1964 GMC Palomino Tan Survivor

[caseyjones]

Originally Posted by motofly196

Your truck is absolutely awesome! I've got a 60' GMC Short/ Fleetside 2-tone Palomino Tan and white on top. Been collecting parts for over 20 years, and hoping the stance looks as perfect as yours when I finish it up this summer! Great job on this one!!

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing yours come together. Palomino tan guys need to stick together 😀

[caseyjones]

I've put about 1500 miles on it since I finished the rust repair and I've been chasing a few annoying little problems. I'd been feeling a vibration around 50-55mph and figured it was from knocking the weights off the front wheels when i didn't have the steering stops set up correctly. Got it aligned and front tires balanced, and the shop told me that one of the front wheels was bent. Sure enough, that bad boy was egg-shaped. Decided to bite the bullet and got another set of Wheel Vintiques Series 62 to match the back, except 15x6. Unfortunately, the vibration is still there, but intermittent. Next day, I picked up a bolt in a rear tire so had to take that in for repair. While I had it up on stands I checked the rear for a bent axle or wheel, but everything looks OK. Doesn't seem like a driveline vibration, I can't feel it through the shifter or anything. It's more like a shudder. Anyway, will keep looking for it. I still feel the "catchy" spot in the steering but I'm just learning to live with it. Overall I'm happy, but I have a few more things I want to work on when the rains come.

[caseyjones]

Solved the vibration - when I modified the rear shock mounts, I didn't complete the job and find steel bushings for the shock eyes, so there was a ton of play between the bolt and the rubber bushing. Basically it was like I had worn out shocks. I installed some bushings to take out all the slop and 1) solved the vibration and 2) dramatically improved the ride. Learn from my mistake!

[caseyjones]

My second Champion radiator gave up the ghost - started leaking at the top tank after about 3 months. Same place as the first one...at least they warrantied it.


3rd radiator showed up looking like it went through hell:


Installed it because I didn't have anything to lose and wanted to drive the truck. So far it's holding, but I don't have much confidence. I kind of suspect I'm working my way through a bad batch of these radiators that were all built at the same time. We'll see. I still have the original radiator but the quote for a re-core was really high...maybe worth it in retrospect.

I also installed a cheap ebay headlight relay kit - so far that's been a nice upgrade. I can tell the lights are brighter and I'm glad that I'm not putting that load through the switch.

[caseyjones]

One year later, not much to report. I've got almost 10,000 miles on it since I first got it driving. I'm going to update the gauges and get the rear end rebuilt this year. I'm averaging about 15mpg, did a little better on a longer hiway trip to get some parts for my buddy's truck...

[JohnIL]

Casey,
It's good to see an update. How is the Champion radiator holding up? Did the third one (the bent one) work out or did you have to replace it again?

John

[caseyjones]

Originally Posted by JohnIL

Casey,
It's good to see an update. How is the Champion radiator holding up? Did the third one (the bent one) work out or did you have to replace it again?

John

I don't want to jinx it but so far so good!

[caseyjones]

Originally Posted by caseyjones

I don't want to jinx it but so far so good!

And...you're not going to beleive this but I started to notice a faint coolant smell and the darn thing is leaking at the top left corner this time.

Thinking I'm going to switch the brackets and everything over to use a Chevy radiator.

[JohnIL]

Originally Posted by caseyjones

And...you're not going to beleive this but I started to notice a faint coolant smell and the darn thing is leaking at the top left corner this time.

Thinking I'm going to switch the brackets and everything over to use a Chevy radiator.

That's unfortunate. I have a brand new Champion radiator sitting in my garage for my upcoming LS swap. I'll have to keep a close eye out for leaks. I hope you have better luck with another brand.

[caseyjones]

For those keeping score at home, we're on replacement radiator #4 - after 3 aluminum Champion GMC-specific radiators failed by leaking between the top tank and the core, I've switched to the Jegs-branded copper/brass Chevy V8 unit. Bought the reproduction upper bracket and rubber cushions through LMC, and I had to drill out the spot welds and reconstruct it to actually fit, one of the u-channel brackets was about 15 degrees from parallel with the other, and the holes in the bracket weren't going to line up with the core support anyway. I also had to put about a 3/16" spacer under the bracket to get the height adjustment right. Not sure if that's due to my truck or an incorrect bend location on the bracket.

No issues after putting about 50 miles on it. And if this one fails in a year, at least someone should be willing to repair it. I don't know if it's bad luck, a bad batch of those GMC radiators, or something in my truck is causing the failures. But hopefully going back to an OEM style mounting system will rule out anything but part quality issues.

[1971 GMC SHORTY]

Originally Posted by caseyjones

One year later, not much to report. I've got almost 10,000 miles on it since I first got it driving. I'm going to update the gauges and get the rear end rebuilt this year. I'm averaging about 15mpg, did a little better on a longer hiway trip to get some parts for my buddy's truck...

What A BADAZZZZ TRUCK