Dave's 1970 GMC 402 Longhorn

[Blue/72]

Wow looks great!! Will you be keeping those wheels on it or are you going with the wheels that came with the truck originally?

[davepl]

I'm not just keeping them, I put them on intentionally. But if I show it somewhere that I think values originality, I have the original wheels. I'm just not a fan of the white-wheel-poverty-cap look.

Edit: Just FYI, these are 73-later hubcaps, not quite correct for the truck.

[davepl]

Yesterday I pretty much ran out of things to do. Some minor things like the radio speaker not working, but I couldn't bear to pull that glovebox again, so I did something else.

I drove it for the first time in 3 years.

Took it a mile or two up the road for gas, stopped once along the way to check things out. Might have a bit of brake drag on the back left, as the drum was warm to the touch, but not red hot or anything. The four-speed auto lens might be half a gear off, little adjustments like that.

I'm not stoked about having kept my somewhat loose converter in the 200-4R. I'm suspecting I will need to change that, as it doesn't creep at idle. Of course I only have it idling at 500 as well.

Oil pressure great, ammeter charges or maintains with every load on (100A alt), stayed 180F the whole day. Really no significant issues at all.

I'm pretty happy given it's probably 3000 pieces I took apart, restored or refinished or replaced, put them back together and drove it to the store without incident... and it's my first one.

Thanks for all of the help and encouragement along the way! This board has been an invaluable, if sometimes frustrating, resource for all kinds of questions that came up along the way. The community knowledge is a huge asset!

I also picked up my new Z06 Convertible last week (nice work if you can get it) so it happened to be in the background because I had to move it to get the truck out, but I left it in the photo because it's 45 years of GM in one pic!

[SS Tim]

Congratulations Dave!

[Ol Blue K20]

Awesome Dave ...but now it's a used truck again

[72 tigger]

Nice- I like both of them. Did you pick the vette up at the factory?

[davepl]

Tiny picture, but here are my NOS (still in the green paper wrappers) hubcaps. Don't ask. Ok, you asked: $1500 on eBay.

Lest you think I'm crazy, there were 29 other guys bidding right behind me! So I migh be crazy, but I'm in good company. Not many sets of these out there I imagine.

[y5mgisi]

Dang! That's sweet! Sure would like to have that kind of money! I would be "crazy" also!

[davepl]

Since things are never finished, a bit of an update.

I took it into my favorite old-school shop for a punch list of finishing things I didn't want to do myself (reroute a fuel line, since I hate gasoline, etc), get the AC charged, and so on. My driving it there and their own test drive convinced me I don't want a 3000 stall converter in an otherwise stock truck. I should have seen that coming.

So, in goes a 1397 stall. Not 1400. Not 1395. But yes, 1397. And that's its rating behind a 307 Buick Regal (it's a 200-4R, and I still have the original TH400 of course). Slays me how precise that rating is given it depends on so many factors.

I also scored an NOS Delco PleasureLift Power Pack to go with the NOS PleasureLift shocks that I already had. I bet the two as a set are worth a pretty penny (and were not cheap individually either). I'll install that when I get it back, and will also do the trailer wiring. I can't imagine I'll tow a lot with this (we have 3 other trucks in the household) but I want it capable.

Hopefully by spring it'll be ready to head out and visit the world!

[davepl]

One of the best things about a full nut & bolt frame-off is you get to build the chassis/engine combo just like in the brochures.

I made the boneheaded mistake of dropping the trans crossmember bolts in from the top, which means they can't come out without removing the cab! As the guy who's changing my converter found out this morning. He was able to get it back far enough that he can swap the converter after removing the flexplate, but that was a silly move on my part!

My '69 Pontiac came from the factory with an upper control arm bolt in an unremoveable direction, and it didn't come off until the body did too. So they made the mistake on the assembly line too, that's my only excuse!

[jerry moss]

that is one awesome build-wish i had the time, money and health to do my 72 super 4x4 like that. i have the know how but not the other three. my first employer had a saying."don't get old-there ain't no future in it". as a high school kid i thought it was funny- 40+ years later and damn he was right.

[davepl]

As soon as I get it back I'm going to start doing my compressed air work on it. I have the GM Pleasure Lift Power Pack, the GMC Dual Air Horn kit, and the Delco air shocks.

What I'm not sure is where to plumb in the reservoir tank (that I don't yet have). I'm thinking it should service the horns only, so the back of the truck doesn't drop if I hit the horn! But then I need a tank with a check valve of some sort. I'll figure it out eventually...

[davepl]

Originally Posted by jerry moss

that is one awesome build-wish i had the time, money and health to do my 72 super 4x4 like that. i have the know how but not the other three.

If you're healthy you don't need the other two and if you're not you don't care about the other two! So best wishes on that!

I am indeed fortunate to have the time and money (know-how is what I trade the time and money for!). Odds are, however, that in 90% of cases if you gave someone the truck I started with and $50,000 in three years you'd have a disassembled truck and boxes upon boxes of parts in bags and on shelves.

Actually -doing- the work and finishing the truck is harder than earning the money for parts, trust me! I've got more than 3 years into it and that out there the majority of days. You can't tinker your way through a frame off.

[davepl]

Out and about on the first "Nothing left to fix" drive, where I found only a few things to fix...

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by davepl

Actually -doing- the work and finishing the truck is harder than earning the money for parts, trust me! I've got more than 3 years into it and that out there the majority of days. You can't tinker your way through a frame off.

No kidding about this, it's way hard to do the work but so much more rewarding than a stack(s) of cash.

Originally Posted by davepl

Out and about on the first "Nothing left to fix" drive, where I found only a few things to fix...

Looking good Dave! I understand about the nothing left to fix quote
My list grows every time I take my truck out for a drive.

[davepl]

Well, the transmission quit once it gets hot, no forward or reverse. Contemplating putting a 4L80E in it.

[Ozzy2013]

That sticks about the trans the truck looks great !

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by davepl

Well, the transmission quit once it gets hot, no forward or reverse. Contemplating putting a 4L80E in it.

That sucks, I hope it all works out for you. 4L80E is a good choice.
I wonder why the TH200 failed?

[Dieselwrencher]

Dave, the truck looks great! I really like your choice in wheels. It looks good either way, but I really dig them. Very, very, nice Z06 too! Shoot, the Pontiac looks great too. Sorry to hear about the trans. At least if you go 4L80E now, you shouldn't have to worry ever again.

[davepl]

Not much new, still stuck in bad transmission land.

When the 200-4R quit I decided to move up to a 4L80E. If I had it all to do over again I'd have just stuck with the TH400 and 3.54s, but since I was at the time convinced I wanted overdrive, I went with 4.56 gears in the rear (which works out to final ratio of 3.05 with overdrive). So with those gears now installed overdrive is a must.

I wasn't able to find a good 2WD core 4L80E locally, so I ordered one from an eBay volume rebuilder. It came looking like crap, as if the case had been melted. And in fact the main harness connector -was- melted and had to be replaced. So it didn't bode well.

[davepl]

The 4L80E shift linkage is in a different location, so my tech at Preston's, who is doing the trans swap for me, made up this linkage. Works great, feels great and positive, and actually lines up pretty well on the gear indicator too!

In park it almost touches the firewall (but doesn't) and then moves away as you go through the gears, so it's perfect.

[projectking]

Beautiful truck! I absolutely love that color!

[davepl]

Well, here it is with 100 miles on the new transmission. Doesn't look much different, except there's not a tow truck underneath it! Paint color sure has a "Candy Electric" look in the sunny photos, but I really don't think it looks that way in person...

[cericd]

Looking good!

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by davepl

Well, here it is with 100 miles on the new transmission. Doesn't look much different, except there's not a tow truck underneath it! Paint color sure has a "Candy Electric" look in the sunny photos, but I really don't think it looks that way in person...

Glad to hear the new tranny is working out good.