85 GMC Sierra "Scarlett"

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by LDO

Came home from work yesterday and your thread motivated me to get off my butt and re-wrap my PW and PDL wire harness. It really didn't take very long and it looked 10x better when I got done!

Just a few minutes work goes a long way sometimes.

Originally Posted by Desert1957

That's amazing for a "Rattle Can" job. I never considered any touch up work using this method. Nice job,

In the past I never would have considered using spray cans for anything more than small parts. With the cost of materials climbing higher every day, its simply not practical to do small jobs if you have to buy everything. Trust me, if the results hadnt been to my satisfaction, I would have stripped it and bought PPG.

[N2TRUX]

The weekend went by in a blur, but here are some highlights of our progress. Friday night I worked on the tail light harness. I didnt like the way GM had just a few random clips holding it in place, so I decided to improve. I had previously wrapped the hardness so I crawled under the bed and mapped out a new route. I think it looks much cleaner and its certainly better protected that before.
Ignore the exposed wires going to the tail lights. My loom never showed up so it was wrapped neatly with tape.

[N2TRUX]

With the tail light harness in place it was time time to install the bed. Chris showed up Saturday morning and we got to it. He guided it in while I worked the chain hoist and took pictures. For the first time in a couple of months she was looking like a truck again.

[N2TRUX]

With the bed in place it was time to wrap up job. Chris worked on finding matching hardware for the the gas filler inlet, while I hooked the fill line and vent hose up. Dont worry we used tire dressing on the hoses after the pics. This was a big step in getting Scarlett ready for C10s in the Park.

[N2TRUX]

Sunday morning Chris got here early again so we paused to do some maintenance on his daily driver. He had complained about musty air so he changed the cabin filter and made a huge improvement there. We did an oil change, and he washed and detailed it while I started on our next project.

Anyone have any factory 20" wheels? Hes happy with the 17s, but I think it needs bigger.

[N2TRUX]

With maintenance done we moved on to the rear bumper install. Many years ago my buddy Keith (N2billet) looked at the rear bumper on my 82 Blazer and said it looked like a fat butt with the bumper sticking out so far. He had looked at his squarebody truck and noted that the rear bumper could be tucked in to clean it up a bit. Ironically this mod has recently become popular again.

Chris and I started the process by mocking up the bumper moving it up from the stock position. We ensured that there was ample clearance for the tailgate to open and close, and made new holes an inch forward before we cinched down the brackets to the frame. We triple checked our measurements and broke for lunch.

[N2TRUX]

After lunch we pulled everything apart and started the final install. I noted that the bumper bolts were too long, so I measured and cut them too the proper length. This included the bolts for the license plate pocket.

Meanwhile Chris used new stainless bolts and matching screws to assemble the license plate pocket. I had originally painted it the correct silver argent color and changed to to bright aluminum to match the back side of the bumper. We were pleased with the results and mounted the assembly in place.

Note that the bolt kit came with 6 bumper bolts and 6 license plate pocket bolts. It should be 8 and 4. In the interim we used an old bolt on the inner bracket. Also note that I need a correct inner truck bracket if anyone has a spare set they want to part with.

[GAc10boy]

Excellent work and progress.

[PEDROSKI]

Door panels next?

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

Excellent work and progress.

Thank you sir.

Originally Posted by PEDROSKI

Door panels next?

I'm not quite ready to finish the door panels yet. I want to pull the dash pad and strip it first so I can spray them at the same time.
I'm still waiting on the drivers side inner mirror brace, so unless it shows up today I'm going to take a look at the vent windows tonight. I had to pull the window run trim off of the replacement vent windows so I need to make a decision on what to do about that.

[N2TRUX]

I shopped around for new wheel well molding and ended up ordering it from Summit. It seems everyone carries Corvex brand and its your typical Taiwanese thin tin.

I ordered a screw set from Summit not knowing that the trim comes with screws. I was glad that I did because the set I ordered had larger heads and was much better quality.

I started by installing the center screw loosely and working my way out to each end. Several of the holes in the fender didnt match the trim, so I marked them and moved on to the next hole.

Once I got them all marked, I pulled the trim and used a small burr bit on a dye grinder to open them up.Now that the holes lined up I had to gently finesse they shape by rolling it with the ball of my hand to get it to conform tightly to the fender. Again I tightened the screws down.

I marked the ends as they needed trimming too. I pulled them back off and trimmed the excess with utility scissors. A bit more tweaking of the kinks with my hand, and installed and adjusted as I went.

If your patient the Corvex brand work fine, just know going in they require some adjustment. They were as much as 50% less at Summit than coming from other vendors who may or may not have been selling the same brand since the name was not advertised.

[JohnKimble]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

I shopped around for new wheel well molding and ended up ordering it from Summit. It seems everyone carries Corvex brand and its your typical Taiwanese thin tin.

I ordered a screw set from Summit not knowing that the trim comes with screws. I was glad that I did because the set I ordered had larger heads and was much better quality.

I started by installing the center screw loosely and working my way out to each end. Several of the holes in the fender didnt match the trim, so I marked them and moved on to the next hole.

Once I got them all marked, I pulled the trim and used a small burr bit on a dye grinder to open them up.Now that the holes lined up I had to gently finesse they shape by rolling it with the ball of my hand to get it to conform tightly to the fender. Again I tightened the screws down.

I marked the ends as they needed trimming too. I pulled them back off and trimmed the excess with utility scissors. A bit more tweaking of the kinks with my hand, and installed and adjusted as I went.

If your patient the Corvex brand work fine, just know going in they require some adjustment. They were as much as 50% less at Summit than coming from other vendors who may or may not have been selling the same brand since the name was not advertised.

Do you have a summit part number for those wheel well moldings? I can't find them on the site. Truck looks great!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

Really nice work on the core and filler panel. Can't wait to see how you run the exhaust. Would love to hear a clip too.

Pics coming right away. I will have to get an audio clip.

Originally Posted by JohnKimble

Do you have a summit part number for those wheel well moldings? I can't find them on the site. Truck looks great!

I will look it up and post it later. Be sure to order a screw set too. The screws that come with it are too small.

[UKNOWME]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

I will look it up and post it later. Be sure to order a screw set too. The screws that come with it are too small.

Did you ever find this information?

[rustytruck50]

Keep it coming with updates....great job!

[Palf70Step]

Looking very good!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by rustytruck50

Keep it coming with updates....great job!

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Looking very good!

Thank you gentlemen.

[N2TRUX]

Yesterday I got several boxes of goodies from LMC Trucks, and Summit Racing. I laid everything out to check for back orders and realized that the dash trim didnt come in from LMC. Beyond that everything I needed to keep me busy through the week was here.

[N2TRUX]

I worked late last night so I only had time for a small project. I decided to install the drivers side mirror. When I removed the old one I noted that there was a compression nut missing from one of the top holes.

The bottom mounting point is supposed to have a brace that supports the mirror and stops the door from flexing. That was missing as well. I located the parts on the LMC Trucks page and included them with my order. The mirrors were sourced from Summit racing.

I masked the area around the hole and used needle nose Vise Grips to hold the compression nut while I tightened and collapsed the body to hold it in place. Once it was snug I removed the tape and moved on to the bottom hole. I had to cut through the sound deadner to allow access to the new inner brace.

[N2TRUX]

With everything finger tight, I aligned the mirror and tightened the freshly painted bolts. I had to tweak the bracket cover a bit to get it to rest properly in the gasket, then added the stainless screw that holds the cover in place.

Time to close shop and get some rest.

[flashed]

Looks great .

[Qwk]

I just finished reading this thread and Im in awe of your "attention to details" and Im looking forward to more updates!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by flashed

Looks great .

Originally Posted by Qwk

I just finished reading this thread and Im in awe of your "attention to details" and Im looking forward to more updates!

Thanks for following.

[N2TRUX]

My work day was long, so my shop time was limited last night. I still managed to get started on replacing the grill surround trim. The existing trim and too many small dings to repair, so I bought new trim from LMC Trucks.

I pulled the grill and headlamp bezels and found that they were new reproduction pieces. Unfortunately the park lights were not, and both have impact cracks so they will be replaced. The GMC letters have been repainted and the color is faded. They are very hard to buy new, so those will be restored.

The headlights, light buckets, and harness were next. They were removed for better access to the core support. With that out of my way, the clean up process was started. I hit the entire area with Scotch Brite then followed by wet sanding and a solvent wipe.
Time to clean up and go look for parts

[N2TRUX]

Last night was a great night in the shop. I had assistance from my beautiful wife. She dropped in with cold water and decided straightening the fins in my a/c condenser looked like a fun job. While I have found it to be therapeutic for my OCD I never thought it to be fun. Yeah I know straightening the fins is a bit much, but it helps air flow and it looks much better even if no one will see it.

I found a bit of rust along the front edge of the filler panel hiding under the grill surround trim. Fortunately it was only surface rust so I sanded it down to raw metal. I prepped the entire core support and wiped it with solvent.

Later I blasted the the headlight buckets and got a couple of coats of paint on them. While they were drying I cleaned up the headlight bulbs. As you can see there are two different brands of bulbs so I plan to change that. I have a pair of Wagner 4656 Halogen bulbs ordered to replace the Sylvania.

Tonight I will mask and prime the bare metal and paint everything satin black.