1963 GMC Step-Van 7

[Aberdare]

WHOOHOO!

~~UPDATE~~ I landed a deal with a seller on Kijiji for three GMC trucks, and he's willing to store them until Spring/2018 at his acreage. They're all 6 Cylinder GMC 910's (Canadian Built) and are mostly complete. I bought them "Sight Un-seen", except for photographs he posted. These will be an invaluable source of parts and materials for restoration of the Step Van. All three trucks are Fleetsides 127 inch Wheel Base, and look to be in reasonable condition for all being 50 years old. Pictures of the third truck are coming soon!

I'm looking forward to cataloging everything these trucks have to offer me for structural components and sheet metal was well as all the bits 'n bobs either missing or damaged on the Step Van.

[Aberdare]

~*UPDATE*~
Slowly Getting Photographs from the PO of the three trucks I've purchased. All are GMC 910's (C10's), a 1964, a 1965 and a 1966. All three have been rural trucks during their entire service life, and I will know more as all the photographs come in. As shown above, the '64 & '65 are green and the '66 is two-tone orange & white. All three are model# C1345 - 127 inch Wheel Base, Fleet Sides with similar option packages.

I will be using all three of these trucks for replacement parts and all the bits & bobs that are missing or damaged on the Step Van as well as era correct sheet metal and structural components that I may require as the restoration moves forward.

Today will be dedicated to a complete shampoo and degreasing of the engine & transmission so that a thorough external examination can be done, as well as access to any fasteners to ease removal later.

I am also going to be prepping my trailer to hoist the complete body assembly onto, then tuck it out of the way, while I get the chassis stripped down so it can be sent out for Tanking, Sandblasting then Powder Coating. Will have lots of pictures of the process, not only for all of you to see, but also to aide in re-assembly later.

Abe

[Metaldoc]

Use the sheet metal from the trucks to create a real custom van. 1963-4-5-6 Cube van

[Aberdare]

Originally Posted by Metaldoc

Use the sheet metal from the trucks to create a real custom van. 1963-4-5-6 Cube van

That could be fun! lol...

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Quick Update:

Things have been a little crazy in the workshop for a February... and I'm basically waiting for spring, so I can start removing the parts trucks from where they're sitting. I got myself a local guy with a flat deck hauler to do the job for me at a reasonable rate... just waiting for the snow to melt down enough to get into where the trucks are parked, so he can winch them onto his deck.

With things in the workshop starting to slow down a wee bit, It'll be time to push the Van back in and get the body hoisted off the frame. Delays are to be expected... lol.

More to follow...
Abe

[Aberdare]

** UPDATE **

Well... 82,000 miles on the odimeter, 52 year old engine, I gave it a tune-up... the usual fare - Plugs, Wires, Cap, Rotor, Points and Condensor along with a fresh rebuilt Carb and some new gasoline. Well, long story short... It RUNS!

Going to fit on a portable fuel tank, so I can run it longer than 5 seconds at a time... but so far, so good. The engine has a wee bit of tappet noise (expected), but idles smooth and steady.

More to Follow.

[Aberdare]

**UPDATE**
Well, things are moving slowly forward... but with spring approaching I'm in need of a right proper car hauler. The local guy I'm hiring to move my parts trucks for me can give me a reduction in costs if he only has to make two trips instead of three... So I'm pushing the Van onto a back burner to have the room to build a 16 ft flat bed trailer. I will be using 4 x 2 HSS rectangular steel pre-cut to all the proper sizes for me by a local company called Mind2Metal.

Since they are local and they deliver, I'm taking advantage of their services and once I have all the pieces I need for the trailer, I'll make some time to weld it all together in the shop. I should have the trailer ready for spring thaw.

I stopped by to meet, Jean-Marc - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=316140 ... His Truck is absolutely gorgeous seeing it in person... Ane we actually served together, but he was incoming and I was outgoing at the time. Funny how that works out sometimes. LOL.

He's offered me some space at his place, and we'll work out the details over a nice single malt or a flat of barley sandwiches. I'm also giving some consideration to some real estate around the Fannystelle / Starbuck Area.

More to follow and yes... there will be pictures.

[Aberdare]

** Progress Report - 23 March 2017 **

OK, well, after completely gutting the interior, I decided to leave the body intact - which is a good thing I did as everything below the belt line is more rust than metal. So I armed myself with a cutting torch and prepped the body to be lifted off as a complete assembly. With some assistance from the guys in the shop, I rolled in a spare rolling chassis from a pick-up (127 inch wheel base), then punted the whole mess outside to deal with later.

I left the Center-Section, (driver side floor pan weldment) that included the Brake & Clutch Pedal assembly along with the throttle rod linkage pivot. The Center-Section is in fair condition, but to prevent further rust, I coated it with a rust inhibitor. I took the opportunity to install the New Master Cylinder, and set the pedal free play.

I started with doing a mock-up of the new cargo floor, and took some measurements for the future installation of new wheel wells and new door pockets. I also removed several mounts from the "Other Frame" the body is currently sitting on top of so I could set and mark the points for drilling the frame to install the mounts. At a future time, I will remove the original cargo floor mount brackets, then use them as templates to fabricate new ones. The New (Used) Cargo Floor I picked up off Kijiji for $200 a few months ago as I knew back in November that I might be needing it, and it was a bargain... was I ever glad I did! It's going to need some work to get it properly mounted to the frame, but it will give me a solid base to begin rebuilding the body.

I snapped a few more pictures of the inside of the body to document how pristine the upper walls and the inside of the roof are.

... more to follow!

[Aberdare]

... and as mentioned before - More Pictures!

Yes - The Gas Tank is still usable and it doesn't leak... but it will need a new fuel pick-up collar and sending unit. That little treasure is worth saving as it has the original spare tire indent.

[Aberdare]

GRRRR... I really dislike some off the asshats that live in my area. Caught some lowlife scumbag in the compound - which has a locked gate. He got indignant when confronted and has no fear of the police... probably not his first time being caught in the act. I did however mention that he was on Camera (as he moved from vehicle to vehicle). The Idiot claimed the shop never called him back about personal items in HIS VEHICLE - which I know for a fact is a parts car purchased from auction. The other vehicles he was seen moving to and from were previously owned by Customers - and now owned by the shop.

The wire cutters in his back pocket were a dead give-away as to his true intentions. I now know his face... he won't be coming back anytime soon.

[Metaldoc]

Guys like that need a shovel heart attack. He had a heart attack right before I hit him with a shovel.

[Aberdare]

Well, I've been busy this week... started the cargo floor installation with the installation of the cargo floor mounts. I drilled out the rivets for the trailing arm cross member and set out the measurements for the other holes to be drilled for the 2nd pair of mounts. Measure twice, Drill once... the rear mounts points for the cargo floor mount directly through the frame. Once fitted and bolted down, I cut off the excess floor, and installed a 1" x 3" x 0.125" piece of HSS between the cargo floor and the frame to give it a nice finished back-end.

[Aberdare]

And yes... There's more pictures!

The attention to detail pays off in the end. With a good base structure, the rest of the body should be less difficult to reconstruct on top of the chassis.

[Aberdare]

After bolting down the cargo bed, I got busy on the forward floor section sub-frame. I started with 2 x 2 x 0.125 HSS and made the frame risers which will support the forward floor section. In much the same manner as the rear cargo floor, I removed the original mounts with a cutting torch then drilled out the other pair of rivets. I mounted the floor risers using 7/16 x 1 1/4 bolts, washers, nuts and lock washers. I tack welded on a piece of 3 x 1 x 0.125 HSS to the risers, to set the floor height.

Next up, I prepped a 2 x 2 x 0.125 piece of HSS for the forward floor support, which the seat will be mounted to later, and also support the forward section of the floor. For the next step, I measured out the inboard side rail supports for the steps and fitted them to the front and rear floor supports. I had to notch out the inboard side rails so that the steps will line up properly with the floor when it is installed. I plan on using 3/16 plate steel for the forward floor section.

[Aberdare]

Additional photographs of the forward floor sub-frame.

[Aberdare]

After completing the welding of the forward floor sub-frame assembly, I started doing a mock-up of the engine cowl and forward floor panels so that I can prepare the outriggers to support the forward floor section and cowls. Starting to look not too bad with the original panels lining up with the Center-Section, (driver side floor pan weldment). From here I can begin fabricating the pieces I will be needing, then mount the forward floor onto the sub-frame.

[72 tigger]

You're really doing this right- nice work!

[Aberdare]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

You're really doing this right- nice work!

Thank You... without building a proper foundation, the finished product will not fit together properly.

[Aberdare]

Today's progress was slow... the attention to detail requires it. I made a template from cardboard, measured twice, cut once, fitted, trimmed, fitted again, trimmed again... a wee bit of slow going. I fabricated the forward floor sub-frame outrigger supports from 2 x 2 x 0.125 HSS.

[Aberdare]

After I was happy with the fit, the outrigger supports were tack welded into place, then I removed the forward floor cover and engine cowls so that the sub-frame can be unbolted, in preparation for Mig Welding the outrigger supports to the sub-frame.

[Metaldoc]

Do they interfere with the tires turning? They look close to be in the turning radius.

[Aberdare]

Originally Posted by Metaldoc

Do they interfere with the tires turning? They look close to be in the turning radius.

Not at all... the outriggers which will be mounted to the sub-frame, are in the original location of the steps and front wheel wells. The photographs are a little deceiving because of the angle. There is actually close to three (3) inches of clearance, with the wheel spacers installed (which are not in the pictures).

[Aberdare]

Due to the extensive amount of rust and corrosion from the belt-line down, the entire body will require re-fabrication and re-construction. I have decided to fabricate new body side panel frames from scratch. I will salvage and re-use the main upper header, in addition to the entire roof, windshield framing, rear door header section, and forward body supports, then fabricate as required using the original body for all measurements. The recently fabricated forward floor sub-frame and cargo bed will give me a solid base to work from.

The forward floor sub-frame was already custom fabricated from 3 x 1 x 0.125 HSS and 2 x 2 x 0.125 HSS. The new side panel body framing will be constructed from 2 x 0.5 x 0.128 HSS, 2 x 1 x 0.128 HSS, 3 x 1 x 0.128 HSS, and 2 x 2 angle, then bolted to both the forward sub-frame and the rear cargo bed utilizing custom fabricated brackets, in addition to carriage bolts with shouldered locking nuts. I will fabricate new doors from scratch to fit the new body side panel frames, and fabricate outside door sliders for the front doors, so there will be no need for door pockets. The entire body will be skinned with 16 gauge sheet metal.

This is going to take a while, but I think well worth the effort.

[Aberdare]

On another note... I was doing some further cleaning and inspecting of the Center-Section, (driver side floor pan weldment) and found the hidden sequential number stamped into the rear support leg for the Center-Section, along with the model number and the build date... and no; They are definitely NOT part numbers. The reason why I didn't find it before was because it was sandwiched against the frame where it was never meant to be found, unless someone was specifically looking for it. The Build date for the Van is "6 F 9" which decodes to Thursday 9 June 1966, which makes it a very late production vehicle. The Model Number is now confirmed as "1345" which is indeed the 104 inch wheel base, GVW 4800lbs, 7-foot "Shorty" Step Van. So... at long last, while I have a Bill-of-Sale... with the complete VIN, I can have a legal "Transfer of Ownership Document" (TOD) issued.

I knew if I was stubborn enough, I'd find it... eventually. So, for anyone with a steel body GMC step van, there is indeed a hidden location that will confirm the authenticity and identity, the numbers are stamped into the support leg for the Center-Section.

[72 tigger]

That's pretty cool! ^