Project racing $$$. 1968 GMC SWB 5.3/4l60E Build

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by imsuchaman55

When we bought it it was just a roller, no engine or tranny, so that was the first time we had ever driven it. It was tempting to drive it more, but with the open headers, no tail lights and getting dark outside, we didnt want to push our luck too much. My brother drove it around some yesterday and it started to get too hot, and the water in the radiator was cold, so the thermostat is most likely stuck closed. The water pump wasnt moving any fluid either when squeezing on the hoses. We should have changed it before installing the engine, but just overlooked it.

I just talked to them at the shop and they installed the exhaust today, says it sounds badass. We did 2.5 dual into a 3 inch Y, then into a straight 3 inch round muffler that we normally run on our race cars. I will post a video of it later to show the new tone of the exhaust.

the radio is bluetooth ready also and came with a microphone for calls, and they called me on it to test it, sounded great, and didnt sound like it was on speaker phone, so thats pretty cool. I guess we never grow up, just play with more expensive toys!

Wow that's cool on the exhaust and radio. I doubt I could use a micro phone in my truck as it will probably be noisy in the cab. Well too noisy for a micro phone for phone calls.

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Wow that's cool on the exhaust and radio. I doubt I could use a micro phone in my truck as it will probably be noisy in the cab. Well too noisy for a micro phone for phone calls.

Yea Im sure this one will be too loud too, just another cool feature that will never get used hahaha. We sound deadened the floor and headliner area, and installed all new door rubbers and window track felts, so with everything closed up it shouldnt be too bad. But that 5.3 puts out more power than expected, so most likely it will always be loud inside

[Priceman57]

Everything sealed up pretty nice once I put all the new rubbers and felts in. At idle it sounds like a sewing machine, but when you open it up, the red headed step child comes out to play..

[imsuchaman55]

-Updates-

The truck has been at the body man for about 2 months now, and we went by last week to see the progress, and got some pictures. Sorry about the quality, it was dark and the outside sunlight was messing the pictures up...

[VA72C10]

looking good!

[Dieselwrencher]

Looks like he has done some work. Very nice. Did he give you a done date?

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Looks like he has done some work. Very nice. Did he give you a done date?

They have definately been working a lot on it. there was much more work than we expected. We couldnt get the body lines and edges to line up too well, but it looks like they have them really close. He hasnt given us a finish date. We told him we weren't in too much of a hurry, and he is taking care of us on it, so were not rushing him, plus it gives us more time to save for the final bill! The pictures dont do the body work justice, I have a new respect for good body men.

I think we have somewhat agreed on a color combination. We originally were going to go with a satin black, but I think that it would be a waste with how nice everything else is, so we have been talking about a silver/black/ burgundy stripe scheme.

Something along these lines...


I think this is a nice clean look. Looks nice but is still clean and suttle. I think if we could incorporate some sort of red or burgundy as a dividing stripe, I would look really nice. I want to put some sort of curve or design between the 2 colors so that it breaks it up nice.

What do you guys think? If you have any paint ideas we are open to pics!

[Dieselwrencher]

I think that would look sweet and break it with a burgundy stripe of some sort. There is a K20 longhorn on this site some where that is painted like that and it looks awesome!

[Tinkermc]

THE DASH KICKED MY A$$ so awesome. The radiator cover your brother made is worth copying he did a good job. I agree with the 2 tone paint with the stripe to match up the interior. Thanks for the plug about respect for bodymen since I r 1. Everyone thinke it can be done in 3 or 4 days, if it was easy everyone could do it themselves. This entire project has been great.

[imsuchaman55]

a few new updates from the painter...

[68 TT]

I think he missed a spot

Looks great. By the looks of the panels it should all be in paint soon.

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

I think he missed a spot

Looks great. By the looks of the panels it should all be in paint soon.

They have to seal the top of the cab and cowl, then spray everything. Said it should be done around the end of the month, after wetsanding and more clear....

[mcbassin]

Looks like some good progress. That paint scheme will look good.
Posted via Mobile Device

[imsuchaman55]

We have paint pictures!! Truck is finally out of paint. We were able to get a few pictured of them puting it back together before they wet sand and buff it out. It also needs the burgundy pinstripe to break the colors up, then its finally all finished. The pictures dont show the grill, but we painted that black to match, and are installing billet inserts in the open spaces in the grill. I think those with the chrome headlight bezels and chrome bumper will be enough to break it up, but not too much chrome. Check out the pics and let me know what you think!

[67cheby]

WOW, looks great !

[CC69Rat]

Very nice!

How have I missed this one?

[BossHogg69]

Dang, that looks awesome!

[Hart_Rod]

Nice job!

[68GMCCustom]

looks great!

[imsuchaman55]

Well the truck is finally home. Got a few pictures of it from the outside. These are before we got the front bumper mounted.

We need to get the PCM tuned some more to fix the shift points, and get it to run better. Also working on finding some taller or stiffer springs to raise it up a little bit. It rubs in the front a little too much, or find some wheels with less backspacing.

Once the PCM is tuned to run a little better, it should be a blast to drive. Check out the pictures and let me know what you think! We have new emblems for the fenders, but they didnt send us the clips to hold the back on so we need to track some down, then it should be finished.

[67cheby]

looking great !

[VA72C10]

Nice! Is the plan still to sell or are you keeping it now

[imsuchaman55]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Nice! Is the plan still to sell or are you keeping it now

Haha, my little brother bought us out on what we had in it, and he plans on keeping it, unless someone comes along with a pocketful of $$$. But until then, he will be keeping it for himself. It will be getting tuned and dynoed on wednesday, so it should be much better after that.

[killer71]

Good Job!
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[68 TT]

Originally Posted by imsuchaman55

Haha, my little brother bought us out on what we had in it, and he plans on keeping it, unless someone comes along with a pocketful of $$$. But until then, he will be keeping it for himself. It will be getting tuned and dynoed on wednesday, so it should be much better after that.

Nice to see it stay in the family after all your hard work.