Sullii the 72 GMC 1500

[knomadd]

Looks like you found a solid replacement. Congrats, and welcome back!

[hewittca]

After using the truck around the yard for a week or two it started to develop an idle issue, so I decided to rebuild the carb. It was a good thing I did because it was filled with Georgia clay (which is where this truck came from)!

I also decided to do a full brake rebuild since the manual brakes were sub-par. I am going for a functional restoration at this time, making sure everything is working as intended and cleaning as much of the dirt and grease as I can. One day down the road I will tear it all back apart and do upgrades and painting.

[hewittca]

Another thing that was incorrect on this truck was the steering wheel. For some reason, someone put a Pontiac wheel on it. I want to go back original so I found a nice wheel from a board member here.

I also decided to paint the bumpers white since I've always loved that look on these trucks. Also from what I've seen, chrome bumpers are usually listed on the SPID but my truck does not show this option. Therefore, I believe mine might have had the bumpers swapped at some point. Either way, I prefer the white anyway so they are staying!

Other than that, I've just been continuing to scrape crud from the suspension. This is about 5 lbs of debris from a quick once over of the RF suspension!

[rusty76]

I’m late to the party but glad I stopped by. Truck looks like fun and it is definitely kool. Glad to see you back on here.

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I’m late to the party but glad I stopped by. Truck looks like fun and it is definitely kool. Glad to see you back on here.

Thank you! I'm glad to be back and have another truck. I now have a solid answer to my question at the end of my other build thread about whether or not I should sell my green truck. The answer was no! Oh well, live and learn. This GMC is pretty fun too. I'm going to check in on your thread and see how yours is coming along.

[rusty76]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Thank you! I'm glad to be back and have another truck. I now have a solid answer to my question at the end of my other build thread about whether or not I should sell my green truck. The answer was no! Oh well, live and learn. This GMC is pretty fun too. I'm going to check in on your thread and see how yours is coming along.

I’m glad you were able to find a way to have another old truck. Balancing family and fun can be hard. But the memories out weigh so much. And old trucks give you a feeling of honesty that new trucks sometimes lack. I like my daily because it’s a no frills truck. It suits me.

[hewittca]

After completing the brake overhaul it was time for the first real road test now that I had some brakes I could rely on. But first, a quick stop on the farm for a photo op.



There is a great 5 mile loop around my house that I use for validation testing after completing a repair. It takes me through a small town called Turkeyfoot where I stopped to check the vitals. I only had time for one loop, but all seemed well on the maiden voyage. At this point, hopes were high that I would be able to start putting some miles on the truck.

[hewittca]

As I mentioned before, my intent with this truck was to get it to the point where it was a reliable driver in stock form and then use it as it was intended. After the validation run, I had to do some more work on the fence around the property so I put the truck to work.



One thing a photo can't capture is the nostalgic feeling you get when seeing this old truck out in the summer sun on the farm. It really is timeless.





After work, it was time to just hang out with the family and enjoy the afternoon.

[hewittca]

One thing I wanted to do before putting more miles on the truck was upgrade to an HEI distributor. I did this on my last truck and it really cleaned up the idle and responsiveness of the truck.





After completing the HEI swap, I had a chance to take the truck out on a longer test drive, this time a 25 mile venture. To do so, it was time for the first fillup. I hadn't even come to a complete stop at the pump when someone came over raving about the truck and how he used to have one ages ago. These interactions are one of the reasons I love driving these old trucks.



All was going well until about 15 miles in when I noticed the temp gauge was continuing to creep up. Then the motor started pinging so I knew the temp gauge wasn't lying to me. I was able to limp the truck home and by the time I reached the driveway the temp gauge was pegged.

On my last truck, I pulled the pan to fix a few oil leaks and replace the nylon timing gear. I figured this truck had the same, so I might as well move this maintenance item to urgent and inspect the crank bearings while I'm in there.



Upon pulling the pan, it looked very much like my last truck complete with the oil pickup jam-packed with bits of nylon from the timing gear. Logic dictated that possibly this was starving the motor of oil causing it to overheat, but my oil pressure reading was correct.



Ultimately, my brainstorming on what was causing the overheating was terminated when I pulled two of the crank caps off to reveal bearings that were very much at the end of their usable life. At this point, I knew overheating was the least of my worries and I was going to need a complete engine overhaul.

[hewittca]

After discovering the worn out main bearings, work on the truck halted while I contemplated where I wanted to go from here. In the meantime, the truck sat beside the garage, immobile and sad.







I was at an impasse. Part of me wanted to try and preserve the originality of this truck as I intended upon purchase. The other part, seeing an opportunity through the necessity of repairing the engine, wanted to pick up where I left off with my last truck and complete what I never did. My other truck, ole Green Gus, was supposed to be an LS swapped, big static drop cruiser. Some things in life got in the way and I ended up selling it before completing it, but the desire to transform a truck in that manner still remains. I didn't buy this truck with the intent of going there with this one, but if not now, when? I'm realizing that I appreciate trucks in all their stock glory but I cannot be a faithful keeper of one. I enjoy modifying my vehicles too much.

So... with that internal debate settled, it was time to remove the boat anchor to clear space for a modern transplant.



My son was all about helping on this project which made it even more enjoyable.

[hewittca]

This brings us to present again. I decided that the motor was not worth the hassle of selling, or scrapping. Those looking for a 307 to rebuild these days are very few and far between. Then I thought of a much better idea. This would make the perfect discovery project for my kids and to my delight, they are onboard. Over time, we will pull it apart while I teach them about the inner workings of a combustion engine. Then we will do a simple clean up and rebuild, replacing what needs replacing. One day, if time and interest allows, we will try and fire it up. The added bonus is that I will keep the engine which is original to the truck.

Meanwhile, in its place will go a budget friendly 5.3 LS swap. I have not procured a motor yet but I am on the hunt.





While I'm in there I might as well take care of a few other things (haven't we all been there before?). The two main things I want to accomplish while the motor is out are cleaning/painting all the suspension and frame components, and sectioning the crossmember. For this thing to be a static low driver I need to gain as much available drop as I can. That includes the 1.5" you can achieve by sectioning the crossmember. With the plans I have for the rear (details to come) I should be looking at a 7/9 static drop. Yes I know that is "too low" and I've spent hours reading all the threads on the topic of static drops. To me that still isn't very low. I'm used to driving my aircooled bugs and Golfs 2" off the ground. I'll be alright.

[68bowtie]

Really digging the original pictures. Thanks for sharing. I have a medium blue truck stashed away for a factory stock refresh, so this is great inspiration.

[hewittca]

I've not had much time (or motivation) to work on the truck recently, but I have tried to pick away at it when I can.

My lack of motivation stems from the work required at this stage. Degreasing, degreasing, and more degreasing...



I managed to make some progress on the front frame now that most components have been removed. This is a quick spraypaint job because this truck will be a driver. I've spent countless hours cleaning up and painting a chassis before and the return on investment just isn't there for me. With how much I drive my projects, it doesn't make sense to have a meticulously detailed chassis.



The next thing on the list is sectioning the crossmember. I've decided I want to go as low as I can statically, and the crossmember will help me get there. In the meantime, the truck is hanging out while I get all the front suspension components sorted out.

[hewittca]

It's been some time since my last update, but I have been making progress on the truck. It has been slower than I'd like since my family and I are also in the process of building a new house, but I am thankful that I was able to keep the truck through this process. Onto the updates!

After sitting outside on the cart for several months, I finally was able to drag the truck back into the shop to get the front end reassembled.



The biggest change, and reason for sitting so long without front suspension, was that I sectioned the front crossmember 1.5" with the help of my friend. I realize now I did not get a pic of it after completion, but it was a very standard sectioning job. What made it easy was marking all the cuts with a laser level. I stole this idea from another member (can't remember who) that used this technique to mark the cut lines when he shortened his bedsides. Excellent idea, and the sectioned pieces fit back together nearly perfectly.



As most others have experience, I ran into a few clearancing issues once installed. I had to notch the upper left a-arm for the steering shaft, and still need to add a filler piece there. I also had to clearance for the tierods. This required cutting the small lip off the bottom piece of the crossmember. Ultimately, I also had to trim the right side outside lower a-arm bolt flush with the top of the nut. Other than that, I was pretty lucky and did not experience any other clearance issues. Also not explicitly pictured here are the modified lower control arms. I incorporated the common practice of moving the lower arms forward 3/4" to increase caster and improve handling. This also has the added benefit of centering the wheels better in the wheel well.





Along with the 1.5" crossmember, I also added 2.5" modular CPP spindles and 3" CPP springs for a combined drop of 7". The front is very close to where I want it and once the springs settle in and I get a motor in the truck it will be perfect. My goal was to get the fender just covering the top of the tire. For motivation, I pulled the rear springs out just to get a visual of where it will sit at ride height. I will update in a later post the surgery required in the rear to yield such a low stance.





My truck still has the original spare under the bed, so for fun I threw it on to see what it would look like with the correct wheel/tire setup. If you hadn't noticed, my truck actually has OBS wheels on it and I plan to swap these out at some point.



After completion of the front suspension, it was back outside for a short hibernation until the next time I can get it back in the shop to work on the rear suspension. At least it looks good while sitting there!

[lolife99]

Great progress.
I love everything you’re doing to this one.

[Stickman]

Awesome truck. As lolife said everything your doing is on point and the pics are great.

[hewittca]

I wasn't thrilled with the wheels on this truck since they weren't original and did not have the nubs for dog dish caps, so I had to make a change. I had two 15x6 4 nub wheels lying around so I blasted and painted them. I also went with a smaller 215/75 tire since the 235/75 looked too big on the front now that the truck is lower. This new look up front is much better!



I was also able to score a set of original dog dish caps. My truck was plain from the factory so this is the wheel/cap combo it would have rolled off the lot with.



For the rear, I wanted to run something that would fill the wheel well a little better so I opted for a Wheel Vintiques 15x8 Series 67 wheel. The wheel itself is very nice quality, however, there was very little clearance on the stock drum. I had read reviews that mentioned this and it is indeed very tight. I had to grind down the rough edges of the drum to enable a proper fitment.





The caps fit right on this wheel just as well as on the original wheels. Overall, I am satisfied with the wheel/tire combo (for now)





You may have noticed that my bed has been removed in these photos. I will fill in those missing details in the next post, but I warn you that if you are against cutting on a stock original truck you may want to leave this build thread immediately!

[cangim]

Wheels and caps look sharp!

[hewittca]

Time for one last update in 2021. I've had a few days off this week so I was able to make some progress on the frame modifications. This is where you may want to turn away if you are a purist!

I want this truck to be low. Like, really low and static, but I also don't want to break the bank by buying all the off the shelf bolt on drop members, etc. that go along with it. So I decided to run with an idea I had after seeing a truck built by Steve at Piedmont Traction. He backhalfed a truck and swapped out the rear suspension, but I thought I could do something similar and still retain the stock suspension. I figured if I cut the frame behind the cab I could then raise it up 4". This would give me a built in 4" drop and still allow me to run stock arms and rear suspension components. So, all I had to do was hack a perfectly good shortbed frame in half!











That wasn't so bad now was it? Now all that was left to do was stitch it back together with the help of my expert welding buddy. The cut was vertical, so all I had to do was slide the frame up 4", tac it together, and then add in some filler pieces to blend it all in. I also added a funky looking boxing plate to strengthen the frame in this area since the stock frame was only hanging on by 2" at this point. A filler piece was also required that let me use the stock bed floor mounts. With this setup, the bed floor bolts up just like stock. Later on, I will update this thread to detail how I account for this raised bed floor on the bedsides.









After all this cutting and grinding, I wanted something simple to work on. So I decided to cut out a vinyl filler decal to fit in the tailgate recess around the GMC letters. I love patina, but the original white filler paint was quite faded and didn't pop like a clean gate does. This filler decal brought the tailgate back to life, and it can always be removed if so desired.

[hewittca]

While I had the bed off the truck, I got to looking at the cab and realized it wouldn't take too much more work to incorporate a 1" body drop as well. This would give me a net 5" built in drop. For the rear, this is the 4" frame raise and 1" body drop. For the front it is the 1.5" sectioned crossmember, 2.5" spindles, and 1" body drop. At that point, I have 100% retained the stock suspension geometry and can achieve the remainder of my drop with mild drop springs.

For the body drop, all that needs to be done is lower the body mount brackets. Under the cab this just means lowering the brackets one inch. It also requires a little trimming to the cab in certain areas to fit around the frame. I will update later with those details. For now, I just started with the cutout required to fit around the crossmember.





Up front it's a little more tricky because you also have the core support that will drop down with the body drop. I have seen body drop kits that require notching the core support, but I thought I could achieve the dropped body mounts, core support clearance, and bumper mounts in one modification. I decided to cut the frame vertically behind the front body mount. Then, like the rear frame raise (but much less extreme), I slid the frame horn down 1". After a few more filler pieces, the modification blends right in.











At this point, the truck was back on the ground for the first time since the heavy frame mods. The great thing is the rear is just as low as it was when I pulled the rear springs for mockup, but now I have retained plenty of suspension travel by using 4" drop HD rear springs. Combined with the frame mods and body drop, this gives me a total static rear drop of 9". Of course, I had to throw up a bed side to get an idea of the ride height. Note that the body line is not lined up because in these photos the cab has not been lowered 1" yet. This gets me right where I wanted to be which was tucking tire on the 15" wheels. I'm through the heavy modifications so the truck will start to go back together. Then I need to quit avoiding the inevitable decision: what am I going to put under the hood?!









Happy New Year everyone!

[lolife99]

Definitely nice work!
I wish I could weld.

[cj847]

This is a great idea. I haven't owned a super low truck, but I have watched a lot of them on the road. They look like uncomfortable, impractical pieces of crap. You have solved that.

[CG]

Going to be a great look, especially like your tire and wheel decision. If your tank is going to be moved it will be nice it wont be hanging out like a sore thumb underneath with the rails moved up.

[BAD1916]

Looks killer. Looking forward to more updates

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Definitely nice work!
I wish I could weld.

You and me both! If it weren't for the help of my friend to weld everything back together, these ideas would still just be stuck in my head.

Originally Posted by cj847

This is a great idea. I haven't owned a super low truck, but I have watched a lot of them on the road. They look like uncomfortable, impractical pieces of crap. You have solved that.

Agreed. I wouldn't go this far if I couldn't still retain a decent ride. I haven't driven it yet of course, but it should ride just like a truck that has mild drop springs.

Originally Posted by CG

Going to be a great look, especially like your tire and wheel decision. If your tank is going to be moved it will be nice it wont be hanging out like a sore thumb underneath with the rails moved up.

I hadn't thought about that, but yes that is a nice bonus.