Project DD '72 Ochre Chevy Step

[grancuda]

Sold my '72 GMC LWB daily driver after having it for 4 years and putting 80k on it. Sold the GMC to get a a Blazer with more room but came across this '72 StepSide went and looked at it and just had to get it. Got some stuff to do to get it roadworthy and hopefully it will turn out good.

[grancuda]

Got the '72 home & cleaned up. *The truck has little rust & 75% original paint. the hood, pass fender & wiper cowl were shot a few years back. *Been making a list of stuff I need to get it set for daily use. *

I am looking for a A-833OD from a mid 80s truck to get overdrive.

Not sure how common this color is on a non-two tone truck, I haven't seen many of them.*

Here are some pics*








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[orngsikL]

nice find!

[Warrens69GMC]

Looks like a great place to start!

[grancuda]

Got some driving time and it's a good driving truck.
So far I have had to:
Replace the glass fuel filter, those things are a fire hazard.
Replaced the rubber fuel line up to the carb, the Edelbrock with a drop base had that fuel line smashed down flat.
Changed the oil & filter
Changed the transmission gear lube
Put in a new transmission tail shaft seal.
Replaced the squalling autozone brand belt with a wider Gates belt.
Replaced both battery cables that were too short, theywere pulled tight as can be and had bolt on ends.
Replaced all four shocks, they were shot.
Replaced the mismatched front/rear turn signal bulbs & brake light bulbs and shot the inside of the housings white to brighten them as much as possible.
Had to have the exhaust cut odd at the mufflers and had turn downs installed, the exaust was hitting the top of the rearend housing and hard brake line.
Got the drivers door adjusted, it wasn't pulling in enough and the top of the latch was dragging, not sure why, the door isn't sagging at all so no adjustments should have been made.

Got some Autometer gauges to keep an eye on the engine vitals, this thing felt like I was driving blind with no instrumentation. I dont know what thermostat is in this thing so while i have the water drained down i am going to put a new thermostat in.

Also went over to Kennys Trucks to get a couple of window regulators, a dash pad, some fender emblems to fill those holes in the fenders and an parking brake release handle.






The choke cable through the bezel makes it a pain to have the instruments in the way. *I am going to look for a choke cable that has a removable knob and nut so when I replace the bezel it can be all removed.
*
Got it tore down pretty good

These trucks don't have much room to mount aftermarket gauges but I had some thick fender washers & got them secured.

[lolife99]

Great looking truck!
I'm really liking Ochre trucks lately.

[72BlckButy]

Great looking stepper!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Thats a good looking stepper..

[allchevy58]

Nice looking truck.

[grancuda]

Got all the stuff done to it except replacing the stock fuel line with some new 3/8” tubing and replacing the sending unit & fuel line out of the cab. Got it cleaned up and waxed it. I am really glad the stock paint still has some shine to it. Ready to start putting some miles on it and tuning the carb and playing with the timing & vacuum advance.

[grancuda]

Got some drive time back and forth to work and checked the mileage and it was only 12.1mpg so I did a little tuning on the carb & got a timing light on it and set it to 12 degrees. Those changes got it up to 13.8mpg Need to get a digital light so I can check my advance timing. Going to get a strip kit for he carb and try and get it to 16mpg.
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[Zoomin]

That's a nice looking stepper. Ochre is an acquired taste for sure, but it's a great 70's color.

[VA72C10]

Very nice. Ochre definitely is one of my favorite original colors...although I think I'd hate it on anything other than one of our trucks

[grancuda]

Got some overall pics today & went driving around other than to work & back.

Got some slots last weekend for the rear & today I got them cleaned up and ready for tires.

[grancuda]

Daily driving the truck and it's getting a consistant 13.4-13.8. I am going to get a air fuel gauge, O2 sensor and a kit to adjust the carb from edelbrock and try and get it tuned in better.

The truck has a bunch of holes from 2 different mirror set-ups and I don't really want to paint the doors. I am kicking around doing a old gasser style stripe on it to cover the holes. I was going to do SS stripes down the hood but may do these instead for something different and to make the mirror holes less noticable. I always liked these on the old '55 plus I have some 5 spoke skinnies I could run to complete the look.



See all the holes on this one


Here's some 15x4's I am debating on using and the 15x10 slots I am going to run.

[mcbassin]

Looks like a great truck to me. Is it an original OK truck? Hows the rust? What area you located? I'm in for the long haul. Keep the pics coming.
BTW, that original paint is nice!

[grancuda]

Got 2500 miles on the truck now and its going good everyday. *

Finally got the slot mags on and put some Keystones up front off my RoadRunner till I get some tires on the ET "V" wheels. *I blasted them and reshot the spokes. *Just need to get tires on them and get them on the truck. *






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[grancuda]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Looks like a great truck to me. Is it an original OK truck? Hows the rust? What area you located? I'm in for the long haul. Keep the pics coming.
BTW, that original paint is nice!

Not sure if it's an original Oklahoma truck. It's pretty clean though. It needs the bottome/inside drivers door, drivers side outer floor pan and both rockers/cab corners other than that it's good. I'm over on Lake Keystone.

[grancuda]

Finnally got the 14x6 ET V wheels on which are the early 2 piece style.

Looks like I am going to end up putting a smaller carb on to get better mileage. Got it down to mid 13's to low 14's. I know I can get what I did on my last C10 which was 16 but this truck is lighter and lowered so I am going to pull the 750 carb and put a 500 on. Also need to get a timing light that shows advance timing too to see exactly what I'm having it pull in at speed. If I could pull 17-18 out of it I wouldn't have to go to a OD set-up.

[Low down and dirty]

Getting good MPG is overated....Its not how much it cost to get to your destination.....its how cool you look along the way.

[mcbassin]

what he said^^

How cool is it to get to drive every day!!
I like the O2 sensor idea.

[grancuda]

Been a year now since I started driving this truck every day. It has been a good truck so far with virtually no problems what so ever. Put just over 20,000 miles on it in 2012. Only thing I have had to do is put a fuel pump on, the one on the truck got weak & wouldn’t let the truck go more than about 65mph. I did swap the carb from a AFB 750 to a Holley 600 VS, that swap was only to improve the drive ability & increase fuel economy. The 750 was just too much fuel, it has better power with the smaller carb.

[67cheby]

Great looking truck !