Markeb01 Build Thread

[Vernski]

You could hang the fog lights upside down under the bumper, that is if there is enough clearance for it. If I had to vote I'd say I like it without them. How often do you use the fog lights would decide the issue for me...Vernski

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by Vernski

You could hang the fog lights upside down under the bumper, that is if there is enough clearance for it. If I had to vote I'd say I like it without them. How often do you use the fog lights would decide the issue for me...Vernski

I actually ran with the foglights and headlights on all the time, day or night. The truth is they aren't all that effective during foggy weather, to me they were just attractive vintage marker lights. I lost functional enthusiasm for the Unity's after my first set of PIAA Ion Crystal lamps. They actually cut through fog like it isn't there, which is why I have them on the wife's car. I rarely drive my truck in bad weather anymore anyway, so losing the lights isn't going to make much difference.

[markeb01]

Well after driving behind Unity fog lights for nearly 30 years, I took the plunge today and eliminated them. As much as I’m going to miss having the lamps, since the new grille bar went in I only see them as a disruption to the symmetry of the front end. Much like the GMC letters, I don’t see them ever going back on. Here’s how it looks as of this evening:

[markeb01]

I find it interesting how one part and a different color combination change completely change a vehicle. This is what it looked like back in 1998 when I first tried to eliminate the GMC letters:

[CRGRS 66]

I like it better without the fog lights.

If wanted to have fog lights you could always change your headlights to single lamps with hi-lo beams, and add fog lights in the other headlight position. Just thinking out loud.

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by markeb01

I find it interesting how one part and a different color combination change completely change a vehicle. This is what it looked like back in 1998 when I first tried to eliminate the GMC letters:

I think I posted that about your truck before -How many personalities its taken over the years - with just even little changes.
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[66-PMD-GMC]

Did your GMC ever have a GMC hood?

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by 66-PMD-GMC

Did your GMC ever have a GMC hood?

Yes it was still wearing the original 1960 GMC hood when we bought the truck:



Although they are now rare and desirable to restorers, I thought they were hideous looking even as a pre teenager when these trucks were brand new. In addition mine was damaged in a deer collision by the original owner, which left the passenger side hump about ½” higher than the driver side. It looked okay in yellow but black lacquer would have really highlighted the defect. Winter driving also flooded the engine compartment with crud due to the open screen in the front.

I donated the hood to a local restorer because it was rust free and in much better condition than any of the other hoods he owned.

[66-PMD-GMC]

I think they are a little ugly myself. Wouldn't buy one for free personally but I am sure there are lots of folks that love 'em...
Person preference for me is the later GMC hood. I think they are the more aggressive looking hood for the 60-66 trucks.

[markeb01]

I agree. I really like the "scoop" in the center. IMO it's the only style point GMC ever did better than Chevy. I spent years looking for one of those and never came up with an example worth buying. Back when I bought my truck there were literally hundreds of 60-66 Chevy and GMC trucks in the local wrecking yards and even with that volume to pick from, hoods without major rust or damage were nearly impossible to find. It took 7 years to find the Chevy hood I ended up with, and I consider myself lucky to have found it.

I also wanted to try a 1960 Chevy double hump hood with gloss black inserts and spent additional years looking for one of those. But I like the one I have (and my wife prefers it), so eventually I lost interest and moved on to other priorities.

[clemdaddy]

Originally Posted by markeb01

I agree. I really like the "scoop" in the center. IMO it's the only style point GMC ever did better than Chevy. I spent years looking for one of those and never came up with an example worth buying. Back when I bought my truck there were literally hundreds of 60-66 Chevy and GMC trucks in the local wrecking yards and even with that volume to pick from, hoods without major rust or damage were nearly impossible to find. It took 7 years to find the Chevy hood I ended up with, and I consider myself lucky to have found it.

I also wanted to try a 1960 Chevy double hump hood with gloss black inserts and spent additional years looking for one of those. But I like the one I have (and my wife prefers it), so eventually I lost interest and moved on to other priorities.

hey mark, let me know if your priorities change back. i think i got a couple of those mid sixties gmc hoods in good shape. pm me when you're interested...by the way, i'm one who likes the early sixties hoods and your original is cool.

[markeb01]

Thanks for your consideration. After all the years since the 1960’s were introduced, I’ve come to appreciate the uniqueness of the 1960-61 GMC hoods, and they can bring big money now because restorers want them and so few survived. Back in the 60’s – 70’s every person I knew with one of those hoods threw it away right after buying the truck. 62-66 Chevy and GMC hoods were plentiful in wrecking yards so 60-61 GMC hoods essentially disappeared.

After all the years looking for existing hoods, now I’m holding out for the custom one off hood that GM should have been created for the 1962 models. My concept is to begin with the 62-66 hood, split the center section front to back and move the outboard style lines closer to the edges, then remove the center section of the top and replace it with a drop center similar to a narrowed center panel from a 1959 Oldsmobile hood. It should make an interesting blend of the old and new styles, while eliminating both the “pods” and the twin peaks down the center.

If I can make a photoshop that looks anything like the concept, I’ll post it soon.

Who knows, if Chip Foose ever volunteers to restyle my truck I’ll ask him to create one, because I certainly don’t have the metal fabrication skills needed!

[markeb01]

Okay here’s my best attempt at blending a 59 Olds hood with a 62-66 Chevy truck hood. I realize it’s crooked, the wrong color, and the wrong grille but it’s what I had to work with. My original thought was to move the outer edges of the flat truck center section outboard, but now I’m thinking it would look best to completely eliminate the flat center section with the twin peaks, and simply replace the whole thing with the corresponding drop center section from a 59 Oldsmobile hood. Depending on the size of the real parts, a Corvair might also make a suitable donor:



It would take a lot of fabrication, but would certainly be unique and I believe better looking that the 62-66 version.

[Ta2Don]

Sweet Idea!!! Will watch progress if you undertake this.

[LostMy65]

Hey Mark,
I just ran across this thread:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...28#post5573228
I've been thinking of doing something similar.
Now that I've seen it, I know I'll like the look.
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[markeb01]

It’s kind of ironic I had worked up a similar grille myself about a year ago, except mine was going to be done out of round cast acrylic rods and have LED lights in each end of each rod shining toward the center. I had the brackets designed and tested the theory and the lighting worked fine. The entire lower grille area would have been illuminated like an old Mercury Sable. But overall it just didn’t look appropriate for my truck and the project was scrapped.

[markeb01]

Figured I’d take a picture of the truck with the front bumper off just in case I want to play around with either the gasser look, or perhaps a custom bumper from a 1950’s passenger car:

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by markeb01

Figured I’d take a picture of the truck with the front bumper off just in case I want to play around with either the gasser look, or perhaps a custom bumper from a 1950’s passenger car:

That really makes the grill and center piece stand out.
If you do decide to put the stock bumper back on, it would probably look cool just being black.
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[markeb01]

I thought about that too, but I really want the Buick grille to tie in with the bumper & guards which requires everything stay one color. But I also think a black roll pan would look pretty cool.

[markeb01]

The front bumper received new paint today. After the bumper was done I also shot the license mounting/reinforcement plate and the bumper bolts. The bumper goes back on the truck tomorrow after which I’ll refinish the guards. Being so large the bumper was problematic last time, so I didn’t want to be distracted painting the guards at the same time.

[McMurphy]

After seeing your truck in person, man I would love to see you put a camera on a tripod and shoot a photo of all your running lights at twilight time of day!
(the hood signals in these photos made me recall that thought from the show)
Especially an oblique shot from the rear, you have really made some additions that do not always show up easily in the day time photos.

[markeb01]

Sounds lilke a plan, I'll do that in the near future. Thanks for suggesting it.

[markeb01]

Sanded and painted the bumper guards this morning and they came out a perfect match for the finish on the bumper:



They’ll be ready to go back on tomorrow. Since they’ve been on the truck since about the week after I bought it, I thought I’d take a picture of how it looks without any. A couple minutes with Windows Paint got rid of the bumper guard holes:

[pdxhall]

Yeah know, that pic without the bumper guards is very cool. I love the look of the floating grill. It just draws you eyes right to it.

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by pdxhall

I love the look of the floating grill. It just draws you eyes right to it.

, looks factory... what they should have done!