Project Two - '74 Sierra Grande

[mikentosh]

Doing a two year buildup of Cannonball C10 has left me with a bunch of extra parts that we've decided to not use on it. After looking at just how much I have sitting here I was faced with either selling it all in parts, or finding another truck to use this stuff on I've got a spare LS3 motor, full repro '74 wiring harness, exterior trim, interior pieces, seat, hood, and a bunch of containers full of misc. extras.

So I started browsing for another suitable candidate at the start of summer. My requirements this time was a 73-76 fleetside shortbox with original condition body and interior. Prices seem to be slightly higher than last time (mid-2013) with an average price of $5000 for smog-exempt trucks.

Anyway, a couple of Saturdays ago I received a craigslist alert on a tired, but original '74 GMC. I was on the phone with the seller after only 25 mins of posting and he already had a previous call on it. He'd only had this truck in his possesion for a few months and he had just swapped a trans into it but hadn't driven it. Registration status was unknown, but he did have the pink so that seemed good enough for me hahaha.

I convinced him to hold the truck for me as we had to do the two hour drive up from San Jose to Elk Grove. It was also the first time I'd had the opportunity to take the new squarebody ramp truck that was aquired over the summer...





The truck is pretty original and mostly clean. Bad: Rust in the fenders and over the wheels, but the floor is solid. Hood is totally done and the tailgate won't open. Good: It's a full load truck with deluxe interior, A/C (not working), and even the cargo light.

The seller had another 10 calls on it during our drive up so I wasn't about to mess around on this over a few hundred bucks. I paid the man $3k and we loaded it up

[Low Elco]

Allll riiiiight...... This oughta be fun.

[mikentosh]

Obviously the first thing we did after unloading back at the shop (which was past midnight) is to try and get it running.





The seller had claimed carb issues so we dropped on another good carb, but it wouldn't stay running...lots of pops and misses. We started to play with timing and pulled the distributor thinking it might be bad...and that's when we found the milkshake colored oil

We then realized that we hadn't even pulled the dipstick while "checking over" the truck. I was only concerned about the body and interior. However, unlike what I did with the last truck, I want to drive this one around while upgrading it and dropping in the LS3 isn't planned for a couple of months.

So Sunday morning we started to pull the intake and heads...







I haven't done a head gasket job on a Gen 1 small block so I was actually looking forward to tackling this. I got everything off and cleaned the top end, grabbed all the neccessary gaskets and seals, and was prepping the heads for reinstallation when I noticed this...



Boo! Cracks in the passenger head on cylinder 4 and 6. Not wanting to spend any more than neccessary, we hit up O'Reillys for a couple of replacement heads. All of this for a truck that hadn't even moved under its own power yet.







After most of another day we had it running under its own power!

[mikentosh]

The moment it hit the street we found the tires are toast; dry rotted and split doesn't make for a good ride so its still undrivable. Instead we towed it back to my house where it currently sits in the driveway



Since I'm putting new tires on this anyway I really wanted to run rally wheels, so I've ordered the Wheel Vintiques Style 41s in 15x8 and 15x10, which are out for delivery today. I'm going to use those with 245/60 fronts and 275/60 rears. Hopefully I can get them mounted and take this thing around the block sometime in the next couple of days.

I did get the truck registered last week...after finding $650 in back taxes owing But at least its still got blue plates.

Until the wheels arrive, I've attempted wet sanding with 800 grit to get back to the original Hawaiian blue. It has worked so far, but its not an easy job.





I like patina (which this truck has a lot of), but with the amount of cancer creeping through the paint I just can't handle it hahahaha. I've ordered some replacement fenders and bedsides, and the plan is to do a quick repaint in the original colors.

[OutlawDrifter]

very cool! i've been on the lookout for a gmc swb myself. i'd like to finally build the daily driver i've been talking about all these years.

thanks for sharing and keep us posted!

[Advanced Design]

Great story on the find! I am tagging along. Oh, is that a Roadkill episode on the computer?

[OutlawDrifter]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Great story on the find! I am tagging along. Oh, is that a Roadkill episode on the computer?

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed, hard to miss the Blasphemi.

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed, hard to miss the Blasphemi.

Yup, I find old Roadkill episodes really pass the time while doing something boring like wet sanding

[Zach079xxx]

Awesome build thread! Your garage shelves looks like Costco; man style lmao

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by Zach079xxx

Awesome build thread! Your garage shelves looks like Costco; man style lmao

Haha thanks. The One Off Customs shop is filled with cool parts on those shelves.

Well the wheels arrived tonight so I'm hoping to get everything mounted in the morning and maybe take this thing around the block tomorrow evening.

[mikentosh]

Got the wheels mounted and balanced. Hope to get them on the truck and driving tonight...



If anybody is interested in the old wheels then PM me. I need to get rid of them.

[conman585]

Originally Posted by mikentosh

Got the wheels mounted and balanced. Hope to get them on the truck and driving tonight...



If anybody is interested in the old wheels then PM me. I need to get rid of them.

Truck looks great! I saw that the rears were 15x10 what size are the fronts? Did you order them w custom backspace or just off the shelf bs from Wheel Vintiques? Love the stance, mind sharing your tire sizes?

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by conman585

Truck looks great! I saw that the rears were 15x10 what size are the fronts? Did you order them w custom backspace or just off the shelf bs from Wheel Vintiques? Love the stance, mind sharing your tire sizes?

Fronts are 15x8 with 4" BS and rears are 15x10 with 5" BS. This is stock back spacing from Wheel Vintiques. Looks like Jegs still has both these sizes in stock. Tires are 245/60 and 275/60. Was going to go with 295/50 but tire rack didn't have them in stock.

[OutlawDrifter]

please tell me you are going to use the highway patrol cap! haha, that's "my look".

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

please tell me you are going to use the highway patrol cap! haha, that's "my look".

That would be cool, but I just grabbed some standard 73-87 rally caps. These wheels may be temporary anyway.

[91short]

Dang, now I can be jealous of two of your trucks. What size are the wheels that came on it?

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by 91short

Dang, now I can be jealous of two of your trucks. What size are the wheels that came on it?

It had 275/60R15s on it, which were hilariously trashed. There is a 2 inch bulge in the front passenger tire and I can see between the cords on the drivers side tires.

[mikentosh]

Got the new tires and wheels mounted



And took it out for it's maiden voyage!





Issues: Leaking ATF, riding on the bumpstops in the rear, no turn signals, no dash lights, soft brakes, needs an alignment, heater stuck on hot

Current plan is to put in a proper drop kit with notch and suspension refresh on Friday.

[OutlawDrifter]

My mistake, I was thinking car rally's. Truck Rally's with the stock cap and no rings is muy bueno also.

[68Timber]

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it - sub'd.

[Low Elco]

Who had 10" truck rallies in stock? Heard they had problems getting them. Looks good, diggin' the beaterriffic vibe. Will the OG hood off of Cannonball fit on it?

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Who had 10" truck rallies in stock? Heard they had problems getting them. Looks good, diggin' the beaterriffic vibe. Will the OG hood off of Cannonball fit on it?

Yeah I had a hard time finding the 15x10s in stock. Called wheel vintiques and they said its a 10-12 week backorder right now. Googled one more time and found that Jegs had them all in stock. Only downside was the week wait to get them here to California.

it looks "good" in the patina/beater look right now. Unfortunately its become obvious to me that I can't own a patina truck, especially a full load truck like this. So, yes, the OG hood from Cannonball is going on this truck shortly. Its already blasted and primed, and sitting in my storage locker waiting I've also got some replacement fenders and bedsides, and the plan is to do a respray in the original Hawaiian Blue/White. Hopefully we can get it done in the first week of November as I'm planning to drive this to Dino's Get Down!

[Low Elco]

The big question- is Cannonball gonna make SEMA?

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

The big question- is Cannonball gonna make SEMA?

Unfortunately we aren't even close to making SEMA I really didn't want to rush the assembly phase as that's the part of this whole process I've really been looking forward to. We also came up with some interior ideas that I want to get incorporated before putting it together.

[mikentosh]

Started to clean out the interior this morning before work.

Before:




After:


Floors are in pretty good shape. Only a couple of spots that need to be filled and the rest should be fine with the wire wheel and POR-15.