My 84 gmc swb project

[ProjectGMC84]

first off, this is a great site. lots of useful knowledge. anyways, ive always wanted a square body gmc/chevy and finally got my hands on one. its an 84 GMC high sierra. around 65xxx original miles on the truck it self. straight body hardly any rust. picked it up for 3k. it had.. a 383 in it when i bought it a couple of months ago. i was driving the day after i got it and blew a piston. tore it apart and found it had another blown piston in it, so now im building a 350 to put in her. im taking lots of pics of my progress so ill keep yall updated. thanks for checkin it out -- Kyle from Beaumont TX

[ProjectGMC84]

more pics.

[ProjectGMC84]

o also, who ever built it put a broke main cap in it and just used the top two bolts... dumaz. i got more of the body tear down ill upload tomorrow. im at work and forgot to grab the cam this am.

[ProjectGMC84]

alright, started tear down of truck, going all the way down to frame.

[ProjectGMC84]

ok got the cab off with help a a handful of friends, pulled gas tank and going to replace it with the 16 gal summit fuel cell in between the frame. pulled axle.

[ProjectGMC84]

started to break down front end and it started pouring rain.. imagine that. once it was off, started to wire wheel the frame. My dog rem has been helping and wanted his picture included lol and the other guy helping me is jason. great help.

[ProjectGMC84]

used krylon rust stop primer. used 4 cans and got good coverage. trying to decide what color to paint frame. any ideas? thinking either a midnight blue or graphite for the body. input?????thanks

[Gordonr1973]

Paint it any color but black!

Joking, but I painted mine black but I wish I had done it in red or blue or silver....just to make it stand out.

If you're doing a frame off restro, it makes it easy for anyone to tell that you put the hard work into it!

[Gordonr1973]

Nice truck by the way!!

[notyo_cheez]

I recommend engine enamel in black, has a nice gloss to it and won't rust again. Ever. Easy to keep clean too. Good progress.

[ProjectGMC84]

thanks @ gordon i was wanting something to stand out got to thinking maybe a silver... and @ notyo black has the classic look. might go with black frame and just paint the suspension parts another color to stand out. either way thanks for yalls input. and btw i ordered the lowering shackle, hanger, procomp toxic shocks and red poly bushing for the leafs this morning. update pics as soon as i get them in and on

[ProjectGMC84]

got my rear lowering shackles/hangers, poly bushings and shocks in last night. didnt get to open the boxes til this morning when i got off work. (im a firefighter and i work 24's) bout made my gf bring the boxes up to the station when she called bc i wanted to open them asap. Nothing like feeling like a 5 yr old on Christmas day when parts come in lol. install tommorow. will up date with pics . o and again my helper Rem checking out the goods haha

[ProjectGMC84]

sorry for the delay. ok since last post, got the leafs apart and cleaned up. tore down rear axle completely, got all new bearings and seals for rear end.

[ProjectGMC84]

finished painting the frame, got the spindles separated and ball joints out. got my new roller tip rocker arms (self aligning) and valve springs, retainers and locks in.

[ProjectGMC84]

got all new ball joints, tie rods, bushings. also ordered 2.5" lowering spindles from lmc, toxic shocks from summit, lower control arm shaft u-bolts. will have a rolling chassis sooon. can't wait. decided to build a 383 for it as well. a local motor shop is building me a short block and should be done with that here in a few weeks. will up date build as i go.

[scottco]

Looks like a great project!!! Good Luck,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[ProjectGMC84]

Spindles came in yesterday. Anyone else hate peanuts too?? also got my lower control arm cross shaft u bolts in and my axle u bolts. about time to start assembling. My parts corner is growing into the living room since the garage is full. lol

[ProjectGMC84]

up to this point, I've been wire wheeling everything. decided i wanted to get a sand blaster but needed a compressor to power it. i had a 20 gallon portable but upgraded to this 60 gallon stationary. love it and the blaster works awesome so far.

[foamypirate]

Nice work and progress! I started out wire wheeling everything too, but am sick of it, and have been thinking of picking up a blaster and a larger air compressor.

[EngineCo.1]

Looks great! Awesome progress!

[trout]

nice build looking good

[Conundrum]

Looks good

[ProjectGMC84]

thanks everyone. once i get this blasting process going, ill actually have some pics of assembly vs disassembly lol

[my4by2]

Looks like a heck of a good start man! Excited to see more of this one for sure!

[dlhughes2005]

Great start, can't wait to see how it turns out!