72 C20 Project

[BlueChev72]

After the last post, I got my throttle cable adjusted, got the truck insured, got a license plate for it, and drove the truck home. It made it too!

[BlueChev72]

Some people will probably hate me for this, but my truck is pretty far gone, and not original at all, so I don’t feel to bad about it. I installed a stereo system: a $10 alpine head unit that I found at goodwill, $25 speakers from Walmart, Masonite door panels (for now). I also installed a cb radio. I put an old 6x9 that used to be in my dad’s ranger where the original center speaker would go, and wired that up to the cb. I haven’t decided exactly how to do the antenna yet, probaby a 108 inch whip if I can find one cheap.

[BlueChev72]

Hauled my first real load in the truck today. About 800 pounds between concrete, mortar, and lumber for my eagle project. I would say she handled it like a champ, except that I had vapor lock leaving the lumberyard and had to spend 20 minutes getting it to cool off. Also, painted the valve covers and air cleaner flat black.

[BlueChev72]

Update on my vapor lock issue- I tried replacing the gas cap, but it vapor locked again. Then I tried wrapping the headers. That actually came out really nice, and it keeps it a lot cooler under the hood. It still vapor locked. Then I pulled off the gas cap, and there was a “thunk” from the gas tank releasing a vacuum. So that’s two defective gas caps in a row. What I’ll do is drill a small hole in the gas cap. I’m not worried about it at the moment, however. Pictures will come later, but I have the interior disassembled to do cab corners, rocker panels, and a few floor patches.

[BlueChev72]

New cab corners installed

[BlueChev72]

I spent 8 hours today working on the truck. Scraped off all the old bondo, made some patch panels (still need to be welded in), and started cleaning up the paint and surface rust. I also removed all the trim, badges, marker lights, and the front bumper. The bed was already moved back from the cab corner work.

[thelonerife]

Good looking project. Keep at it.

[BlueChev72]

Went ahead and took off the grille in preparation for painting, and while it was off, I installed the led lights I took off the Subaru I just sold. Just a piece of bedrail attached to the radiator support, and four lights attached to that. Run with a relay and a toggle switch in the cab. They should shine through the eggcrate grille, while still being relatively invisible while turned off.

[BlueChev72]

Yesterday I went ahead and bought my own Mig welder, and last night, I finished welding in my patch panels. After a little bondo work and some maksing, I was basically ready to paint. I’m doing thinned rustoleum, with Japan direr, out of an hvlp. I got up early this morning and got one coat of primer on the truck before it got hot. I’ll need to do a little bit of final bodywork now that I can see the imperfections, and then I’ll spray another coat of primer and start adding color after that. It’ll be two tone- blue with white between the trim and a white roof.

[fecklessgadfly]

I like the idea of lights behind the grill. I may have to steal that.

[BlueChev72]

Originally Posted by fecklessgadfly

I like the idea of lights behind the grill. I may have to steal that.

They do work really well. I also did it with my dad’s Ranger and my Grandpa’s F100. You still get the extra lights, but without having to go with the off-road look.

[BlueChev72]

After spraying two coats of gloss white on the sides, tailgate, and roof (forgot to take pictures), I got the white sections masked up, and sprayed a coat of gloss royal blue this morning. At first I though the color would be too dark, but after seeing it on the truck, I think it looks perfect. I’ll spray a second coat tonight, let it cure for 24 hours, then take off the making and see how it looks. Btw, I’m using an 8:7:1 mixture of Rustoleum, acetone, and Japan drier. The Japan drier really hardens up the (normally soft) rustoleum, and it’s givin really nice results for a sub-$200 paint job. (That figure also includes body work)

[BlueChev72]

I was having problems with the carburetor that came on the truck, which I had already rebuilt, so I went on a search for another one. I ended up going to a speed shop nearby, and after talking to the guy for a little bit, I got a really nice rebuildable core- a thermostatic choke quadrajet. I also went to O’Reilly’s and got a rebuild kit, so $25 for the core, $21 for the kit, and $3.50 for a can of carb cleaner totals about $50 for a good, rebuilt quadrajet. I’ll end up converting to manual choke, like I did on my current carb, and hopefully it’ll run well.

[BlueChev72]

Paint is sprayed! I got up this morning, put on a final coat of blue, and started to clean up my mess. After letting the blue bake on for a few hours, I took of the masking, and the truck looks GOOD. There are a couple of spots that’ll need to be touched up, but I’d say it’s pretty good for a $100 paint job in the driveway, especially considering it’s a two tone scheme. I’ll start putting her back together this weekend and post some more pics later.

[cornerstone]

[QUOTE=but I’d say it’s pretty good for a $100 paint job in the driveway[/QUOTE]

I'd wear that 100.$ paint job all day! Nice work bud.

[BlueChev72]

I got the bed put back on last night, and bolted it down this afternoon. I also got the floor painted so I can put carpet over it. She looks a lot better when she’s put together.

[BlueChev72]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

I'd wear that 100.$ paint job all day! Nice work bud.

Thanks! It’s definitely looking a lot better than when I bought it

[72gmc350sbc]

The truck looks great for a $100 paint job! What size tires are you running?

[BlueChev72]

Originally Posted by 72gmc350sbc

The truck looks great for a $100 paint job! What size tires are you running?

I’m running a set of LT285/75r16e tires. They were the cheapest used 32” tires I could get ($75). If I start driving the truck more, I think I’ll invest in a set of LT245/85r16e tires. They’ll be a little skinnier at the same height.

[72gmc350sbc]

Originally Posted by BlueChev72

I’m running a set of LT285/75r16e tires. They were the cheapest used 32” tires I could get ($75). If I start driving the truck more, I think I’ll invest in a set of LT245/85r16e tires. They’ll be a little skinnier at the same height.

Nice! Do they rub at all?

[BlueChev72]

Originally Posted by 72gmc350sbc

Nice! Do they rub at all?

I haven’t had any problems with rubbing at all. Of course, I also have the c20 stance, so they might rub on a c10

[BlueChev72]

Got some more work done putting the truck back together. I cleaned out the gas tank with vinegar and some old trampoline springs, then put it back in the truck. It’s much cleaner inside now. I carpeted the floor- it was $10 for a 5x12 piece of carpet from a salvage store nearby. I cut it out and put in in with self drilling sheet metal screws. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good for $10. My dad pained my rear bumper- and also lettered the dealer name. I put my spare tire back in- still need to paint the wheel to match the rest. Finally, I painted and re-installed the grille. There were a couple of pieces broken out from the eggcrate, so I found a wood paint stirrer that was about the right size and epoxied in new pieces before I painted it. Again, it isn’t perfect, but it was a $4 can of spray paint versus $70 for a new grille.

[BlueChev72]

This will be the last update for awhile. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I've been extremely busy getting ready to go off to college. Since my last post, I put the interior back together, touched up some of my paint job, worked a little bit on my trim, and installed a new edelbrock 1406 carburetor. However, it isn't quite road ready yet. I still need to tune the new carburetor, I need to build better brackets for my 3 point seatbelts (I already bought the steel, I just didn't have the time). Some of the turn signals stopped working after paint, so I think I need to go back and check my grounds. One of my headlights is also dim, it is most likely just a bad ground as well. The kicker is that my front crank seal went out right before I left, the irony beingn that it is a $4 part online. I went ahead and parked it back in the stall where it was when I was first getting it running and driving. I put fuel stabilizer in, closed all the vents and windows, locked the doors, chocked the wheel, released the parking brake, disconnected the battery, and put it on an automatic float charger. Hopefully, I can connect the battery and fire her up come winter break, so that I can fix the issues I laid out and get her back on the road. I guess this could also be considered a sort of one year progress as well. I bought the truck sometime in late August or September last year, and it is August 13 today, so slightly less than a year.

Edit: The pictures do not show where it is parked right now. It is much more protected in the place where it sits currently.

[68Gold/white]

Job well done!!!

DO NOT EVER sell it!!!

[BlueChev72]

So good news! I just got back from Winter Break, and while I didn't have any time to actually work on the truck, I did have time to drive it around a little bit. My preservation methods worked perfectly: I reconnected the battery, unchocked the wheel, put a little gas in the carburetor bowl, and the truck fired right up. The other thing I discovered is that my crank seal is actually fine- I had spilled some oil and checked the level on a slight hill, which made it look like it was spewing from the crank seal. This means that all I have left to do is fabricate some new seat belt mounts, turn a few screws on the carburetor, and clean up the turn signal grounds. All of this is good news, because I'll be needing to use the truck for a lot of work that I have planned for this summer.

At this point, I have the truck back in storage for the spring semester. When school is all over, I should be able to use the truck over the summer.