Someone save this truck

[70cst]

Great thread

[Thundarr]

Here is the front end all cleaned and painted. Did this a couple months ago but just never posted the picture.


While I've got it apart, I decided to paint the wheel wells with the glossy rust barrier frame paint too. They came out nice.


Major Kudos to pjmoreland for the custom made Dummy Filler Neck. Here is the assembly with the Journeyman Pro outlet installed. While it's getting painted, I'm going to research power inverters and dual battery kits.


That should be the last thing before it gets bolted back together and sent out. I have done a lot of things on cars over the years, but this was my first time pulling one completely apart. Just needed a little creativity, but lots of fun. I highly recommend if you can find the space to do it.

[Thundarr]

Once again, don't believe everything you read. People who say it's harder to put back together are smokin something. It was easier and extremely satisfying to put Big Blue back together.

I just rolled it outside for the first time on 3 months. Replacing that bent centerlink made the truck roll and steer so much easier. Still hard to believe someone actually drove it around like that.
So now we wait on word from the body shop on when they can get started. Hopefully soon.

[KevinK7]

Thanks for the new pics, this truck is going to be awsome when done

The best part about doing the work yourself, is that it's so rewarding. It's pretty darn cool to be able to drive something you built/assembled

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by KevinK7

Thanks for the new pics, this truck is going to be awsome when done

The best part about doing the work yourself, is that it's so rewarding. It's pretty darn cool to be able to drive something you built/assembled

So true. I'm cutting new teeth on this one, but it isn't painful at all. Once again, this forum is the key. Saves a lot of headaches.

Now, I need input on back-spacing and wheel widths. I'm thinking of going with 20's and a staggered set up. I plan to haul and tow, so I'm going to go with some forgiveness in the sidewall like 275/50-20 up front and 295/45-20 in back. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I don't intend to lower the truck, but I may get a slightly lowered rear spring if there is too much rake. So I shouldn't have any clearance issues.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Thundarr

Major Kudos to pjmoreland for the custom made Dummy Filler Neck. Here is the assembly with the Journeyman Pro outlet installed. While it's getting painted, I'm going to research power inverters and dual battery kits.

Cool! Thanks for posting the photo. I didn't catch this post until today. How much work was it to remove the pop-out plug?

[57taskforce]

AWESOME WORK!!! Looking really good, I can’t wait to see it after paint jail.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice work! Just wait until you have that fresh paint and you have to reassemble everything then. That's where the "they suck to put together" part comes in IMO.

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Cool! Thanks for posting the photo. I didn't catch this post until today. How much work was it to remove the pop-out plug?

Just drilled it out on the drill press as instructed. I think you have the right middle ground between those that just want to leave it blocked off vs those of us that convert it to the plug.
Strong but straight forward to remove.
Great work.

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

AWESOME WORK!!! Looking really good, I can’t wait to see it after paint jail.

I owe it all to you, brother. Hopefully, it'll get early parole for good behavior. In the mean time, I'm gonna prime and paint the grill that caught your eye in the first place.

Any suggestions on color?

[70cst]

Great progress

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by Thundarr

Just drilled it out on the drill press as instructed. I think you have the right middle ground between those that just want to leave it blocked off vs those of us that convert it to the plug.
Strong but straight forward to remove.
Great work.

Ok, thanks. Do you mind if I use your photo of the outlet in my for sale thread?

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Ok, thanks. Do you mind if I use your photo of the outlet in my for sale thread?

Go for it. Let me know if you need any other angles. I'm not going to install until after the truck is painted.

[Thundarr]

Very minor update.

Having a friend with a paint & body shop didn't seem to help me get in line any quicker. It must the blessing/curse of living in Dallas. He's just got so much business he can barely keep up.

In short, I can't even get arrested for Paint Jail.

So I did some quick cleaning of the body to assess the possibility of making the best of the bad overspray. Then, I could get Blue up and running as a patina truck. Overall, it's so solid that it could look pretty nice. I would just need to do my own welding and body work on the rusted toolbox door and panel surround.

[jumpsoffrock]

^^If you're capable of doing the welding and body work, why not just paint yourself? Or are you looking for super upscale fancy paint work?

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by jumpsoffrock

^^If you're capable of doing the welding and body work, why not just paint yourself? Or are you looking for super upscale fancy paint work?

Time.

Family life and my business keep me busy enough as it is. Besides, I was hoping to get a nice paint job on this truck. For paint, I'm willing to tackle a little job especially if its purposefully imperfect like a patina.

[jumpsoffrock]

Originally Posted by Thundarr

Time.

Family life and my business keep me busy enough as it is. Besides, I was hoping to get a nice paint job on this truck. For paint, I'm willing to tackle a little job especially if its purposefully imperfect like a patina.

Pshhhh, I got you brotha. Body/paint stuff and "quickly" mix about as well as oil and water.

[Thundarr]

After a long break, I finally have some progress.

Financially, I survived the wedding of my only daughter:



She grew up being driven and later driving my white 71 GMC around town with her Dad or her friends, so she asked if my new son in-law could drive them off in it. So cool, and now I'll never get rid of that truck. I had to resolve an overheating issue, but thankfully, it only took a new distributor to fix it. The truck cleaned up nicely and drove perfectly. Everything went off without a hitch.



Fast forward 4 months and lots more use of the GMC than the previous 8 years, the truck would start up fine but developed a knock after warming up. So I justified to my wife that it was time to rebuild it, and it just so happens that this might help me solidify the shop for the drivetrain on the blue 72.

I did some research on Robinson Restoration Services in Denton to do the work. Thank you @lil hoodlum for the recommendation. I went and found a tow dolly on fakebook marketplace (always wanted one), and you know I had to refresh it with new paint, lights, wiring, added a storage locker and rewelding a mangled fender. Here is the before and after.




Dropped the GMC off this morning and talked with Keith about all I wanted them to do while the motor was out. Other than what they recommend for the motor after inspection, I'm thinking of adding overdrive to the 3 speed, ceramic coat the headers, fix the wiring for one of the 2 electric fans and price out an EFI system.

Here is where the blue update comes in. I made sure to drop that I have a beautiful 72 with no rust that needs a motor and transmission. He quickly pointed out that he had a customer who might be selling an incredible new SBC he had planned to drop into a Buick Grand National. Obviously, they discouraged the guy from the swap as that would significantly drop the value over restoring the original v6 Turbo. The guy had some family issue come up and also heard their wisdom. Keith said he might sell the motor for what he has in it. From what he says, it is a Dart Motor (https://dartheads.com/) and puts out over 500hp. That's a lot more than what I planned, but if the deal is right, I can't turn it down. I'll send the spec sheet when I get it.

So you'll get a mini 71 update stream until we get back over to the 72.

Thanks for all the great feedback up to this point!

[Thundarr]

Got great news from RRS. The knock in the white GMC was not coming from inside. I had some faulty plug wires that would miss after warming and the muffler shop that put on my new system did a bad job at the collectors that were loose. Knock must have come from there. So they going to fix that and replace the old edelbrock carb with a holley to get it running right.

As for the blue Chevy, the Dart motor was too pricey because it needed everything and a transmision. Instead they have a customer with a sweet Nova that was doing an LS conversion. He wants to sell his 383 with trans as a full turn key. The price sounds right, so we may have a drive train. Picture of the new motor to come.

[Thundarr]

It comes with all the parts that won't fit on an LS transplant (which should be everything) and has EFI. Only bad thing is that its a 3 speed Turbo 400 transmission, so I will probably add an overdrive kit from Gear Vendors. Does anyone have experience they can share?

[Steeveedee]

No, but God's dentures, that is gorgeous!

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by Steeveedee

No, but God's dentures, that is gorgeous!

Never heard that one before.

Getting back from a family trip on Friday. I'll get over to RRS on Monday to test drive the Nova to witness the drivetrain first hand. My limited research on the Gear Vendors overdrive suggested that its a reasonably priced, strong fix for highway speeds especially because 700r4's are apparently hard to come by lately. But by the looks of that motor, I'm going to have to go all out for the paint and interior to match on Big Blue.

I'll just keep reminding my bride that this is a worthy investment.

[Thundarr]

It's official. We have a motor confirmed and purchased.
Take a look at this transplant donor. Sounds amazing and very tight. Unbelievably, I'll need very few other parts to get Big Blue running. It even comes with the compressor for a Vintage Air system.

[57taskforce]

Very nice!!!!

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Very nice!!!!

X2, looks great