1972 GMC Jimmy PENNY

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by Ptjsk

Very nice Jimmy.

What size are your steel rims, and what size tires did you go with?

Thanks,

Pat

Thank you! The steelies are 15x8s. The tires in these pictures are 31x10.50s but I recently bought a new set of BFGs that are 32s. I’ll post a few photos for you

[Graham57a]

Pics

[Ptjsk]

Looks Great! Thanks for letting me know on the rims and tires.

Pat

[Graham57a]

Since I can’t leave anything alone... time to start another project

[Graham57a]

You can see the core support was hanging on by a thread. I’ll be sure to blast and Powdercoat it while it’s out

[Graham57a]

A little more tear down

[Graham57a]

And she’s out. Boy do I love a greasy small block, time to start cleaning

[Graham57a]

To my surprise, the inside of this thing is spotless!

[Graham57a]

Did a little scrub and wax on the firewall. Feels great to scrape some of the grease off of this old girl.

[Graham57a]

Alright that gets me up to current on the photos. So here is what is going on:

This poor old girl has leaked every type of fluid since I bought her. This all started out as "lets pull the motor and replace all of the gaskets". So I bought a gasket re-seal kit about a year ago with plans to pull the motor eventually.

So fast forward to the last summer, I drove her to Charlotte for my dad's truck show and cruise. After putting about 400 miles on her I realized how big of a turd she really was. No power, steering was super sloppy, exhaust was loud af, and I had never really opened her up to see what the deal was.

So first on the list, I needed new exhaust. I left her with my dad in Charlotte to take to a local shop that we have used and got new 2.5" exhaust from manifolds back. So then I could actually hear how she ran... and that triggered a few other things.

Next on the list was a new steering box, I was getting tired of the sketchy sprint car like driving just going to work and back. So I ordered a new box on rock auto and installed it, finally check that one off the list.

So next was getting her to run and sound a little better. I started with electronics. New distributor cap, rotor, points, plugs, wires, and vacuum advance. She ran "better" but still didn't have any power. I decided it was time to dive in and do a mechanical restoration on the front half of the truck. And check a few other boxes while I'm there. So here is the game plan as of right now:

New cam, lifters, timing chain, water pump, valve springs, flex plate, re-gasket everything to hopefully stop the oil leaks, rebuild carburetor, new fuel pump, replace everything rubber under the hood, new heater core so I can reconnect my heater, flush power steering box / new fluid, flush radiator / new coolant, flush trans / new atf, new trans gasket / filter to hopefully stop the atf leak, repaint everything, powdercoat all of my brackets, powdercoat core support, install inner fenders that I had powdercoated years ago, and replace the front bumper with a correct 72 GMC bumper. Now lets see how long it takes me to get all of that done

[Ptjsk]

Hey Andrew,

Crazy how project creep sets in.

I will in a similar position almost one year ago. When I took out the motor, the sickness really set in. LOL!

Since I had the motor out, it was easier to go after the transmission. Then came the front axles, gears, posi-traction, u-joints, bearings, and ball joints.

Well then, have to do the same to the rear axles, gears, posi-traction and all!

May as well get my 2.5" lift in at the same time too.

It just never ends! LOL!

Keep going Bud, it's looking good!

Pat

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by Ptjsk

Hey Andrew,

Crazy how project creep sets in.

I will in a similar position almost one year ago. When I took out the motor, the sickness really set in. LOL!

Since I had the motor out, it was easier to go after the transmission. Then came the front axles, gears, posi-traction, u-joints, bearings, and ball joints.

Well then, have to do the same to the rear axles, gears, posi-traction and all!

May as well get my 2.5" lift in at the same time too.

It just never ends! LOL!

Keep going Bud, it's looking good!

Pat

Haha sounds like we were cut from the same cloth! Thankfully I am not going to get into the suspension / differentials this time. Eventually this girl will undergo a complete frame off restoration but that will be years from now. I just want to make her a little more enjoyable in the short term, and keep the oil stains off of my driveway.

Most of my parts showed up yesterday, just waiting on the valve springs now. Hopefully they will show up before the weekend. The wife works Sunday so I will probably run over there to put in a solid day working on the old girl

[Ptjsk]

Good Morning Andrew,

Going back through the pics again, I can't help but realize how incredibly dry that truck is.

Maybe I need to go back through the thread here, but did you replace rockers or the bottom of the "A" pillar? How about the vertical weather-stripping down the cowl?

Also, that motor does look extremely clean inside of it!

Keep the pics coming,

Pat

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by Ptjsk

Good Morning Andrew,

Going back through the pics again, I can't help but realize how incredibly dry that truck is.

Maybe I need to go back through the thread here, but did you replace rockers or the bottom of the "A" pillar? How about the vertical weather-stripping down the cowl?

Also, that motor does look extremely clean inside of it!

Keep the pics coming,

Pat

Yea she is pretty dry, not sure how that happened. It's originally a Freemont truck, somehow made it from CA to Atlanta, then it went from Atl to Asheville, then Asheville to Indiana, then Indiana back to Asheville. Not exactly an easy life but she must have spent some time indoors. I have not repaired any rust on the truck other than the bed rails, all rockers, rocker boxes, a posts, etc. are factory.

[Ptjsk]

Originally Posted by Graham57a

Yea she is pretty dry, not sure how that happened. It's originally a Freemont truck, somehow made it from CA to Atlanta, then it went from Atl to Asheville, then Asheville to Indiana, then Indiana back to Asheville. Not exactly an easy life but she must have spent some time indoors. I have not repaired any rust on the truck other than the bed rails, all rockers, rocker boxes, a posts, etc. are factory.

Yea....I couldn't help myself. I went back through the threads.

Great job on the rust (although limited), repairs!

I have some steel rims and am looking at mounting them. They are 15" x 10" wide and made in the USA. The small hubcaps will fit them.

I'm just not sure about the 10" width. I think the 8" width looks a bit better.

Pat

[Graham57a]

Gaining on her

[Graham57a]

A little out of order but a few more shots from the progress

[Graham57a]

Down to just a few things before I can call her done (for now):

I have to finish powder coating the AC brackets and install

I ended up ordering new exhaust manifolds (my old ones were incorrect and starting to crack) so the new ones will go in, then I can tie in the new exhaust and check that item off the list.

I had to replace the alt bracket, the old one was incorrect. I ended up getting the correct one from Mike Cofield, should be here this week which will allow me to install the alternator.

I need to remove the paint from the top of the grill. I can't stand when people repaint these trucks and get over spray on the chrome.

I've got a few misc odds and ends; wire gutter at core support, PCV grommet, install the missing bumper bolt, replace the front hood bumpers, etc.

Do a final nut and bolt, double check all fluids, and we are ready to break in the cam, final tune, and take her for a spin. Hoping another day or two worth of work and I can bring her back home

[DeadheadNM]

Any chance you recall the part number and vendor of the water pump? Lots of surface area for the lower radiator hose. I like that. I just got a Gates brand example and it has much less surface area for the hose.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Any chance you recall the part number and vendor of the water pump? Lots of surface area for the lower radiator hose. I like that. I just got a Gates brand example and it has much less surface area for the hose.

It’s an AC Delco unit, PN 252581
https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/ac...ater+pump,2208

[DeadheadNM]

Thanks!

[Ptjsk]

Keep it up! It's looking good!

Pat

[Graham57a]

Almost ready for startup. I had to do some rework on my new exhaust. I ended up replacing my manifolds which triggered changing the front portion of my exhaust from 2 1/4” to 2 1/2”. Hopefully one more days work and I’ll be ready under the hood

[Graham57a]

Also need a little finish work on my wire routing / vacuum lines so don’t look too closely

Here is the last project for this round.... fixing my cut dash. I’ve got my patch panel ready to go in, just need to finish cutting out the old section in the center. I also took my glovebox door to the paint store and had them color match the paint for me so I can repaint the dash the correct color once I’m done. Then it’ll be time to install the new am/fm and drive this old girl

[Graham57a]

New dash section went in tonight. Hoping to lay some paint tomorrow