56 GMC Aussie Style

[Red Foreman]

Hi guy's, I've been around this site for a little while occasionally giving my 2 cents worth & was asked today on a thread by Indian113 when I will be "starting a build thread"?
Well here goes, in 2009 I purchased this original long step 56 GMC 100 from a older gentleman in Vermont originally from California two years prior & then had it shipped to Victoria Australia. Plans for this build are as follows, in no particular order; Total mechanical rebuild,
Camaro graft & frame rebuild
Flip rear axle (original spicer 45)
Continue to run six lug steelies all round
Engine 348W/ T400
Seat to be re-upholstered & last but not least polish the crap out of the body work which is zero rust!

[Red Foreman]

Previous pics were taken in Vermont not long before it was ground shipped to the port of Baltimore MD to make its long voyage to Melbourne Victoria which "for folks that dont know" is the southern eastcoast of Australia.
Here are pics taken at my work shop, freinds & I (in blue) celebrating GMC's arrival with a few beers!!!

[Red Foreman]

I must say before I go any further, that currently the chassis is now clipped, totally removed & mounted on engine stands, sand blasted & painted. For the sake of this build thread I'll peg it back & go through some stages.

At this time I put it on a spare hoist (november 2010) removed the tub & front clip. Removed the big ol 270 hydramatic & had the most fun grinding all the rivets out. "This is a rear pic after we tacked in the home made C notch"

[Red Foreman]

one of the front stripped down, just as a matter of interest 55-57 GMC's run a more complex rad support with a crossmember supporting the hole front clip, differnent to the Chevy which makes the Camaro clip a little harder to do. Preparing here to make a jig to help keep rad support & bumper horn locations.

[Indian113]

Thanks,I'm gonna watch this one

[AUSSIE54]

G'day Red,

That is one swell looking ride you've got there!

I'll be following along, for sure.

Regards,

Trent.

[Barney Rubble]

another nice score Red, watching with interest.

[Red Foreman]

Thanks fellas, time to start making the jig, my mate Jonny pictured is a welder/ fabricator with 35+ years experience, I'm lucky to have his help!

[Red Foreman]

Just a quick trial with the rad support/ fenders before we sliced the frame. Estimated an extra 3/4" wheel base needed to get the look I want, slid a wheel under the approximate stretch to get the look I wanted.

[Red Foreman]

More pics, sorry about the f%@d pic Also slid the clip under ready to sqaure up.

[Wheelie]

Cool! Im glad Im not the only one who fabs in flip flops!

[Indian113]

I like that jig

[Red Foreman]

Originally Posted by Wheelie

Cool! Im glad Im not the only one who fabs in flip flops!

Ha Ha, we actually call them Aussie work boots
Anyway a bit more sqaure up before we tack into place, now this is were the jig came into effect, we carved up the original rad support crossmember & utilized back in the graft.

Also just picked up the engine I purchased from a scrap guy in NY, took three months by the time I got my hands on it, its 348 out of a 63 fire truck with only 22,000 miles on it, I'm due to pull it down any day!!!

[Red Foreman]

Originally Posted by Indian113

I like that jig

Thanks,I cant take credit for it my friend Jonny's idea thats in the pic measuring & grinding. By the way your up early, its 11:10pm friday evening here in Melbourne, pretty much lights out for me, kids are still up watching SuperBad, always get a laugh out of that movie!!!

[Indian113]

I get up everyday around 5 am, seeing that wedge brings back some memories! I had a 61 Impala with a 348 dual quad AFB's and a 4 speed. It was a Torque monster. That jig is really neat-smart Man you got there for a friend

[Rude Dude]

Originally Posted by Red Foreman

Just a quick trial with the rad support/ fenders before we sliced the frame. Estimated an extra 3/4" wheel base needed to get the look I want, slid a wheel under the approximate stretch to get the look I wanted.

Protecting your eyes good, what about your feet bad. Good Build Thou!

[70-Shorty]

Originally Posted by Indian113

I had a 61 Impala with a 348 dual quad AFB's and a 4 speed. It was a Torque monster.

I had a close cousin of your '61...years ago i had a hi-po 348, with 11:1 compression, solid lifter cam, a single Carter AFB with a powerglide with a corvette converter. All in a bubbletop 61 Impala. One of my worst decisions getting rid of it....
Tim

PS the GMC is going to be killer...cant wait to see it done! Still like those 348's n 409's!

[Red Foreman]

Mounted the truck 348 onto the engine stand, initial plans for it are to just re-gasket, paint, being only 22k mile, replace large truck waterpump with a passanger car pump, change out the rev limited distributor & carb to an MSD & Edlebrock 600 cfm.

Removed sparkplugs & loaded the cylinders up with WD40, went for the big rotate, started turning tightish but steady, got 3/4's around & then locked
Eventually with back & forward turning & a hole can of WD40 & sqirts of motor oil I freed it up I did notice that the sparkplugs in cylinder 3 & the adjacent cyl 4 had signs of rust, carb had signs of rust also, "so much for doing a VHT rebuild" After tearing the engine down it was evident it had eaten water through the carb & treacled into the intake & stained 3 & 4 cyl bores enough that a hone wont fix, it will need 030 to get it right.
Aside from that you could have eaten out it, the undamaged cylinders still had a nice cross H pattern & it would have been a nice runner for a long time.

[OrrieG]

That is not good news. But when done you will know it is right and not have it go Tango Uniform on you 3 months after gettting it running.

[Red Foreman]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

That is not good news. But when done you will know it is right and not have it go Tango Uniform on you 3 months after gettting it running.

Yep I agree, only that I'm used to building sbc's, rebuild parts are cheap & practically available from K mart, 348 409s on the other hand are up to 3 times as much & harder to obtain although after doing a little research I found that some parts interchange with sbc & bbc's.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by Red Foreman

Yep I agree, only that I'm used to building sbc's, rebuild parts are cheap & practically available from K mart, 348 409s on the other hand are up to 3 times as much & harder to obtain although after doing a little research I found that some parts interchange with sbc & bbc's.

283 over size parts are getting expensive too. I bought a short block with .030 pistons to use as a donor for my original 64 chevelle engine. Machinist said the original engine does not need decked. I was thinking about a 348 for my truck but could not find any running and the parts costs scared me too. But I do love the way they look.

[1985-GMC]

I love the truck and engine choice! I'll be watching this one!

[Red Foreman]

Clip install has been successfully tacked in along with a textbook home made C notch made from a 3/8 X 3.5" pipe cut in half & some 1/4" plate for boxing in. Also managed to remove the cab & mount the complete chassis on engine stands. That will make it a s**t load easyer to get around it & my mate Jonny can weld it up totally.

[Red Foreman]

I forgot to mention before I removed the cab we trial fitted the clip (fenders/ rad support) & had to trim inner gaurds for the "A" arms etc, that was kinda hard & frustrating with the multiple remove & refitment.

[67chevy1series]

wow that 348 is a monster! love the look of the valve covers! good luck with the build.