68 Stepside Shorty - Canadian Build GMC 910

[Island Medic]

Hello everyone!

It finally is my turn. I have been on and off this forum for a bunch of years just waiting for the right time to start my build. Let me tell you my story.

In 1989 I bought the truck from an auction house. The truck originally came from the City of Kelowna in BC. It had a splash and dash finish on it and that was good enough for me. I drove the truck as a daily and then one day while exiting a freeway I locked up the breaks and spun and hit the concrete guard rail and bent the frame. I later found out that the vacuum booster for the breaks was leaking and so the brakes were a little touchy.

The truck sat for a year then I decided I wanted to fixer up and get back to driving it. I found a donor truck, it was a 67 Chevrolet. I used the frame, the hood and the passenger fender. I did a complete frame swap in my driveway with a small tool box of tools and a great deal of cursing. Lots of rusted bolts.

I drove the truck off and on again till 2001 when it got parked for the last time. There it has gone though a bunch of moves and a divorce and being side swiped by a front end loader (thanks stepdad).

Now it is time to show the old girl some love. I had named the truck "Sweet Jane" after the cowboy junkies song. So for here we go. Hope you enjoy the journey.

The goal is to take this truck back to its original configuration with the exception with possibly the motor, front drum brakes, and paint color. I want to use as much as the original parts as possible to keep the costs down to a minimum.

I wish I had some pictures from back in the day but here is the first pic of the build day. Here is the options sheet in the glove box.

[Island Medic]

My plan of attack is to first remove all the front sheet metal and take inventory of what is still usable what isn't. Looks like all is good except for the pass fender. To far gone to salvage, I found one that is original and dent and rust free for $75. Have to still go pick it up.

[Island Medic]

The passenger side door looks like it is usable but it was side swiped so I have to fix it. Here is a shot of it all cleaned up and ready for some pulling. The black felt pen is where the creases are and were I will work on with the puller.

[Island Medic]

Next was the cab corner. I knew it had been replaced but just didn't know what it looked like. Well it was a push on lap weld. So I will be cutting it out and re-welding it with butt joints and proper finishing so we don't need a half inch of filler.

[Island Medic]

Here is the start of the rocker replacement. I have to make some reference marks before the cutting begins. Both the floor and the rocker need help. Need to buy a spot weld cutter and some zip disks. Let the sparks fly!

[GR8-68]

Nice looking project


So, what are the marks for on the floor pan and the rocker ? I don't understand what you are doing there with those cuts.

[Jason7121]

Bought a new bed myself. On the chrome trim for taillights did you have to drill holes and if so what was your method. Great work on the truck btw.

[Island Medic]

Jason, not sure what you are referring to. I think you post was a mistake.?

Well I have been making really good progress and haven't bumped up anything that stumped me. Today was a different story. It took me two days of work but I was able to make two good fenders out of four. Thanks to a member I was able to source two chev 69 fenders. I know they are different, but the parts that I needed were the same. So I played Dr. Frankenstein and made it work.

A little history. the original truck got into a accident. I bent the frame from the drivers side to the passenger side. I hit a guard rail just on the inside of the passenger side frame rail and pulled it all that way. Back in the day I bought a donor truck and did a frame swap. I didn't bother with alignment as it was just to get the truck back on the road. Nothing else seemed to be bent.

I think the rad support is tweaked because I have to pull the top out to get the front top fender bolts in. The bottom of the support has been cross measured for squareness to the cab. The cab has also been checked for squareness.

As you can see from the pictures, the pass fender has a good 1/4" gap at the top but then widens out to 3/4" at the bottom. On the driver side it goes from 1/4" to 1/2" at the bottom.

I did replace the bottom part on the passenger fender and make sure it was in a straight line along the edge with the rest of the fender.

I have installed poly bushings on all mounts, cab and rad support.

The door has great equal gaps all around. How do I proceed from here to make these fenders gap out properly? My thinking is that the rad support is to high and is keeping the fenders from coming down. I know you can tell me what exactly to do but I am looking for some hard won experience to throw out some ideas.

[Island Medic]

In the instructions for the body mounts, in position two they talk about a factory washer ,"square" to reuse. Is it the two washers that I am showing in the picture? Not sure why this would be needed.

I am pretty sure that the next picture the items are body shims. I didn't take care when pulling the fenders off so I am not sure where these go. Can someone help?

[Jason7121]

You're right I saw a picture of a Fleetside on your previous page and was asking about that one but I realize it's not yours.

[Island Medic]

I managed to solve the issue. By putting a 1/8" shim under the front cab mounts I was able to gain the adjustment I needed. I also welded a 1/8 rod to the edge of the lower fender and that made all the difference in the world. Sorry no pic today. I am happy with how things are aligning. Now to finish the cab corner and rocker panel.

[Island Medic]

Been working on the inner fenders. I had 3 left and 2 right and was able to make one good one for each side.

[bhemingson]

Nice work. I went to high school in Parksville eons ago. My mom is still in Qualicum.

[Island Medic]

So didn't have much time wanted to do something. I want my truck to be as stock as possible so I am going to keep the voltage regulator. I read in another post that someone just gutted the regulator and did the jumpering in side of it. So here is a could of pics. I will have to put a note on the back of it so someone looking at it in the future won't be confused. I used hot glue to keep things from corroding and not shorting out in any way. I guess my warranty is now void