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.