1968 GMC Shorty - Pearl

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by lolife99

3" body lift "hockey pucks" work good for raising the bed floor.
I like you raising the bed floor idea a lot.
Plus it will give you more room when you eventually slam this truck.
Coilovers maybe?

Hmmmmmm

[GAc10boy]

Didn't know you ended up with this truck. Glad you scooped it up! I had my eye on it but clearly never pulled the trigger. Glad that primer sanded off. Love your plans for it!

[68bowtie]

i like the plan. stock ride height?

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by GAc10boy

Didn't know you ended up with this truck. Glad you scooped it up! I had my eye on it but clearly never pulled the trigger. Glad that primer sanded off. Love your plans for it!

Thanks man, it should make a pretty clean little shorty when i'm done

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

i like the plan. stock ride height?

Thanks, yea we are going grandpa style with this one. I am pulling the bed off this weekend and rolling the truck into the shop. We will see how it goes

[68bowtie]

i LOVE grandpa style. subscribed.

[Graham57a]

Not the greatest progress on this one but I did manage to get the bed pulled off. Crazy thing was every single bolt just backed right out, no torch, drilling, cut wheel, I've never had that happen on the bed bolts. Next plan is to disassemble the bed and put it in storage for the winter.

I also pulled out the spark plugs, cleaned the ends and sprayed wd-40 in the cylinders. Hooked up a new battery to see how she cranked and she turned over like a new truck. Definitely glad to see that, especially since that is the first time it's cranked in over 20 years.

Hopefully in the next month or so I'll put the orange truck in winter storage which will free up a space in the shop to bring this girl under the knife.

[68Gold/white]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

i LOVE grandpa style. subscribed.

Major LOL, Grandpa style

That'd be me too. I prefer a rubber floor mat, though...

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

Major LOL, Grandpa style

That'd be me too. I prefer a rubber floor mat, though...

If I could find a rubber floor mat that was the correct color I'd be all over it

[SKT]

.

Any more progress on this one?

.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by SKT

.

Any more progress on this one?

.

Not yet, my orange truck is blown apart in the garage addressing some electrical issues. Once it's back together I will put it into winter storage and pull this girl into the garage. Hopefully in the next month or so

[79azc10]

The gmc is going to look good

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by 79azc10

The gmc is going to look good

Thanks man, ready to get going on it. My gears are turning haha

[Graham57a]

Not really progress but I did finally resolve the electrical issue on my orange truck. I am waiting on a new printed circuit from brothers (should be here Friday), once that arrives it should only take me 10-15 minutes to have everything back together and then I can move her into winter storage and free up the parking in the garage to get started!

I am trying to decide where to start, my initial thought was to start on the bed floor raise and knock that out but the more I think about it the more I feel like I should start on the cab / front end since that is the majority of the work. I plan on leaving the cab on the frame so I will save a ton of room by taking the bed apart and storing it away.

I think my game plan is to roll truck in the garage (leave the bed outside) and pull the front end off and get it down to a cab, motor and trans. Then I can start on fixing the rust, blending the paint, and tapping out dents. Once that is done I will move onto the running gear, brakes, suspension, etc.

What would you guys do? Where would you start?

[Graham57a]

8 months after bring this girl home she finally spent her first night in the garage last night. With my wife's help we were able to maneuver her into a space where I can start making some progress. Here she is getting acquainted

[68Gold/white]

I thought they were only available in black....I've never seen anything but black....

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white

I thought they were only available in black....I've never seen anything but black....

Repop yes but I am pretty sure they were colored from GM. My old 68 chevy had a factory green floor mat in it

[ghalperin]

I wonder if a black mat could be dyed to a bright color? The mats sold by Classic Industries are vinyl.

[Graham57a]

Got a little done on pearl tonight. My main goal right now is strip it down so I can pressure wash everything, remove the funky non factory stuff, and start cleaning. So far everything I have found has been really nice, so far no big surprises

[Graham57a]

There is one small spot on the firewall that neees rust repair, my only dilemma is how much to paint once I finish the patch. I was thinking about respraying the entire firewall but I hate to cover up the grease markings

[ChuckDriver]

Cool build!

[Graham57a]

A few interior shots after the tear down. I still have to gut both doors, pull the seat belts, sun visors, steering column, and firewall padding.

[Graham57a]

A couple questions for you guys.

I was trying to guess the mileage of the truck and I typically try to use the gas pedal as a gauge for the wear on the vehicle. This one looks pretty good to me so I am gonna guess 105k miles, what do you guys think?

Also has anyone ever tried to match a dash pad this color? I've never seen one, I may have to vinyl die a new one to match but would prefer to find a bolt in option if possible.

[68bowtie]

Good progress. Based on the upper/inner driver door paint wear, I think 105k is a safe guess.

If you are patient maybe you can find a nice matching OEM dash pad?

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

Good progress. Based on the upper/inner driver door paint wear, I think 105k is a safe guess.

If you are patient maybe you can find a nice matching OEM dash pad?

Good deal, well that should help make this whole thing a little easier haha. I think I am going to take the sample I have to my local paint store and see if they can match it. Patience has never been my thing.

I did get the rear drums pulled off over the weekend, the RR was locked up when I pushed it into the garage so I wanted to make sure it was a brake issue and not the axle. I will be putting new brake shoes on the rear and put all that back together next. Once I have the rear back together I will roll it out into the driveway for a solid day of pressure washing and cleaning everything. Once that is done it will be time for rust repair and reassembly. Sounds easy enough right?

[Graham57a]

A couple side notes, I am trying to decide the best way to go with the seat. I obviously ditched the 80 Silverado buckets for something a little more factory but I am not sure which route to take. I thought about finding a bench seat that is a decent drivers quality and the correct color to pass off as the original bench seat. I also thought about by the time I do that I could probably recover my buddy buckets and bolt them in for around the same cost but then I am not sure if I will get that value back out of the truck when I decide to sell. I also thought about getting a bench seat and having truckseats make me a factory cover like the picture below. What would you guys do?