My new mistress! 68 GMC longbed

[Raider Rudy]

Just before the end of 2014 my liitle brother (C10 King) texted me a picture of a 68 GMC longbed that he was advertising for parts. It was love at first sight! I immediatley put my 64 Chev shortbed fleetside for sale & told him I wanted the 68 but needed to sell my 64 first. My plan was to have my son (Argonaut) cut the frame & convert it to a shortbed stepside. Well, 2 weeks later I sold my 64 & then mailed my brother a check. My brother lives 350 miles up north from me so I was planning on picking up the 68 at the end of January. By the first weekend of Jan I couldn't wait so I drove up & had the truck towed home. Since then I sold off the long bed & purchased a stepside bed from my uncle Mondo. I'm retired so I've been able to work on the truck every day. It needs alot of work, but thats part of the fun! It has the original V-8 327 4 bbl carb with a turbo 400 trans. I've got the motor purring like a kitten but it looks like nothing on the truck was ever replaced except maybe oil changes, brakes & carburetor. I'll send pics asap, the fun starts!

[Raider Rudy]

[Raider Rudy]

With the bed off I drove it to the truck wash to power wash the frame. When I got home the truck started on fire. A wiring harness shorted out, all part of the fun right.

[Raider Rudy]

Here's my stepside bed! I know it looks rough but it's actually fairly straight

[argonaut]

I've already given the truck and frame a once over. Luckily for me GMCs have leaf springs out back instead of trailing arms. Cutting it down to short bed wheelbase should be a no brainer. We can leave the cab on and cut behind the rear cab mount.

I really love this truck! When I was growing up my dad drove a 69 GMC short step. It was copper with a white top, 307 with a 3 on the tree, and what was rare about it was that it had rear trailing arms despite being a GMC. I always liked that pickup but when my dad offered it to me back in the day I wasn't able to take it on. This one reminds me a lot of the old 69.

[C/10 King]

Oh right Julius, I'm here for the ride.

[Raider Rudy]

Here is a pic of the harness that started burning. Luckily the truck wasn't damaged & I had a "spare" harness to replace it.

[Raider Rudy]

Getting ready to pull the motor! Gonna clean it up & do so maintenance

[swamp rat]

Big question is what caused the harness to melt, and will it happen again as soon as you put the replacement on? I'm in for the build.

[Raider Rudy]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Big question is what caused the harness to melt, and will it happen again as soon as you put the replacement on? I'm in for the build.

Good question! I'm not too good with electrical so I asked a few of my pals who have more knowledge. They all figure it had to be either 2 bare wires touching or a bare wire on metal. I used a harness that I took off another truck & checked it for any bare wires before I installed it. Hopefully it doesn't happen again before I get a new harness.

[Raider Rudy]

My pal Ralph brought over his engine hoist & we had my motor out in a little over an hours time.

Lots of grease & grime on this thing. My plans are to clean it all off & paint it Chevy orange. When I was removing the exhaust manifolds all six studs broke off. Lucky for me I have several pairs of these.

[Raider Rudy]

I didn't do a thing on the weekend but I got alot acomplished on Monday & Tuesday. I hit it hard even in the rain & scraped, degreased, hard brushed & wiped the motor clean. I painted the block, heads, manifold & valve covers. I will put in a one piece oil pan gasket & put the rest of the motor back together. I'm then going to clean the engine compartment & hopefully have the engine back in so I can watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. Go Seattle

[Raider Rudy]

Got my engine all cleaned, painted & back together. Tomorrow I'll clean up the engine compartment & get it ready for the engine on Friday. If all goes well, on Saturday I might rebuild the 2G rochestor carb that I planning on putting in the truck.

[Raider Rudy]

Attachment 3
Well, we got my motor back in my truck. It took about an hour and a half, but the last half hr it rained. Bolted it to the tranny and threaded in the motor mount bolts. We bolted the hood back on and then my buddy Ralph drove home soaking wet in his wifes car yikes!

[C/10 King]

I think I want it back.


After you're done of course.

[argonaut]

Once the patient recovers from heart surgery we'll prep him for spinal reconstruction!

[Raider Rudy]

Originally Posted by C/10 King

I think I want it back.


After you're done of course.

Of course you can have it back Pedro! ;{



For the right price of course!

[Raider Rudy]

Here is the rochestor 2g carb I'm gonna rebuild. I should have it in in a few days.

[Raider Rudy]

Did some odds & ends today on the motor. Basically completing the marriage of the engine & trans, finish tightening up the motor mount bolts, cleaning up the tools & engine hoist. Tomorrow before the game I will put on the new oil filter, fill her with oil & install the distributor. Go Seahawks

[Raider Rudy]

My pal Ralph suggested I paint the water pump black so I did. That's it for today game time is getting close!

[Raider Rudy]

[ATTACH]g[/ATTACH]
My son Jason (Argonaught) is going to put his MIT education to work today! He will transform my longbed into a shortbed by cutting down the frame. I can't wait!

[C/10 King]

Come on Gorilla lets see some up dates!!!!!

[argonaut]

We successfully cut the frame down a week and a half ago. 12" from the middle and 7-1/2" from the back, as usual. We did learn some interesting things about the 2wd GMC frames. Because they have leaf springs in the rear I had always assumed that the frame rails would be similar to a 4wd with straight parallel frame rails. But in fact it is the same as a chevy 2wd frame that uses trailing arms. This means that the frame widens over the axle. This meant that we had barely enough straight length of parallel frame rail right behind the cab to cut the 12" out. Also the frame had the huge center crossmember that trailing arms normally mount to, so we cut the rivets and pulled it out. My dad took some pictures on his phone so I'm sure he'll post them soon enough.

[Raider Rudy]

My boy came by a few Saturdays ago & went right to work on making my truck a short bed.

He cut the frame.

And then prepared it like a surgeon.

[Raider Rudy]

Getting everything meticulously prepped for the transformation