1986 GMC Sierra Classic - Flatline

[Matt Man]

Mans truck 1 ton 454 4 wheel drive love it! Looking forward to more progress.

[Flatline454]

Here is the new intake in place with the carb mounted. I need to score a new thermostat housing and we will be one the home stretch.

[Flatline454]

I asked two buddies to stop and help put the bed on. It resembles what a truck kinda looks like. It reminds me of a bag of Skittles with all these colors.. haha

[Flatline454]

Originally Posted by Matt Man

Mans truck 1 ton 454 4 wheel drive love it! Looking forward to more progress.

Thanks for the kind words. I will keep plugging away at it.

[Flatline454]

Sorry for the long delay in progress on the truck. Life gets in the way with a herd of children.

Anywho, below are some of the most recent updates for good ole Flatline.

This is my first real attempt at bodywork so any input is appreciated. I'm still learning how to pretend I am a body man. I'm happy with the replacement of the floor, cab support, inner and outer rockers. I just need to finish up the cab corner on the passenger side, then onto the drivers side.

[Flatline454]

I also picked up a set of new shoes for the old girl.
They are pretty rough, but for 100 bucks its kind of hard to pass on a set of TSL SX's in 36x12.50x16.5 with chrome steel wheels.

I will run the BFG's AT until I lift the truck. I also scored a set of 4" front springs to lift the truck. I'm trying to decide if I want to run a shackle flip on the rear.

Anyone have any insight on the shackle flip? ORD and Di4x seem to make nice kits, but I want to retain the weight carrying capacity of the 1 ton.

[daddyjeep]

The rockers and floor looks just fine to me. Let me know when you are ready to get rid of those BFG's.

[jbailly]

Looking good. More rust than I initially thought, but for a PA truck not bad at all. Keep up the good work. Any idea on a finished paint scheme and color?

[Flatline454]

Sorry for the slow progress updates, the truck hit the back burner for quite a while. However, I have been able to make progress on quite a bit.

1. I made a new rear bumper.

2. I finished the passenger cab corner and hung both the inner and outer fender on the passenger side.

3. Lastly, I am in process on the drivers side and almost ready to weld on the outer rocker panel. The inner needs a bit more fitment.

My questions for the group are, what paint brand have you used, and what type of undercoating do you feel works well, and what have you used for heat and sound insulation in the cab?

[daddyjeep]

I haven't gotten into paint and undercoating yet, but am pretty sure I am going to use Raptor liner as my undercoat on the bottom of the cab and bed floor at least. For sound deadening I went with the Home Depot route and am really happy with the results... at a fraction of the price of Dynomat or other type products.

[Dads79GMC]

Great work!!!

[LT7A]

Glad to see you're still making progress. You did a great job on that rear bumper.

[Flatline454]

So, I have been a super slacker at posting, but I have been getting some work accomplished.

1. The bed is bolted down.
2. All body work has been welded in.
3. Filler and primer are covering any welds, I will do final prep before paint.
4. I seam sealed all the inside panels and floor panels of my welds.
5. I got the front clip back on it.
6. My gift card purchased grill has been installed.
7. The exhaust is now complete. 3" collectors to 2.5" duals.
8. The rear bumper is mounted and bolted down.
9. New plug wires, cap, and rotor are installed. (plugs were good)

[Flatline454]

More pics

[Flatline454]

Next on the agenda is to:

1. Under coat the cab and bed.
2. Replace seals in the hydroboost.
3. Send the carb to Cliff Ruggles to be rebuilt.
4. Insulate the cab with sound deadner.
5. Finish my license plate light with LED's.
6. LED upgrade for the dash lights.

The last pic is the support crew, they are the heart and soul of the operation.

Let me know your thoughts guys!

[Big Moose]

What LED headlights are you planning on getting?

[Flatline454]

Originally Posted by Big Moose

What LED headlights are you planning on getting?

I should have clarified, LED dash lights. It is a pretty easy and cheap upgrade. I'm going to stick with the stock quad beams for now. They look nice and work well.

[daddyjeep]

Looking good. You never did say what your paint plans were. Are you going back to the black and grey?

[Flatline454]

Originally Posted by daddyjeep

Looking good. You never did say what your paint plans were. Are you going back to the black and grey?

Yes the truck is going to go back to the black and gray two tone. I'm just trying to decide if I want to paint it myself or have someone else spray it.

[Flatline454]

Here's a photo dump of the past couple years.

In short, the truck has been used but pushed to the back due to other projects between the house, my moms jeep, etc.

But I got a renewed fire, as my son will be traveling to some races for motocross this year and I thought it would be fun to take the gas guzzling 1 ton to the track to strike fear into the eyes of his competitors!

[Flatline454]

So I rebuilt the hydroboost and it worked super well for a couple years. Then I broke the ears completely off it. This is because I didn't fit the new master cylinder to the old hydroboost by grinding on the rod between the two. Lesson learned. Carnage is below.


Here are my new wheels that I bought for it.

[Flatline454]

Now on to the fun stuff, as the truck runs well and is functionally sound. I wanted to update the interior in my own way. I pulled out the old headliner, carpet, seat, and dash.

I insulated with Killmat the floor, back, and roof. I proceeded to find a used seat to put into the truck. I wanted to keep the plastic backing on the seats and actually have the folding option work. In doing all that the factory seat frame from a 2015 Tahoe and 2nd seat was added to the equation.

[Flatline454]

I was able to keep full functionality and the look I was after.

The vinyl/rubber floor is from Rock Auto and I used a turbo space heater on motorcycle stands to heat the material up and have it mold pretty darn well.

Careful it gets hot! haha

[Flatline454]

Here is the completed look, I added a few pics of the modified stock seat belt brackets and new seat belt assemblies I got from Amazon.

The last pics are my new stud girdles, that will go on when I freshen up the motor, can't beat them for $150.00!

[Flatline454]

Last pic, I picked up these wheels and tires cheap. I will be running the black wheel and the Interco Bigger LTB in 35" on a 4" lift. That will be the next venture.

Thanks for viewing! Hopefully, I will update more frequently now that the truck is all legal again.