Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Didn't mean to give the wrong impression on your project, just trying to emphasize how uncommon the base look was in the mid to late 70's. '78 was the end of the era for white painted hubcaps, a tradition that dated back to the 50's. These are the details that make your truck special, something '79 and newer trucks never came with.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Still working away. Picked up 2 yards of soil at lunch today.

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And the workers unloading it

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Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Almost all ‘76 trucks I’ve ever seen have the van/car/67-72 skinny gas pedal from the factory. There must have been some kind of transition this year when they went from the wide flat bottom pedal to the slanted pedal. I’ve never known the reason for this.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Awesome! Doing what she was built to do!

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

I picked up some new rear brake shoes. I’ll spare you photos of a brake job, but while I was cleaning up the backing plates I started looking closely at the axle U bolts :bomb:

I don’t know what the half ton trucks use, but if you’ve got a 3/4 or 1 ton with the spring plates that trap and hold dirt - check your u-bolts.

I cut one off and had the local spring shop bend me up some replacements.
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When you have the time could you take a pick of the fire wall and how the manual pedal and bell crank come out and or go in the steering column is so close and I Am interested in the bends on the rod. Thanks for the wonderful truck and the photos you’ve posted. Good job on keeping the cash handy to purchase it.. we all know how hard it is when you got a work crew like that.
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Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

I’m not sure if this is what you are after, but from the clutch pedal, the rod is straight down and into a rubber boot that passes through the floor. The steering column passes through the firewall just above it. In the phot below, the clutch pedal arm is in the foreground on the left:
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On the engine bay side, the bend in the rod is inside the rubber boot - the boot is right up to the bell crank connection. There appears to be quite a bit of room all around with respect to steering column proximity.
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If you want more detail on the bell crank, I can take a few photos from below.

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Thanks it helped me understand so much.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

I discovered that the VIN got typed out wrong at some point on the title. TCLxxxx had been typed as TC1xxxx. I went to the licensing office to figure out how to get it fixed. Not really that big a deal, go to a dealer, have them verify it in writing and bring that back. Got that sorted out, and in the process took the truck back to the dealership where it was sold when it was new. The service manager has an ‘80 he’s in the midst of doing an LS swap in - I think that’s why he took sympathy on me and got me the info I needed for the VIN.

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Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Hauled 800 pounds to scrap. The local scrap yard also keeps random older vehicles that come in. So after I weighed out I looped back and picked through a few square bodies that were in the yard. Grabbed an OEM crack free taillight lense for $5. Needs a polish, but it will replace one of mine that is cracked.

Didn’t want to park to close - the magnetic claw is always on the move.
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Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Nice truck , I see those 8 lug rims and was wondering what size they are? I riding a 77 Suburban K20 and am having a terrible time finding 16.5 tires

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

You have two 16.5" tire choices anymore. Super Swampers or 37" Wrangler military tires. Neither of which you want anyway. Best option in my opinion is get a set of 16x7 Ford van rims. Up to 1996 model year or so. They are cheaper than aftermarket 8" rims and give you a little more width than our 16x6's

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

@burnclown Funny you ask, it’s another reason I don’t tread to far into the scrap yard - puncturing a NLA tire. The wheels are 16.5” with an aging set of Transforce tires. I’m going to do the Ford Econoline 16” wheel swap when these tires are done.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

If you don’t need off road tires there are some other options:
The Firestone Transforce are still out there new in 9.50x16.5 as of today at about $170 a tire.

STA - Specialty Tire of America also has some more vintage sizes.

There’s also a tire called “Power King” that pops up online in the 16.5 diameter. It says it’s an all-season radial, but it sure looks like a trailer tire to me.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Thanks for the info, I'm going to look into the ford 16's.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Pay attention when you’re buying them. Some of the E350 vans didn’t come with hubcaps, and the steel rims don’t have the nubs stamped in them to retain hubcaps. If you want to run original Chev/GMC caps you what the rims with the hubcap nubs

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

I've run Power King's- they're decent and wear well and had them last quite a long time. They're not just trailer tires. At least the set I had was still made in the USA too.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

The thing is that once you swap to 16" wheels you can get tires just about anywhere. Sometimes you ruin a tire and need another one Right Now!

When I bought my 76 C/20 in 1996, the first thing I did was go out to the salvage yard and swap the 16.5" wheels for a set of five 16" wheels with some usable 245/75T16 tires.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

After 2 pages of hubcap discussion, I’ve finally found a set of the proper white painted GMC’s. They’re a bit rough, but it’s a great starting point.

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Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Out of hibernation

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Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

Beautiful truck! Nice score on the hubcaps.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

When I got the truck I picked up a new cap, rotor and plugs. I swapped the plugs out at the time, but the cap and rotor ended up sitting on the shelf. I switched the stuff out this morning. I feel pretty bad now for not doing this immediately, I don’t even know how it ran.

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I’ve also resealed the thermostat housing/water neck - again. Filed the housing flat and am trying a paper gasket painted with Permatex Aviation.

Re: Survivor ‘76 Crew Cab
 

So the Permatex on the paper gasket did the trick. Haven’t seen water leaking at the thermostat since I resealed it.

Just been using it. Hauling water & gravel a bunch this season. Just did an 80 mile round trip to the beach @15mpg. Not bad for the SM465 & 4.10.

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