1969 GMC.. right off the farm

[jasinger01]

I bought new guts for the doors, for anything that wasn't salvageable. Was getting ready to put the doors together and lay down some sound deadening in the cab and realized that it really didn't make sense to proceed with the interior metal in it's current state. The interior had a really badly prepped/sprayed red color with tons of texture and visible runs.

I am by no means building anything over 'driver' quality, but I was not happy with the inside runs, chips, and mostly the fact that it is red. i do not know what I will end up painting the exterior one day, but red is not my favorite, and the whole exterior of the truck will need something as the only metal I am keeping is the cab.

I started sanding down the interior over the last few weeks to get it ready for primer. I know I had just installed my windshield, wish i didn't do that, but it was only a little extra work to mask it all off. I am going with an all black interior, eventually would like a saddle leather bench seat. I'm just finished up all my sanding and scuffing, now working through the stages of priming.

The plan is to aerosol the inside because the dash and the inner roof are the only 'large' areas. I think I can get it looking pretty good. Have been testing out some various 'matte blacks' and will use the Spraymax 2K clear matte once I am done painting.

[jasinger01]

Some dark gray primer, went back and added some filler primer in a few locations. Letting this dry for a couple days and will go back in to sand with 320, wet sand with 400, maybe a 600 pad in the larger areas.

[jasinger01]

Matte black down, I have ordered Matte SprayMax 2K clear as well for a topcoat

[jasinger01]

I believe we've run out of warm days here in the northeast, so I was able to get the 2K matte clear down with the help of some heaters in the garage. Next up, I will start working on reassembling the interior of the truck

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work! We definitely are running out of time to do any painting.

[jasinger01]

I ordered some Siless 157 mil sound and heat foam insultion, and also 80 mil sound deadener. I have doubled these up in some places, while in others just used the sound deadener (like behind the gas tank). I am planning to do a layer of each all the way up the firewall. My carpet is also mass backed.

Looking for any suggestions on what to plug the firewall holes with that were used for the old blanket insulation.. thinking maybe some plastic fasteners?

Ordered a new glove box decal off ebay since I accidentally deformed the old one when removing it for paint. Also installed my new dash pad

[jasinger01]

Finished with the Siless on the passenger side so I could put the glove box and the glove box door on the dash

[Shifty One]

Coming along nicely!

[jasinger01]

I disassembled my stock gauge cluster, cleaned up all the internal components, and painted the bezel. I am not sure what the long term plan is, if I will retro fit this one or go with a full replacement unit like Dakota Digital once I do the engine swap in the future. So this will work for now!

I need to do something about changing my steering wheel and also need to get a radio delete plate to cover the hacked up dash! otherwise it is all coming together. Likely will need to wait until spring to paint the inside of my new doors and reassemble them

[jasinger01]

My father had a black Grant steering wheel hanging around that I grabbed, and ordered the correct Grant install kit.

Boy did the old steering wheel fight me coming off. I used a puller, but mangled a bunch of bolts getting it out. I let it sit a couple days with penetrating oil, then went back at it with the puller and grade 8 bolts, and then it came off.

I did a number on the threads of the steering shaft because I was rushing and frustrated.. and they looked like they had some previous damage from another removal/install.

Anyway, of course my 1/2-20 die is missing from my set, but I'm hoping to be able to clean up the threads and install a new nut. I did mock up the Grant wheel with the install kit and I'm very happy with how it looks. No pics yet

Getting excited to have a complete interior soon

[jasinger01]

Luckily, I was able to take my time and chase the threads on the steering shaft. Got the grant wheel installed, looks great with all the rest of the black.

I also sold my old short bed which needed a total restoration. After the metal work on the cab the last couple years, I chose to start with a better situation on the bed.

I bought this short bed from a friend, which has new bed sides (still have LMC stickers on the inside), some new cross members, and some original pieces like the front panel and the rear most cross member. Driver side has a couple small dings I can pull out, but passenger side is perfect. Next time I roll the truck out, I will get some better pictures. I also got a new tailgate with it and brand new in box wheel tubs. He had it with 4" wide tubs and I did not want those.

It just had some plywood in as a floor. I am not exactly sure what I am going to do about the floor yet, either a wood kit or maybe some dressed up plywood. I don't want to do a steel floor. The last pic shows the plywood setup that he had in it. Maybe a will make a nicer version of this with the new wheel tubs.

[jasinger01]

Took my new bed further apart to see exactly what I want to do with it.

I learned that it just has steel bed style crossmembers, so they sit flush height with the rails on the inside of the bedsides. There are no reinforcement strips currently.

Ideally I would like to order a new front panel, rear crossmember, cross sills, and reinforcement strips for O/E style wood floor, but that will not be a project for this year. The original front panel definitely has some rot, but this will be covered by the plywood and is not my long term solution anyway.

In the mean time, I welded some support tabs on the steel style cross sills which will nicely hold the bed together. Previously the cross sills were just tacked to the bedside and very unstable. This will give me a nice solid platform to lay down some plywood on for the time being.

[jasinger01]

Also some pretty small stuff, but had an order in to classic parts of America for new shift linkage bushings, also got a new grommet for the park brake cable, park brake handle, clutch rod boot, bumpers for the glove box door.

I swapped out the bushings/grommets on the top of the 3 speed shift linkage. Wow were the other ones gone.. will swap out the ones on the transmission arms later.

[jasinger01]

more misc. pics

[jasinger01]

I swapped out the bushings at the transmission arms as well. I used two per arm, to sandwich the transmission arm, and then put the linkage rod through and secured with cotter pins. I did order the 'C' style clips as well from classic parts, I will swap those in this weekend.

Here are the PNs if anyone else wants to go through their 3 on the tree bushings.

Bushings at the top of the linkage (2 required) 91-065
grommet for the shift tube (2 required) 91-062
grommet for the transmission arms (4 required) 91-063

[raggedjim]

You're doing a great job on this GMC.

Good luck, Rg

[jasinger01]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

You're doing a great job on this GMC.

Good luck, Rg

Thanks Roger! Really enjoy following your latest build.

[jasinger01]

Nothing crazy this week, assembled my plywood bed floor. Would like to sand and stain it semi - transparent black. Will be a nice project for the warmer weather when I have to take it apart to prime/paint the bed anyway.

Other than that, finished up the tail light wiring and put on the tailgate just so I could remember what it looks like as a truck!

[jasinger01]

It finally got warm enough to paint the insides of my doors, just the same matte black I used on the rest of the interior metal. Put some primer on the drivers door which just had the coating from the factory on it. I also did the pins/bushings on my door hinges. Had replaced one side last year, but needed to do the other as well.

Then I hung the doors and finished assembling them. New window regulators, channels, and all seals/strips.

Spent some good time getting the doors best gapped, happy with how the body lines are looking. By no means a show truck, just exciting to see it in a more assembled state.

[jasinger01]

Did some shimming for the front cab mounts to help with the gap to the fenders. Fenders went on pretty easily, a couple shims here and there but it all lined up to my liking.

I was most excited to see how it looked with my new hood.

Really like the way it is shaping up, and I like the way the patina looks on my grill, hood, fenders etc. but definitely need to come up with some plan for the doors, cab, bed..

[jasinger01]

Interior with my milk crate seat..

Interior is getting pretty close, will put the bench back in it this week, and then just need to pick up some door panels and a radio delete plate

[jasinger01]

Put together some more of the front trim and leaned the bumper up on the frame just to see everything coming together!

[Shifty One]

Looking excellent!

[jasinger01]

Thanks!

Nothing new this weekend, just a few more pics..

I'd love to figure out a way to get this thing looking a bit more uniform. I want the worn in/patina look, thinking maybe of experimenting with some layers of spray paint and sanding

[jasinger01]

After many hours on youtube, I've decided to try and do a patina paint job by layering red oxide primer, flat black, and then dark hunter green.

My thought process here is that the bulk of the sheet metal is already green (bed + tailgate) and that for now, it will be easier to just get the cab and the doors green to get it more uniform.

I was least looking forward to doing the door jambs, so I started there. Sanded down with a combo of tools and hand sanding to get all the red chipped paint out of the way. Layered in the primer, flat black, and green. Going to let it cure for a while before I start wet sanding it to get the lower layers exposed in a few spots. I want to find a balance of it looking faded/worn in all the right places without the super 'faux' look randomly sanded all over the place.