Project 66: Stickin' With The Stepside

[84GMC15tepside]

The Truck:
A few years ago I picked up my 84 GMC Sierra Classic C15. It's the highest model you could get, but with manual windows and door locks and the inline 6... Weird how people ordered their vehicles back then. But it was also ordered with an uncommon 4 speed overdrive called the A833 MY6. In its high day the thing was a sweet looking truck but wasn't taken care of by the previous owner.

The Story:
In the 1990s, my dad bought this truck from the grandson of the original owner. My dad took mint care of it and it was one of his favorite trucks he owned... I can remember riding in the truck when I was around 5 years old but when we moved to a new house, my dad had to sell it. One of his school teachers bought it who in turn sold it to another teacher from the same school. This is who we bought the truck from. The guy would drive it to work every day, even in the winter with the roads around here loaded with salt. To add on top of that, he never washed or undercoated the truck so it was a complete rust bucket. Before sophomore year of high school, I asked my dad about it so he called his teacher that it was sold to. He in turn called the other teacher who just so happened to be selling it. We drove to it a town over and decided to take it.

When my dad owned it:

[84GMC15tepside]

The Mission: Clean, Classy, Cool
It started as a "fixer-upper". But since I couldn't drive the truck when we first got it, I started taking it completely apart. This is a now a frame off restoration, with all GM panels. I keep everything I have in nearly perfect shape, so that is the level I am going to bring this truck to. It'll have a 350 and the stock transmission... I like stick shift in these trucks. It will be a darker gray than in the previous picture… I haven’t picked the exact color yet. Eventually I will probably lower it but I'll keep it stock height for awhile.

I am into rare cars and trucks, in particular vehicles that are not seen too often. And in my view, this truck was worth resorting because it is a stepside which is rare, and it has that interesting transmission. And most importantly, it has a history in the family. (It’s a GMC too)

[84GMC15tepside]

The Name:
I named this Project 66 because first off, I've been through hell and back trying to restore this thing. I have almost given up countless times because of the overwhelming amount of work this thing has needed (Luckily I’m on the right track with it now). But most importantly, somewhere down the production line when the truck was being made, the number 66 was written in marker on the underside of the hood, and the front bed panel in between the cab and the bed. Anyone know why that would have been done? I thought I would stay true to the truck anyways…

[84GMC15tepside]

The Build:
Originally I was going to fix just the necessities, small mechanical things and brakes, but one bolt after another started coming out and before I knew it I was in the middle of a frame off rebuild. First, I started by taking apart the interior... the insulation, seat and carpet were of course trash so they were thrown out and new interior parts were ordered.

Then it came to the core support and front fenders. All of these rotted through so they were junked.

Some pictures during the process:

[84GMC15tepside]

Eventually the engine came out, which was a grease case, and the bed was taken all apart. The stepside fenders were basically molded to the bed rails because of rust and bondo so they were cut right off. Then the doors were taken off... again rusted away and bondo like you read about. These were again junked.. The tailgate was dented beyond belief so that had to be taken off.

[84GMC15tepside]

By this time I had gone to my second spring Carlisle swap meet. In all I've gone to about 5 where I have gotten extremely hard to find parts for this build (at least for the New England area) : GM doors, GM dash with zero cracks, NOS GMC center caps for the wheels, NOS tailgate, GMC grille, trim pieces, among lots of other things.

[84GMC15tepside]

Also over the course of the build I have gotten, again, really hard to find parts for the area from craigslist and ebay: GM front fenders, inner fenders, core support, hood, stepside fenders and bed rails, GMC cab corner trim pieces, NOS bumper guards, etc etc.

Some things:

[84GMC15tepside]

After the bed was taken off, I started to wire wheel the frame and painted half of it with por15. The stuff worked great. Then the front suspension was taken out because of the rot holes in the control arms. So at this point I was down to nothing but a frame with no suspension, a cab, and body panels scattered around the garage.

[84GMC15tepside]

The frame ended up needing some serious work in places as I had come to find out and I had no idea what my next move should be (this was my closest point to giving up on the truck). So my dad and I visited a buddy of his and gave us the idea to get a completely different frame. At first I was reluctant because I wanted to keep the original frame, but I said the hell with it and looked on craigslist. It just so happened that a complete rolling short bed frame was for sale in southern VT. The next day I drove out, and picked it up.

[84GMC15tepside]

The frame needed zero work which was nice, all suspension was good and there was just the typical surface rust. I had it blasted and painted gloss black at a local truck shop. This frame definitely saved the build.

(Love the rally wheel look.)

[84GMC15tepside]

Next came the engine: 350 small block bought off craigslist. I also brought the transmission to a local shop to get "refreshed". It should be done within a couple of weeks.

Also got Inline Tube brake and fuel lines at this year, and pre-cut bed wood and ss strips as well.

Here's a picture of the engine, and the MY6 shifter being cleaned up:

[84GMC15tepside]

Presently:
Over the past couple of months, I tried to get my dad's buddy to do body work on the truck (rockers, firewall, etc) but the guy ended up being too busy, so now the truck is going to a professional restoration shop close by. For now, they are just doing the rust and installing the brake and fuel lines, but because I'm going in my second year of engineering school (no time to come home), I may have them do more like installing the engine, transmission, paint the engine bay, etc.

Just today, metal scrappers cut up the old frame and took some fenders and the core support...

Any comments, questions, suggestions, encouragement would be nice! I will keep the build updated as time goes on

As it is now, waiting to go to the shop:

[8lugnutz]

Originally Posted by 84GMC15tepside

The Name:
I named this Project 66 because first off, I've been through hell and back trying to restore this thing. I have almost given up countless times because of the overwhelming amount of work this thing has needed (Luckily I’m on the right track with it now). But most importantly, somewhere down the production line when the truck was being made, the number 66 was written in marker on the underside of the hood, and the front bed panel in between the cab and the bed. Anyone know why that would have been done? I thought I would stay true to the truck anyways…

Keith Seymour might know the answer to this question. Send him PM, he is very knowledgeable about plant operations and might be able to explain the "66".

[frog210]

I'm also curious mine has i think "28" on the firewall, i should take the bed off to see if its their like yours...

[84GMC15tepside]

Keith Seymour might know the answer to this question. Send him PM, he is very knowledgeable about plant operations and might be able to explain the "66".

Okay thanks, I will try to get a hold of him. It will be interesting to find out why..

I'm also curious mine has i think "28" on the firewall, i should take the bed off to see if its their like yours...

Looks like this is a common question for others too! (Looks like a 28 to me)


Brought the truck to the shop this week, here it is off the trailer:

[8lugnutz]

Originally Posted by 8lugnutz

Keith Seymour might know the answer to this question. Send him PM, he is very knowledgeable about plant operations and might be able to explain the "66".

Well, Keith actually answered that question in his own build thread. It's 28 pages long, and well worth the read! Here is his explanation take a look at post #117.

[84GMC15tepside]

Awesome, I read part of it but hadn't read that far. Just so happens my truck's build number was 66, pretty cool. Thanks for the help 8lugnutz.

More build updates coming soon!

[84GMC15tepside]

Got a call from the shop, rust repair is almost done! That'll put me in a good position for now on... Unfortunately can't do much more work to the truck as college starts in two weeks...

For now, they are just doing the rust and installing the brake and fuel lines, but because I'm going in my second year of engineering school (no time to come home), I may have them do more like installing the engine, transmission, paint the engine bay, etc.

This was wishful thinking on my part... I'll just have to slow the momentum on the project and do that work on my breaks from school.

Did some work on the bed of the truck, it's taken apart except for the bed rails, angle strips, and rear section. Looks like the rear section and the bed rails are welded together, I'll probably just leave them like that...

[84GMC15tepside]

Updates:

I brought the NP440 transmission to a shop to have it "freshened up". They put some new bearings in it and said it was really clean inside. Syncros didn't need to be replaced. The truck has just over 100,000 miles anyway... But the outside was covered in grease so I wire brushed/brake cleaned it all away. Looks good!

The rubber boot for the clutch fork is cracked though so I'll have to look for one of those.

[84GMC15tepside]

Yesterday I got the truck back from the shop! They did a great job on it, rebuilt the cab mounts and fixed all the rust around the cab... rockers, corners, rear window sill, firewall, etc... They undercoated everywhere underneath and painted the firewall the final color! It's exactly what I wanted with its deep sparkle look. Can't wait to see the truck all done with it...

I added some pictures of the shop... really cool guys. The owner showed a customer's 53 Cadillac at this year's national Cadillac show near Boston. The car won first place and is going to Hershey next to be contested against other makes. They know what they're doing...

They said the brakes in the Camaro were 5k alone...

[84GMC15tepside]

Pics

[84GMC15tepside]

More Pics

[wwillmon]

Looks like you got a handle on the problems now. Im in college too so i know how frustrating it is to have to wait to go back home to work on your stuff. Looks like were in the same boat though, i have mine tore down to just the frame and cab as well. Good luck with everything, ill be watching your build!

[84GMC15tepside]

wwillmon
Re: Project 66: Stickin' With The Stepside
Looks like you got a handle on the problems now. Im in college too so i know how frustrating it is to have to wait to go back home to work on your stuff. Looks like were in the same boat though, i have mine tore down to just the frame and cab as well. Good luck with everything, ill be watching your build!

I've been watching your build for awhile, and just added some input to it! Good luck with everything on it. I am definitely thinking of going LS, I just have to plan out my build/set some deadlines for myself before I can commit to something like that. I don't want to say I am going through with it yet, but I'm on the verge of saying yes to it. Just have to think about it more...

[84GMC15tepside]

Time for updates, it's been awhile:
Cleaned up the trans some more, and shifter (pretty ugly before). Also engine pics. After contemplating an LS swap, I finally decided against it... I had the 350, the truck won't be a daily driver, etc etc.. It'll be good with the 350