a challenge until all the gaps in the Cap fit again.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Finished up work on the LS wiring harness, All cleaned up with fresh braided loom.

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Got the firewall painted

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Shot the under side of the inner fenders and part of the firewall with Raptor Liner

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Harness and the undercoating on the inner fenders and firewall look great. Nice progress.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Looks great.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

Its been a couple month's since I got any time to work on the truck. Managed to get in the shop for a few hours today. Felt great to make a bit of progress. I got the cab back on the chassis for hopefully the last time. Painted the inner fenders, rad support, and a bunch of other parts as well.

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Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

I like the white hoop wheels

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

I got the seals installed on the inner fenders. I used stainless safety wire and bent them into staples, worked pretty well.

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Got to do some final assembly with freshly painted parts. Bolted up the inner fenders, core support, and the battery tray. Installed the radiator and battery.

With the inner fenders in I now had a place to put a waterproof fuse/relay box. I wired up all the power for the motor and ecu, as well as the fan. Also built a bracket to house a fuse block on the fire wall inside the cab. It sits right on top of the Tac Module for the drive by wire.

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Wired power to the ignition switch and turned the key, engine would crank but not start. Spent 2 days trouble shooting only to find out that the "acc" terminal on the ignition switch that I used to signal the main power relay loses power when you turn the key to crank the starter. Switched the signal wire over to the ignition terminal and it fired right up.

I wired up the OBD2 port so I could hook up my laptop with HPTuners to monitor oil pressure and coolant temp. I let the motor run until it hit 108 degrees celsius to confirm the ecu would trigger the fan relay. It takes a long time for it to hit 108! Fan kicked in, so all engine wiring is now complete. Still need to run some heavier ground and power cables from the battery.

Re: 66 GMC Long to Short LS Swap
 

very nice!!... wiring looks really good, you indicated that you wired up the OBD2 port? I am in the process of getting mine dialed in (obd2 port) and in need of adding a 120ohm resistor... did you have to do this? if so, would you be willing to elaborate on the process (steps) that you did??...
really nice build!