My 52 GMC Build

[piratexpress1369a]

Looks awesome

[joedoh]

looks amazing, the wheels look good in the fenders

and your truck sold a bumper for me yesterday! a guy wanted to know if the stock bumper would look good on a 1.5 ton front end so I showed him your truck haha.

[lower50's]

Originally Posted by Steve-W

Damn it..started on page one and just had to read through all of them.
what a superb build! great manufacturing skills. and in the first video I love the whole truck lunging to the right, like it wants to tip over
Turbo diesel V8..it just doesn't get any better !!
I'd leave the visor and hood as is, just clear coat them.

practical question, when you tunnel the tranny like that..what if you have to work on it, is there enough space to get around it?

subscribed!

Thanks a bunch. I wanted to build something different, guess I did that. The whole truck is cleared and staying how it is now. For the trans I was gong to make access panels but found I can get to everything from below or behind the motor quite easily.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

Looks awesome

Thankyou

Originally Posted by joedoh

looks amazing, the wheels look good in the fenders

and your truck sold a bumper for me yesterday! a guy wanted to know if the stock bumper would look good on a 1.5 ton front end so I showed him your truck haha.

Thanks joedoh. Glad I could help lol.

[lower50's]

Well my cab shifting plan worked great, the hood and front end line up quite well now. Saturday was beautiful so I pulled the truck out for some pics and cleaned out the garage. Oh did a proper burnout for my boys (quickly hooked up line lock)
I took a vid I'll post tomorrow I hope. I was SOOOOOOOO tempted to take it out on the road but I didn't want to risk the ticket. So it's still a driveway queen.

[99 to Life]

cool, just in time for the nice weather. The first test drives are surreal but will be burned in your mind forever.

[piratexpress1369a]

i like it ...just wondering are you going to put fenders on the back ..i know a lot of guys with jeeps that get tickets here in ontario ..you know with your jeep lol

[lower50's]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

cool, just in time for the nice weather. The first test drives are surreal but will be burned in your mind forever.

Yes 99 I'm sure it will be when the time comes.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

i like it ...just wondering are you going to put fenders on the back ..i know a lot of guys with jeeps that get tickets here in ontario ..you know with your jeep lol

Yes I will put them on before I take it out for it's first drive. It gives me more room in my shop and I don't have to worry about scratching them.

[lower50's]

So now that the fenders are on I have been working on mounting and wiring my cooling fan relay, my HID head lights and turn signals. I'm mounting this stuff behind the grill and will have a piece of rubber hanging to protect it all.

[piratexpress1369a]

hid with halo's?

[ptc]

Build is looking awesome! - your neighbors must love you doing SMOKEY burnouts in more ways than 1!!!!!


Jeeze this brings back some old memories!


Growing up a friend of mines dad had a carpet business and he had a fleet of these 61-62 panel vans. When he updated his fleet in like 77-78 he gave all us kids (16 yr olds with a DL) these old vans. we had like 4 of them and just used them as party mobiles and trashed them..... used to do what we called 'jack rabbit chasing' in fields at night strolling thru a dirt field until a rabbit sprang outa a hole and we chase it as fast as we could get them to go with our headlights trying to keep up.... until we either ran it over or it got away..... But those old truck were fun! -----

[lower50's]

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

hid with halo's?

Pretty close. HID with LED like the new Camaro.

Originally Posted by ptc

Build is looking awesome! - your neighbors must love you doing SMOKEY burnouts in more ways than 1!!!!!


Jeeze this brings back some old memories!


Growing up a friend of mines dad had a carpet business and he had a fleet of these 61-62 panel vans. When he updated his fleet in like 77-78 he gave all us kids (16 yr olds with a DL) these old vans. we had like 4 of them and just used them as party mobiles and trashed them..... used to do what we called 'jack rabbit chasing' in fields at night strolling thru a dirt field until a rabbit sprang outa a hole and we chase it as fast as we could get them to go with our headlights trying to keep up.... until we either ran it over or it got away..... But those old truck were fun! -----

Thanks. They all came over to see the progress once they saw the smoke LOL.
Cool story with great memories. It would make a great truck to drive around for advertising. Or in my driveway.

[lower50's]

Well I finally got the burnout vid uploaded. Here it is, first gear line lock burnout.
http://youtu.be/Hp573uyIBZg

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Well I finally got the burnout vid uploaded. Here it is, first gear line lock burnout.
http://youtu.be/Hp573uyIBZg

Well that is wicked cool! Wife and I got a giggle out of the young one waving the smoke away with his hat.

Lower, I don't remember the details about the headlights in your build. Where did they come from?

Thanks!

[piratexpress1369a]

I saw the burnout just after you loaded it to YouTube this morning. ..awesome

[lower50's]

Originally Posted by joedoh

man that thing sounds healthy, I love the idle on it

Thanks Ya I can't wait to hear it with boost.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

I saw the burnout just after you loaded it to YouTube this morning. ..awesome

I thought that was you. Thanks for tagging along.

[lower50's]

Well it took me 3 days about 11 hrs to get the wiring done from the firewall forward. Who knew that it would take that long to wire up a few lights and a fan. I never thought wiring would take this long for a vehicle that I originally planed would be electrically simple. Guess I changed that. All will be better when I can mount the headlights and turn them on. I think I'm a little burnt out. Sorry for the rant. The end is near.

[JJorgensen52]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Well it took me 3 days about 11 hrs to get the wiring done from the firewall forward. Who knew that it would take that long to wire up a few lights and a fan. I never thought wiring would take this long for a vehicle that I originally planed would be electrically simple. Guess I changed that. All will be better when I can mount the headlights and turn them on. I think I'm a little burnt out. Sorry for the rant. The end is near.

You and me both, it's taking forever! I do find it pretty exciting though when I finally finish a circuit and get to bring it to life, though

[lower50's]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

Wiring always gets overlooked. Especially with air ride and systems that actually have more than 12 circuits. I 100% feel your pain. Wiring adds a ton of time and actually more money than you think as well. all the connectors, extra wire, battery cables, kill switches, junction boxes, fuses, relays, shrink tubing, wire loom...yah I'm sure you all get the picture. its ok to get burnt out, just don't let it be for too long! you're almost there. but not to rain on the party, shaking down the kinks sometimes seem like an eternity too!!!

Thanks 99 I really under estimated the time involved in wiring the whole truck. But today I worked on cleaning up and modifying the headlight buckets to mainly fit the HID bulbs as they stick out the back. I'm really looking forward to the shakedown because I will be driving it (short trips).

Originally Posted by JJorgensen52

You and me both, it's taking forever! I do find it pretty exciting though when I finally finish a circuit and get to bring it to life, though

Ya finish one circuit and turn it on is really fun.

[99 to Life]

Wiring always gets overlooked. Especially with air ride and systems that actually have more than 12 circuits. I 100% feel your pain. Wiring adds a ton of time and actually more money than you think as well. all the connectors, extra wire, battery cables, kill switches, junction boxes, fuses, relays, shrink tubing, wire loom...yah I'm sure you all get the picture. its ok to get burnt out, just don't let it be for too long! you're almost there. but not to rain on the party, shaking down the kinks sometimes seem like an eternity too!!!

[RockinKees]

Just looked at your burnout video...the boy who walked away, never seen a burnout up close I think??
Sounds healthy!!

Wiring takes up a lot of time, I've made a diagram of every single item, I've almost wrote a book. Sure takes a lot of time!!
But, when you come to drive it....

[piratexpress1369a]

What is your plan for front turn signals...

[lower50's]

Originally Posted by RockinKees

Just looked at your burnout video...the boy who walked away, never seen a burnout up close I think??
Sounds healthy!!

Wiring takes up a lot of time, I've made a diagram of every single item, I've almost wrote a book. Sure takes a lot of time!!
But, when you come to drive it....

No they have always been in the vehicle. Ya funny he left so quick.

Originally Posted by piratexpress1369a

What is your plan for front turn signals...

I'm using the stock light holder and lens with amber led 1157 bulbs

[lower50's]

So last night I finished modifying the headlight buckets. I added 2.5" to the back side. Then put them in my cabinet sand blaster, made them all nice and pretty and gave them a spray.

[Johnny_Lamebridge]

Looking good... almost ready to drive!

FYI... if you need any parts, there's a GMC at the Montana's in Cambridge.

[II_Slow]

It looks like the V8 diesels fit a lot better without setting them back too far. My 12-V (striaght 6) sits WAY back. I'm in the process of wiring mine now so I feel your pain there. I put my PCM on the firewall like it was in the donor truck so I can keep the harness intact for the most part. Will have a lot of unused stuff like A/C and Alternator wiring, and won't use the Igintion or Instrument Cluster connections. I also have an 18-circuit harness going under the dash. Trying to get my cab in primer and LizardSkin in the next couple of weeks before committing fully to the wiring.
It's crazy how much smaller the older "full size" trucks are then even a mid-sized truck today. I'm having a hard time finding space for everything.
Very cool build though. Looking like something you will really enjoy, and that's what's important. I have a racecar that seldom leaves the shop or trailer, so going into my build the plan was to put something together I could driver anywhere, anytime.