Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Here's the ditzler card for 1968 quoting argent silver. Looking at this 68 chevy brochure pic it looks correct but my hubcap looks darker. What do you guys think?

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

True, I guess I expected the cap to be lighter then the new paint haha. Either way I'll rock it :metal:

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

:metal::gmc2:

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

We reached two major milestones yesterday. Got our bench seat with a huge thanks to Rusbuilt. I need to put the cover back on but the color match is perfect. This was the old seat out of my old green 68 chevy, even has November 1967 date stamp on the foam. And picked up a little mig machine and plasma to start the rust repair! Now where to start...

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Looking great so far. I love the preservation approach. Those wheels/caps are going to look awesome with some white line tires! For some reason to me, the 67/68 GMC in this color combination is one of the best looking combos from the 67-72 era. I forget who's truck this is, but it's one of my favorites.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...50/001_37_.jpg

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/gallery/...50/002_40_.jpg

Here's a photo I found of an all original '68 GMC wheel/cap. The colors look the same to me. I agree with above, your cap has probably faded compared to the new Argent on the wheels.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/1968...MG_1644-XL.jpg

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

When you painted the caps was it out of a rattle can or a gun? Did you prime the wheels first? Basically what type of paint/primer was used? :)

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Caps are original paint. I primed the wheels with a standard gray primer I had on the shelf and I used 2 coats of VHT Argent Silver wheel paint to finish it off

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

The seat is gonna be killer! And I'm super envious over the new Miller goodies. That should help a ton.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Dude that truck is sweet!! If you can find out who owned it I would have a ton of questions for them. Probably the closest match I've seen to options/color/stance that my truck will have when its done.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Thanks man, I'm pretty excited about them. Just trying to figure out where to start haha. I think I am going to do the firewall first and then jump to inner rockers, cab corners, outer rockers, and kick panels to get the cab done. Then I'll move to the front sheet metal and core support. Save the bed and tailgate for last

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

I honestly can't remember where I found those pics. I think it was from a random ad I found somewhere.

The pic of the wheel came from here: https://chuckbro.smugmug.com/Cars/1968-GMC He has quite a few detail pics of his original 503 green GMC.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

This looks like one of c10king's (Rene) trucks out in Cali. Look him up on IG, Andrew. @c10king

If it's not his, I bet he'll know whose it was.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Just sent him a PM, thanks!

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

I started cutting out some of the bad metal tonight. I started with the firewall, once I got the bad metal off I used a wire brush and phosphoric acid to treat the rust. I'll paint the inner structure with por-15 before I put the new piece on. I also tried to leave the top and bottom of the 1 in the grease markings so I can try to put it back once I'm done

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Got the passenger side rocker removed. It was basically molded with fiberglass, rags, and bondo haha. A couple before pictures showing the factory seem sealer

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

I ended up taking a cut of wheel and cutting the whole assembly in three pieces. Made it much easier to remove. Here is what I found under both the front and rear inner structures. I treated all surface rust and bare metal with more phosphoric acid to kill all rust. I'll paint both areas with por before putting the new outer rocker on

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Last few, I think this old girl shed ten pounds getting rid of this thing haha. It was crazy all that fit inside one rocker panel. Also the tab that holds the bottom of the front fender had a gnarly split in the steel so I'll make sure to weld that back up. And finally I thought I was kinda cool the og rocker still had some factory primer on the back side.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Picked up the wheels today and my last two hubcaps showed up in the mail. Hoping to mount them up tonight :metal:

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Chris, the Hankooks are blackwall on the opposite side

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Cool. Thanks. I may run those on mine once I get the wheels refreshed.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Yesssuh! Steelies and caps for the win!

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

One step closer. The color looks a little closer after the paint finished curing.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

What a cool truck! Love that you are keeping the patina! :c2:
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Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Spent some time today on the pass side inner rocker.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

After it was tacked into place I was able to test fit the outer rocker to check my door gap. I was pretty happy with everything but I didn't like the way it line up with the cab corner. You can see the factory spot welds held the cab corner about 1/4" lower then the bottom of the inner rocker so the only way to fix it was to move the cab corner

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Once I figured out that I could make everything work I finished welding the inner into place

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

With the inner done I moved onto the cab corner. My hope was to move the existing sheet metal but once I shaped it I discovered a few thin spots where the rust was about to eat through. So I cut it out and patched it

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Finally I excessively applied por-15 to all bare metal spots that won't be exposed when I'm finished. Should help this thing stay solid for another 50 years :metal:

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Really excellent work.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Painted the inside of the rocker and the inner rocker and bare metal on the floor board tonight. Then double checked my fit and plug welded the outer on

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Finally paint matched the cab corner. You can see how much better the bottom aligns now

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Looking good man! Im itching to get going on my cab.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

That looks fantastic. Grandpa gets a makeover.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

The wheels/tires look so good! And nice job on the cab corner, the paint match looks perfect. What paint did you use?

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Thanks man
Haha yes sir!
Thanks man, right now I'm using a rattle can paint match from automotive touch up but in person the color is off just a shade or two so I plan on having a local paint shop scan the bottom of one of the fenders and mixing up some single stage.

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Got a ton done this weekend. Got my RF fender done, cut out the bad metal, cleaned everything really well, used por-15 to seal the rusty metal, and patched the metal back. Also got the bottom of the pass door cut out, all the guts removed, soaked in phosphoric acid, and I'll hopefully patch back in the next day or so. I got the kick panel patch done (forgot to take pics), and a small floor patch on the pass side. Once I get the pass door done I'll be finished with rust repair on the passenger side. :gmc2:

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

RF fender cup. I ended up using the entire back structural section of the patch panel but left about 2-3" of outer og paint below the top of the inner structure. I had to bust a few spot welds but it was definitely worth it, I think it turned out decent. It'll need a skim coat of filler but should do the trick

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Pass door before and after the cut

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

A couple of the interior of the door. I thought it was kinda cool finding the runs in the factory inner coating, it looks like the inner coating was applied with the door on its side

Re: 1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl
 

Got my patch panel cut out of the donor tailgate and decided to hang it on the wall, also got a ton of smalls cleaned up and stored away for final assembly. Before and after on the LF fender trim. It's not perfect but neither is the rest of the truck