Slim's Gym truck build

[slimneverdies]

Since everyone else is doing a post on thier build I guess I'll do the same. It seems to me the only way to build one of these trucks is if you get insight on how other builds. First off two months ago I decided to buy a 53 Gmc for my business to be my daily to customers homes. I knew I wanted a GMC because you just dont see them. I found one not to far from me that was in bad shape and after months(10 months) searching for one I decided to jump on this one. He wanted $1000 for it and I knew it was probably worth $300 tops.

[slimneverdies]

.....After looking for 2 months after some good replacement steel I decided that it would be more cost effective if I bought a donor truck rather than buying parts remanufactured from these parts store. It would cost just as much to deliver the parts as the parts cost themselves. Searching and searching I finally found another truck for parts in South Florida. Its a Old Navy truck that cost me $700 bucks....

[slimneverdies]

..... SO first things first. We started by checking to see whats underneath all this thick battleship blue paint to know just how much did I save. All I can tell you is if you dont own a auto paint supply store dont buy one of these trucks. The only thing on the truck that didnt have 5lbs of bondo on it was the doors and the left front fender. I wish I could go back in time and start over but oh well!!

Me and my friend started buy stripping the paint off what I wanted off this truck and end up spending way to much time on just the fenders, try to get them as straight as possible so my paint and body guy doesnt try to rape me when I bring the truck.

[slimneverdies]

....After biting the bullet on both of these nightmares I just told myself there is no turning back now. So while my friend went at it on the donor trying to get the fenders up to par, I jump over tothe not so nice part and started taking the old GMC apart. I started on the front clip so I could meet my buddy half way so we could a least see the front clip go together with freshend up parts... Not one bolt came off easy. Either I had to tighten them up until they broke off or had to grind them off with the angle. But I got it done....

[slimneverdies]

.... just as of yesterday I decided to whip out the wire brush and some OSPO to clean up the radiator support and inner fenders down to the metal. Also today I went in my garage and called myself painting all of this stuff with some Rust-Oleum spray paint and I didnt really like the finish. I dont know if I should sand all the paint off and start over or just lightly sand the runs down and hope for a better finish.

Tell me what you guys think I should do about the finish. Mind you its a daily driver but Im a little picky but not anal.

[sgtusmc]

It's good to see another 53 GMC out there. Since you have a nice chevy grill are you gonna swap it out? (please say no,please say no,please say no,) Looks like a good start. Since you've sanded the area free of rust and the paint isn't perfect, why don't you sand down the runs and repaint? Keep the pics coming. I'm getting reallly close to finishing so if you need a specific pic of something let me know, we have the same truck. Good luck on the build.

[slimneverdies]

No way am I going to switchout the grill. That grill is for sale. When you do see one of these trucks which is rare, its almost always a Chevy. I like them both but rather have something a little different. I saw your build with the family and I think thats the coolest thing in the world. I think I might just do what you said about sanding it down and repainting. Did you stay with the vent window door or are you going with the one window?

Im getting to the grill in a bit....
The Chevy grill and bumpers in the middle are for sale. I think Ill just keep the outer grill and get new bumpers and a new inner grill...

[sgtusmc]

Yeah there pretty rare. I have the vent window. I just changed out the seals and glass on them. I went through LMC for my glass and seals. I'm happy with them. I've never seen any first hand from other venders so I can't compare quality.

[tylordurben]

sup Slim!

hey the GMC did you get it from South Florida? that street looks familiar.

glad to see progress is being made on your truck!

hey what do you want for that rear bumper? it should fit the GMC i built right? why arent you going to use it? well, im sure the owner of the truck i built would be interested in it, just tell me how much.

keep it up!!!

[slimneverdies]

Whats up Yaril. Yeah thats my block up here in Plantation. I actually bought this truck in Davie. Yeah im trying to get work done on this GMC and while im still going through the motions with the el camino over in Hialeah. The guy thats doing the el camino sucks reaaly bad.

Enough of me venting, but since your going to be doing my suspension I'll give you the rear bumper for $70. I dont need it because before I bought the extra truck I had brand new grill and bumpers. There the exact same as the GMC.

I have everything for the front suspension except for control arms. Any suggestions?

I didnt want to bring you the truck until I had the entire drivetrain just if you was wondering what happen to me.

[tylordurben]

thats cool. sucks your elcamino isnt going the way you hoped.

dude, i appreciate the discount, but remember this isnt my truck. i sure wish it was! drove it a few weeks back and that thing rides incredibly smooooth!

as for the control arms, sorry i cant help ya. the front suspension was a kit and came all together. im sure this board will have the info, try doing a search.

keep on gathering all your parts. when you feel you are ready (no rush here) just say the word and ill pass by to double check what you got before i receive your truck, like i told ya i want your truck the least amount of time here possible, or at least the frame.

[slimneverdies]

you give him a price off $100 an tell me.

I wanted to ask you if it was a problem if I went with power steering instead of manual? This will be my everyday driver. Also for the rear, are we going parallel or triangulated?

Only thing I want different from his truck is that I want the front bumper to almost kiss the ground. I dont know what his ride height is but I want mine very low.

[tylordurben]

cool, ill see him friday and let him know.

power is not a problem. your a strong dude, i can handle the 50 i built without power no problem. rear can be either way. triangulated requires 1 less bar, the pan-hard bar.

the bumper on the 50 still needs to be lowered. trust me i drive that truck centimeters off the floor and its a fantastic ride. the cross member will hit before the bumper, so mods will need to be made to bring that down, but not too much or the grill wont be "anchored".

[slimneverdies]

Ok!! Im gonna go with the manual rack like you suggested. I just wanted to make sure that if my girl drove it she would be able to park it with no problems.

I figured you might wanted the triangulated cause there's less measuring trying to find the rear's center for its ride height.

I'll start ordering parts this weekend.

[tylordurben]

oh wait a minute, your girl!? haha, yeah i dont think she will be happy. my girl has driven my 51 Buick (all stock steering) but she likes the "adventure?" guess for your girls sake a manual rack will help her in those hard to park situations.

like i said, parallel or triangulated i can do it. just 1 has an extra bar. ive seen other builds on here with 4-links. research and see what people prefer.

[slimneverdies]

It seems like now I have a million questions huh Yaril? What car did you get that rearend out of again? Im looking for something with disc already attached. Just so you no my engine is a 6.0L with a 4l60e stock. So just over 320hp. I need at least about 18mpg for my daily drive.

[tylordurben]

the rear end came out of some Buick, cant remember though. main thing there is to measure mounting surface of wheel to the other side. make sure its not too much wider or shorter. then the other thing to look at is what gear ratio you get in the rear end.

i take it you will be using a 350 or 400 chevy trans, the final gear is 1:1 that with the factor of your tire size can tell you what rpm you will be doing at what speed, therefore giving you an idea of how much mpg you could potentially make.

[Atomsplitter]

Slim,
Did I read the Chevy Grill is for sale? How much $ are you asking?

[slimneverdies]

$150 for anyone on this forum but you pay for shipping. I didn't really want to separate the two bumpers and grill but if that's how it sells oh well!

[Swifty]

hey, Slim.. you said the guy wanted $1000 for the truck. how much did you end up paying for it. There is a local truck in about the same condition here and the guy wants $1,500 but i was thinking of offering him $500 instead. I was just curious how your situation worked out.

[slimneverdies]

I didnt want to argue with the guy so I gave him $1000. I think you should pay only what you can afford. Someone wants $1500 and you offer $500 would almost be an insult. Hey whats the worst that can happen, he say's no?

[slimneverdies]

If its all there and original with a title its probably worth the $1000. After I started taking it apart to see what I could reuse I think I got a descent deal

[Atomsplitter]

Slim,

I PM'd you regarding the grill.

Ron

[Swifty]

Slim, here is the truck i was talking about. I'm just having a hard time talking the wifey into letting me get it. She thinks i can find a better truck for a cheaper price... WOMEN!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=310009

[slimneverdies]

Man Swifty. Thats a whole truck. If you do the work that would be easier to work on than mine. Its a five window!!!! A truck is only worth what you think its worth. Offer him $1100 for it. Its definely worth $1500 with a title to me. Those days of finding a whole truck, running, with paint on it for $2000 is behind us now. You cant buy a parts truck anymore for $700

Good luck