47-55.1 51 GMC new to me

[Marty68]

51 GMC. new to me. has what decodes as a 57-66 283. 5 bolt bell housing. original 4 speed, torque tube, and 4.11 gears. runs drives. front end worn. brakes are GREAT!. plans are keep 283 it runs good. source install v8 Camaro t5 with s10 tail housing. s10 4x4 rear 3.42 gears. "rebuild" existing front end to tighten it up. will eventually do MII front. keeping body as is.

[8man]

Nice truck. Congrats.

[Marty68]

Thanks

[dsraven]

nice truck!
great to have plans. also great to do the feasibility study on costs to do stuff. I am sure you have a budget like everyone else on here. some are bigger than others. from experience I have found that rebuilding the solid axle can be spendy but will get you through the first bit so it is drivable safely. with the budget though, think about the cost of doing this and then spending more afterwards to install an IFS. this compared to the cost of simply doing the IFS now and being done. there are bolt in units available as well, dunno if that would make a difference for you because you may not need a certified welder to install. not sure how bad the front end is currently etc. in the end it is up to you but good to know pricing etc from the get go. not really much call for the rebuilt solid axle when you are done with it so don't bank on a large sum of money on the back end of the redo. there are a bunch of things to consider when doing an IFS so I wouldn't blame you for wanting to do what you can for cheap so you can drive it and then do some research on what you want to end up with. a mistake a lot of guys have done is spend money on stuff that is cool and then find out after it isn't what they want/need for the proper end result compared to the dream they started with.
good luck, keep posting pics. a build thread would be a great start. ask lots of questions and get lots of answers and opinions, lol.

[MARTINSR]

DRIVE IT!

That rear bumper isn't one of those pretend bumpers, that baby is the real thing! LOL

Brian

[mongocanfly]

Great looking truck...

[Marty68]

i just got back from the parts store. it was missing one lug nut. 2 lane highway 57 mph. front end is a bit loose. no speedo i used app on phone. no idea of rpm but still had tons of power. Rock auto says $25 ea. tie rod ends. parts store says $300 for drag link...
a local guy makes cross member and rotor to rotor for $1100... so realisticly after dual master steering hookup $100 bill to a welder to burn a guy likely have 2500 before it drove agin

[mr48chev]

That is a nice looking truck to start a project with.

I'd have to agree that if you have a serious plan in place to swap front suspension it is money piddled away to rebuild the front end to drive it a few months and then pull it back out. You miss out on a season of fun but can still run to the store and back while you gather pieces and get ready to do the mods.

[mr48chev]

One thing you might look at though is get it up on stands and go over the adjustable tie rod and drag links and see if there is any slack or slop in them. You can quite often adjust the slack out and grease them good and it will drive a lot better. That was a about every 20K deal on mine.

At the same time you can check the king pins to make sure that they aren't real bad and look the springs over. Not that you will repair/ replace but you will know where you stand as far as being able to drive it a bit.

[Marty68]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

One thing you might look at though is get it up on stands and go over the adjustable tie rod and drag links and see if there is any slack or slop in them. You can quite often adjust the slack out and grease them good and it will drive a lot better. That was a about every 20K deal on mine.

At the same time you can check the king pins to make sure that they aren't real bad and look the springs over. Not that you will repair/ replace but you will know where you stand as far as being able to drive it a bit.

went to cruise in night tonight. i will look at suspension this weekend. i know nothing about "adjustable tie rods and drag link"

[Dan in Pasadena]

If you're going to the expense/trouble of a total rebuild of the straight axle front end, either ditch that idea and put IFS in it now OR stay with the rebuilt straight axle suspension.

Especially if you're going to install a dropped axle, redo the kingpins, update to tapered roller bearings, modern tie rods you're going to have a very nice riding truck if you put modern gas shocks.

[Marty68]

mr48chev,
please enlighten me? "the adjustable tie rod and drag links" are these not tapered like others or can they actually be snugged up a bit there is play in evert end where it attaches to the drag link. i will investigate.

[Marty68]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

DRIVE IT!

That rear bumper isn't one of those pretend bumpers, that baby is the real thing! LOL

Brian

Brian I can ship it to you at your cost...
rear bumper thoughts? loose it.. is the general consensus. but replace with what? nothing?

[Volfandt]

If Brian doesn't want that bumper I'll take it.

Dave

[Marty68]

When doing rear end swap are you guys removing a couple leaves? Which ones? Buying $140 kit? I want this as "right as a budget will allow"

[dsraven]

my advice:
decide what look you are going for and what you want to end up with. spend money on stuff that goes forward towards that end. money spent on other stuff to get you by is sorta like money wasted because it isn't what you want and usually is worthless when you want to sell the part later.it seems stuff is always worth lots when it is you buying but never worth anything when it is you selling.
do a thorough check on the whole truck, front to rear, and especially the safety items, like the front end, brakes etc. then get some pricing on the repairs. decide if this is something that you can safely drive with a little tightening and lube or a small amount of money spent OR if you need to sideline the truck till you have the cash to fix it the way you want it. please remember that there are lots of other people driving on the same roads and a little oops on your part could change some one else's life forever if a crash were to happen. driving around with "marginal" or "does not pass" parts in the safety items list is just not worth it.
start a list of things you want to do to the truck. under each item make a list of things that doing that change will affect. like changing the rear axle to a newer style with better gears and possibly keeping the simple stock leaf spring design to be cost effective will mean you will still incur costs because you need to change the torque tube designed suspension which pivots the axle on the springs and also has a different trans coupling. there is a kit for the spring mounts but don't forget to include that kinda stuff. also, if swapping the axle, if you change the brake style or drum size etc it will affect the master cylinder used, etc etc. try to be as complete as possible on the list. include prices so you have a ball park number before you start the tear down
itemize the list in priority of safety first
do some leg work and price stuff out. decide what you will do first or decide if you want to spend the money in the long term. there is always the route of buying one completed. not as much fun if you like the build process but it is a firm price for what you get compared to a "estimate" which is usually light on the build process.
not trying to discourage you here in any way, just giving a heads up. ask around
be realistic on the pricing and labour you may need to farm out. check local laws for things like, say, welding the IFS cross member in place. would it need to be a certified welder or shop to do that and still be able to pass a state inspection and be covered by insurance should an issue arise? possibly money spent on a bolt in cross member would be cheaper than the welder rates. I know guys who have done repairs to pass inspection so they could license and insure a truck in the stock formation, so they could get cheap rates and not have to get a special inspection. then they totally modify the thing for modernization and speed and then find out they can't insure it or the insurance coverage isn't valid because the company wasn't notified of the change. I know a guy who had well over 100k into a truck and it was stolen. the insurance paid out what a stock truck would be worth. not even 1/3 of what he had invested.
cruise the net for pics and ideas, make a list of what you like. be true to yourself, budget truthfully so no surpises.

[Marty68]

Good sound advice.... was thinking on that same line. Brakes are good. Front suspension needs work. May do dual Mc first then front then trans/dif. Is there a value to old dif and 4 sp. Trans?

[mongocanfly]

the value of your parts just depends on who you can find that needs it...like you ,many people usually upgrade those parts...someone with a stock or restored truck would be who would want that stuff...ive hauled a lot of parts like that to the scrapyard because I couldn't find anyone willing to buy it or even take it for free

[Marty68]

mongo greg my thoughts were the same.
here is a pic of the loosest part of front end.
how does it get removed? if you pull that cotter pin does that "cap unscrew" can that "cap be tightened?..

[Marty68]

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Marty68

mongo greg my thoughts were the same.
here is a pic of the loosest part of front end.
how does it get removed? if you pull that cotter pin does that "cap unscrew" can that "cap be tightened?..

It's that simple.

Listen, before you go thinking about changing that all out, "Move into the neighborhood." Just get into this stuff, learn some about it, pull one of those apart and put it back, they are super easy! Grease it up adjust the brakes, just "Move into the neighborhood!"

It all seems odd to you and foreign but once you move into the neighborhood it becomes understood and easy. There are parts available all over, now with the net you can have it in a day. Hell, I will be stopping at my local auto parts store and getting a diff gasket today, it's that easy!

Enjoy it the way it is, drive it, have some fun. If down the road you feel you need an upgrade, it's all good. But don't just jump into it because you think it MUST be done because it most certainly doesn't have to be done.


Brian

[MiraclePieCo]

I gotta agree. Forum members are more than happy to spend YOUR time and money tying your old truck up in the garage for five years that may turn into forever. Unless you know what you're getting into, spending all your time alone in the shop instead of out enjoying your truck for a couple of years is a sure way to turn an enjoyable hobby into abject drudgery.

[dsraven]

at least do a safety check on it before driving so you are aware what needs to be looked at and how soon. if you have ever lost brakes on a single system brake set up you would know it can get your heart rate up. add in some loose steering and hang on. haha.

[Marty68]

tightening that up a scoshe really helped. i am getting under it and looking everything over and will be greasing everything. i will likely install new zerks.