My high school 67 GMC build thread

[hpcgmc]

I started driving this truck when I was about 14 when my parents bought it. At age 16 I took my drivers test in it. At age 17 (1981) I bought it from my parents for $500 -I think it was 100 hours of work at $5.00 per hour. In about 1983 a mechanic friend and I pulled the stock 327 (burning lots of oil) and installed a rebuilt 283 out of a friends wrecked 66 Chevelle. Unfortunately the original 327 is long gone.

This was my cool truck in high school, my "get me to college" truck, my "can you help me move?" truck, my tow vehicle, my back up vehicle - you name it, this truck did it all. I had it on the road pretty regularly til about 1998. It went into storage for a few years, got driven one summer in 2003, then back in storage til October 2012.

I got it out of storage and got the old 283 running. With lots of help from this forum, I lowered it, rattle can primered it and got it running ok. The 283 was blowing lots of smoke, so I sold that motor this winter and am now diving into the restoration. This is my first project of this magnitude, and it's a bit overwhelming.

My goal for the next few months is to rebuild and paint the front suspension, upgrade to disc brakes and power steering, paint and re-wire the engine compartment and frame rails, put in a new clutch and install a crate or rebuilt 350. All this is being done in my 2 car garage, surrounded by my other toys and assorted junk. I would love to have it back on the road this summer!

I figure I'll drive it a few years, then work on replacing the stock 4 speed granny with an overdrive 4 speed. At some point I'll pull the cab and bed to repair the rust and get it painted.

Here are some pics: