Sullii the 72 GMC 1500

[FRCvette]

I will be following along.

[72 tigger]

Looks like a dandy!

[OL SKOOL]

That is really a nice truck to start with. Just gotta love a four eye.

[hewittca]

This happens to be a very low optioned truck as is evidenced on the SPID. It did come with the amp/oil/temp gauge dash which is nice. Other than that, manual everything. After inspecting the brakes, they are in serious need of a refresh and will be receiving a power upgrade as well.

The engine is supposedly a 307, but I need to verify this. It does run, but it also smokes a good bit on fire up. I plan to go through the engine bay to rebuild and retune everything that has been neglected over the years. The plan is to keep the drivetrain stock and in proper running order for now.

The frame and underneath is relatively clean and rust free, and this GMC came equipped with the truck arm rear suspension. The plan here, as with the drivetrain, is to clean this up and maintain it in stock form until I am ready to do suspension upgrades.

[hewittca]

The main reason I chose this truck was for its originality. Having OG paint was the top priority for me, and this truck delivers in that category. It still carries its original 510 medium blue with little to no rust. It shows it's scars from use as a truck over the years, but to me that adds character and I do NOT plan on painting any part of this truck. I did start the clean up process by polishing the LR bedside and I noticed that there appears to be a darker blue underneath the medium blue. The medium blue on top is an exact color match and has the same fade and wear as the rest of the truck, so if it was repainted it was done very early on. I just found this interesting because I am used to the typical black or oxide primer under the OG paint as seen on every other panel on this truck.

[hewittca]

After giving the truck a once over, we decided to have a little fun with it before getting to work on it. A while ago, we found this old boat trailer back in the woods on our property, so my son pulled it out and has been refurbishing it. We threw it on the hitch and pulled it around the property to test it out. My son was thrilled to see his trailer in action. It is a bit of a challenge to finesse this truck around the property with manual steering/brakes/trans, but it is still fun to drive.

The interior is basic and lacking a few correct components like seat, steering wheel, and floor mats, but it is functional. Over time I will bring this back to stock as well. After playing with the truck a bit, it was time to get it in the garage and get to work. First up is replacing the dry rotted tires.

[hewittca]

As I mentioned before, the plan of attack is to bring this truck back to stock form and function, enjoy it and put it to work for a while, and then start making some suspension mods. My first change is getting rid of the tires that were on the truck. I do not like white letter tires, and these were also the wrong size, so they were throwing off the whole look of the truck for me. After getting the wheels off, I realized that they are not the original wheels either and they appear to be 15x7. Regardless, I had some 235/75s mounted up with the proper white line sidewalls which greatly improved the look of the truck.