85 GMC dirt cheap refresh

[Dads79GMC]

Booom!

[Jaysonb]

I had some time to work in the shop last night, I decided to tackle the front suspension before I finish tearing the truck down. All 4 control arms got cleaned up, blasted, new bushings, ball joints, and painted, and we're installed with drop spindles, and springs. The original plan was to do a 2/4 drop, but I have decided to go with a 4 1/2"/6".

[Dads79GMC]

[rusty76]

Sweet

[Jaysonb]

Making some progress, slow but sure! Keep in mind this is a dirt cheap freshening up, not a restoration. The idea is to take care of the few small leaks I have, new bushings all the way around, basically take care of all the wear items that get skipped over on old beaters. I will clean up the frame and shoot some paint on it to clean things up, but it's not getting fully detailed with accent colors, just some satin black to keep things neat and clean. The metal brake and fuel lines are in good shape, so they will stay in place, but all the rubber lines will be replaced with new ones. I also picked up new fuel tanks, and brackets, and a new selector valve. The plan for this evening is to pull the engine, and transmission, get them on stands, and start cleaning things up.

[Jaysonb]

Got the engine and transmission cleaned up.

[Dads79GMC]

Looking good! Nice fender in the background!!

[aggie91]

Well, your picture of the cab on the MaxJax has answered something for me. Do you have them mounted to the floor or do you just move them around as needed? How do you like them?

[Jaysonb]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Well, your picture of the cab on the MaxJax has answered something for me. Do you have them mounted to the floor or do you just move them around as needed? How do you like them?

I love the maxjax! There are anchors in the floor to bolt them down, but when not in use all you need to do is remove 5 bolts per column and tip it back onto the built in wheels and roll it away. I only ever move the outside column, and I mounted the pump on the wall, and ran extended lines up the wall and across the ceiling. The system comes portable. Money well spent. The biggest vehicle I have is an 08 suburban, and it lifts that easy, it has a 6000 pound rating.

[Jaysonb]

I had some time to scrape, wire wheel, and wash the frame, gave it a coat of epoxy primer, and some low gloss black. When I was pulling the motor I noticed a little more slack in the timing chain than I like, so I installed a new one. I was getting ready to put the transmission on the motor to slam back into the frame, and found a cracked flex plate, so I'll have to pick up a new one before the motor and tranny go back in. Also got the new fuel tanks, and brackets installed.

[Dads79GMC]

Everything looks great....sorry for the set-back on the flexplate. You are moving fast! Mike

[aggie91]

I had a small block do that to the flex plate, except mine had completely broken out the center...

Good catch since you had it apart.

[Jaysonb]

I picked up a new flexplate and got it installed, and slammed the engine and transmission in the frame. I took the 2" springs out and put the stock ones back in, so it is 2 1/2" spindles in the front, and 4" in the rear. It was just a little too low. I got the front shocks in, and got the exhaust installed, but the tail pipe is just tacked in for now, so I can adjust it once the bed is installed. I must be getting old, I took out the hooker headers, and flowmaster mufflers, and put the manifolds on with a y pipe, and a regular quiet muffler! It even lined up with the factory hangers. The plan for tonight is to get the rear end serviced, and painted, and I have a few more leaf spring bushings to install, and I'll get the drive shat painted and installed. If things go well, I'll get the front calipers painted and installed, with new hoses.

[moregrip]

man you work fast! Looking great!

[Dads79GMC]

Looks great Sir! Nice “Y” pipe!

[Jaysonb]

While servicing the rear axle, I found that the spider gears had a little play in them, so I ordered up some new ones. When they showed up, I pulled it all apart, installed the new spider gears, and new wheel seals, buttoned it up, wire wheeled, and painted. I finished up installing the new leaf spring bushings, and got the springs cleaned up and painted, and also blasted and painted the drums. The next night when things were dry, I got the rear axle installed with some new u-bolts, bent up and installed new brake lines, and got the rear shocks installed. I got all of the rubber fuel lines installed, and the new tank selector valve installed. Tonight I spent a few hours cleaning up the huge mess I had in the shop, then got the core support cleaned up, sanded, primed, and painted satin black, and also got the engine brackets blasted and painted.

[Dads79GMC]

Looks great Jayson!!!!
BTW, found a 350 for $200.....you know what I'm talking about!!

[MrFinland]

Looks nice Jayson! Again...

[Jaysonb]

We have had some extremely cold weather, with a nice dose of snow, and wind, so progress on the truck has been a little slow. I did manage to get the core support put on, with a new ac condenser, and transmission cooler. The radiator is pretty new so that isn't getting replaced. I got the wiring harness for the front lights, and rear lights and tanks, cleaned up, repaired, and re-wraped. And got some of the accessories mounted on the engine.

[Dads79GMC]

You're a machine

[Jaysonb]

I've got the metal work on the cab done, and a good start on the body work. If things go well this evening, I plan on trying to get some primer on it.

[aggie91]

I think your definition of "dirt cheap refresh" and mine are completely different!

Man, I wish I had your motivation...

[Dads79GMC]

Agreed!

[Jaysonb]

Originally Posted by aggie91

I think your definition of "dirt cheap refresh" and mine are completely different!

Man, I wish I had your motivation...

My plan has changed a little since I started this thread a couple years ago. But as long as I don't charge myself for labor, it's still a pretty cheap project. It doesn't cost much more to completely take things apart to paint them, and all the products I'm using are of the more budget minded variety. The chassis was refurbished using pretty cheap bushings, and steering parts from rockauto, then cleaned at the car wash with oven cleaner, then painted with rustolieum tractor paint from menards. While it was alot of work, it was pretty cheap. The paint products Im using on the body are from summit racing, and they are very affordable, even compared to entry level ppg, or dupont products, and I have had excellent results from them in the past. I did cheat a little by replacing the bed side instead of fixing the one that was on there, but I had an extra one sitting here.

[Jaysonb]

The first round of body work on the cab is done, and I got some epoxy primer, and high build sprayed. It's funny how the smallest imperfections stand out like a sore thumb when you use black! There are a few dings on the roof, and some small spots that will have to get fixed when I start blocking things out, but it looks pretty good for round 1.