Father/Son '58 GMC 4x4 Build

[dyno]

My 14 year old son and I have been working on restoring this '58 GMC that we found on Craigslist for 400.00. This is going to be his first truck! We plan on doing a full restoration and 4x4 conversion over the next year. I built a '58 over 30 years ago and just fell in love with these trucks. Now it's time to pass on that passion, some valuable skills and have some fun working together.

[Rods57]

Welcome to the forum, love to see more people in Idaho on here. let us know what you need and make sure to post lots of pictures. lots of resources here in ID as well.

[meter swinger]

GMC, fleetside, NAPCO? Very nice truck for 400$. Looking forward to more pics.
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[Wheelie]

Very cool! I look forward to the progress pics.

[dyno]

Thanks...pics are coming. We are not doing a Napco conversion, but have collected all the drivetrain parts from 80's chevy trucks, including leaf springs...on the cheap! We decided to go with a short box step side, so we shortened the frame.

[_Ogre]

nice find. you couldn't find a 58 hood for that price in michigan

[dyno]

Drove it home spewing old, stinky gas from bad fuel pump...




Let the fun begin.


Dillon, lifting out the old 336.


Found all the drive train parts also on Craigslist; SM465, NP205, 4:11 axles, leaf springs and hangers, all for 250.00


Found this 283 out of a '63 Chevy that never left the farm for 125.00. We will do the rebuild on it soon.

[dyno]

The boy wanted a stepside short bed, so we found one in good shape. Time to shorten the frame.

[dyno]

Here we are putting the new springs and axles under the stock shortened frame. We used a shorter set of 72 Chevy truck front leaf springs that were very close to the same length as the stock springs. Used rear leaf springs and hangers from an 80's Chevy.






Here is some front shackle detail. Just used stock location, welded a bushing on the outside and steel brace on the inside. The rear brackets I made for the rear are a bit on the "hungus" side...

[dyno]

Re-posting the first pic of this thread. For some reason, it got lost in photobucket. Is there any way to edit older posts?

My son Dillon and his first rig:

[OrrieG]

Nice work. You have a limited time frame to edit your posts, like 10 minutes.

[6BT 56]

That looks like a real nice project you got going on there. There are a few really good 4x4 builds going on here . My oldest is 12 , thinking of some sort of build for us to work on. There is a Ok S10 with a V8 down the road for sale a bit hacked but still good material to work with

Keep up the good work .

My Build

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=556908

[wayne4252004]

Looks like fun. Keep the pics coming.

[dyno]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Nice work. You have a limited time frame to edit your posts, like 10 minutes.

Thanks Orrie. I still want to come by, meet you and see your truck. I'm usually in Boise 4 days a week.

[meter swinger]

Any updates on the truck? I like the way you did the front hangers, i'm thinking i may go that route on mine.
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[dyno]

Thanks. We hit a slow spot in the project. Currently gathering parts to build a 350 roller cam motor instead of the 283 we were going to rebuild. Cheaper parts, more HP and torque than the 283.

[mvitale27]

Any updates on this build?

[dyno]

Sorry, I've neglected to update the build. I've been doing body work since February and will be shooting the truck this weekend! Will be posting lots of pics soon.

[dyno]

OK, here's some progress pics. We did lots of rust restoration over the winter, sand blasted everything and finally piece painted it last weekend.

[dyno]

I think doing those door bottoms was the worst part...

[dyno]

Dillon still playing in his old sandbox!

[dyno]

I chose to use PPG Essential DeFleet single stage. This is newer Ford race red, code PQ. It's about the brightest red I've seen.

[dyno]

[dyno]

Cutting and buffing for days. Doing all the color sanding by hand with a rubber block, 600 grit, 1500 grit then buff. My shoulders have about had enough!

[blue57]

Looking good.