1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl

[Graham57a]

Not sure why but I cannot get this picture to post right side up... Anyone else have this problem? It looks correct on my desktop and as soon as I post it it's upside down. I even tried rotating and saving the file as a new name and it still does it...

[Graham57a]

I don't think I ever documented my game plan for this truck, so here it goes:

Most of the sheet metal on this truck has either a dent or minor rust. My plan is to pull the truck in the garage at the end of summer and pull the bed and the front wrap off. I am going to go through each panel with a fine toothed comb and tap out all of the dents that I can, fix all of the rust that I can, and neutralize what I can't. I have a pretty good paint match that I am going to use to blend all of the new sheet metal. So far I know I am going to have to replace inner and outer rockers, possibly the drivers cab corner, kick panel on the drivers side (pass is solid), small spot on the drivers side firewall, rf fender cup and behind the wheel well, front hood edge under the trim, and a handful of spots in the bed.

While I have the sheet metal off I am going to swap out the original 3 speed trans with a factory 3 speed electric overdrive trans that I kept from an old 68 I had. I am going to go through the motor top to bottom and replace what needs to be replaced and freshen it up to the point of drivability. I am going to repaint the engine, probably powdercoat the core support, I have factory inner fenders that are perfect that are already powdercoated, hopefully leave the firewall original paint, and leave the insides of the fenders original paint.

I am going to leave the interior pretty stock, it has all of the original pieces and it really hasn't been touched. Radio delete, correct glovebox door and instrument cluster paint matched, cigarette lighter delete, black heater control, pretty standard. I will obviously put a carpet kit in, new dash pad, clean everything up and make sure all the gauges work. I have a set of buddy bucket seats that I am contemplating throwing in it, my only reservation is the cost of having them reupholstered.

So in summary, from the outside it will look like a very factory hopefully survivor truck with OG paint, zero rust, factory steel wheels with gmc caps, and a touch of patina. Under the hood it will look new but factory, and the interior will look new but factory.

The only piece I am undecided about is the bed.. I have a fair amount of rot on the inside edges of the bed floor, I was thinking about getting a new bed floor and just cutting out the bad metal and breaking a new 90 degree flange on the inner bedsides essentially doing a bed floor raise until I got clean metal. But then once I do that I would have to put spacers between the crossmembers and the frame rails to bring everything up to the correct height. Has anyone dealt with this before? Just curious what other ideas you guys have.

[lolife99]

3" body lift "hockey pucks" work good for raising the bed floor.
I like you raising the bed floor idea a lot.
Plus it will give you more room when you eventually slam this truck.
Coilovers maybe?

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by lolife99

3" body lift "hockey pucks" work good for raising the bed floor.
I like you raising the bed floor idea a lot.
Plus it will give you more room when you eventually slam this truck.
Coilovers maybe?

Hmmmmmm

[GAc10boy]

Didn't know you ended up with this truck. Glad you scooped it up! I had my eye on it but clearly never pulled the trigger. Glad that primer sanded off. Love your plans for it!

[68bowtie]

i like the plan. stock ride height?

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

Didn't know you ended up with this truck. Glad you scooped it up! I had my eye on it but clearly never pulled the trigger. Glad that primer sanded off. Love your plans for it!

Thanks man, it should make a pretty clean little shorty when i'm done

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

i like the plan. stock ride height?

Thanks, yea we are going grandpa style with this one. I am pulling the bed off this weekend and rolling the truck into the shop. We will see how it goes

[68bowtie]

i LOVE grandpa style. subscribed.

[Graham57a]

Not the greatest progress on this one but I did manage to get the bed pulled off. Crazy thing was every single bolt just backed right out, no torch, drilling, cut wheel, I've never had that happen on the bed bolts. Next plan is to disassemble the bed and put it in storage for the winter.

I also pulled out the spark plugs, cleaned the ends and sprayed wd-40 in the cylinders. Hooked up a new battery to see how she cranked and she turned over like a new truck. Definitely glad to see that, especially since that is the first time it's cranked in over 20 years.

Hopefully in the next month or so I'll put the orange truck in winter storage which will free up a space in the shop to bring this girl under the knife.

[SKT]

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Any more progress on this one?

.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by SKT

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Any more progress on this one?

.

Not yet, my orange truck is blown apart in the garage addressing some electrical issues. Once it's back together I will put it into winter storage and pull this girl into the garage. Hopefully in the next month or so

[79azc10]

The gmc is going to look good

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by 79azc10

The gmc is going to look good

Thanks man, ready to get going on it. My gears are turning haha

[Graham57a]

Not really progress but I did finally resolve the electrical issue on my orange truck. I am waiting on a new printed circuit from brothers (should be here Friday), once that arrives it should only take me 10-15 minutes to have everything back together and then I can move her into winter storage and free up the parking in the garage to get started!

I am trying to decide where to start, my initial thought was to start on the bed floor raise and knock that out but the more I think about it the more I feel like I should start on the cab / front end since that is the majority of the work. I plan on leaving the cab on the frame so I will save a ton of room by taking the bed apart and storing it away.

I think my game plan is to roll truck in the garage (leave the bed outside) and pull the front end off and get it down to a cab, motor and trans. Then I can start on fixing the rust, blending the paint, and tapping out dents. Once that is done I will move onto the running gear, brakes, suspension, etc.

What would you guys do? Where would you start?

[Graham57a]

8 months after bring this girl home she finally spent her first night in the garage last night. With my wife's help we were able to maneuver her into a space where I can start making some progress. Here she is getting acquainted

[68Gold/white]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

i LOVE grandpa style. subscribed.

Major LOL, Grandpa style

That'd be me too. I prefer a rubber floor mat, though...

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

Major LOL, Grandpa style

That'd be me too. I prefer a rubber floor mat, though...

If I could find a rubber floor mat that was the correct color I'd be all over it

[68Gold/white]

I thought they were only available in black....I've never seen anything but black....

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

I thought they were only available in black....I've never seen anything but black....

Repop yes but I am pretty sure they were colored from GM. My old 68 chevy had a factory green floor mat in it

[ghalperin]

I wonder if a black mat could be dyed to a bright color? The mats sold by Classic Industries are vinyl.

[Graham57a]

Got a little done on pearl tonight. My main goal right now is strip it down so I can pressure wash everything, remove the funky non factory stuff, and start cleaning. So far everything I have found has been really nice, so far no big surprises

[Graham57a]

There is one small spot on the firewall that neees rust repair, my only dilemma is how much to paint once I finish the patch. I was thinking about respraying the entire firewall but I hate to cover up the grease markings

[ChuckDriver]

Cool build!

[Graham57a]

A few interior shots after the tear down. I still have to gut both doors, pull the seat belts, sun visors, steering column, and firewall padding.

[Graham57a]

A couple questions for you guys.

I was trying to guess the mileage of the truck and I typically try to use the gas pedal as a gauge for the wear on the vehicle. This one looks pretty good to me so I am gonna guess 105k miles, what do you guys think?

Also has anyone ever tried to match a dash pad this color? I've never seen one, I may have to vinyl die a new one to match but would prefer to find a bolt in option if possible.