'72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area

[McDeezl]

I bought this as a core for my build about two years back and finally started on it this winter. I was waiting for my new garage to be near complete enough to be decently set up and simply having the time.

As you can see it is essentially one of those "lift up the ashtray and slide a new truck under it" projects!! It had about 40 years of being well pickled in salt and it shows. Original thoughts were that the body was all pretty much scrap but should be enough there to build up a rolling chassis at least - wrong! Even the frame was rotted beyond repair in a few critical and well hidden areas - oh well. There will be a few odds and ends that I can make use of such as the rear end and parts of the front end, etc. but the rest will be pieced and purchased separately - thank god for Bill's Truck Shop in Oshawa!

Got a frame out of a '68 3/4 ton from Bill's that is out of California and mint shape so started from that. In the process of of building up from that now using some of the old and lots of new. Plan is to have the rolling chassis built up for end of summer and ready to start doing body components in the fall.

Some details of what the plan for it is:
- 350HO (330 hp) turnkey crate engine with TH400 behind it
- Headers with crossover dual exhaust
- Keep original 3.08 diff and upgrade to Eaton posi
- Stock suspension but all new - no drop mods
- Autometer electronic gauges with carbon fiber dash bezel
- Paint-trim will change at least a dozen times before I get there but sure as hell won't be yellow!!

A few pics of the project up to this point - will try to add more from time to time as things get built up.