70 gmc k1500 first major project

[Adambomb]

Hey I'm pretty new to here.. I have been using these forums as a reference for a while now and decided, what the hell, why not start posting..

I bought a 1970 gmc 1500 in September with plans to fix it up.. I don't have a lot of experience in restoration or mechanics, but I can figure things out pretty quick.. My goal is to do pretty much everything on this truck on my own..
So any advice is greatly appreciated!!

The truck runs great, I drove it 1100 km's to get it home towing a trailer, with an extra body and cab it came with from a 71 longhorn..

It has a newer fully rollerized rebuilt 350, new 3.73 gears front and rear, 3'' lift.. I'm guessing its just shy of 400 hp..

I was originally going to restore it then sell it, but now I will probably keep it.

I've got a bunch of work done on it so far so stay tuned for more posts..

[Adambomb]

Another pic

[Adambomb]

**** that photo posted sideways.. oh well.

So far I have installed a rear gas tank conversion, painted the rear of the frame with por 15..
There was a wood bed that was super rotten, so I just knocked it out to make it easier to work on the gas tank..

I learned how to weld in the process and I seen some of the flip down fuel filler things posted on here, so I tried to make one.

It turned out alright, used for a bit, but it was a pain to fill because the angle of the filler wasn't steep enough so it took forever to fill... I have went with another system now that I will post in a bit..

I also cut out a bunch of the rusted parts of the bed sides and welded in patch panels from the spare body..

[Adambomb]

oh that's my brother-in-laws c10 frame and other cab in the driveway..

Next I welded a custom bed structure frame.. I wanted to do something different because everyone does wood beds, I ended up finally sheeting it in 14 gauge checker plated steel... It was my first major metal working project.. I learned a lot from it.. haha

[Adambomb]

the box sides turned out pretty good.. an few minor imperfections, that I couldn't see before I shot it with primer. I read about using a guide coat on the auto body 101 site, so that's probably the next step to get them close to 100% before paint.

I tried to keep the bondo to a minimum, but because I've only welded a handful of things, I needed to add a bit here and there to smooth out my weld joints..
I ended up just cutting the whole rear post panel off the drivers side where I tried to make that dumb fuel filler and welded another one on from my spare longhorn bedsides..

I think I got lucky because the spare bedsides were all rusted out in different spots than my truck, which made it great for cutting and pasting..

[Adambomb]

heres the inside of the box with a bed liner I put in last week.. yes its already filthy.

[Adambomb]

this is how I did the fuel filler so far.

I need to do some fixing on the outside because when I cut the hole it went right through where I welded the rear post patch panel back on.. the bit of bondo I used, cracked from the heat of the drill.

And yes it looks like I didn't use stainless screws!!

Inside I am probably going to build some sort of box to protect the filler hose. Also you can see I have 2 breather hoses.. I started with a small one and it wasn't filling great so I hooked up the other 1/2'' one as well, now it fills really good. I keep a bolt in it to plug it until I need to fill it.

[Adambomb]

So I got this extra cab with the spare body. It is in way better shape than the one currently on the truck. Its a 2wd cab with the low hump, but since I have a little body lift I think it will work fine.. So I put it on casters so I could push it around easily.
At first glance I thought it just needed a rocker, a cab corner, and a few floor patches. Well looks can be deceiving.. haha

[Adambomb]

I decided that both rockers should come off for sure, as well as the inner rocker pieces

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Here's a little patch I cut out with my grinder for the fuel hole..

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At first I was going to be lazy and not pop the windows out. Someone told me a little trick for painting them while they are still in by pushing a piece of wire just under the rubber, so that was the plan. I'm really glad I popped them both out.. I exposed some more hidden rot..

[swamp rat]

Yea if your gonna do any kind of restore you want to totally gut the cab so you don't miss any if that hidden rust. Welcome back..

[Adambomb]

Ya definitely a good lesson, if your gonna do something, just do it right!!

[Adambomb]

Got the passenger rocker and cab corner in, put the door on once I tacked them in place to ensure a good gap and that it would close.. glad I did, had to make a small rocker adjustment, it was a bit tight.

[Adambomb]

Had a little issue, since I'm still driving the truck as I restore it.. I took it into town to get my mig welder tank filled and had some transmission problems.. It got stuck in 4th, I think it was because a piece of one of the roll pins that hold the shifter straight broke off and fell in the tranny.. Anyhow I got to drive home in 4th (at least it was on the hwy) but 200 wasted Km's

Anyhow still no gas for the welder, so no more work on the cab lately, but I got the truck driving again and learned a tonne about this tranny and how it works.