The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Back in October the wrecking yard calls and says” hey Rick, we got a decent 99 C3500 with 454/4l80e and it’s just to nice to part out or crush. Come up here and take a look and let us know”. It needed brake and exhaust work so....
This is what we found for $750 delivered to our shop.

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Sanding, sanding and more sanding and did I mention new 2” lift kit on front with new ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, idler and pitman arms and ALL new front brakes?

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Although I spent most of my day doing the 1040 and schedule c and se and 4562 etc plus WI form 1 I did find time to order this

Restoration Shop - Complete Gallon Kit - GRAPHITE GRAY METALLIC Acrylic Urethane Single Stage Car Auto Paint https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B422H8..._dTyQCbGMZHRFC


And this to help get the huge dent out:


Stud Welder Dent Repair Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006XGUUUA..._EXyQCbAKZBVQ4

The dark gray paint should go well with the dark metallic silver we already have and we haven’t decided if we want to do a dark front fade to silver back or a traditional 2 tone paint scheme.
The new tires showed up today, Thank You Tires Easy

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Nice find. Wonder why it ended up in the salvage yard? Either way it makes a great project truck.

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Wheels were so rough we just made them Black and these are the new drive/steer tires
As to why it was salvage, 186K mi with a very noticeable Wausau Engines riveted on plate and a Goodwrench sticker on the bellhousing of the 4L80E spelled win for us. BUT the tires were shot($846) and No cats or exhaust from before cats back ($629.46) and there was no brakes that functioned whatsoever so lines/hoses/calipers/rotors/master cylinder/drums (turned)/wheel cylinders /hardware kits etc ( $793.20) and all u joints ($81.43) plus those are just what Good USA made parts cost. Add in peeling paint and big dent in box side, it’s a 2wd truck in snow 5-6 months a yr country and yes I can see why it ended up in scrapyard.
We set a $5500 budget on towing trucks and with Goodwrench trans and Robbie’s plate riveted on the 7.4 I’m sure this will go another 5 yrs and 100K mi which is all we ask

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

More sanding done-this side is at 400 grit sanded the rest of the truck is at 120 grit

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Made in USA rust converter, no wonder I had to pay $xx,xxx in taxes this yr as I paid $13.08 PER spray can (6) at the local farm and barn store. On the next body work project I may have to rethink the made in USA only goal

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

The grill was so pitted and scratched that I started with 80 grit on the finishing da and worked up to 220. Still had some visible pits and scratches so here it is:
One hammer tone painted WT grill.

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Update-
Winter Storm Wesley dumped over a foot of snow here and caught 2 of my sub contractors by surprise leaving us with 73 accounts to plow with 3 snowplow trucks and one truck/trailer hauling the skid steer plus all personnel (even shop mechanics) and we are finally done with that. All our GMT 400’s were up to the challenge and we suffered 0 failures even though the key was not shut off for 46-48 hrs straight.
We did get all the brakes done and tires mounted and balanced, pics will follow next week

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

I didn’t mention it here but on Dec 11th, 2018 I crushed my right ankle while hooking up a trailer. We did make some progress on the truck but right after my last post I went back in surgery to remove all the inner and outer pins/ plates/ clamps and screws they put in back on Dec 11th. I just got off the HD pain pills and I am back to limited speed walking so back at it.
New exhaust , overload springs and shocks and the passenger side dent pulled out and short hair mar glass to finish it out.

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Our spring/summer early fall this yr had an explosion of growth for our business leaving little time for working on any shop projects. Now that the days are shorter it’s back at it with new rear O2 sensors which we drilled and welded bungs in, wire brushed the underbody and frame and used up 20 odd cans of assorted 2x paint we had left over for a base coat. Over that was 22 cans of spray on rubberized undercoating over the top of that. Also all new u joints and center-bearing were installed.
It’s been rainy a lot here lately so one day last week we put her on the dolly’s and pushed the truck under the infrared heater and the next day we painted dark gray urethane primer on it. We has 14 little spots where the primer interacted with the paint edge below so we will primer/sealer those area’s
Pictures in the next post

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Glad to see you are still getting some things doen. Life sure does put a slowness to our projects at times.

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

The pics
Originally we were going to run this one with no bumpers front and rear but the bull bar leaves to many wires and core support showing so we”ll sand and strip the chrome bumper and make it semi gloss black. On the rear a simple roll pan is on order to finish it off and get rid of the “farmers truck” look. Also we are hammer tone painting the black wheel center caps light gray to match the rear gray metallic paint and the mirrors and door handles will be dark hammer tone the same as the grill.
We are going to try a dark to light gray metallic paint fade on this one

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

More pics, the last 2 are the other headache we had with the cream and red 92 K2500Attachment 1946975
The paint reaction- I should have used primer/sealer instead of the self etching and maybe I wouldn’t have to sand and redo these areas
Attachment 1946976

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

The 92 repaint at the same time

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Hey! I love the "farmers truck look":lol: Haha just giving you a hard time lol You make your truck look the way you want!

Keep up the good work.

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

So today the roll pan and the mirrors showed up just to remind me we need more shop time lol

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

We have been stalled on this one with the working on our snowplow fleet (5 trucks) that needed anything from re paint to transmission and headlights always on high beams only so now much time to do work on this one.
I’ve got 4 months to finish so back to re sanding the primer interaction areas and primer sealer

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Nice progress pics. Can’t wait to see end result.

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

More progress over the last 3 weeks. With all the snow we had it will take 2 more weeks of melt snow so.......
Todays pics in a post or 3 or 4

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Did the vent visors, hood bug deflector and bed liner us new battery and more today.
If you have not seen the angel eye head lights. They are a nice way to dress up the wt trucks from this era!
And yes we did cut out the center of the front bumper and welded the bull bar to it with some 3/8" plate we had.
Next is bed liner coat number 2 and the black Chevrolet with bow tie vinals we have and the tailgate net as we dont have an t gate for it

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Forgot to mention those seats and floor matting are out of our old 98 crew with the broken/ rust infested frame problem.
Also 2 of the wheels were bent so the 2 rear rims are from the 98 crew also as is some of the door panel/ arm rest/ window track stuff. Its been a long time on this truck but in the next week it will be done as my 1 ton D350 is up for the 440 swap and the list of shop work is getting longer.
More pics in a day or so

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

More pics- bedliner is complete, the chevy markings are done, and tomorrow the tailgate net goes on and off to alightmeant shop

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Looking good!

Re: The 99 C3500 transformation
 

Final odds and ends
This is the view most will have of the BBC powered C3500 crew lol
Once done at alignment shop more pics of it coming