1968 GMC

Got a lot done this weekend. Cam/spring swap is complete and chassis is painted and almost a roller again. I wanted to get the spindles and rotors on, but ran out of time. I am going to focus on bodywork now - I'm going to get as much done as I can on the cab, doors, hood, and fenders before October. I'd love to have it all painted by October so I can work on assembly, wiring, and finishing the chassis when fall comes, but it's a pretty aggressive goal considering how busy my summer will be.

IMG_5791[1].JPG
IMG_5795[1].JPG
IMG_5796[1].JPG
IMG_5797[1].JPG
IMG_5800[1].JPG
IMG_5801[1].JPG
 
Another productive Sunday - finished assembling the front end, set the engine/trans on the chassis, test fit with the cab (plenty of room), set the core support, installed the headers, and fabbed up a trans crossmember and painted it. I'm very pleased with how quickly and easily it's coming together - my dad and I learned so much on his 64 and the 67-72's are more user friendly.

IMG_5855[1].JPG
IMG_5858[1].JPG
IMG_5859[1].JPG
IMG_5860[1].JPG
IMG_5862[1].JPG
 
Got a little bit done yesterday - trans crossmember is bolted in, shocks are in, and filled all the unneeded holes in the firewall.

I'm hoping to get a driveshaft this week as well as some panels back from the blaster so I can prime next weekend and continue filling holes in the cab.

IMG_5878[1].JPG
IMG_5879[1].JPG
IMG_5880[1].JPG
 
I got my door shells and inner door panels back from the blaster and got them in epoxy. This was my first time spraying SPI epoxy and I'm pretty happy with it. I got a little heavy in a few spots and got fisheyes, but it'll get sanded out anyway.

I spent a lot of time filling more holes in the cab (floor, pillar, firewall, etc.) but it's about 95% complete so I can move on from that fun task.

First coat on inside (light coat)
IMG_5898[1].JPG


Second coat on inside
IMG_5901[1].JPG


Second coat on inner panel
IMG_5902[1].JPG


And driveline installed
IMG_5900[1].JPG
 
Hope everyone had a great 4th! I was able to get quite a bit done over the four-day weekend.

I peeled back the ends of the cowls so I could pull out all the leaves and debris, weld shut the vent, and spray rust encapsulator.
IMG_5956[1].JPG


Also cut a hole in the dash for the center A/C louver and modified the dash for a double din radio. Nevermind the ugly welds, I tend to leave my joints a little low.

IMG_5964[1].JPG


Also fabbed up a bracket to mount my gas pedal. I cut off all the bulky pedal assembly (adjustable pedal) and I will fab up a rod and use a custom trim pedal.
IMG_5967[1].JPG


Also fabbed up a new bracket for my hydroboost so it can mount to the brake pedal assembly studs.
IMG_5969[1].JPG


I was scraping all the seam sealer out of the interior and was digging at the firewall to floor pan joint and they just came apart. Seems whoever was working the line that day didn't do a good job of welding the two together so I fixed that.
IMG_5971[1].JPG

IMG_5972[1].JPG


I was able to get one door reskinned as well. I'm pretty happy with the repro door skin, it took minimal modifications for a good fit. The key here was to not remove the door bottom so that the new skin could be applied to the factory shell and achieve the right profile. Don't mind the mangled rocker-I did a quick and dirty removal so I could verify the rust repair panels so I could place an order.
IMG_5978[1].JPG

IMG_5977[1].JPG


And I've got a pile of parts going to the sandblaster today.
IMG_5979[1].JPG
 
Looks good, I wish I would have added the double din radio like you are, that to me seems like a nice upgrade.
 
I got my parts back from the blaster on Friday so I was able to get half the parts in epoxy and the other half in chassis saver.

I also got my driver door reskinned and it lined up great. I've learned that the best way to reskin a door is to keep the inner structure whole and to fit the new skin to it so that the correct profile is achieved.

I've been considering options for stripping my hood as I don't want to take it to a sandblaster and risk ruining it. The hoods on these 67-72's don't have a great structure to them so it makes bodywork difficult. In fact, the sandblaster I plan on taking my cab to won't even touch the hood. I thought about paint stripper and using my DA, but I ended up buying Eastwood's SCT tool. It comes with a 120 grit nylon drum and it worked great on the top of the hood - the picture below is about 30 seconds of moderate pressure. It works great on surface rust and primer, but it bogged down on the lacquer on the underside so I'm going to buy the abrasive drum which should be more effective. Stripping with my DA will take way too long because it's a fine orbit (3/32" instead of 3/16") and it will work the compressor for hours and hours whereas the SCT tool is electric and will strip things pretty quick and without too much heat buildup as long as I move around a bit.

I'm getting close to being done with the cutting and welding portion of this project. I just have to do a little rust repair on one of the fenders and then do the rockers/pillars on the cab and then I can finally move on to filler and sanding. My goal is to have everything but the bed painted by October so that I don't have to worry about cold weather and can spend fall and winter assembling and wiring.

IMG_5994[1].JPG
IMG_5997[1].JPG
IMG_5998[1].JPG
IMG_6002[1].JPG
IMG_6003[1].JPG

IMG_5999[1].JPG
IMG_6001[1].JPG

IMG_5996[1].JPG
 
Glad to see your not blasting your hood. I made a mistake and had mine done, that's once decision I wish I could take back.
 
I took a trip to Ireland with my girlfriend and came back with a fiance, so I didn't have much time to work on the truck the past couple weeks.

But despite the jet lag, I was able to spend a few hours Monday working on the cab repair. It's a task I've been dreading, but once I got into it and figured out a method it wasn't too bad. I basically took out as much as I needed to in order to mockup the outer floor/inner rocker piece and make the cut.

I also bought a half pint of Voodoo Blue today so I can do a couple sprayouts to compare 3 vs 4 coats and to have a color to look at.

IMG_6187[1].JPG
IMG_6189[1].JPG
IMG_6188[1].JPG
IMG_6192[1].JPG
 
Congrats! I assume that it was the same person? :p

There's another one of those blues that is going to look just awesome, like Sprints. Is that a factory color?

Chris
 
Ha yep, same one.

It is a factory Toyota color. It's on the late model FJ's and they just started putting it on the TRD Pro's. I think it's just a touch darker than Sprint's. It'll be interesting to compare Sprint's to mine. I'm hoping to have my cab and doors painted by October.
 
I haven't made a lot of visual progress in the last week. I've been struggling through the cab rust repair. The passenger side is done and it looks okay, I'm not that thrilled with the cab corner but I'll come back to it after blasting and epoxy. Removal is almost as difficult as fitting the new parts since there are so many spot welds and seams that you can't get to. Driver side is almost to the point of being ready to start fitting new parts. I'm hoping this side goes a little better.

My goal is to be done with rust repair tomorrow so I can take it to the blaster. I'm taking tomorrow off and I've got family in town this weekend and then I'm out of town next weekend so I've been working on it a couple hours at night when I can.

IMG_6216[1].JPG
IMG_6276[1].JPG
IMG_6283[1].JPG
IMG_6282[1].JPG
IMG_6285[1].JPG
 
I am happy to announce that metalwork on the cab is done. I finished the driver side rust repair and the cab is at the sandblaster. Maybe blasting will reveal cancer that I didn't see, but even if it does, most of it is done. The firewall holes are filled, rust repaired, dash modifications done, and holes in the floor are filled. I can't wait to get epoxy on it and start filling.

IMG_6303[1].JPG
IMG_6304[1].JPG
 
I got my cab back from the sandblaster and 4 coats of epoxy on the underside. I also built an attachment for my engine stand so I can wheel my doors around and make it easier to paint them. And lastly put a first coat of filler around the door edges to take care of the dings that come from hammering on the skin. I'm using Rage Gold with a little honey and it kicks fast on these hot days - I was only able to do one edge of a door per batch. I'm thinking the honey speeds it up, but I like it because it flows out better and reduces pinholes.

IMG_6388[1].JPG
IMG_6391[1].JPG
IMG_6390[1].JPG
IMG_6393[1].JPG
IMG_6394[1].JPG
 
Nice work and nice photos also. Wish I still had that much energy. That description below my screen name (<) is true :cool:.
 
Back
Top