56 GMC Aussie Style

[_Ogre]

i'm with russell on the condition of your cab, not sure i've ever seen one that nice.
good job on the firewall.

it takes a type ''A'' person to fill and sand the inside of the floor where it will be covered by a floor mat
i must be type ''F'', i hit the high spots off the welds on the floor. up higher not even that

[Red Foreman]

Three weeks have gone by & there's been a fair bit of progress on the cab. I'm a mechanic by trade but definitely not a bodywork guy, I am however fortunate enough to have Carmen (that works with me full time) and has inherited paint skills from his father Joe who actually repaired a the dent in the roof & cleaned up the inperfections in the firewall.

Heres pics of the cab getting painted in high fill 2K undercote, roof, dash top & firewall all done at the same time.

[Red Foreman]

Roof painted last weekend, firewall & front half of floor painted in a color matched turquoise yesterday, only the top dash pad left, that will be in a dark turquoise metallic also color matched to the original.

Sorry about all the pics, its the middle of a cold winter here in Melbourne & being Sunday with non stop rain all day the TV & computer have copped a beating all day!

Two random shots of the 348 loosely sitting in the frame thrown in for good measure

[Indian113]

Red, your truck is really turning into a thing of beauty! That Wedge is awesome makes me jealous. I'm so glad you went that way instead of a sbc-like I did send some of your rain to the states we;re a little dry

[Kim57]

Looking real nice. Love the W motor.
Kim

[Red Foreman]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Looking real nice. Love the W motor.
Kim

Thanks Kim, I had a browse at your build yesterday, looking good!

Originally Posted by Indian113

Red, your truck is really turning into a thing of beauty! That Wedge is awesome makes me jealous. I'm so glad you went that way instead of a sbc-like I did send some of your rain to the states we;re a little dry

Indian thanks, really for me a sbc would have been a logical choice, I have a couple laying around, there reliable, find parts anywere but most of all an easy fit.
I am paying dearly to run the 348, build cost, bracketery but most of all its a tight fit, from exhaust port to port is about 1 1/2" wider than a bbc, will get there eventually though!

[Barney Rubble]

really cruisn ahead Red. Good to see your painter wore more standard gear than Jonny the welder - shorts n thongs lol.
Love the way she's looking.
Scott

[Red Foreman]

Originally Posted by Barney Rubble

really cruisn ahead Red. Good to see your painter wore more standard gear than Jonny the welder - shorts n thongs lol.
Love the way she's looking.
Scott

Thanks Scott, hows the weather going up north? I'm sick of this drawn out wet Melbourne winter Anyway on the upside the mrs made a killer Sunday roast, polished off a bottle of red & listening to footy on the radio, my Hawks are winning, So I guess you could say I'm in a happy place!

A bit more progress on the GMC, I put the original wheels back on the frame to get it rolling again. We lifted the cab on the hoist & lowered it on the frame with a new set of cab mounts.
Cheers George.

[Red Foreman]

Some more pics just for the road!

[Barney Rubble]

more GMC goodness.
Yep, the hawks polished off port just as you did that bottle of red.
Weather here is sunny 20-22 celcius (for the yanks), but really dry now. We've gone from flooding rains to crippling drought.
Keep up the good work.

[Indian113]

You did a good job on that clip!! I'd be proud of your frame work. I hope it drives as nice as it looks.

[Kim57]

Looking good.
Kim

[meter swinger]

X2 on the frame. youre making the camaro clip look very appealing to me. I like the way your frame horn are tied onto the clip. I saw your posts on the HAMB also with the jig set-up for the front horns, that looks like a great idea.
Good looking truck.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Red Foreman]

Hey fellas! I'm back with a little more progress on the GMC. I have been a recluse, hiding & reading build threads for a while lately. With all the quality builds that are progressing on this site atm, 63split to name one thats just a totally awesome build & that Delmo guy just won't go away, each time time he's close to finishing a truck he freaks us out with another just kidding mate, keep em coming great stuff!

So anyway engine & trans are in for good now, I also had massive win with the tailshaft would you believe its still the original & didn't need any modification but fitting a t400 yoke, I was blown away that after a Camaro graft & a totally different engine & trans combo, the tailshaft would go straight back in!

Power steering pump is also hooked up which wasn't easy, I modified a sbc cradle & a bbc chevelle pump with remote reservoir, it allowed me to move the pump higher for clearance, the rest I kinda made.

[Red Foreman]

I was lucky enough to find a hybrid type front universal I had lying around, the f%*d uni enabled me to fit the t400 yoke onto the original spicer shaft.

[Red Foreman]

Here's a little insite on using my original column. After I cut the steering box off & shortened the column to my desired lenth. I bought the smallest off the shelf bearing with a 3/4" ID, a circlip & had a step bush made at my local little machine shop (my own column saver). Pressed the bearing into the bush then tap into the column tube. I have since machined two flats into the shaft to accept 3/4 DD uni-joint.

[Kim57]

Looking good.
The 348 is one cool engine.
Kim

[floyd]

Nice work!

I noticed you had to cut the original radiator frame crossmember in half...I did the same exact thing when I did my camaro clip in 1995 on my 55 GMC..

I have had the itch to build another 55-56 GMC but finding a clean short bed with all the grill intact is hard and or very expensive

Heres a chrome front end shot for you of my 55 long bed..

[notsolo]

How Sweet it is... WOW this is turning out better and better by the minute....She's a Beaut Red ... Love the green and white 348 very cool. Tri power looks great also. keep it going....Ed

[OrrieG]

That tri power 348 is so cool. I have always loved the look of those engines.

[Red Foreman]

Thanks Guy's for all the positive comments!

Originally Posted by floyd

Nice work!

I noticed you had to cut the original radiator frame crossmember in half...I did the same exact thing when I did my camaro clip in 1995 on my 55 GMC..

Long before I pulled the GMC down to do the clip I had read Lux Blue version & many other chevy clip jobs so I thought I knew what I was in for? Not so the GMC rad support & crossmember had me rattled for a while.

I have had the itch to build another 55-56 GMC but finding a clean short bed with all the grill intact is hard and or very expensive

Heres a chrome front end shot for you of my 55 long bed..

Thanks for the pic, I just got all my chrome redone 'steel only' not the diecast items. After getting quotes of 4-5k for the rear & complete front bumper with all the steel ad-ons I managed to negotiate a cash price of 2.5k I didn't realise chrome work was so expensive? I was expecting $1500 tops, I guess its something I wouldn't wan't to be doing too often, not sure what chrome is worth in the US?

[Red Foreman]

Here's some pics of the Allstate heater that was in it. I'm not sure if these were dealer fitted? It was dated 1956 on the inside so I assume it was fitted when the truck was new?
I restored it cosmetically but I modified the internal frame to take a late model heater core. The flash blurred the nice little gmc decal I found on ebay.

[Kim57]

The heater looks real nice in there.
Kim

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Red Foreman

Thanks for the pic, I just got all my chrome redone 'steel only' not the diecast items. After getting quotes of 4-5k for the rear & complete front bumper with all the steel ad-ons I managed to negotiate a cash price of 2.5k I didn't realise chrome work was so expensive? I was expecting $1500 tops, I guess its something I wouldn't wan't to be doing too often, not sure what chrome is worth in the US?

back in 1994 when I did mine it cost me $1800,they only did whats in the picture and told me alot more to do all the emblems so just the one in the hood got done...

Its alot of money but they do look good all chrome.

GMCs are pretty rare, during the week long "Hot August Nights" here in reno(10,000 + cars/truck event) I maybe see one or two 55-57 GMCs

My heater looked alot different than yours.....

[mknittle]

Looking real nice Red!