1989 GMC 6000 Pickup/Toy Conversion

[STPETEBLUE]

Originally Posted by Bigdually

Great looking truck! There's a TON of potential there, I really like it. I talked to Mike when I was beginning to build mine, he clued me in on a few things I'd run into and what height above the frame I would have to mount the bed to get it to line up. He was quite helpful and really knows these trucks inside out.

Mike is a straight shooter. He was a fleet manager for Waste Management for 35 years, so yes, he really knows these trucks. He was in communication with me throughout the build, suggesting various things, along the way. He really kept me in the loop while he was building the truck.

The step bumper was tricky, I hunted EVERYWHERE for a long time and could find nobody who had one or makes one for a square body anymore. I was out of town for a week and one popped up for sale on Facebook. My girlfriend's dad drove two hours one way to go get it for me.

I don't mind the roll pan, but I think a step bumper would look even beefier, and I have always liked the style you have. Trouble is, I can't finish out the rear of the truck with a hitch until I get and mount the step bumper. Until then everyone behind me is looking up my ass end.
Did the bumper brackets line up with the frame rails pretty good?

The fender clearance lights came from USA1 Industries. They were backordered forever but I did finally get them.

I think that is where I saw them, too. The only set I could find has the chrome around them. I have always liked the simpler looking lenses without the bling, but I need a GMC tailgate band to cover the word "CHEVROLET", and all the trucks that came with the band had the bling light lenses, so . . .

My Christmas setup was actually all incandescent lights, I ran them on a 2000 watt quiet Honda generator in the bed, you couldn't even hear it over the truck idling. I could have ran way more lights and this year hopefully I can.

Well, I have that very genny so I guess I have that covered. I just didn't know if if there was something else out there that I should consider. The genny didn't tip over or anything?

Looking forward to more pics and a build thread on yours!

I don't really have a build thread, but I did post up a "progression", if you will, on my Facebook page. You can find it HERE.

Thanks for all the questions answered.

[Bigdually]

Originally Posted by STPETEBLUE

I don't mind the roll pan, but I think a step bumper would look even beefier, and I have always liked the style you have. Trouble is, I can't finish out the rear of the truck with a hitch until I get and mount the step bumper. Until then everyone behind me is looking up my ass end.
Did the bumper brackets line up with the frame rails pretty good?

That is exactly the same issue I had, I wanted a drop bumper to really finish out the rear end the way I wanted it to look. The bumper brackets actually lined up really well with the 6" channel sub frame I had to make to raise the bed high enough (7"). I believe your truck has a larger "lift" on the bed. My hitch is mounted directly to the truck frame and ended up coming out just below the bumper like a regular pickup.

Originally Posted by STPETEBLUE

Well, I have that very genny so I guess I have that covered. I just didn't know if if there was something else out there that I should consider. The genny didn't tip over or anything?

That setup worked really well for me, the unit was pretty stable even at road speed, and especially at parade speed never offered to tip. I had the hardest time keeping the huge inflatable snowman from blowing over

[sweetk30]

easy to make the step bumper but it just wont be chrome unless you spend crazy money to do it or get it super close with powder coat .

look here for pics http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=755514

post # 31 is the start on making it . then 40 / 43-46 and 48 .

[STPETEBLUE]

Originally Posted by Bigdually

Also around this time my amazing girlfriend bought me a bedmat for the truck for my birthday. She's definitely a keeper!!

Where did she get the bed mat? LMC? Does it have the cutout for the fuel filler housings on both sides?

[Bigdually]

Originally Posted by STPETEBLUE

Where did she get the bed mat? LMC? Does it have the cutout for the fuel filler housings on both sides?

The mat came from a local custom trucks place, they sell toppers and tonneau covers and ANY other accessories you can even think of. Basically a walk-in JC Whitney I forget the brand but it is very good quality and thick rubber, and it does have both cutouts for the fuel filler necks.

[STPETEBLUE]

Originally Posted by sweetk30

here you boys go for a little big truck action .

i look his pics over from time to time .

https://bigasstrux.com/

He built my truck (1989 TOPKICK EX-RYDER under the SOLD link).

[LynnB]

I love these c60 and c70 trucks built into pick ups. They used to look HUGE. But now, it seems it is barely bigger than the giant half tons everyone builds.

[cnntnsxty@aol.com]

Very nice! I have a 75 buts it's going to stay a dump truck, the 14 ft bed comes in handy. That 366 will definitely run better with the edelbrock just watch your revs the 366 redlines around 4000 the old holleys were part of the governor system.

[LT7A]

I hope you're still having fun with this. I think you can get frost white from touch up paint dot com. You could go around it rattle canning, panel by panel to get it all one color for cheap it you wanted to. Kinda the rough and ready look for now. Regardless, I think it looks cool now and came together really well.

[TKDanYoung]

Just creepin on the various build threads on the forum for a bit, I normally stick to the 67-72 C10 stuff. But man, I am glad I clicked on this! Such an awesome build! Great work!

[truckfan]

Love the build! Thanks for letting us watch!

[Bigdually]

Life sure has a way of getting busy and next thing you know a couple years have gone by with no progress on your projects. I did get married and we moved into a nice home with a metal building separate from the garage that has tall enough doors for the truck to fit in! That's where it spent all of 2022 except one small outing. Fuel was sky high and my normal summer cruising at 8-10 mpg just wasn't feasible. I do keep the old girl started and moved around some though, and last week I started it and noticed a fuel fitting before the filter at the carb was leaking, I'll have to fix that.

As far as my next steps, I have found this old fire truck somewhat locally about to come up for sale (potentially) and if I can snag it for the right price the low mile 427/Allison AT combo would be SWEET in my truck. Time will tell...

[Darkrider]

Any Updates?

[Bigdually]

It's been another long time since I posted anything, life sure does have a way of keeping your projects stalled and sitting around. I've always looked at the truck as a long term project anyhow though, so at least I'm not disappointed with the lack of immediate progress. I still get it out on nice days and have fun, people always stop to look at it and comment on it everywhere I go. I do still use it to tow occasionally too.

The last truck I found for the 427/Allison combo fell through, the bids were rigged in my opinion and I didn't even get to submit a bid on it because they changed the submission dates from what I was originally told. Oh well. Yesterday I purchased a 1979 C70, which oddly enough had also been a fire truck. It has a low mile (28k original) 427/Spicer 5 speed/2 speed rear and air brakes, plus the really cool medium duty tach dash with the fuel gauge, AND a good chrome front bumper and tow hooks! I scored on it at $800.

I got it running on site and the 427 sounds really good, all signs point to it being a well maintained low mile truck up until the last few years that it's sat outside. The cab is ROUGH with holes cut absolutely everywhere for fire equipment. I usually don't like cannibalizing a good truck for another, but I have no issues with this one. I hope to have better and more photos of the new parts rig as soon as I borrow a deck over trailer from a buddy and make the hour and a half drive back to get it.

[Bigdually]

The C70 donor truck is home!

The star of the show today was a Harbor Freight Apex 12000lb winch that I rigged up on the front of the trailer, it yanked the truck right up on the trailer despite the right rear duals dragging, even after caging the brakes. I can't speak to longevity, but at the price point it's a very powerful winch with more features than an expensive Smittybuilt I had on my old Jeep several years ago.

My plans for the truck are to work on it and get it running/moving around so I can assess what it needs, then pull off all the good stuff and clean/paint everything so it'll be ready to go in the GMC.

[Greg58]

Great score on the parts truck. Absolutely love that front bumper!
Are you going to use that step fuel tank too?
Greg

[Bigdually]

Originally Posted by Greg58

Great score on the parts truck. Absolutely love that front bumper!
Are you going to use that step fuel tank too?
Greg

Thanks! Ive been searching for a good chrome front bumper ever since I got the GMC, so I was really happy to find this one! Now I just need a good chrome GMC grille, which seems to be nearly impossible to find

I'm thinking about using the step tanks and factory switching apparatus on my truck. I believe they're 50 gallon tanks, so 100 gallons of fuel would be beneficial to me given I currently get around 8 mpg and I'm sure the 427 will do the same or worse. I have to check the condition of the insides of each tank. The passenger one has a diamond plate cover that makes it look nice, I may have one like it welded up for the driver side tank if I use them.

[Bigdually]

Worked on the truck some lately, got the front bumper pulled off a while ago out of the way, got the engine running well this morning.

Pulled the 750 Holley that was on it off, stuck on my known good 650 Edelbrock. It runs very smooth, no smoke or blow by. The engine is very quiet, the video picks up all the noise from the air compressor and smog pump. The valve train is nice and quiet. I'll be pulling it to clean it up and paint it soon.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ouYhJVbzy...n6hE6Jk4YoQ9ea

[Bigdually]

Things are progressing pretty slowly on the GMC, been busy with this truck:

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=860962

I did however, as a byproduct, get new wheels for the GMC! The plan is to use the steel 22.5" wheels and good tires from it on the dump truck, and the new aluminum wheels and new tires will go on the pickup.

It should look pretty sharp, I wanted polished aluminum wheels from the start but could never find them in the GM small 10 bolt pattern. During the course of trying to find some more steel 22.5s for the dump truck Dad found these Northstar Wheels polished aluminum 22.5s in that pattern! I can't wait to get them put on, waiting for new longer lug studs to come in, and new lug nuts. The new wheels are thicker than stock and require longer studs.

[350TacoZilla]

Good score on the wheels. Isn't it odd how you can look for something and not find it then your give up and start looking for something else only to find what you wanted originally. My only problem is I usually find the original after I've already spent my money on something that "will do for now".

[Bigdually]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

Good score on the wheels. Isn't it odd how you can look for something and not find it then your give up and start looking for something else only to find what you wanted originally. My only problem is I usually find the original after I've already spent my money on something that "will do for now".

That's usually my case too! I definitely would never have gotten the polished wheels after thr trouble I went through finding the steel 22.5s, but fortunately the dump truck needing wheels and tires let me have an excuse to get the nice wheels I always wanted. A rare win-win situation!