Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Starting a thread to show my restoration in my 2 car garage over the course of the last year. From Missouri River Bottom barn to licensed in 1 year and 1 day. There were many ups and downs as I had never before welded or done major mechanical work. I used this forum daily as well as Mr Gibson on Youtube for guidance. Mr Gibson's videos, knowledge and overall attitude were very inspiring to me. I hope you all enjoy

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Some pictures from picking it up from the Missouri River Bottoms

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Back in the early 90's. I am on the right and my brother on the left side. Looks pretty rough in this picture already.

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Looking forward to seeing the progress.

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Some pictures from the inital disassembly in my garage. Lots of rust

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Initial repair of drivers side. First time welding

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Floor pan and rear corner repair

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Repair of passenger side

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More of the passenger floor.

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Removal of the top of the cab and above windshield piece, the inner cab forward ceiling was also replaced. I completed the inner cab repair first to maintain the 3D dimensions, then I welded the above windshield piece in second using the old outer roof and new inner roof as a guide. This was welded in position with tack welds. After secured I removed the roof, removed all the rust, chasis saver, insulation, and then tack welded the roof on the cab. I wish I took better pictures. I should have also used panel adhesive instead of tack welds

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More disassembly

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Sand blasted, cab/frame/doors/all usable parts in my 2 car garage. Rented a sunbelt 300lb blaster and used it the entire weekend. I went through over 1500lbs of sand. I re-used the sand as much as I could. Needless to say the neighbors were not impressed. I got 90% of the sand out of the garage but the last 10% has been coming out ever since

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

I primed the chasis and cab with Chasis Saver. I ended up sanding nearly all of it off the cab in favor of a epoxy primer eventually. The fumes in the house were terrible with the chasis saver. Turned out very nice tho

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Engine, transmission and rear end arrived.

Engine: SP350/357 ordered from JEGS
Transmission: Tremec TKO 600 ordered as a kit from SilverSport
Rear End: Ford 9 inch made by Currie Transmissions, 3.7 rear end ratio

Engine and transmission mated easily with new bellhousing provided by SilverSport. Their pressure plate and clutch were easy to install. My runout specs for the transmission alignment were within spec for Tremec. I chose to use a mechanical clutch for simplicity.

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Engine and transmission mounted to frame. I used the rear engine mount holes which was stock for this year truck. Pros for this was weight distribution, shorter drive shaft, and near ideal shifter location. Cons are proximity to firewall.

I had re-used by upper and lower control arms. They were all blasted, painted, new ball joints were placed. I used heavy duty springs at original ride height.

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Rear end installed. Again I had Currie make it special. 3.7 ratio, with a detroit trutrac. Since GMC's for the most part have leaf springs the hangers were added by them. Everything fit perfectly. I purchased the leaf springs through General Spring locally here in Kansas City. They are actually for 3/4 ton trucks from 67-72. They are rated for 2725lbs. The original springs were rated at 1500lbs. Here is a link to the springs. https://www.generalspringkc.com/product_p/22-409.htm

I used shakles from a 3/4 ton truck slightly modified. I used 5/8 u bolts and u bolt pads from RuffStuff. The pads are sold for 3 inch axles for Ford Broncos. All came together very well.

The fuel tank is aluminum from Brothers

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Saweet! :metal: Keep up the good work!

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

Looks great...following along although I think you are going to be finished soon. :D Glad to see you with a manual transmission too!

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Brake lines run using 3/8 inch steel tubing. Master cylinder was wilwood and all brakes were Wilwood. Front calipers/rotors and spindles (stock height) were bought from Performance Online as a package. These were 2 piston calipers. Rear brakes were part of package from Currie. These were 4 piston calipers.

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Wheels were cheap steel 15 x8. Tires are Michelin. I would have use the original steel rims but they would not fit over the disc brakes. Front sway bar is from CPP and the largest they make. Rear sway bar is from Hellwig and also the largest they make. The rear had to be modified slightly as I did not like the mounting hardware. Shocks are from CPP

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The radiator is a 4 core radiator I purchased from Classic Parts of America. The mounts had to be enlarged to fit over this

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Fuel tank, rear brakes, rear end and Hellwig sway bar. Drop hitch rated for 8k pounds

Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

You are doing an awesome job on this truck

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Body work. I used epoxy primer from SPI. I used Evercoat Rage for the filler. Lots of sanding hours with many mistakes.

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Assembly. Painted at MAACO. I called around to 20-30 different body shops and everyone wanted 20-25K for the job or just refused. MAACO was fair and did a fine job. This is a daily driver and not a show truck

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Bed wood. White Oak from MAR-K. I used apitong oil (product for flat bed trailers) for the finish. Sanded with 300 grit.

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Putting inner fenders and outer fenders on. I had mocked up the body 2-3 times in primer. These fenders are all aftermarket. My trick was putting the inner fenders on loose (just barely) then placing the outer fenders. Shimming them perfectly with the doors. Once outers were tight I tightened the inners and shimmed them. Putting the hood on was a challenge and required a lot of shimming and extra hands.

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The GMC grill is original. My grandpa's was actually perfect just a painted type. I had it, as well as the hood emblem, re-chromed in Topeka. They did a great job

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Wiring harness install. I used American Auto Wire. Nice kit. My first time so it took a long time for me to do. Went well overall

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I used the original gauge surround and used Classic Instrument Gauges

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Welcome to "Its Not A Show Truck" club.

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Sharp

Custom built buddy bucket seats by Rick’ Custom Upholstery. Bolted right in perfectly
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Bed wood install. I did it the hard way. Installed the side bed wood leaving the middle open for exhaust install and wiring. Ended up having to drop the tank and drop hitch anyway. Had to put a hundred bolts in on my back. The fuel tank fill turned out nice.
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Finished product. The front glass was a bear to install. Took my wife and I a good 4-6 hours. Used a ton of masking tape, wd40, and beating to get it installed. My wife picked up an ambitious 18k pound license plate for me. I’ve put nearly 3000 miles on it since May.

Driving characteristics: good power, Holley carb still needs tuning, transmission and clutch are perfect, suspension is very tight with the HD front coils and 3/4 ton rear leafs (I do bounce off the seat with some bumps),the sway bars keep it very level, steering is nice with power steering and a quick ratio box by CPP, and braking is powerful with the wilwood system.
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Timing is a very interesting topic with these engines. I currently have 32 degrees btdc all in at around 2500. I am still messing with this. The engine has vortec heads and Chevy recommends a max of 32 degees. My vacuum is locked out at 10 degrees with the crane cam adjustable unit. I modified the unit with some help from the ignition man on the Chevelle forum website. I typically average 15-16 mpg right now. The engine runs very cool
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Re: Grandpa's 66 GMC SWB
 

My transmission is the tko 600 with 0.6 overdrive. This is mated to a 3.7 ford rear end. This places me cruising at 70mph at about 1900 rpm. I am typically pulling about 15 inches of vacuum on level ground. At idle I pull about 19. I think the truck would have done better with this steep overdrive if I would have gone with the 4.11 rear end. This would have made the overdrive more useable in the city, allowed easier starts to protect the clutch when towing, and placed the Rpms more in the powerband. I am no expert but have done a lot of research on these topics to build this truck.