Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Ripped the floor mat out and found a bit more rust than I wanted to see. But a lot of it is surface rust in the floor boards. Of course the rockers, kick panels and forward floor corners need to be replaced. One of the many PO's put some sort of plastic foamy liner under the original mat that did nothing but hold moisture. It was still damp in spots when I pulled everything up.

Was kind of "theraputic" to get back into this thing and spending a couple hours on the old heap. It's awesome to have the flame roaring again to get this sucker back on the road.

Also a member that is local to me has most if not all of the sheet metal and bumper that I need. I'll be making a road trip soon, to meet him and pick up those parts. :) Again this board is amazing how it networks us all together! Not sure if he wants to be named as he got a hold of me via PM. If he does, I will give credit where credit is due. :)

Thanks for all the well wishes and kind thoughts from all of you. I can't even begin to tell you all how much it has helped.

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Anybody need a pair of door jamb tins? I'll let them go super cheap!!! :lol: :lol:

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Gary keep up the great work ! Simon says he will come over and lend a hand "paw" if you need any moral support...:metal:

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Just read through your 'creeping death' and this thread, keep up the good work.
you'll get the truck back in pristine condition! suscribed.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Appreciate the nod Steve-W. It truly is a labor of love with these old heaps. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Received an envelope from SMS Auto Fabrics yesterday. I would say the material they have for my bench seat is a dead on match! :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

glad you're finding out a way to buff out that small dent, LOL, JK, you do great work and fast, keep the updates coming we are all pulling for you and that '72

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Quick update. Been a bit... We just sold our house and bought another one with a few acres. It's been a thrash-fest around here getting ready move. If you ever think you have too many car and truck parts... move across town... then you'll know you do! :lol:

Will be back into the rig sometime in late May early June after all this house stuff settles down.

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Wow, didn't check this thread in a while, sorry. This is a 69 custom 10 with black custom cloth seat cover. (630)

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Thanks for the update!

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Here we sit at the new place. Slow and steady wins the war... I guess. :lol: Poor old truck has been relegated to sitting under a tarp alongside the house until there is room in the garage from all of our junk that is still staged in there after the move.

But... we are getting closer to yarding out the engine and trans, and getting ready to swap to the new frame.

Also... I attached a couple pics of the hood taken from the rear near where it would mate up to the cowl. The drivers side is still in good shape. But the passenger side is the one that is tweaked from the wreck. It's pinched right along the crease line in the hood. You cats think this can be bent back into shape?

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Welcome back, did you stay in Whidbey?

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Yep... we did. Just moved across the island. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Is the black two tone roof factory on your truck? What does the SPID say your colors are?

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

SPID says stock colors are Medium Green and White. The black top was there when I bought the truck. I do believe that there was a possible dealer option to have the top painted black, but I cannot confirm nor deny if mine was done in 1972. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Made some progress yesterday as my buddy Matt stopped by and we yarded out the 355 and the TH350. Which was one of the biggest obstacle for me to get moving on this. Feels good to get over a big hurdle. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Subscribed

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Just read both threads, killer truck ! Hope you're keeping at it !

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Progress! :hot:

Working swing shifts this week so got some stuff done this morning.

Removed the heater box and core, Removed all the front SS brake lines I had installed about 3 years ago. Sucks that the fittings are a tad rusty , but the lines look fantastic. Finally removed the fuel tank as well. Looks like the cab will be moving to the 1969 frame next week! :D

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Nice to see some progress.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Thanks swampy... feels great too!

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Nice talking to you on the phone.
Skimmed through your build. Great work.
You'll have it back on the road in no time.
Sub'd

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Good talking with you too! Best part about working on these trucks is the people I have met! :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Wow, that's sucks. Glad you walked away. Glad to see you keeping the truck alive.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Pulled the doors off today and will tear them down tomorrow. One needs a new lower door skin and they could probably both use lower sheet metal on the inside.

Got my Holley back from my carb guy today. Fresh R&R and decided to try something a little different this time. I've always built my SBC's for top end performance... but in this truck, I need some grunt down a little lower. So I changed out the 750cfm main body for a 600cfm main body. We'll see how this experiment goes. I can switch back to the 750 main body if I really don't like it all that much.

I think the smaller CFM will make a lot snappier and I'll still get the revs out of it I want. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Door day.

Taking the drivers side door apart. Looks like the inside door bottom needs to be cut out and replaced. I'm hoping that the original outer door skin can be reused. There are 2 small rust spots where it's bubbling a tad in each lower corner of the outer skin. So keeping fingers crossed that just a couple small patches and the rest can be reused.

The upper hinge pocket is toast. Don't know how I'm going to repair that. Will have to get creative I guess.

A shot trough the PO cut speaker hole shows A THICK undercoating from the factory.

Now I gotta get the wing assembly out and the regulator and latch mechanism.

Baby steps... :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Yea i had that grittie worthless insulation crap sprayed inside my doors too.

Just a fyi, if you can get away with it try and just replace patches on the outer skin and treat the folds with a rust mort of some kind that is liquid and seaps into cracks ect.

I cut about 2" below the body line and took my lower skin off, what i didn't know is that the door skin has a contour front to back and sticks out about 3/8"further in the middle than the ends, when i cut it off the door skin the built in stress relieved inward and whamo no more contour front to back, it went straight across. Welding a replacement skin on and even being super carful to not let it get hot it still wants to go further inward so i cut and removed that skin and started a second time. I followed the advice of another forum member and bought a length of 3/4" angle which was lighter duty than i wanted, i shrunk one edge to put a contour into it, clamped into place and then drilled 1/8" holes, then i took the angle off and drilled the skin up to 1/4" and reclamped the angle then spot welded the angle in place, then i spot welded the skin in place, it still shrunk inward enough that i want to start over again and plan to soon. The point of this is that replacing the lower skin is a pain in the A** so avoid it at all cost.. :)

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

i dont know if it would work or be worth it i have a 1969 c10 long box frame sitting in my back yard im in canada about a 11 hour drive from you and to help a guy out i would give it to you no charge
i went a diff way with my truck and i hate to throw away a good frame so if you need it and can come get it i would give it up no prob
Attachment 1445860

Attachment 1445861

Attachment 1445862

Attachment 1445863
it has disc brakes off a 84 silverado

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

oops guess i should have read further before i offered up the frame didnt see that you fixed it lol

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

That's exactly what I was wanting to hear. Too bad you had to go through all that swampy. But I intend to just do the small pitted areas and replace the lower inner of the door. Luckily that sprayed in mess doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the door so it shouldn't interfere with what I have to cut out.

Appreciate the heads up on the door skin. I really wasn't looking forward to replacing it. Still, I will have to be careful in bending back the lip around the lower part of the door to get the inner part out.

I've heard and read good things on using Rust Mort. So I'll be using that as well.
No worries my friend! Thank you for your generous offer. But like you read, I have had a '69 C10 frame for over a year awaiting the cab and bed from my '72. Trust me... there will be someone from this forum that will want that frame. Especially with the disc brake swap up front already done!

Thanks!

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Getting that wing window out was a BEEOTCH!

Glass and regulator wasn't much fun either. :lol:

I'm sure it will be even more fun going back in!

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Jumped over a big hurdle on Monday.

Finally amassed 6 of my buds to help life the 1972 cab onto the 1969 frame. Then we stuffed it into the garage.

Creeping Death will roll again!

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Cool, progress being made. I always liked the color combo on your truck

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Cannibalizing parts off of the '72 frame to use on the '69 frame.

The sway bar is still straight and I needed the sway bar frame mounts from the '72 frame. Of course they are riveted on. I forgot what a PITA these frame rivets are to grind away and punch out. lol:

Now I need to remove 2 rivets on the '69 frame to bolt the sway bar frame mounts to.

Started removing the spindles and upper and lower control arms from the '72. I will probably use these on the '69 frame, plus all the steering components from the '72. New bushings and new ball joints as well. I am going to upgrade the steering box to a late 90's Jeep Grand Cherokee steering box. It is the exact same box as the ones on our trucks but has a quicker steering ratio. My buddy did it to his '72 Monte Carlo and it is a super simple upgrade for a dirt cheap price. I'm going to put a new column in the truck as well.

Something I forgot about that I thought was kinda cool. There is tag on the drivers side rotor that reads "CD" not sure, but these could be the original rotors from '72.

Just plugging away... not to beat a dead horse, but is feels awesome to make progress.

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Great story and I really like your determination, I'm going along for the rest of the ride.
You should flag your own post and get this moved to the projects and builds section because there are probably a lot of guys that are missing out that would like to follow along.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

glad you're making progress, mine is sitting in limbo awaiting kitchen rebuild for the wife
Always liked that color, good work

Glad it was moved to the projects and builds

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

jaros... I couldn't have wrecked this truck at a worse time. We were dumping money into our old house getting ready to sell it so we could move. Time and money were at a premium and the poor truck was torn apart and back burnered.

Fast forward 1.5 years and we've sold our old home, bought a new home and moved into it back in May. FINALLY able to clock in and do work. Hard to believe it has taken this long to get back into it.

I get more nice compliments on this truck with the Medium Green and black top color scheme. So I will be repainting it the exact same colors when I get to that point. :)

Gary

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

lots of work, but worth it in the end!;)

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

I would say that rotor is more than likely original. That groove corresponds to the minimum thickness required, which is stamped onto the hub there somewhere. These rotors may have been available as NOS or something for a while, but long ago they went to a flat surface with no groove. All my recollection, anyway...could be wrong.

Re: Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)
 

Sweet! Thanks for the info on the rotor. I recall the groove in the early disc brake rigs. I had a 1971 El Camino that had the same groove in the front discs.

Kinda cool to see some OEM stuff still on this truck after all these years. But alas, as I upgrade stuff... it will all be gone. :)

Gary