Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Thanks Greg .... sucks for sure but it is what it is. Biggest challenge will be resisting temptation to pick up tools and try to do what I can when I wander down to garage. Would make a bad situation much worse and turn a month into months.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Wrist is improving well enough to do what I could with 1.5 hands and being careful .... no drills, impacts, etc.
Got the upper trim done and it came out pretty well. Was a bit stressed by that one as all of the prep, paint lines and holes come down to this one-shot deal to put them on but they came out as planned and pleasantly surprised that the 3M adhesive anchors fit the trim flush to the panel and no gap. Upper trim on this one is the spring clip anchors at leading and trailing edge with adhesive for all the rest in between. Also managed to get the horn problem with my steering column sorted out and working properly. Well documented here in other threads but the Grant wheels with their adapter and that whole wire-barrel pin-spring setup is just a big bag of trouble it seems. Was shorting to ground somewhere inside so had to pull it all apart and figure that out but all good and works as it should now. A good job for 1.5 hands and get it off the 2do list!
Took it out for a spin around the neighborhood which felt really good to be honest. Longest run its had since this whole project began so at least got a couple of kilometers on and wife joined me for the ride so we had a good laugh.
Still have the tailgate to do but part of that is cut/buff and drill holes for trim and wrist isn't quite there yet, another few weeks maybe. They put a plate with 8 screws in there and don't really want to go back to square one with that.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Love the build man it looks awesome!

So after all your painting adventures, what are your do's and dont's?
Material used ?
Material you should have used?

Any insight would be awesome as painting may be in my future.

I am only a hop skip and jump down the highway in Havelock,

Cheers
Brant

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Hey Brant and thanks!
For paint and body do's and don't the biggest would be base/clear instead of single stage. Single stage was supposed to be simpler and one-shot because clear is already part of the paint but I found that it was too fragile and prone to scratches so added clear on top of that. Base clear would have been so much better in all ways but a bit more expensive. Now that I've been through it lots of things learned such as the importance of getting all panels on complete and mocked up for fit before final body and paint work. I ended up going in stages which made things more complicated but didn't have a lot of choice unfortunately. Other thing is I ended up having this love/hate thing going with the body and paint. I was intimidated by it from fear of screwing it up because it was first time. Spent more time (wasted) trying to convince myself to go down to garage and go at it than actually going at it. If I was ever to do it again would have much more confidence and know how from mistakes made to get better results in much less time. But would I do it again?? Highly unlikely! The mechanical and electrical absolutely no problem any time heavy equipment mechanic for 40+ years its in my DNA but body and paint not so much but life is about challenges and learning new things too right.
Yeah Havelock isn't that far so if you ever feel like a day trip to come and check things out and chat no problem at all. If you have a project on the go you may be interested in an ad I put on Kijiji for leftover parts and material, a lot of it body panels in pretty good shape.
Cheers
Sean

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Thanks for the advice, one day I may be into redoing my 67, currently there is an 81 camaro I have my eyes on that I may have a chance to finish (unfortunately an old boy I did a lot of work for passed last year and his wife wants me to have it, just a berlineta with a stroker in it , all it needs is paint)
I also have a 61 bubble top impala that used to be my grandpas that will eventually get sent out to get professional paint when I decide to do an LS swap and airbag it to tighten it up. Currently it has a 454 in it out of a late 70s vette with a t400 , that will likely go into my unmolested 67 once the 289 is tired.

What parts do you have available ?

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Man that 67 and Impala are pure things of beauty!
Sent you a PM

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Its been a year since last update. I was getting close to being complete and on the road only to discover that I had lost the ownership registration that I had with the original and had never transferred over. Yikes! And to make matters worse that ownership registration was for the owner previous to the guy I purchased from so really not good. Long story but it took hiring a private investigator to assist in finding people and sorting this out.

So now finally I'm there. Cleaned up the last few items and got the mechanical safety done so its on the road and legal and in my name. Always a few things left to clean up but the grocery getter is on the road. Still have to do colour sand and buff on the front half, the box has one pass done and it came out not bad. Needs to go to local shop for front end alignment and get the AC refrigerant charged.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

More pics

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

looking good.