Sullii the 72 GMC 1500

[68bowtie]

Sounds like it was a fun day. Thanks for sharing.

That’s great your wife is supportive (and even encouraging), and that your kids are involved.
Just remember, to you it’s a truck you bought and worked on, to your kids it’s “dads truck” they remember working on with dad…

[PowerdbyChevy79]

Originally Posted by hewittca

We made it! Saturday morning my son and I started the trek to C10 Fall Revival at 6 am. We had to make a detour to pick up my friend Nick who has helped me so much along the way. After looking over the progress he has made on his truck, we continued on our way. The total journey took about 2.5 hours. Not too bad to go to one of the best C10 shows on the east coast. We made it to within about half a mile of the venue by 9 am where they were already letting trucks in early. From here to the gates it took about 30 minutes, but who could get mad being stuck in a line of C10s?!



By the time we got there we were already truck number 926! All of the premium spots were taken by this point and I was directed into the "overflow truck" area. Looking at the map prior to the show, I was worried if I were to end up there because it's hilly and full of roots, gravel, and dirt. Ultimately it turned out to be a great spot because it was a nice shady retreat when we needed a break.



After parking the truck, we had a short debate about whether or not to open the hood. I wanted to leave it closed because I like to stand back and look at the truck as a whole, but ultimately we opened it. After settling that debate we headed straight up to the main show area to look around.







Around lunch time my wife and daughter drove out to meet us at the show. It was amazing to have my whole family at the first outing with the truck since they have been huge supporters of my time and efforts spent working on it! My wife especially has always been by my side for the past 22 years inspiring me to stay motivated.



Unfortunately, my wife and kids had to leave early because their was a best friend's birthday to attend, so it was just myself and Nick for the remainder of the show. We tried our best to see everything, but with a final tally of "at least" 1488 trucks coming and going all day, we just couldn't make it to every one. We hung around until the official closing time of 5 pm and then started our ride back home.









All in all, it was an uneventful drive which is exactly what I was hoping for. The truck performed nearly perfectly, aside from a newly discovered driveshaft interference issue. With the weight of three people and our stuff in the bed the driveshaft found itself clashing with the cab floor brace a few times. I am confident this is because of all the play in the stock carrier bearing. I am currently debating between whether or not I want to install a poly bushing, or notch the cab floor brace. That, however, is a project for later. After thrashing on this thing for the last 6 months I think it's time to take a step back and slow down for a while. Now that the weather is cooling off, I have many projects around the house that need to be completed. For now, I want to get back to my normal project car philosophy of trying to enjoy driving them while I make incremental upgrades. I will still update this thread as I go. Although my posts will be fewer and farther between, I will still be here. I don't plan to let this truck go as hastily as I did my last one. For now, it's just lights out in the shop...

I heard it was a great show...Truck looks great!

[clay68c10]

Looking good!
And congrats on a successful road trip.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks like fun, truck looks great.

[Day 2 C10]

Great looking truck nailed it 100%

[Shifty One]

Most excellent truck sir!

[KyleSeal]

Truck came out great man. Really dig the drop on it as well. Really wish I made it to the Revival! This year I plan on going. Hope to see you there.
Speaking of the driveshaft, I run the poly bushing and its great (says my driveshaft shop) and I had a slip yoke added to the rear if I ever decide to run bags, but also for rear travel on the differential side of the carrier. I always thought it was crazy that the carrier took the brunt of the movement rather than an actual slip yoke. Id be willing to bet this would help your floor contact issues.

At any rate, great job, really enjoyed the build!

[raggedjim]

Nice work, just read through the complete thread.

I like your approach to building trucks, Rg

[hewittca]

Thanks all! I have been kicking around ideas on where to go next with the truck. I even survived a strong urge to sell a few weeks ago when issues started arising with my other project, my 2004 VW R32. As much as I love the truck, the R is the most entertaining vehicle to drive that I've owned. It's currently at 208k miles and a slew of items needing attention have built up to the point where I had to stop driving it. My immediate bonehead idea was to just sell the truck and buy everything I need for the R (plus some upgrades), but ultimately I decided to be patient and take a year or so to work through the R methodically. This also forces me to pause extensive work on the truck while it is in a dependable and drivable state.



I've been trying to drive the truck several times per week, for the fun of it and to keep building confidence in all the work I've done. So far, it has not let me down. Many trips to work, landfill, etc. I've also hauled a 600 lb load of metal to the scrapyard and the truck handled it like a champ!









Before it got too cold here we also did a few landscaping projects around the house. I do have a Tacoma that would be useful for this as well, but it's so much more fun to put the GMC to work!





In parallel with everything I've been doing with my GMC, my friend was inspired to get his own truck. I helped him pick up a local '78 C10 that was all original and running, albeit very rough. It is now completely blown apart and he has some big plans for it. Here's a sneak peak at what he's thinking. Hopefully he starts a build thread for it because I think it's going to be quite the original build.





That's it for now. Back to the garage for the evening...

[raggedjim]

When I was in the Navy I had a VW Corrado, very fun car. But I bet those kids don't smile as much around the vw.

Is your buddy going fwd in the square???

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

When I was in the Navy I had a VW Corrado, very fun car. But I bet those kids don't smile as much around the vw.

Is your buddy going fwd in the square???

They do love riding in the VW, but if I ask which we should take a ride in it is the truck 100% of the time!

He's actually doing a stock car inspired setup. Wide five hubs with a quick change rear end. He's going to run those wheels/tires on all four corners.

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by hewittca

They do love riding in the VW, but if I ask which we should take a ride in it is the truck 100% of the time!

He's actually doing a stock car inspired setup. Wide five hubs with a quick change rear end. He's going to run those wheels/tires on all four corners.

Nice!

[hewittca]

Seems as though I can't leave well enough alone. I've never been completely satisfied with the wheel/tire combo I ended up with. The 235/75 tires that I bought were good for the stock suspension setup, but they just don't look right on the 15x8 wheel. It is too stretched and tall compared to the front tire. Most times it looks fine, but there are some angles where it looks very awkward. Then I got to thinking, what if I put the 15x8 on the front and got some 15x10s for the rear? After test fitting the 15x8 on front, I knew I had to make this happen.



While we had the 15x8 on front, we had to throw the 15x6 on the rear just to get the truck back on all four. Needless to say, I will NOT be running 15x6s on the rear!



I got some Wheel Vintiques series 62 15x10s to match the 15x8s I already have. The only problem with these wheels is they only come in one backspace, 4.5". With the wider '72 rear end, this puts the wheels right at the fender lip with no room for tire. I will just have to make these work but cutting up these brand new wheels and changing the backspace. I have done this on several of my previous builds so it doesn't bother me. My current thinking is to change them to 5" BS. I will see once I cut them apart and test fit. For now, here they are with the 4.5" BS.

[zicc1835]

Will be interesting to see how far the tire will bulge out past the rim ?

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by zicc1835

Will be interesting to see how far the tire will bulge out past the rim ?

Yeah, that is the biggest unknown right now. I measured my current tires and the fronts are 1.25", rears are 0.85" (which also illustrates how my rears are a bit stretched). I've been working with the assumption it will be about 1". I've run 1/4" clearance between tire and fender on previous builds with success, so that's my current target. The 0.5" extra backspace should get me there.

[PowerdbyChevy79]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Yeah, that is the biggest unknown right now. I measured my current tires and the fronts are 1.25", rears are 0.85" (which also illustrates how my rears are a bit stretched). I've been working with the assumption it will be about 1". I've run 1/4" clearance between tire and fender on previous builds with success, so that's my current target. The 0.5" extra backspace should get me there.

What tire do you plan on using? a 275/60 will not bulge out too much, a 295/50 will...

[clay68c10]

I’m looking forward to seeing the new wheel and tire combo. Always preferred wider meats vs the stock pizza cutter look.

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by PowerdbyChevy79

What tire do you plan on using? a 275/60 will not bulge out too much, a 295/50 will...

At the moment I am planning on using the 295/50. I've seen a 275/60 on a 10" rim and it has the same slightly stretched look that my current tire has, which I don't like. I know the 295/50 is a pretty short tire, but it will be tucked up several inches into the fender, so I think it will look fine. I did some further test fitting and I think I will need to go to a 5.25" BS to make this tire fit.

[TotallyHucked]

Truck looks awesome dude! I saw it down in the woods at FR on one of my bathroom break walks away from our booth lol

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by TotallyHucked

Truck looks awesome dude! I saw it down in the woods at FR on one of my bathroom break walks away from our booth lol

haha thanks! Yeah I got routed to the woods and most people seemed to not notice us over there. That's ok, it was a blast anyway. I'm definitely looking forward to going back this year. What booth were you running? There were sooo many trucks I didn't even have time to shop around.

[TotallyHucked]

Originally Posted by hewittca

haha thanks! Yeah I got routed to the woods and most people seemed to not notice us over there. That's ok, it was a blast anyway. I'm definitely looking forward to going back this year. What booth were you running? There were sooo many trucks I didn't even have time to shop around.

Yeah it's one I look forward to every year. I work for AMD, I was the ginger in the straw hat lol. My truck was kinda in the back of our booth most of the weekend

[hewittca]

That's awesome! I'll have to stop by and say hi this year. I did check out the AMD booth briefly. You guys make some nice stuff! My friend and I were eyeing up the squarebody bed. He's building the truck I mentioned above and he needs a new bed for it.

[WorldsCrappiestTruck]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I had a chance to connect all the fuel lines and wiring on the tank. Nothing really special or custom here. The Corvette style filter/regulator is mounted inside the left framerail and I ran the fuel lines that came with the Tanks Inc. kit. These utilize the -6 AN push on fittings. They go on quite easily so my instincts say not to trust them, but they seem well made and I'm sure they wouldn't sell these fittings if they didn't work, right...? My wiring is basically just extensions on the fuel sender and fuel pump wires so they reach to the rear. Then I tied the two grounds together and bolted it onto the crossmember and made sure I had a solid ground connection to the negative battery cable. I added a plug on the fuel pump wires just in case I ever need to pull the pump out. Overall, I would say my installation is based mainly on function and not form. It doesn't look super clean like some builds with all the custom stainless lines, but nothing on this truck is really to that level. I'm trying to keep it similar to a factory style install. You may also notice the charcoal canister on the left. The tank vent will eventually be routed through this after it loops up above the filler neck that will be mounted behind the marker light. This is in an attempt to keep gas fumes down while the truck is parked in the garage.





On the other end of the truck, I have the gas line run and ready to connect. It uses a -6 AN to push on adapter to connect directly to the stock fuel rail.



At this point in the build, my garage has become quite the mess. I thought this would be a good time to roll the truck outside and clean up. The only remaining item to complete before I can start the truck is to make all my under dash wire connections. I could theoretically start the truck now, but all my wires are just temporarily connected from when I cranked the engine a few months ago. I'd rather have all the wiring in its final form before I try to start the truck. If things go according to plan, I should be able to start it this weekend. The results of that test will determine where my focus goes from there!

Looking at your build timeline, you went from the chrome universal CAI, to this new black setup. Care to share the details? Looking for a similar drivers-side-intake, and like the black and simplicity. 😎

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by WorldsCrappiestTruck

Looking at your build timeline, you went from the chrome universal CAI, to this new black setup. Care to share the details? Looking for a similar drivers-side-intake, and like the black and simplicity. 😎

Sure! It's actually the same CAI in all photos, I just sanded and painted the main pipe flat black. I did not like the polished look. I got this universal kit from ls-swaps.com and for the price it is decent. It required a little work to fit like I wanted for this application, but in the end I like it. It has the correct adapters to work with a stock MAF sensor as well which is the main reason I went with this kit.

[TotallyHucked]

Originally Posted by hewittca

That's awesome! I'll have to stop by and say hi this year. I did check out the AMD booth briefly. You guys make some nice stuff! My friend and I were eyeing up the squarebody bed. He's building the truck I mentioned above and he needs a new bed for it.

Yeah man, definitely do! His truck is gonna be killer, our bed setup would definitely be perfect for it