A boy and his 1972 fleetside restoration

[Hayseed4]

Thanks. I look forward to installing it in a week or two. I have about 2days of sand blasting left before some repair work and paint. I also have a new wiring harness from m&h electric for the new engine.

[Hayseed4]

Thanks. I look forward to installing it in a week or two. I have about two days of sand blasting left before I can start to paint all of the cab parts. Also just got my new m&h electric wiring harness to go with the engine.

[Hayseed4]

So I have a little bit of a dilemma I would like some opinions on regarding my side mirrors. The truck was originally equipped with below the eyeliner mirrors that mounted on the top by the vent window. These are long gone, and the PO replaced them with the mirrors seen on the right. I picked up a nice set that is on the left, but they must have been from a different year or are also aftermarket. So the question is should I fill in all the mounting holes with weld before the paint job and add them when I can find a nice set of below the eye mirrors? should I leave the original holes only, and wait for the day I find the right set? should I go with the really wide camper mirrors? I only intend on hauling my 22ft trailer with 2 cylinder John Deere's occasionally. Thoughts?

[1968aj]

Dont throw away the one on the right. I have been looking for the part that attaches mirror head to bracket.

[72 tigger]

Weld the holes & look for a nice used set

[stsalvage]

Careful about Chrome timing covers If you don't use a wire wheel on the back side to rough up the metal you will never get that thing the seal.When you do and the sealer gets hard it will pure out of there.Chrome on the oil pan and the timing cover and the valve covers always a bad Idea.They always leak using painted ones will last so much longer less problem in the long run.

That's why No race teams use chrome on any of there engine parts they leak

[Hayseed4]

Thanks for the info on the chrome stsalvage. The shop ran the engine for 30mins with no leaks other from the chrome valve covers. I was going to replace those at some point as I don't really want them. They came with the truck, and funds are a little low for the ones I want. If it starts leaking I will have a good idea where to look and what to replace but till then...

[Hayseed4]

So I picked up the th350 transmission tonight and it looks great. The guy I went to builds a lot of transmissions for racecars and other things. I had him over build it for hauling and just general driving. He said most of the inside looked pretty good with minimum wear. With everything else being rebuilt I thought getting the trans rebuilt as well would be a good idea so I can really know the history and have no worries when driving. He put all new parts in and even honed part of it to get an extra clutch disk in. I don't know a lot about automatic transmissions so that's why I opted to take it in. But I will post pictures and might be able to learn some things from those of you with more transmission knowledge.

[Hayseed4]

And the finished product.

[Hayseed4]

So it has been a while since I last posted updates, and I have made some great progress. I got the engine back and took a few pictures including a lifting bracket that bolts to the intake manifold. Very useful un positioning the engine for alignment with the transmission. Unfortunately don't have those pictures yet.

[mechanic350]

looks like its coming along great. good luck.

[Hayseed4]

Just about all of the truck is sand blasted. Just one bed side, the tailgate, and the underside of the bed left. There was no rust under tubed, and minimal rust on the wheel humps. All of the parts that are blasted are premièred and ready to be painted

[9teen69]

Motor and trans looks sweet. Looks like you have a done a ton of work on the sheetmetal...nice!

[Hayseed4]

So I finally got the cab all painted. I blasted it to bare metal, primed and painted it with a little help from my friend. The doors and the fenders are taking a bit longer to get all of the dents out. Seems like I just keep finding more every time I think I am done.

[9teen69]

Looking good!

[TexasLS1]

I approve! looks awesome!!

[slikside]

Great progress!! Looking pretty sweet. It'll be nice to see this one come together.

You know, I think that truck was pretty lucky to find you!

[davischevy]

Nice job.

[68 CRACKERBOX]

good work,really looking good .really like the color.can't wait to see it done.

[72 tigger]

Looks great!

[Warrens69GMC]

Nice job- quick too!!

[Hayseed4]

thanks for all the encouragement. I hope to be completely done by the end of January.

[67 chevelle]

I like the color combo , you are getting there

[mechanic350]

great looking truck. its coming along great

[Hayseed4]

So I have been doing a lot of work over the last month. I have the engine, trans and cob mounted. I rebuilt the steering box, steering column, and got the cab mounted. I also replaced the mechanical windshield washer pump with an electric one. the pictures shows how I was still able to mount it in the original location.