Project racing $$$. 1968 GMC SWB 5.3/4l60E Build

[imsuchaman55]

I recently picked up a very straight and zero rust 1968 GMC SWB without an engine or transmission. The P.O. rattle canned flat black over the original smurf blue paint because he couldnt stand it, but the body and cab seem to be almost flawless. He did a lot of the little things that are a pain already, New heater core, dash pad, door locks, handles, all new rubber, nice glass, new brakes & shocks (even though they are drum all around, which will be changed), and rhino lined the bed, interior floor, and back of cab. He also put drop shackles in the back, and cut 1 coil off of the front, which Im not a fan of, but will figure out what Im going to do once I get some weight in the front with the engine. I also had him throw in the 6 lug mags with the 50 series tires, since he had the back spacing figured out and I like the older hot rod truck look. I am the 3rd owner, and this thing even still has the black california plates, with current tags until may 2012.

Here are some pics of it recently.

the day we picked it up.



Back in the shop and unloaded. You can see where the P.O. would rattle can the touch up spots. My body man is not going to be happy about that!



Next we got the front grouping and bed off to get a good view of what we need to fix, and pressure wash it all really well so we can get the frame and firewall nice and clean.


As you can see it is a manual steering box truck. I went to the pick n pull and found a power steering box and am going to make it work with the Power steering pump on the 5.3. I am also getting rid of the rag joint and putting a heim in there. The steering wheel is beat up pretty bad, and Im on the fence about replacing the column and steering wheel with a tilt column/wheel out of an early 90s truck. I also need to find a sway bar, this one is missing.

Here it is outside and all pressure washed off. You can see where the P.O. accented the leafs and interior red with the black, Im not really a fan of it, but dont know if I want to dive that deep into this project and repaint the interior. I need to get some interior shots. The dash is really nice and all origninal gauges. He said they all workied when he pulled the engine and tranny out for another project, but dont they all work before someone sells you something?? I will have to figure out if I want to keep all original gauges with the cable x adapter and oil press/ water temp adapters for the 5.3. Also the seat is mangled up pretty bad, I need to figure out how I want to do that, either old bench, or newer seat from something else...


Hey look what showed up on a truck! After meeting and talking to Dennis the menace, with his amazing truck build on here, I decided to call the guys he got his engine, tranny combo from. They were very helpful, and even delivered for free.


All unwrapped. It is a 2001 GMC sierra 5.3, but It has DBW, which upon further investigation they came with?? Was really hoping it was a cable throttle body, but we can make this work. And Im not too worried about it being wore out with 80k miles on it


Got the harness and a lot of the accessories stripped off so I can clean and paint it before going back together.


Thats all I have got done so far. Now for an explanation of the title. I bought this truck so that I could clean it up and try to make some $$ to race the camaro you may see in the background of some of these pics. My dad has been building and racing asphalt stock cars here in sacramento for 20 years, and 3 years ago, he was diagnosed with both CLL and SLL leukemia, most likely from over exposure to the leaded race fuels he used to distribute. We built the camaro last winter for him, me and my little brother to team drive and have a good time. Nothing brings families together like horsepower, haha. Here are a few pics of what it started as and what we finished with. We painted it the same bright orange color as the leukemia bracelets we all wear.

Heres what we started with, a 1978 camaro shell...


Many many hours of cutting, welding and grinding...


2010 camaro nose onto the 78, lots of cursing, and getting the english wheel figured out on the fenders.


And it all done and hitting the track




My plans for the truck are to get it mechanically sound and working flawlessly, Disk brakes, get a few of the interior issues worked out (seat, steering wheel, etc) and get all of the body work done. The body is in amazing shape, the passenger side bed and front fender is the only place that shows dents, and a little on the tailgate, but not too bad. Cab corners, drip rails and rockers show no rust. Im not going to paint it, just get body work done so the next guy can do whatever color he wants.

While we are on the sponsor hunt for next season, I figure this will be a safe investment to fall back on, plus Ive always wanted one of these SWB with a 5.3, and have been drooling on the builds on this site, awesome work. I really like this truck and wish I could keep it, but I like the camaro more, and the meaning behind it is much more than this truck.

Thanks for checking it out, let me know what you think, or what direction I should go with. I am always open to suggestions. I will be posting more pics as I go. Now I just need to finish cleaning and painting the engine, get it mocked up in the truck, and tackle the harness.

[68 short step]

that engine looks more inline with being either a very early 01, or possibly 00-99. the intake cover is diffrent then a 99, so id guess it to be a 00. in 01 the waterpump had less casting releafs. the throttle body is a new one on me, it should be a cable driven one. look at the PCM, what colors are the connectors? they should be blue and red. if its a blue and green one, id be real curious as to what that come out of, and the year.
good luck on the swap, and you'll love the end result

[imsuchaman55]

I thought it should have been a cable throttle body too, but googling around I guess some GMC's and SUVs had the DBW this year. I will check the connector colors when I go by the shop after work. Im really excited to get it in and running tho, and thanks for the PM reply!

[Graham57a]

Looks like a solid truck to start with. That's awesome that you guys built that car to have fun as a family. I used to live out in California and my grandpa used to race all over the state back in the day. Riverside, Altamont, Sears Point, Shasta, Ukiah, you name it. My dad moved our entire family out to Mooresville, NC to pursue his dream of working on race cars for a living. Now he builds super late models and rents them out to upcoming drivers. I guess there's a connection between racing and these trucks

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by Graham57a

Looks like a solid truck to start with. That's awesome that you guys built that car to have fun as a family. I used to live out in California and my grandpa used to race all over the state back in the day. Riverside, Altamont, Sears Point, Shasta, Ukiah, you name it. My dad moved our entire family out to Mooresville, NC to pursue his dream of working on race cars for a living. Now he builds super late models and rents them out to upcoming drivers. I guess there's a connection between racing and these trucks

Yea we raced super lates in the 90s at all of those places. Mooresville is the mecca for this stuff, wish we were out that way so we could race every night, haha. The good thing about these trucks is we can make them nice and sleek, and not have to worry about them getting stuffed in the wall on a Saturday night! Thanks for checking out my build
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[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by imsuchaman55

Yea we raced super lates in the 90s at all of those places. Mooresville is the mecca for this stuff, wish we were out that way so we could race every night, haha. The good thing about these trucks is we can make them nice and sleek, and not have to worry about them getting stuffed in the wall on a Saturday night! Thanks for checking out my build
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You might have heard of my grandpa, Don Graham?? He was the 57 car, hence my username. If you get a chance check out my build, I was able to incorporate a few race parts in my project. My truck also used to be a GMC but I converted the front end to 69-72 chevy. Are you planning on keeping yours a GMC?

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by Graham57a

You might have heard of my grandpa, Don Graham?? He was the 57 car, hence my username. If you get a chance check out my build, I was able to incorporate a few race parts in my project. My truck also used to be a GMC but I converted the front end to 69-72 chevy. Are you planning on keeping yours a GMC?

Yes I know who he is, my dad used to race against him. He drove for the Lehmans in the 80s & 90s I think. My dad's name is Eric Price, I think they raced the Nor-cal tour series together. The tour cars used to be huge out here back then but they have died out. We mainly focus on modifieds, and lately street stocks because thats all that really runs out here now. I plan on leaving it a GMC just because it is not as common as others I see on the road, and I like the 4 headlight look. I think I will take off the chrome trim ring that goes around the grill on the hood and fenders, and get the grill and light buckets chromed. I want it to be a simple, clean, efficent truck that has a little get up and go when need be, but not look like I went crazy in the autopart store accessory isle.

[usmcchevy]

Originally Posted by imsuchaman55

I thought it should have been a cable throttle body too, but googling around I guess some GMC's and SUVs had the DBW this year.

Yep, Tahoes, burbs and a few GMCs got the DBW early. IIRC it may have had something to go with CA emissions, could be wrong though. Nice build!

[mcbassin]

Very nice project. Love you CA guys rust free trucks. Subscribing.

[imsuchaman55]

Ive got a few progress pics. I got my adapter plates in, and I didnt have to trim the tunnel lip to get everything to fit. I am on the fence about trying to fab a full engine cover out of aluminum, or just using the stock cover and having the coils showing, Im going to have to look at it some more. I also cleaned up my harness with directions from LT1swap.com. It was really pretty simple once I got all of the old tape and wiring loom off.




I still need to put new loom on the harness and figure out where I am going to mount everything. I am using the stock fusebox from the donor truck, so Im sure I will just mount it near its original location.

I picked up a cluster from a 02 camaro, because I have seen on here that a few guys tried to make them work with their swaps, and I figured it would be worth the 75$ to try to make it work, as opposed to 400$+ for new gauges, or trying to get adapters to make the old ones work. My little brother did this whole conversion while I was at work, so I have to give him credit on how well this turned out....

Heres what I started with....


Got an old gauge cover from a friend that was pretty thrashed. Cut it out to get the new cluster to fit in. Theres a bracing piece around the backside of the gauge cover, so we figured thats where we would cut to, to keep it strong.


sheetmetal template to figure out what parts of the faceplate will show thru and what will be blacked out.


We made it out of 1 piece of lexan, taped off what we wanted to show thru, and painted the rest from the backside, so its all one smooth piece, and the black will never get scratched off. This is how we do our lexan racing windshields.

The gauges are set in a little bit to make it look natural, and we made L brackets to hold it nice and rigid.





I am very happy with the way it turned out, nice and clean, and doesnt look too out of place. What do you guys think??

Next on the agenda is get the fuel system rounded up, PCM flashed, finish wiring, get a cruise control switch from an early 90s truck/van, and get a 1 piece driveline to replace the 2 piece. Then its time to figure out what I want to do for a seat, either recover the original( has a bunch of broken springs) or get something else, find a 6 lug disk brake kit for the front, and figure out if I want to lower it some more.

[mcbassin]

WOW! that instrument cluster looks great! Have you had a chance to look at it from the driver seat in driving position? Are you going to be able to view all the gauges? I really like this conversion, great enginuity!

[imsuchaman55]

I havent had a chance to see it from the drivers seat. We took the column out to repaint it and replace the worn out bearing inside, and havent put the steering wheel back on. It is the huge bus wheel, and is pretty messed up, so were trying to figure out what to replace it with. I assume that the gauges will be visible from the seat, they are higher than the originals, but I dont know, I never drove this truck before. The seat is really thrashed, and with all the broken springs in it, I dont want to plop my 6'5, 290lb butt on it. Not the kind of surprise Im looking for in this truck!! haha. I do know my brother angled the gauges a little bit so that they angled toward the driver.

I hooked the gauges up to power on the bench, and got the illumination, blinkers, high beam indicator, and voltage to show, so thats a good sign. I really like how much brighter this illumination compared to other older dashes. I do have one concern though. I know I wire the tach and speedo directly to the pcm, the fuel level sending unit direct to gas gauge, and the oil pressure gauge to the oil pressure sending unit, which I am replacing with a camaro one that matches the cluster year, but have some concerns about the water temp and check engine light. All diagrams I have show water temp coming from serial data cable coming from pcm, into a spliter that splits the signals for cluster and diagnostic port. I am hoping that I can wire the serial data cable directly to the 02 camaro cluster serial data cable input and have the water temp work?? Im not 100% sure they are compatible. Also, I know the pcm puts out a check engine light wire, that supplies ground to turn light on, but with this gauge cluster having the information box in upper right corner, will it also be pulling info from the serial data?? I just want to make sure I get everything working correctly.

Im glad you like it!! I figure it would be a nice alternative to having to buy expensive electric gauges, and adds a custom look to the dash, without going too extreme. I just hope I can get my water temp to read...

[Dieselwrencher]

Awesome project, and great job on your cluster! That looks sweet!

[7dee2]

Very cool...

I really like the instrument cluster as well and would love to see an in-depth write up on this when you get it sorted out. I have seen this done before but didn't turn out as nice as yours.

Both my 68 GMC (Sold ) and the new 72 are both rear leaf type trucks. Is your truck rear leaf or coil suspension?

Very similar build to my 72. Looking forward to following your progress with this truck. Subscribed!!

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by 7dee2

Very cool...

I really like the instrument cluster as well and would love to see an in-depth write up on this when you get it sorted out. I have seen this done before but didn't turn out as nice as yours.

Both my 68 GMC (Sold ) and the new 72 are both rear leaf type trucks. Is your truck rear leaf or coil suspension?

Very similar build to my 72. Looking forward to following your progress with this truck. Subscribed!!

Yes mine is a leaf truck as well, didn't know they came with them until I did some research. I think its kinda cool. The dash really didn't take much more than what I posted. Once I cut the old gauge cover back to the bracing, the camaro cluster fit in perfect. Then I just made some L brackets to use the existing mounting holes. The hardest part was making the lexan template. I can get some more detailed info later. Thanks for checking out my build. I've been lurking around for a while, and been getting tons of inspiration from everyone on here
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[68 TT]

The cluster turned out really clean. It will look great in there.

[85chevy383]

Awesome build love the gauges subscribed
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[imsuchaman55]

Im glad you guys like the gauges. Not a whole lot going on right now as far as updates. Taking the plunge today and making a good sized order on mail order parts, so should be getting a lot done after next week when everything shows up.

Im going to finish up the wiring this weekend with loom, hard wire the gauges and all power wires into existing harness, get the power steering plumbed, and finish the fuel lines. Im running #6 braided as a feed and blue #6 fuel line as a return, along with braided power steering lines. My fuel pump and fittings will be showing up today so I can get it wrapped up. I welded a bung to the bottom of the stock tank, and got a walbro external pump, and using the stock pickup for the return line. I cut the stock pickup down though so it wouldnt cavitate at the new pickup. Going to pull the engine out to drill out 2 broken exhaust manifold bolts, and do some detail work on the frame/firewall so when the engine goes in it looks nice and clean. also will be fabricating the DBW pedal so it looks and feels stock on the floor. And tracking down a 1 piece driveline, or having one made.

My laundry list of parts being ordered today include....
-6 lug disk brake kit for fronts with lowered spindles
-carpet kit
-headliner with trim ring
-steering wheel
-new headlight bezels
-either rear bumper or roll pan, on the fence still
-hood hinges
and some other random stuff.

I have been looking all over for low back 40/20/40 seats to put in here. Ive found a few places online that have some nice ones, but was wondering if any of you guys knew where I could get some?? I would like to put new black seats in this so the whole interior looks new and plush.

[ERASER5]

Love the gauge cluster!

Just a thought, since the steering column is out, you are replacing the rag joint, adding power steering, you might consider shortening the column and sinking it into the fire wall a few inchs. At 6'4", any size steering wheel is going to be really close to you with column at factory length. I'm only 5'6" and I think I need a tilt wheel just to get in and out.

subscribing.

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

Love the gauge cluster!

Just a thought, since the steering column is out, you are replacing the rag joint, adding power steering, you might consider shortening the column and sinking it into the fire wall a few inchs. At 6'4", any size steering wheel is going to be really close to you with column at factory length. I'm only 5'6" and I think I need a tilt wheel just to get in and out.

subscribing.

Yea I could do that. I am removing the rag joint and putting a heim joint in there. I didn't really think about that but that would definately make it more comfortable to get in and out. when guys shorten them, they just loosen the clamp bolts and slide it down, or would I need to cut and reweld a plate where the column goes through the firewall?

[ERASER5]

Putter has an FAQ thread on here somewhere. Hey there it is. Hope it helps.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=191143

[kmdracer]

Love the gauge cluster. Now you have me wondering if I could do something like that with my '76 C-10. Hmmm, I have a'99 Z28, a '91 RS, and a 76 c-10....

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by kmdracer

Love the gauge cluster. Now you have me wondering if I could do something like that with my '76 C-10. Hmmm, I have a'99 Z28, a '91 RS, and a 76 c-10....

Thank you! I got the gauges all wired up, and tested the power for the blinkers, dimmer, illumination, and bright switch. They all seemed to work, but I am a little stumped on the fuel gauge wiring. From research Ive done, It seems the fuel level comes from the OBDII wire from the PCM, not directly from the fuel level sender, but I already pulled the pin for the fuel sender into the PCM, so I need to figure out what I need to re-pin to get it to work, if it will even work. Also, I see in my notes that the PCM has an input from the tank fuel sender, and a ground that I assume in with the harness grounds. I removed both of these from the directions on LT1swap.com, so I need to figure out if I can put them back in and get the fuel gauge to work.

[mvesr]

Hey man, love what you have done to your truck. I especially like the gauges. I would like to do the 5.3 swap in 68 stepside someday put have found junkyard prices all over the place. If you don't mind I would like to find out where you got your engine trans set from.

Thanks-Mika

[Bagwurxc10]

I'm a mechanic for a trucking co.we had a truck that was stolen and recovered. My company was gonna scrap the truck, so I bought the entire truck for scrap price ($500). It'll be hard to find a deal like that. On Craigslist, I've seen engines and tyranny for about $1500-$2500. Mine is the 4.8 and you can pick up those pretty cheap. It has plenty of power for me driving it everyday.