1968 GMC - Ol' Blue

[Jason Banks]

Did you use some kind of grommet where the wires come through the hump?

I want to do the same thing. I'm behind you and TA. I have Most of the metalwork done to my cab. Still need to weld on the rockers. I had to do outer floors, cab corners, cab supports, etc...It was 8 patch panels per side. With a sprinkling of other patches on the floor. My floor also had most of the welds broken at the front like yours. I say now...it would have been easier to do a whole floor, but much more money.

[Jason Banks]

I screwed up the outer floor on the drivers side even though it was the second one I did.

I ended up with the other floor too far in where the rocker and cab corner wouldn't meet up to it.

I discovered it early and was able to cut it out, but had to add a thin 1/8 - 1/2 inch tapered strip of metal back in. Which meant I had to do twice much welding and grinding.

Do you have a part number for the grommet you are going to use? I haven't really looked for one yet. I was hoping I could cut a 'notch' in the back edge of the hump, so the hump could be removed/installed with the wiring still in place.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

I screwed up the outer floor on the drivers side even though it was the second one I did.

I ended up with the other floor too far in where the rocker and cab corner wouldn't meet up to it.

I discovered it early and was able to cut it out, but had to add a thin 1/8 - 1/2 inch tapered strip of metal back in. Which meant I had to do twice much welding and grinding.

Do you have a part number for the grommet you are going to use? I haven't really looked for one yet. I was hoping I could cut a 'notch' in the back edge of the hump, so the hump could be removed/installed with the wiring still in place.

I don't know the part number and the internet wasn't very helpful. I know it's a 2.5" diameter hole though because it's the same diameter as the holes I drilled on both sides of the dash for the Vintage Air vents. It was a little bit of a struggle to get the LS trunkline through that hole. I actually had to depin the TAC module plug to get those wires through because that connector was too big. But I was able to work both PCM connectors through (one at a time) with the wires on. If I had to do it again, I would recommend leaving all the wires depinned from all connectors and pulling them through, then repinning.

Here's a picture of the harness that connects the throttle pedal to the TAC module - you can see the grommet on it.

[MDPotter]

I've been messing with power steering/hydroboost lines for the past couple weeks and waiting for parts - more on the hydro lines soon.

I only had a few hours this weekend to work on it but that was enough to get the instrument cluster assembled and wired up. It was a pleasant surprise when the gauges showed up just in time for the weekend and that the minor gauges (temp, oil, volts, fuel) just plugged into the major gauges (speed & tach). I should have taken a picture of the back of the cluster, but it was pretty easy. What I like about New Vintage is that you don't have another box to connect everything to, it all goes to (2) pigtails which plug into the back of the gauges. I mated those wires up with the (2) gauge cluster disconnects on the American Autowire harness so it's pretty clean.

Also got the brake lines finished. From looking at the donor vehicle and my research, the front port goes to the rear brakes and the rear port goes to the front brakes. This is the Astro hydroboost/master cylinder/prop valve. The donor vehicle was disc/drum so I'm hoping it works. The brake line that goes to the rear brakes threaded right in, but I had to get a reducer bushing for the front brake lines. I didn't cut or reflare anything on these lines, just made minor bends to clear everything and line up with the prop valve.

I should get my replacement carpet tomorrow so I can put that in.

[TA_C10]

Nice work man!

.

[MDPotter]

The correct carpet showed up yesterday and I got it installed. This will make interior work much more comfortable.

[TA_C10]

I hear they make a carpet for our trucks that extends to back if you remove the cab gas tank. You have other plans for that space?

[MDPotter]

They do, but I'm planning on building speaker boxes that attach to the gas tank mounting holes so I left it open. A lot like sprint's! I'll just have a slim 10" sub on each side with a 1000W amp I've had laying around in the console. I don't want to shake the truck apart, but I want equal feel side to side and the speakers alone driven by the deck have essentially no bass.

[1971Stepside]

I'm planning the same thing for subs. Interested to see what/how you build your box.

[MDPotter]

I'll post some good pictures when I get into it in a couple months. It'll just be MDF wrapped in some kind of fabric. What will take the most time is figuring out how to cut and assemble the pieces.

[dec010974]

@MDPotter what wheels are you gonna use?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by dec010974

@MDPotter what wheels are you gonna use?

For now, the wheels that came on it when I bought it. One day I'd like to get a set of 18" Vision 143's though.

[MDPotter]

Not much eye candy in this update. I spent all day Saturday wiring the interior. Still working on the power steering/hydroboost lines saga too.

I ran a bunch of wires between the tunnel and the carpet - seat power, amp turn on signal wire, amp sound wire, tach signal wire, speed signal wire, power wires to the PCM, PCM ground. I forgot to add in a couple switched power wires since I'm installing relays in my console for the check engine and brake warning indicator lights on my cluster though.

Having my dad to help me on this is huge. He and I combine our skills and experience and come up with solutions to things that we wouldn't come up with on our own. For instance, I knew from our experience on his truck that it would be nice to have a ground buss because we kept coming up with more ground wires to be connected and kept having to find another spot for them. So I bought a ground buss and a switched power buss for mine and we installed them in the dash. Now I have plenty of ground and switched power room.

I also took a picture while the sun was hitting the fender. The pictures just don't quite show how vivid this blue is.

I'm continuing to work on my pressure line from the hydroboost to the gear. The issue I'm having is that there is very little clearance between the gear and the inner fender, so it has to be a very tight bend to make it work. I've gone through two iterations of the line so far and ordered another stock line yesterday to see if it has a tighter bend than the one NAPA gave me. One of our local NAPA's has a guy that makes brake and power steering lines and I'm sure he's tired of seeing me in there by now.

I'm also taking my door locks and ignition core to a local locksmith to see if they can re-key the locks so I can use the new keys from the American Autowire kit.

[TA_C10]

Looking awesome Potter! Good to see that wiring started. What kind of busses did you get?

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Looking awesome Potter! Good to see that wiring started. What kind of busses did you get?

I got them on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They're not cheap, but they seem to be high quality.

[cornerstone]

Y'all are killin it! Looks very clean! I'm in to see how long this wiring job takes. No pressure. A lot of guys want a custom setup with the wiring and that becomes a huge project in and of itself. At this point it appears like you will be doing a fairly stock set up, which is all I hope to accomplish. Rock on!
Brian

[1971Stepside]

I am so looking forward to getting to wiring, but I'm sure about 20 minutes in I will be fed up with it

Looking good. Can't wait to see the speaker box.

[MDPotter]

Thanks guys.

The classic update kit is great. Most of the connections are already made up and you have plenty of wire in most cases. It's also nice because it has the accessory circuits which I'm using to power the LS harness, power seats, and a couple relays. Things that have made this easier and more flexible are the busses I installed and cutting a hole in the carpet to run wires from the dash to the console area. What really made the difference is all the time I spent researching ahead of time. I looked at the American Autowire diagrams, the gauge cluster diagrams, and how to wire up the LS harness. There are still surprises and things that don't make sense at first, but all the pre-planning has made this go really fast.

We should have just about all of the wiring done in the next couple weeks so we can test circuits and see things light up. I'm also getting close to pulling the trigger on a radiator. Once that and my column show up, I'll have all the parts I need to fire it up!

A little eye candy - I installed the plug wires the other night. Got them from Speed Engineering - these are the 12" wires. They have a choice of 10" or 12" and I didn't want to be short so I went with the 12".

[MDPotter]

My $200 (delivered) radiator/fans setup showed up yesterday and I installed it last night. I have to say I am very happy with the fit and finish for $200. It fit perfectly in my factory 3-row mounts. It was packaged very well. The radiator is painted a silver/aluminum color but the shroud is bare aluminum.

I have trans cooler fittings on the way (made a guess that they are 5/16" inverted flare). The upper hose is a Gates 22436 and I cut about 2" off the radiator end. I heated up that end and used some soapy water and it wasn't hard to stretch over the inlet. The lower hose is a Gates 22437 and I cut about 3.5" off the thermostat end. Same thing as the upper - I heated up the radiator end and used some soapy water and it wasn't hard to slip it on.

I won't have feedback on initial function until I have my truck running in the next month and won't have long term testing feedback for quite a while, but I'm impressed so far.

Here is the eBay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3Row-Alumin....c101112.m1982

[MDPotter]

More pictures

[MDPotter]

My rebuilt tilt van conversion column also showed up. Shout out to 70shortfleet for an awesome product. It was packaged very well - I actually had to use a hammer to open up the wood packaging.

[1971Stepside]

Radiator looks good, especially for the price. Column looks even better. I may have to contact 70shortfleet to see what he has.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

My rebuilt tilt van conversion column also showed up. Shout out to 70shortfleet for an awesome product. It was packaged very well - I actually had to use a hammer to open up the wood packaging.

Dude his packaging was the best lol. It took forever to get the column out lol. He has that packing down to an art.

I like the radiator and fans dude. It's different. I'm assuming the fans and shroud all in $200?

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

Radiator looks good, especially for the price. Column looks even better. I may have to contact 70shortfleet to see what he has.

I also highly recommend his columns. He is quick to respond and quickly builds the column and ships it to you. I think whole process for me was 2 weeks. I had him shorten my column 2 inches, add tilt, add the auto indicator, add wiring for cruise control, and painted it. Boom. Don't have any safety issues like you would with a cheap unit and less expensive than the ididits

[MDPotter]

Yep, delivered to my door for $200. All I need are fittings, hoses, overflow, and to make up connectors so I can disconnect the fans easily. I'm sure they're cheap fans, but even if they fail I still have the radiator and shroud.

[dec010974]

@MDPotter, I'm looking at thesame radiator/fan shroud combo you purchased. i love the way wat the build is coming together.