Shucks First Build

[Hankster]

Looks great! Congrats on the first drive!

[84GMC15tepside]

Awesome job on the build, your work is very meticulous. That video is definitely motivation for me to get my truck running. I love the stance, that is just what I want... I got the parts to do it so we will see if it turns out like that!

[Shucks]

Quick post because I'm getting back in the swing of things. Not much has changed but I want to start posting again.
New things include the "new" but rust free fenders, inner fenders, doors and a new QuickFuel 600 Slayer carburetor. Making a trip to LMC within the next couple of days to go on a shopping spree, pretty stoked at this point because this step of my build is making it look nice rather than driving. I've driven the snot out of this thing and love every bit of it.

[Shucks]

Okay guys I really need some advice, I'm going in circles because I don't know where to start so I am stopping here. I am trying to do body work myself for paint in the near future. I'm trying to save myself money by doing it myself. Where the heck do I start? How much more of my truck do I need to disassemble? I just don't know what the smartest route is from here.




ANY sort of advice would be so greatful.

[Cape Codder]

In my opinion it depends on what your goals for the truck are. Do you want a show truck that doesn't see bad weather or daily driving? If so pull the cab and start from scratch. If you just want a solid good looking driver that will be done in a reasonable amount of time. you have stripped it far enough. Start with fixing floors, work your way out to rockers then cab corners. Fit everything before welding even if you need to put the doors on and off multiple times. If you don't have a helper use an adjustable office chair with the arms removed to hold the door at the correct height while bolting it up. Make the doors fit the cab and then the fenders fit the doors. Every thing is reproduced for your truck but most will need some tweaking to fit good. Once you start filler work use guide coat while sanding to see how your lines are shaping up. Don't get discouraged just keep plugging away. The more time you spend on getting the metal straight the less time sanding filler. Good luck and git er done.

I started doing body work in 1974 at a GMC dealer shop the year after these trucks came out. Being from new england I have patched up more of these than I care to remember.

[aggie91]

I agree with Cape Codder, it depends on your goals for the truck. I am guessing its your daily driver so you have gone far enough with the cab and front boot. I would pull the rear fenders and steps after body work, but before spraying paint to get good coverage on the fenders and bed sides.

Are you going to stay with the factory red that is on the cab? Or is it going to be a color change?

You have done a great job so far on getting it running and driving!

[Shucks]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. I figured out how I'll go about this. I cut out the rocker I had put in before, for the truck fell off the lift at school at about 3 foot high, super embarrassing, but since its off I'm fixing things I skimped on at school, making it a little more logical. Kicking myself in the butt for not doing it correctly now.
As for the paint I'll be doing a color change to a charcoal grey.
QUESTION: Should I paint the interior myself? Or send it to the paint shop without interior and have them do it all? If I were to paint the interior myself would it make sense to paint the insides of the fenders and hood and inside the bed?

[84GMC15tepside]

I'm in the same boat as you, figuring out the best route for prep work and paint. And I am questionable whether a paint shop or me paint the interior, etc since I have minimal body work experience. Also my exterior has some dings that I can try to fix but it might make more sense to have a professional do. Yes, this is a good time to learn how to do body work and paint, but at the same time I don't want my truck having only a "OK" paint job (at least for me!). As of now, my plan is to have a local body shop look at what I have and determine their take on it.

It's definitely tricky to think through the process, especially with a stepside bed. And then determining the best way to get the truck painted at least cost... best results for any part of the truck to be painted would be from a reputable body shop that works on stuff like this everyday. But that of course comes at a price.

For best results at cheapest cost possible (for what I can think of at this moment): bring the truck to the body shop and have them give you advice on the process of getting it painted, how to prep the body, etc. Do all of the prep work possible before bringing the truck back to the body shop. Have them finish up the prep work that needs to be done (dings, filler, etc.). Then have them paint the interior, inside of fenders, under hood, etc. Then they can reassemble and paint the exterior. This will make all the paint look consistent and professionally done... after that you can do weatherstripping, mirrors, handles, etc. Hopefully this helps!

[Cape Codder]

Painting interiors is a pain but it is good practice. Most important is a fresh air supply mask. I also put a fan blowing through to keep air moving. When you spray paint into a confined space it blows right back at you.

[84GMC15tepside]

As Cape Codder basically said, it comes down to "how far do you want to go". If you don't care as much about how perfect the paint work is, then doing paint yourself would be best... and you'd be saving a lot of money.

[Shucks]

I want a shop to do the exterior of my truck, I just figured if I painted the interior metal I could save some money that way. Should I at least primer the whole truck myself?

[Cape Codder]

If you have a place to paint I would do it yourself. You are young and over the years will be wanting to build other car or trucks. If you learn how to do body and painting yourself you will save a fortune over the years. Body work is harder than painting base coat clear coat paint isn't all that hard. I would paint the inside and outside of the cab all at once. Then paint doors inside and out all at once .Then Fenders ect. Take it in small bites and you can concentrate on what you are doing. Sanding and buffing will make a first timers spray job look great. You are going to want any future projects to be even better so why not learn on the first.

[Shucks]

You're right I think that would be cool for me to do it myself. I've painted with a gun before buy just on a front Clip that was white and it was super easy. Not a dark color where you can see the imperfections. But I think I'm going to go that route, I appreciate your advice. I know I'll enjoy the truck more if I did everything myself like I've done so far.

[Shucks]

Alright I got some stuff done. Nothing is completely solid, just tacked in. Obviously I'm just now learning but I'm confident this will work and will turn out nice. Notice the third picture, is my cab corner supposed to stick out that far? Is that a problem with my door because the lines from the cab to the corner are pretty identical. Will weather stripping make my door move out any? There isnt anything I can do to make it set back any further unless I cut up the rocker panel, any tips?

[Cape Codder]

You may need to make some relief cuts in the part that goes into the jamb so it will bend closer to the door shape. It looks like it fits at the rocker and at the top but has to much curve at the lower door area. Patch panels are better than starting from scratch but seldom fit as good as you would like without some modifying. If you put a straight edge on the bottom of the door you can see if the door may need to be bent out a little also. If the door has ever been repaired it could be off some too.

[Shucks]

Now I'm satisfied.

[Cape Codder]

How did you correct the problem? You can't just fix things without showing us how you did it.

[Shucks]

You're right... The problem was that the "inner cab corner" not sure what it's called, but it was hitting my rocker panel wasn't letting it set back far enough. I cut it and butt welded it to my rocker and allowed my panels to be flush.

[Shucks]

Threw the fender on just to check my lines, decent.

started on some spread, new at this too!

[Shucks]

Besides the engine, this is probably my favorite part so far of this build.



finding my high and low spots and spreading again!

[Hankster]

Looking good!

[Shucks]

Its sad how slow my build goes but stuff still getting done. Can't afford a paint job right now so I'm getting little things done while I have the time.
LMC dash cover turned out decent

stripped the drivers door from all the hardware, had a broken vent window, luckily I had another one from my old doors.

Since I robbed one from one door I took out the other because they still had decent rubber and nobody wants to disassemble these things to put fresh rubber in them.


Put the rubbers on, that was fun.

And this is where I sit... I've got all the parts I need to finish minus a paintjob and the money for it. Slowly I'll get there but I'm still not finished. A guy offered me a good price for it the other day and didn't take it. It will be done.

[Shucks]

I was able to put some panels on the other day while it was nice out

[Cape Codder]

Looks good keep at it. Is the pic or is the door a little low in the rear? The line on the pillar just above the graphics looks a little higher than the door. Need to keep watching alignment when welding.

[Shucks]

I see what you're talking about. I'm person it sure looks good. I wonder if it's the shadow.