1969 Short Wide

[tune_1]

Truck looks good, too bad about the bumper. Glad that you have had it out and driving. Which show do you hope to make it to now that you are this far along?

Dwight

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by tune_1

Truck looks good, too bad about the bumper. Glad that you have had it out and driving. Which show do you hope to make it to now that you are this far along?

Dwight

Thanks Dwight. Honestly, I haven't even thought about doing any shows. I suppose I could do an unfinished category. I need to focus on the inner fenders and a few minor mechanical issues so I give her a real drive.

One thing that is glaring is the gear ratio. I'm thinking 3:73 or lower will work out better than what I have. I have a little vibration that I suspect is pinion angle or tranny angle related.

The brakes are a little jenky too. The left rear is locking up on a hard stop. I'm not sure if the prop valve working right or if it needs adjusted?
Minor stuff that will drive me nuts. On the bright side the trim is done! No pics though

[mcbassin]

I'm in the market for a near OEM quality bumper. I found one reasonable at AMD HERE and another at GMC Pauls HERE Recommendations? Just need a nice straight one.

Here's why I had to take back the bumper:





Got the rear trim installed last night:

[Crash_OK]

Wow .. That trim looks great Mike...

I got some stuff from GMCPaul.. It is no different than what you can get anywhere else. So don't pay a premium thinking you are getting something better than the other guys.. Just my experience..

[Bennett68C10]

Trim looks great Mike, your truck looks awesome

I don't think your going to get any aftermarket bumper that doesn't have a little bow in it. Here's a pic of mine from GMCPauls, as you can see it is slightly bowed as well but will have to do until I can get a nice original bumper and have it rechromed.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

Wow .. That trim looks great Mike...

I got some stuff from GMCPaul.. It is no different than what you can get anywhere else. So don't pay a premium thinking you are getting something better than the other guys.. Just my experience..

Thanks Mark. I think the bumpers are all stamped in tawain but some actually have decent dies, the chrome on some is triple layered and I think the ones at classic aren't. I looked at 5 different ones and all of them were just like the one I got.

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

Trim looks great Mike, your truck looks awesome

I don't think your going to get any aftermarket bumper that doesn't have a little bow in it. Here's a pic of mine from GMCPauls, as you can see it is slightly bowed as well but will have to do until I can get a nice original bumper and have it rechromed.

Thanks Keith,
I'm sure they all have some bow to them but 1/2" is not going to work. My trim hit the bumper before the tailgate was all the way open .
Your bumper looks much straighter across the top edge than mine did.
I'm thinking you GMC Pauls is the same as Southern Kentucky classics. I would love to find an original chrome or painted and get it rechromed.

[C10_ustacould]

I think the bow is caused by bolting in the license plate bracket. If it is shimmed a bit it may not have the bow. Just a thought.

[knomadd]

That trim looks great Mike!
That sucks about the bumper. The one from AMD (TriPlus) looks decent. I just got my chrome grille from Classic Parts of America. It's a TriPlus part. I haven't tried to install it yet, but it looks like a nice piece. Even thought it's made in Taiwan, it looks and feels better than most aftermarket pieces I've seen so far.

[Bennett68C10]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Thanks Keith,
I'm sure they all have some bow to them but 1/2" is not going to work. My trim hit the bumper before the tailgate was all the way open .
Your bumper looks much straighter across the top edge than mine did.
I'm thinking you GMC Pauls is the same as Southern Kentucky classics. I would love to find an original chrome or painted and get it rechromed.

You are correct I ordered it from GMCPauls but it came in a Southern Kentucky Classic's box as did the majority of my parts from them. As I stated on Jason's (jeh) thread, I am happy with the quality for being aftermarket.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Bucks68

I think the bow is caused by bolting in the license plate bracket. If it is shimmed a bit it may not have the bow. Just a thought.

Thanks for the insight Buck. I checked 5 different ones without the license plate box installed up against a straight edge, they all had a serious bow. About 1/2" in the center. This is probably made worse when you mount the license plate box and the terrible bumper brackets.

I took the brackets to work today and straightened them. They were about 1/4" out of square and still had a bow in them where the bolt goes through.

[hgs_notes]

Truck looks great! Congrats on getting it out on the road finally. I hope you drive the snot out of it.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by knomadd

That trim looks great Mike!
That sucks about the bumper. The one from AMD (TriPlus) looks decent. I just got my chrome grille from Classic Parts of America. It's a TriPlus part. I haven't tried to install it yet, but it looks like a nice piece. Even thought it's made in Taiwan, it looks and feels better than most aftermarket pieces I've seen so far.

Thanks Duane. I'm thinking Tri plus might be my best option. I would really like to see the bumper I'm buying before I have it shipped though.

Originally Posted by Bennett68C10

You are correct I ordered it from GMCPauls but it came in a Southern Kentucky Classic's box as did the majority of my parts from them. As I stated on Jason's (jeh) thread, I am happy with the quality for being aftermarket.

Interesting because SKC price is a little cheaper I think.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Truck looks great! Congrats on getting it out on the road finally. I hope you drive the snot out of it.

Thanks hgs. I will be driving it often once I get it tagged and "finished"

[Cash3481]

Its looking great Mike!

[shearjs]

Looks great with the trim Mike. Every time I see your truck with the rallys I feel like I'm looking at my truck's better looking twin!

[jeh]

The trim on your truck looks nice Mike, you have me curious to see if my new bumper is straight or not....

[jlsanborn]

Bummer on the bumper, I'll have to pull mine down and have a look....

The trim looks outstanding! What gears are you running now? Disc/drum right?

[jlsanborn]

Oops!

[jeh]

Mike, I looked at my bumper last night, it isn't very noticeable bit if you put a straight edge on it there is a little "rainbow" effect going on... Bummer

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by jlsanborn

Bummer on the bumper, I'll have to pull mine down and have a look....

The trim looks outstanding! What gears are you running now? Disc/drum right?

Thank you. Gears are 3:08 (I think, they may be 2:73). I can't remember for sure. Yes I'm running 72 style disk/drum setup.

Originally Posted by jeh

Mike, I looked at my bumper last night, it isn't very noticeable bit if you put a straight edge on it there is a little "rainbow" effect going on... Bummer

Bummer. I ended up going with Southern Kentucky for a replacement, I had them take it out of the box and check it before I committed to buying it. We will see in a few days when it gets here.

[mcbassin]

Need to share a few pics from the weekend. Got ole red out of the cave for a few hours. Had to pull up to the garden hose to wash off a few months of dust off the roof. It was driving me nuts.

[Bennett68C10]

Absolutely beautiful Mike, you did an awesome job

[SamsAutoParts73-87]

That is a sharp looking truck!
-Sam

[Crash_OK]

Looks great Mike.. WE need to get both of ours together for pictures.. Did you get the inner fenders done?

[mx289]

That looks amazing Mike !
Really outstanding.

Congrats on your hard work.