Not Another Rebuild Thread....

[57truckguy]

Hey Sarge,, I took an old piece of copper pipe and split it, it was split already from a freeze, and use that to back up my welds.. It works great and (fancy word) inexpensive.. LOL It bends to any shape I need and gets in some pretty tite spots as I made three or four(can't seem to find all of them all the time, must be the ghost) of them in different sizes the back up makes a big difference as I can lay in a puddle and let it cool to grind down later.. I use metal plugs for anything bigger then 1/4 inch at least for me that seems to work better then trying to fill in a big hole.. I also did some lead work on the firewall , found it to be a lot easier then we're led to believe. Just have to make sure the area is clean for the lead to stick.. Takes some practice but doable by almost anyone... the only problem now is that getting the lead has gotten very expensive. When I did mine 10 years ago only cost about a dollar a pound now its a lot higher and the EPA is all over the place trying to get it banned all together.

[McMurphy]

Ok guys, on page 4 I put up pics of a '85 Sierra that I had gotten for a donor rig.
Tonight I drove it home and got it into the garage. Tonight it is defrosting, and tomorrow I start a 10 day marathon tear down on it.

The plan is to get as much stuff off it that I think I will want or need then push it out into the yard. Then I will start in the detail work on the parts that I took off it. Having said that, I hope I will be into the rebuilding stage of my rig soon. I still have to redo the front end of my p-side rocker that I goofed up, and totally do the d-side floor pan, outrigger, rocker, and cab corner.

But starting tormorrow morning it will be about stripping the GMC down as fast and efficiently as possible.

Luckily the temps have jumped up to 35* !! The snow was actually melting today ..... I know ..... like WHOA ..... right ?!?!?!?!

LOL

More to follow, and as ever, thanks for taking a look !

[57truckguy]

Seems a real shame to tear down such a good looking vehicle.. Not being criticle just an observation as 10 years from now someone will wish they had that vehicle.. In a while I'll be getting or bring home an 82 that belonged to my dad.. less that 30000 miles and still driven once in a while. no rust and garaged since day one, I drove it home that day dad bought it.. Will be not touched and only repaired and driven regularly. My son has already said it belongs to him... LOL

[57truckguy]

Having a heat wave... LOL time for a party..

[C@rnut001]

Good luck with tearing down the GMC and getting all of the parts off that you need. It has been nice with the temps warming up. We jumped about 65 degrees in a little under 2 weeks time.

[flips72]

cant wait to see the tear down. i love taking stuff apart, its the re assembly that stinks, seems like you allways scratch something.

[McMurphy]

I will post some pics later, perhaps today... I am taking leave this week since it is a short week and I never work Valentine's Day anyways. But I am way ahead of schedule, the wife took leave this week as well and the help has been invalueable!!

So far the most vexxing thing about this has been the intermixing of meteric screws and bolts!
For example the flexplate-to-torque converter were 15mm!!
I was literally spitting cuss words.

It is to the point now where if my 9/16 is too small and the 5/8 is too big (for example again) I start with the cussing.

LOL

I have an old essay about Real Sergeants and one of the points is that a Real Sergeant can cuss for 5 minutes straight and not use the same word twice.

I am getting my exersize in for sure.

More later guys, thanks for checking in on me!!!

[4dranch]

Nice build Sgt.
How cold does it get in your shop?

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by 4dranch

Nice build Sgt.
How cold does it get in your shop?

There is a heater in there that will keep the garage at about 55 or 60*, I got a forced air heater that will bump that up to 70* which is a nice temp to work in.
Especially when it is in the negatives outside!

[McMurphy]

Talk about a droolicious rig.... this popped up today on the Fairbanks Craigslist....

http://fairbanks.craigslist.org/cto/2853192065.html

How cool is that?
It is a '62 by the way...

[daverod]

So your going to get it right. You could use it to tow your truck from car show to car show. After you retire from being a grunt of course. I like the dogs eyes,I wonder if they were always like that or just turned that way from being in the cold for so long.

[flips72]

hurry and buy it, i too love the dog the eyes are halirous, that would be a awesome project,bag it and drag it.

[57truckguy]

A car hauleer , I'm so jealous>>>> LOLl and that your other half helps on the build and seems to like it...

[chad64chevy]

any progress on the tear down??

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by daverod

So your going to get it right. You could use it to tow your truck from car show to car show. After you retire from being a grunt of course. I like the dogs eyes,I wonder if they were always like that or just turned that way from being in the cold for so long.

I wish I could get it, but honestly a rollback would be better for the wife and I for hauling our Pontiacs to car shows... That and I dont think I have the money for asking price lying around here.

Originally Posted by flips72

hurry and buy it, i too love the dog the eyes are halirous, that would be a awesome project,bag it and drag it.

I think the dogs eyes are bugged out like that for a reason... if you look closely you can see what part of him is frozen to the hood ..... Yikes !!!

Originally Posted by 57truckguy

A car hauleer , I'm so jealous>>>> LOLl and that your other half helps on the build and seems to like it...

Thanks 57TG, the wife was a HUGE help this past week with the Sierra tear down! I set up a pamper day for her at a local spa as a surprise for all her help. She is getting an hour long massage, manicure and pedicure on Monday.

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

any progress on the tear down??

Well Chad, Here it is:

38 hours spread out over 6 days and we totally tore this thing up, the engine was first thing out.
What I got out of it that I am certain to use:
1. SBC350; kid I got the Sierra from was told it is a crate engine with 20k miles on it.
2. Complete wiring harness for engine, dash, and lights. This is going to add a ton of upgrades to my '66 like in-cab courtesy light with door switches, though I am going to have to go thru the entire harness and get rid of the things I will not be needing like all the emission control sensor garbage.
3. Power Steering set up.
4. Power Brakes set up.
5. Cable gas pedal.
6. Modern E-brake set up.
7. Front Sway Bar. (gotta say thanks to Losthope for this one, his junkyard tips are what reminded me to grab this off the Sierra, and low-behold, the drop down brackets were included!! SCORE)
8. Modern Heater Controls with cables, as well as a spare blower motor with squirrel cage fan.
9. Door seal gaskets, they were in excellent condition and will save me a few $$ I already test fitted one of them and was very happy!!
10. Radiator with fan shroud.
11. replacement shock absorber for the front of the '66 where it was missing one on the p-side.
12. Headlights with the buckets for me to chop into for my hideaway headlights mod... this one is going to be fun since I am more of a dreamer than an engineer ... LOL
13. Shoulder strap seat belts with the shoulder anchor mounts as well, just gotta figure out how I am going to get those in.

Things we harvested that I hope to modify and use:
1. fuel fill door = mod into drop down license plate holder for back-center fuel point for the truck.
2. tail gate latch, this is going to take some doing, but I have high hopes of pulling this one off (no pun intended).

Off the top of my head that seems like about it.
The tranny bellhousing I got back in November bolts up to the back of the engine no problem, next is to go back to the boneyard and snag the flywheel that I didnt grab initially and make sure that will bolt up as well.

So with the pics:
#1 start point 1300hrs Saturday 11feb12
#2 start point 1100hrs Sunday
#3 engine out 8 hours later...
#4 gutted by 1900hrs on 17feb
#5 cab gutted as well

If there is a way to post text between photos using the [Manage Attachments] I would sure like to learn it.

As always guys, thank you very much for checking in and taking a look!!

[k1rodeoboater]

I will post some pics for you with how I did the flip down plate for my filler neck. If your stock plate holder is still good you could modify it to mount a flip down plate to it
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[C@rnut001]

Sounds like you got it torn down pretty good. Yes, the mixing of bolts from SAE to metric in these trucks is enough to make you scream. I just changed out the alternator and a power steering hose on our school's '93 Suburban. Yep, it was a mix of the two types...anyway, good luck with getting all of your parts ready to go back into your truck.

[McMurphy]

Originally Posted by k1rodeoboater

I will post some pics for you with how I did the flip down plate for my filler neck. If your stock plate holder is still good you could modify it to mount a flip down plate to it
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Thanks K1, I look forward to that.
I was going to get the spring loaded plate frame like what is on the back of our Pontiacs, but when I was fooling around with this fill door, it struck me that it stays open, which the classic Pontiac ones dont do. I figure I will reverse rotate it 90* and mount up my rear plate frame to it and call it good!

Originally Posted by C@rnut001

Sounds like you got it torn down pretty good. Yes, the mixing of bolts from SAE to metric in these trucks is enough to make you scream. I just changed out the alternator and a power steering hose on our school's '93 Suburban. Yep, it was a mix of the two types...anyway, good luck with getting all of your parts ready to go back into your truck.

Yeah, again last night, the freekin bolts that marry up the brake booster to the resevoir are 15mm. Le'Sigh.....
Started refurbishing parts last night, got the sway bar ready to mount up, Power Steering gear box, and the Power Brakes set up done.

My question of the day....
In this pic I have the frame mounts for the 350 that came out of the GMC Sierra on the left, motor mounts are still on the engine.
On the right are the frame and motor mounts from the IL6 292 that was in the truck originally. I have seen on this site what appears to be guys who have used each of them, and each with some sort of modification.

Either the left ones from the GMC where the bottom holes will bolt right in to the crossmember with some shortening or adapter plate on the top frame rails.
~OR~
The IL6 ones with an adapter plate to fit the motor mounts that are on the engine now.

My question at this point is which is better?
The concern I suppose is going to be fire wall clearance, and forward-back distances for the radiator and driveline......

Any ideas, or am I going to have to trial and error this by mocking it all up first?

[k1rodeoboater]

I got mine off of a 90s caprice and it locks down
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[chad64chevy]

i'm not 100% sure but i think the l6 mounts will work for your 350 and should just bolt right up in the same holes

[McMurphy]

Made an order to LMC yesterday, had to get the inner rocker extender for my d-side floor before I tackle that side.
I felt like a dork for having to call them just to confirm that L-side = D-side, but did not want to make a $80 mistake for a part I would not need to use. If you notice in all my references, it is always either drivers-side or passenger-side because Army TC-manuals in the 1980s were not always written with the same reference points. Some were as you were sitting in the vehicle or weapon system, and some were as you were standing outside looking at the equipment in question.

I had to call because I could not find where it said so in the catalog

Anyways....
Got that new panel coming before I start on that side of the floor, new ignition switch with the same keyed door tumblers, and the glove box kit, and a new speedo cable.

Until that stuff gets here I am going to look at a pressure washer today, the weather has been above 0* all week, and I think I can stand outside and spray some stuff off if it is going to be that warm!

[57truckguy]

There you go haveing another heat wave... LOL
Don't I say again don't get rid of the doner just yet.. I'm betting you will fine a multude of parts to use in addition to the ones you've already gotten.. Its the little things that end of costing so much.. such as a spring for a vent window because you forgot to check it and had to order one and pay the shipping and wait the 8 days for the part to show up so you can complete the door that should have been done in a couple of hours now it took 2 weeks.. Baa Hum bug... LOL

Anyway good tear down and congras on the the 20th.. we'll be 44 this year.. Happy days

[joe231]

To put text in between your pics:

Upload the pics from your computer as usual.

After you are done with the upload window, close it.

Click on the "paper-clip" again, at the bottom of the window is "attach all", click it.

Now you will see the attached pics in the body of your message.

You can move them around and type in between.

Click the "preview post" button to see everything before posting.

You can edit your previous post by clicking "edit" then "go advanced". Then you can attach all and practice on your previously posted pics.

Hope that helps!

Oh and nice progress on the donor!

[57truckguy]

Thank you joe I was wondering how to do thatnlll..

[joe231]

No problem
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