69 GMC Short Stepside

[ramrod7373]

This truck was my father-in-laws, he bought it brand new in 69. He ordered it w/ a 6 banbger, 3 on the tree and factory air. It has been sitting for couple of years. I have some ideas for it, like disk brake front, V8 swap and lowering it down a little. Hope to put a 700r in it for driveability. It is a good start, but there are so many places to get parts for these trucks, what are some of the best places to get parts?
The truck is in my Dad's shop (thank god he has a wood stove in there). Also it helps he lives across the street from me so I can work on it when ever I want. Plus my Old Man was a wrench for 25+ yrs so he has the knowledge and tools to help. He is also semi-retired so he dinks w/ it when I am at work.
I appreciate all the feed back I can get.
Thanks

[XxCHEVYMANxX]

Welcome to the boards! should be a fun project. dive in there and get to wrenchin.

[redbaron69]

nice. is it a 292 or 250? me personally, if it was a 292 i would keep it and add the 700r4. good luck with it and welcome to the board.

[gearys 5600]

Welcome and post more pics, I like steppers.

[ramrod7373]

It is a 250....I have a hopped up 250 in my 65 Nova in High School...but I always wanted a V8, so that's what's gonna go in there.

[ramrod7373]

Engine and tranny out...front end apart

[CC69Rat]

Bag it! Bag it!

[FrankieD]

What I did on my 70 was buy a 72 parts truck and started swapping parts and what I couldn't use I sold or start collecting from the junk yard. For the disk brakes I swaped out the whole cross member there is only 1 hole on each side that needs to be opened up, 71 to 87 will fit. I would imagne your truck should be pretty rust free being from Cali,
Mine came from Medesto wasn't much rust on it. Good luck welcome to the board plenty of info here.

[ramrod7373]

FrankieD, which crossmember hole needs to be opened up? Just found a 81 Chevy with a fresh 350 for my I6 to V8 swap. Could also use the disk brakes.

[sharpmark]

great truck to start with especially having the family connection.
i like steppers as well-i think they have more character then the slabsides.
i too have swapped out the i6(250) for a v8 but thats only temporary til i get my 292(i6) properly built and running on an engine stand.
my build started out as a quick weekend job and now has been over a year- i miss driving my truck!
cheers and good luck with the build
mark

[ramrod7373]

Cab off it's mounts and cleaning. Man I will be glad when the frame is done. I think I took off 14 lbs of dirt and grease just off the frame.

[ramrod7373]

Frame done, Cab mounted back on. Front disk's on. Making some progress, just need more time to work on it. My damn job is getting in the way of me working on it...lol
Where's a good place to get some old school cragar wheels for the 6 lug? I want some 6 spoke that the spokes are black. Prob bigger than 15".

[nickv6266]

Frame looks good what kind of coating did you use.

[ramrod7373]

Just used 4 coats of some rattle can semi gloss paint I found at ACE hardware.

[ramrod7373]

Firewall painted, engine and trans in...just waiting for wiring harness.

[FrankieD]

Sorry I never got back to ya man I guess I missed your posts some how I'll try to keep up now. Frame looks great. Depending if you are making a driver or a show truck in what you want in wheels, you could look for wheels from a newer Chevy,GMC or Cadillac Escalade and have them powder coated . I know Discount tires has some good price's on wheels but you have to go there to see what they have.

[ramrod7373]

The truck is just gonna be a cruiser....I scored some silver rallye wheels from summit racing w/ the smoothie center cap...look sharp. I wanted the old school look. Got the rear 4" drop leafs in and the original leafs were 2 1/4 wide and the new ones are 2 1/2 wide, so I got to get new u bolts. Would have been nice for CPP (who I bought them from) would have sent some.

[FrankieD]

I hear ya about sending some U bolts but it is all about the money and you have to read all the details (twice) to know whay you are getting.

What size wheels did you get?

[FrankieD]

Did you get all the pulleys and brackets with the motor so everything will fit the long shaft water pump? I switched mine to a long shaft for some reason the pulleys wouldn't line up from the 70-307 to the 72-350 the only thing I could see is the harmonic balancer is thicker on the 350 and the 70 has P/S and the 72 didn't. I got the pulleys and brackets from a 86 impala and mounted the alternator on the right side.

[ramrod7373]

15x8 wheels... gonna put 255/60/15 all the way around. The motor came w/ all the pulleys and brackets, fan shround and radiator. Can't wait to get it on the road.

[FrankieD]

Originally Posted by ramrod7373

15x8 wheels... gonna put 255/60/15 all the way around. The motor came w/ all the pulleys and brackets, fan shround and radiator. Can't wait to get it on the road.

Sounds good I hear ya on getting on the road I 'm needing for some warm weather to get mine home there is work I will get done as soon as the weather gets above 45.

I'm taking your's is pretty much rust free since it lived in Cali. Mine came from Medesto got lucky finding it here in the rust bucket state. Only rust I found was on the right side by the air vent cowl since the truck was already painted I didn't weld a new one in I just patched it up and painted it when I did the fire wall.

[ramrod7373]

Getting closer....many fab's to do and some complete. Going to the V8 from the I6 seems like there are many mod's to do. Just takes time. Good thing my time is cheap when working on my own rig!

[67chevy1series]

wow! loving it! nothing like a nice balck chassi and a BRIGHT orange small block stuffed inbetween the frame rails!

[Tinkermc]

looks good so far take your time and have fun

[FrankieD]

Looks good, little by little you will get there if you don't change your mind to many times
like I did.