Finally got my Grandpa's old GMC!

[Syndrome]

After years of wanting to get my hands on this truck my uncle finally gave it to me. Its just been sitting in his backyard getting rusty, I guess he figured I was young enough(24) to actually do something with it.

My Grandpa bought it brand new in 1970 just a few months before he passed. He was helping an old lady in the neighborhood put out a fire in her back yard when it spread to an area where her husband had buried dynamite.

Its been passed around the family ever since, with different people doing different things to it, some for the better some for the worse. The original motor was blown when the truck was about 10 years old, and my dad took it to rebuild but soon gave up on it losing it.

At first it only had the 'bucket' seat, I picked the other one out of a junkyard for free last weekend. I believe the motor is out of a 87-91 van, its a V8 350 TBI. I've got it to run but it wont idle, I just got it to run a few hours ago and am still messing with it. The steering column is out of an old Buick Skylark I think.

As you can tell my uncle is absolutely terrible at painting, and I'm pretty sure he did the body work with an 8lb sledge hammer while blindfolded and drunk.

Enough with the stories, here it is:
























Is there a way I can put the pictures in a spoiler or something on this forum?

[71sierragrande]

Nice ride, I have that same rear bumper

[flashed]

Welcome ,thats a good looking truck ,cant help with the pic question.

[DGulliver]

Tell ya what, I've started with a WHOLE lot worse, lol..

[ole dollor]

first welcome from Texas....for a free truck you hit a home run, get all the safety things right and running good , and have fun with grandads old truck...

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by DGulliver

Tell ya what, I've started with a WHOLE lot worse, lol..

Yeah it is virtually rust free. Its been here in the Mohave Desert for the last 43 years. The motor was rebuilt 2ish years ago, and its been sitting since. I think it had a fuel problem or something when it got parked(with brand new tires). So far I'm into it a whopping $85 and that is counting the fuel I put in it.

Originally Posted by ole dollor

first welcome from Texas....for a free truck you hit a home run, get all the safety things right and running good , and have fun with grandads old truck...

Thanks, yeah I've gotta get the seatbelts installed(one of my other uncle has those lol) and I want to switch the front brakes to disc. I'm going to be getting together at least $1k here in a few months that I'm going to put into it. I know its not alot but it should get it so it can move.

[RANDAL]

nice looking truck not that bad of a paint job from the looks of the pics atleast its one color also if you ever make it up north I have some side markers you could have

[71swb4x4]

Nice bucket seat in the 5th picture. I hope that isn't the one you went to the junkyard for, you can find them in almost anyone's garage.

[yote1234]

great color! great truck! nice!

[mjensen]

Welcome from Salt Lake. Like you, I also got my truck from my grandfather who bought it brand new in 69. Great looking start for sure.

[71sierragrande]

Originally Posted by 71swb4x4

Nice bucket seat in the 5th picture. I hope that isn't the one you went to the junkyard for, you can find them in almost anyone's garage.

Yep, I have a few of those myself but can't figure out how to bolt them in!
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[Zach B]

That's in good shape. Sometimes it's a good thing when they sit as long as they were in good enough shape to handle it. I am betting you will be replacing a lot of rubber. That's the worst thing. The body is in really good condition.
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[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by RANDAL

nice looking truck not that bad of a paint job from the looks of the pics atleast its one color also if you ever make it up north I have some side markers you could have

Thanks! But my uncle actually has them in his shed, he took them off to paint it. At least this is what he says, I will probably be hounding him for them in a week or two.

And ya, all the rubber is toast, the door seals are completely gone, except for some of the foam that was still stuck to the cab, but its now painted blue.

Is there any way to pull dents out of the grill? I got a small one right in the center at the top, you can barely see it in the second to last picture, its exactly in the center, where the two planes meet.

[Zach B]

The dents can be worked out. I think you have to remove the grill and just carefully work the dent out. Don't take my word for it I would talk to a good body man and see what he has to say about it.
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[slow-1]

Welcome to the site and the "driving Grandpa's truck club".

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by slow-1

Welcome to the site and the "driving Grandpa's truck club".

Thanks! I've only put about 50 feet on the clock so far. But my new fuel pump is going to show up tomorrow so hopefully I can get it to go more than that. I let my dad limp it about the same distance as I did and he said thats the first time he has driven it.

[y5mgisi]

Whats your plans?

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Whats your plans?

Such a hard question there. Right now I'm just going to get it running with what I've got.

I want to to do discs on the front along with power master cylinder. At that point I think I will start in on the interior, Going with blue and black.

Then I will start on the exterior, I've painted a few mountain bikes and a couple of cars. And I'm a professional home painter by trade so I'm not to afraid of it. But I haven't done much body work on a vehicle this old, is the standard to just bondo the dents or try to pull/weld/grind them until you get it right? I'm not this far so I haven't put any research into it yet.

I don't mind at all dragging this project out, as I've got other places for my money to go right now, but I wont let it die out completely.

[67ctener]

Beautiful cab
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[71meangreenc10]

Nice ol truck....

Smitty

[Haggis]

Another welcome from North Utah. Looks like an awesome starting point, congrats!

[468BIGBLOCK]

i like the ole truck.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by 71sierragrande

Yep, I have a few of those myself but can't figure out how to bolt them in!
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It's not too bad... some bolt the lid to the floor, then snap the bucket over the lid, but not too good if you hit the brakes hard... it snaps off. The best way to do it is to use angle brackets.

It may not look too good to you now, but trust us... that's a hell of a nice start

You're worried about a grille dent while most have to worry about cutting out their entire floor and rockers.