Gator Squared

[ChevyC102007]

Howdy from Western Nebraska. Good looking GMC .

[sumran]

Thanks for the replies. Not as much to report on the project as I had hoped, so no new pictures just yet. My wife's car is getting most of the wrenching attention this weekend. It is an older Mercedes in very good condition. The cost of the parts is staggering and working on them reinforces why I wanted an old truck to play with.

I did get into the engine a little bit. Good news and "bad" news. The good news is my compression readings verified the idea that the engine is in fine shape. Reading were between 150 and 135. The bad news (for my plans) is that I have the integral intake manifold on my head. Any thought of adding some performance parts to this engine died with that discovery. It could still be done but it makes it less cost effective. At this point, I will either clean up the engine and reinstall it as a stock unit (leaving my project as a sheep in wolf's clothing. All show, no go) or I will find a small block motor to buy and/or build. The original intention of the project was to get a truck that needed a motor, so I could build one to my preference. I though I had taken a different direction, but perhaps it was just a detour.

I am going to look at another '84 today that is being sold cheap. It is supposed to have a new 305 in it but has other problems. I am looking at it as a donor truck. If I can pick enough off of the truck to justify the purchase, I may get it. Of course, the real risk is that the truck is in fairly good shape and I accidently end up with two projects.

[sumran]

Sometimes things just work out. I went to look at the other '84. It was a collection of rust and dents. It was good beater or farm truck but far too much work to consider a restoration. I was only looking for parts so that was fine.

The guy selling the truck had told me that the tranny had some issues, but said the 305 had recently been rebuilt. Not only did the engine sound pretty good, it had headers, a high-rise Edelbrock manifold and carb, and a newly installed Flowmaster dual exhaust system.

We decided that I would take his engine, motor mounts and exhaust system, and give him my engine motor mounts and exhaust, plus $350. He is going to have a friend that is in vocational training as a mechanic install my engine in his truck and take to his farm. He is happy and I am VERY happy. This should save big bucks on the project.

[SeanPaintsFlames]

I've got a 250 as well. That's what my '80 had when I got it, and I swapped it into the 65 GMC. You can get the non-integral heads, but yes, with the time (and money) you would have spent to build it, you'd have just wished you had put in a 350.

The swap-between-trucks is what I'm doing now as well. Good decision, I'd say.

[sumran]

The guy with the 2nd truck called me today and said he had decided to sell the truck outright instead of doing the swap we discussed. Even though I had previously told him I would be glad to buy the truck at $650, he told me someone else might be coming to look at it. He told me he would sell it to me for $550 since he wasn't going through with the swap.

I dashed over with the tow dollie and bought the truck. Now I need to get an engine lift. It is going to be a busy weekend!

[Restrorob]

Originally Posted by sumran

It is going to be a busy weekend!

Ha ! Looks like you've been busy since the truck hit your yard.....

Now you can change the "engine unknown" in your sig !

[sumran]

Originally Posted by Restrorob

Now you can change the "engine unknown" in your sig !

Soon, soon. It still has enough mystery to qualify as unknown for now.

The donor truck is at a friend's house. I ran out of room at my house. I need to get it stripped and shipped within a week so he doesn't get in the doghouse.

Feel free to stop by if you are driving through Gainesville this weekend.

[sumran]

Just got back from getting the truck in position for the upcoming weekend festivities. When we took it off the dollie last night it wouldn't start. No crank, no click. We tried to jump it but still, nothing. It was very dark and we didn't feel like fooling with it at the time, so my friend threw the battery on a charger and I stopped by on my way home from work. When I got there he asked why I didn't tell him it had a push-button starter. It was news to me.

There aren't many parts of the truck that are usable. Engine and exhaust are great, which is why I bought the truck. I will salvage some others for use or sale, but it will mostly be scrap. If I can find some dead appliances to throw in the back I should recover a good percentage of what I spent.

I was excited about the tilt column, but it would need to be completely rebuilt. It felt like it might fall off in my hands at any moment.

I'm not sure what prompted them to invest the money in the engine and exhaust on this one, but I'm the beneficiary, so I won't complain.

Should be lots of new pictures and adventures this weekend.

[Restrorob]

Originally Posted by sumran

It is going to be a busy weekend!

Originally Posted by sumran

Feel free to stop by if you are driving through Gainesville this weekend.

Who meee ???

Your gonna be havin waaay too much fun for me !

Saturday is the first show of the season over in Ft White, And it's my weekend to work....

[Pop's C-10]

That is tha 1st wallpaperd dash i've ever seen & i hope tha last...lol

[sumran]

I just went through the LMC catalog and ordered all my exterior bits in advance of the paint work. Lights, molding, lots of rubber parts, a cab corner and rocker, grill...

Lots of hard work and I didn't need to use GoJo when I was done!

I have decided to get the one piece door windows, but they don't sell them at LMC.

[sumran]

The one piece window kit is on the way. I think that does it for the exterior parts puchasing. If I can't get the windshield out of the parts truck, I will still need to buy one of those, but I should be able to get it out in one piece. It even has an antenna, which will keep the body lines clean (I would hate to ruin the aerodynamics of the truck with an antenna).

The last 3 days have been like one of those car shows on the Discovery channel, except with a much smaller budget.

[sumran]

The engine tranny and other assorted parts came out of the parts truck this weekend. The engine is in my garage on a stand and the tranny is in the back of my Dodge pickup. Once I have the engine and tranny pulled from the other truck they will be traded for a 700R4 transmission.

I was going to rent a cherry picker for the weekend, but decided to go old school instead. The 2 x 8's that formed my portable tree will become part of a deck in the back yard a little later this month. Two friends stopped by to help and have a chuckle at my adventures. I am the one with the black hat.

I ended up hanging a longer chain from the top to get the height of the hoist where I wanted it. The hoist I started with wouldn't reverse, so I had to run out and get a different one before the engine was pulled.

[Restrorob]

Looks like ya had fun Randy, Sorry I missed it....not....

Thanks again for the deal on the windows, Gimme a shout when ya get the 1 piecer's in, I'd like to see how they turn out !


Guy's, Randy has a super straight rig here to start with and will have no issues making it look GREAT ! I wished I coulda started with something this nice, It woulda been done years ago but....I AIN'T gibb'n up !

[sumran]

Thanks for the kind words Rob.

I pulled the windshield out of the parts truck last night. It came out easily. The hardest part was getting the antenna wire out. The parts truck is almost ready to go to the scrap yard. I am going to pull the steering column after I get it loaded on the dollie. I think I will also pull the tailgate hinges and one of the fenders.

I am going to strip and old trailer made from a truck frame and throw the steel in the back to add to the scrap value. Then I need to pull the rear step bumper and the seat from the good truck. Maybe I can even pick up some dead appliances on the way to the yard.

I pulled some parts I won't be using. Grille, hood, headlight bezels/and frames, mirrors. They were just too good to go to the scrap heap.

I started to do an evaluation on the engine I pulled. Didn't even get the all of the spark plugs out. It has long plugs and headers. The ones I did pull were super black. Way too much gas going to those cylinders. The carb that was on may have been jetted for a different engine. I need to rebuild the carb anyway, so I will put the correct jets in while I'm there. I don't want to think about what the top of the pistons look like. I should have good compression though. Pics on the engine when I get further along.

I should have lots of exciting boxes show up at my door later this week. I need a separate building for these projects.

[sumran]

The first part arrived in the mail yesterday. It was the billet GMC grille logo. Seemed like the least I could do since I am debadging the truck.

It is going to be mounted on a billet grille, so it will be a ghost grille of sorts. The grille should be delivered tomorrow, so I will attach the emblem and post a picture then. All the parts should be delivered before the weekend.

[Pop's C-10]

I'm diggin tha engine lift...better get a pattent on that stat...lol

[sumran]

Originally Posted by Pop's C-10

I'm diggin tha engine lift...better get a pattent on that stat...lol

Probably too late for that. If it does get one it will belong to the guy in the green cap looking up.

I checked my tracking number for my parts this morning and got three of the most exciting words in project building...

"Out for Delivery"

The clock will be moving verrrry slowwwwly today.

[sumran]

The UPS man was my friend today. The project seems real now. Lots of exciting sparkling parts. I won't waste bandwidth on lots of pictures of parts, but I'll post a couple.

Here is what I saw when I got home.

[sumran]

Here is the grille with the billet emblem. The grille is hard to photograph but it looks amazing in 3D.

[Restrorob]

Awww.....Come on Randy, Waste some more bandwidth.....Pics of the outside don't count. We wanna see everything that's inside !!!

[nbpro]

welcome aboard! for that dash and your Interiors needs contact Stitch

[sumran]

Originally Posted by Restrorob

Awww.....Come on Randy, Waste some more bandwidth.....Pics of the outside don't count. We wanna see everything that's inside !!!

There will be pictures as it gets installed. You can see better photos than I could provide in the LMC catalog.

[Toxic Redline]

Feels like christmas morning when you walk up and see those boxes..... YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then you run in grab a knife and open them up, packing peanuts everywhere ha classic

[muddnutz]

If I came home to all that my wife would be grilling me hard! Where did you get money for that!!! Lol I'd still be grinning though.
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