My '71 GMC

[woodridge]

Made you look.

[nicolas72gmc]

Oh Woodridge, you sneeky sucker!

[highperf4x4]

It's that tear drop hood that's messing with me!!

[Crazyz28]

Well it's been awhile since I updated this. Progress has been slow due to money, but just got the tax return in last week so I've had a delivery every day at my house . I got the truck towed from work to my house so I'd have more time to work on it. Here's some pictures:


Taking old wiring harness out

[Crazyz28]

Start of installing EZ Wiring harness




Ebay block hugger shorties, some messaging with a hammer is still needed on the passenger side


Starting to look like a complete motor

Temporary water leak fix so it doesn't ruin my new fuse block/wiring

New welding helmet


I was planning on accomplishing alot more tomorrow, but good ol' florida weather says 80% chance of rain. I picked up an alternator and brackets of a '87 El Camino at a junkyard today, serpentine belt setup. Got a new water pump ready to put on, and a refurbed radiator. Hopefully I'll have more progress and even fire up the motor for the first time in the next week.

Polishing a turd at it's best
Crazy

[Crazyz28]

Forgot to mention, every piece of the brakes except the rotors, drums, and front brake rubber hoses and proportioning valve are new. Best thing was it only cost $150 to do everything as I made all my own brake lines instead of going with the prebent stuff.

[Crazyz28]

I'm feeling motivated today, so much that I bought a 10'x10' tent to work on the truck in the rain.

Alternator from junkyard '87 El Camino tested good at discount, so here's my $40 alternator/bracket/pully set up

[highperf4x4]

Looks like alot of work! Keep the pics coming.

[Crazyz28]

So, I guess this is how it starts. Get one of these trucks, go on craigslist to find parts, and find a parts truck. Well, I found and bought a "parts" truck today that is actually going to be the truck I build now, and my GMC will be the parts truck. It's a '72 Chevy longbed with a very solid body and bed minus the usual cab corners and rockers....10X better than the GMC. It has a 50k rebuilt 350 with 3 on the tree. Only thing bad is the transmission, only has 2nd gear. Best part is that it runs (drove it around the block), and I only paid $750 for it. It's 55 miles away and needs to be towed, luckily my dad has the 100mile AAA towing, so I should have it home Saturday, swap the trans out with the GMC, and be able to drive it next week



More pictures to come this weekend

[Rob H.]

That Chevy looks great! But what'll ya ever do with out that sunroof and teardrop hood LOL!

[Crazyz28]

Haha I think I can survive without those. I forgot to mention, the Chevy has a new fuel tank and radiator. That alone is worth at least $300. And this truck has power steering. I can't wait till I get this truck home and start the swapping. I think I'll put the motor from the GMC in the Chevy as I rebuilt (freshened up) it before I put it in...new gaskets all around, new main and rod bearings, decent sized cam.

[Crazyz28]

Just got the Chevy home, more pictures and progress during the week and next weekend. Unfortunately before I knew I was buying this truck I had made plans with the girlfriend for today and tomorrow, otherwise I'd have the engine/trans out of the GMC and into the Chevy and driving it by tomorrow

[Crazyz28]

[highperf4x4]

Cool, what is the new plan now?

[Crazyz28]

Originally Posted by highperf4x4

Cool, what is the new plan now?

I took a chance with the expired tag/registration and drove the truck to work with only 3rd gear (only 3 miles to work) and put it on the lift. I'm going to put all the new brake components (lines/calipers/pads/cylinders) from the gmc to the chevy. Also found out the current motor in the chevy has a leaking freeze plug above the starter and a makeshift freezeplug fix on the rear of the motor. So Sunday I'll take the engine hoist home from work and swap motor/trans from GMC to Chevy and convert the chevy to 3 speed on the floor at my house. I wish I could keep 3 on the tree, but being 6'6", there's not enough room for the shifter to leg clearance. I should have it on the road in about a month, just have to save up at least $400 now for registration and title since all that doubled in price in Florida last September.

Crazy

[Crazyz28]

Here's a video of the '72 chevy running with the motor it came with..hope to have another video to post Sunday with new motor running:

YouTube- video-2010-04-03-14-55-04.3gp

[highperf4x4]

Originally Posted by Crazyz28

I took a chance with the expired tag/registration and drove the truck to work with only 3rd gear (only 3 miles to work) and put it on the lift. I'm going to put all the new brake components (lines/calipers/pads/cylinders) from the gmc to the chevy. Also found out the current motor in the chevy has a leaking freeze plug above the starter and a makeshift freezeplug fix on the rear of the motor. So Sunday I'll take the engine hoist home from work and swap motor/trans from GMC to Chevy and convert the chevy to 3 speed on the floor at my house. I wish I could keep 3 on the tree, but being 6'6", there's not enough room for the shifter to leg clearance. I should have it on the road in about a month, just have to save up at least $400 now for registration and title since all that doubled in price in Florida last September.

Crazy

Can't you just do a title 42 on it?

[Crazyz28]

Got the motor swap done. The motor that I rebuilt and originally put in the GMC is now in the Chevy. I pulled the chevy motor out and due to no room to put it at the house, just half assed laid it into the GMC for now until I decide what I'm going to do with it. I will hook everything back up on the Chevy some night this week after work, curious to see if my rebuild on it will run

[highperf4x4]

I guess I missed it but what do you have in the engine?

[Crazyz28]

Originally Posted by highperf4x4

I guess I missed it but what do you have in the engine?

I bought the engine complete minus carb/intake/exhaust for $200. Supposedly it ran before it was pulled. I tore it down and put all new gaskets on it (head gasket, oil pan....everything) and freeze plugs. I also put main bearings in it as 2 of them looked questionable, crank still looked good though, just gave it a light scotchbrite treatment. Rod bearings looked alright. I don't have the casting #'s in front of me, but it's a '71 2 bolt block that is a little goofy, as I believe it was pulled off the camaro assembly line for a police package. The heads unfortunately are mid 80's smog heads, and it has a decent sized cam in it (The cam card is in my toolbox at work, I'll post specs tomorrow).

[highperf4x4]

So the heads are probably 76cc then? How about the pistons?