Maybellene 52 gmc

[mknittle]

it all started about 15 years ago when I painted this and for payment I got the GMC.

[mknittle]

But at the time I was busy with this and in 2002 a BUELL X1 lightening.
In 2007 i had a focal seazure an was dignosed with cancer in my brain. after tumor removal and recovery I had to give up motorcycles after 40 years.
Thats when I started on the GMC. I dont think I have any pics before I started cutting though.

[mknittle]

the truck was in pretty good shape andI had aearly 70s Camaro clip and some left over GTO parts. So I was wondering if I could still thing straight enough to build this truck.
First came the clip.{ hey why monkey around} that went well.But It was sort of a false start.with a new wife and all the BS that goes with cancer treatment then last spring I realized I wasn't going to get back any time soon. {every time I was ready to move the log truck would break somthing.} I decided to just build it outside. I spent last summer on little stuff.I am sort of getting ahead of myselfe I am going to run a 400 pontiac and either a borg werner t10 or a muncie m21 I haven't decided yet I have both sitting. I also have a 455HO to re build for later.

[mknittle]

some of the fun from last summer.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=474288

[mknittle]

Sorry about the crappy pics I use a point and shoot and I was a bit unsteady

[mknittle]

While i was at the steering column i reworked the dash. I didn't like the tunnel above the steering column and sence the bottom of the dash was broken i made a pocket so the drop wouldnt look so much like an after thought.I also moved the column to the left closer to the center of the guauges.

[mknittle]

I got things pretty well smoothed out and sprayed some hammered black on to keep the rust away during winter

[mknittle]

By then I had pretty much figured how I was going to mount the rear suspention from a 76 Monty Carlo. using the stock control arms (for now). ai made a crossmember that the upper control arms mount to and a pair of lower hangers.

The upper mounts go through the 2x3 tubing and and are welded on both sides and anywhere I could get to because the uppers get pulled and the lowers pushed.

[mknittle]

Up to this point I only have the cost of 8 grade 8 nuts, washers,bolts and a couple cans of paint. The rest is leftovers from other projects and some hording.

[Larry Lindley]

like filling above steering column,have to steal that one the ideal not the truck.Ha HA.And the crossmember.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Larry Lindley

like filling above steering column,have to steal that one the ideal not the truck.Ha HA.And the crossmember.

Thanks Larry, I sort of got side tracked on making the steering column then when I mocked it up that spot bothered me as it was off to the right and looked like somthing missing

[mknittle]

home made steering column.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=474288

[mknittle]

At some point the thread will catch up to where i am now.

[Red Foreman]

Nice work so far, I like your plans for this project plus I've always been a fan of Pontiac engines, its a great idea & very cool!!!

[mknittle]

Thanks red, I just took another look at your build thread. Looking good. I am a big fan of those motors. That is going to be a nice truck.

[mknittle]

This are earlier pictures of the axle under the truck to see if my idea held water.
A little measureing and it looked like it would work.even though my dad thought I had a mental problem

[mknittle]

So I blocked,shimed,moved and measured untill I got the axle where I wanted it.Then I used some scrap 3/8X1 1/2 to tack the thing together.A couple double checks looked good! Now to mock up the cross member and control arms. At first it didn't fit quite right.A little adjustment with a 18" cresent wrench and a big vice fixed that.
Notice the custom nut spacer in the pic on the right.
At this point I marked the frame and sanded the frame and modified the curve in the lower hangers a bit.

[Russell Ashley]

"my dad thought I had a mental problem"

Isn't that normal for people who play with old trucks????

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

"my dad thought I had a mental problem"

Isn't that normal for people who play with old trucks????

Funny thing is he did a Caprice clip on my sisters 52chevy 30years ago.
also the 52 Peterbilt is just like we do ours the only part that is origonal is the body and part of the frame.

[meter swinger]

Looks good Sir.
your'e fabbing up a neat looking rear end, looks well thought out, sometimes you need to be a little "crazy".
Like the story too. glad you've beat the cancer. lost a good friend to that last year. I hate that crap.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by meter swinger

Looks good Sir.
your'e fabbing up a neat looking rear end, looks well thought out, sometimes you need to be a little "crazy".
Like the story too. glad you've beat the cancer. lost a good friend to that last year. I hate that crap.

Thanks meter swinger,the design changed some as I adapted materals that I already had. I am one of those guys that has more time than money.And I just like building things.

Sorry to hear about your friend! I have lost 3 in the last 6 years to cancer.It can be ruthless for sure.

[coachie]

Any updates mknittle? I live right down the hill in Roseville, it's great to see trucks being restored in the area.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by coachie

Any updates mknittle? I live right down the hill in Roseville, it's great to see trucks being restored in the area.

hey that's pretty cool! my wife and i go to winco in roseville about every other weekend
I lost some pics if I cant find them I will continue without them i will try to add some this afternoon.

[mknittle]

The first thing this spring was to clean the frame up where I needed to weld the lower hangers and the inside frame from the cross member that runs under the back of the cab to the back. then weld the hangers and suspension crossmember in next I made a template for 10Ga boxing plates. I traced the shape of the frame to the cardboard then onto a piece of plywood. Then came the hard part! I had to reduce the outline on the plywood by 1/2 inch on a sideby hand.That allowed me to clamp the plywood to the 10Ga and run around it with the plasma cutter. I think it was worth it though. as you can see the rough pletes turned out pretty close.The plates suround the suspention crossmember so it is welded to the inside of the frame and the outside of the plates.

[Larry Lindley]

I like where this is going,more pictures please need the eye candy.