Build thread for my 1972 GMC Sierra Grande truck

[Gigem]

I've made a few posts about this truck, but I decided to start my own thread about bringing it back to life.

Here is the back story on this truck...

My brother-in-law bought the truck back in 2010 or 2011 I believe. He drove the truck for a while, but the engine apparently never ran right. I remember him saying that he thought it had a massive vacuum leak from an improperly installed intake manifold.

At some point he parked the truck and took the intake off to fix the problem. Before he could get too far on it, he passed away in early 2012. I won't sidetrack the discussion with details on that, but it wasn't good.

The truck at that point legally belonged to his only daughter, as his wife had also recently passed away just a few months before he did. Another bad story that I won't tell here.

The daughter, in her 20's, had enough to deal with having just lost both parents so the truck just sat at my mother-in-law's house. My wife's other brother then just sort of "took" the truck, even though it wasn't his. He never had title for it of course, but he kept me from buying it from my niece whenever I mentioned. He planned on restoring it (like they all say). So it continued to sit. He actually "took" a bunch of his brother's stuff that really wasn't his. Sore spot for the family, and to her credit the niece just let it ride to not make waves.

In July of this year, this 2nd brother-in-law passed away. Yet another horrible story I won't share...

After he died, the niece told me she was ready to get rid of all the stuff that she should have inherited from her father when he died seven years ago.

We discussed it for a while, and ultimately made a deal where I bought the truck, a bunch of guns and a Snap On toolbox full of tools that had all belonged to her father.

My initial plan is (was) to just put the motor back together and get it running. Unfortunately for me, I do not have the ability to work on the truck myself these days, as I am the full time caregiver for my wife who has ALS. Yes, this poor family has been and continues to go through hell!

As I sit at home taking care of my wife, I watch a lot of YouTube videos for entertainment. I've been watching a guy who's handle is TheCorvetteBen for quite some time. He works out of his house, and his specialty is 3rd generation Corvettes. But he does work on other stuff from time to time, and I just really dig his approach to projects and the way he works. So I reached out to him, and he agreed to take on the project.

On August 4, 2019 I got my two sisters-in-law to watch my wife, and I grabbed my son and we made the trek to pick up the truck and deliver it to Ben. Game on!

[Gigem]

Here are some pictures from when it was just sitting at my mother-in-law's place...

[Gigem]

More pictures from hibernation period...

[Gigem]

Here are some pictures from the day we got it on the trailer. It went pretty much as planned. Damn near had a heat stroke using the come-along in the billion degree August heat in central Texas!

[Gigem]

At this point, my knowledge of this truck is that it did not have the original engine. I remember my brother-in-law who bought it telling me that the seller said it had "a Corvette motor". And I remember laughing to myself, and thinking that every non original small block Chevy engine is "a Corvette motor"...

I also know that at some point the truck must have been hit in the right front area. The front right fender, door and the hood all look to have been repainted at some point in the distant past. Also, it is missing the passenger side inner fender, which I assume was lost at the time of the accident repair.

[Gigem]

We got the truck delivered to Ben without incident. He was working on another project at the time, so the truck say for a few weeks. He did try to turn the motor over by hand, and said it was stuck. So he loaded up the cylinders with Marvel Mystery Oil and let it sit for a week or so. This takes us up to the first of Ben's videos on the truck. Here is a link to it:

1972 GMC Sierra Grande Left 9 Years W/O Intake...

[Gigem]

So obviously the news from the first video is not good. I talked to Ben, and there is no way I want to mess with rebuilding this old motor. It is not original to the truck, and I have no idea what it really is. For a while I consider doing an LS swap. A lot of people suggested that I do this. But in the end I decide to just buy a crate motor from Summit.

To be honest, part of the reason behind this decision is that Ben doesn't do computer stuff and could not help me with the LS swap, and with my terminally ill wife I didn't really have the time to mess with retrieving the truck on a trailer again and taking it somewhere else to do an LS swap.

Also, paying for an LS swap is expensive! Remember, this was *supposed* to be a relatively low buck, "get it running and drive it" project... Yeah, right!

Here is a link to the motor I ended up buying....

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mll-bp3503ct1

[Gigem]

When I was talking to Ben about bringing the truck to him, he asked me to not clean the truck in any way before I got it to him. Apparently, there is a whole class of people who really get off on watching things get power washed on YouTube. Some kind of cleaning porn, or something like that.

So here is video #2, where he gets the power washer out.

1972 GMC Sierra Grande Left 9 Years W/O Intake...

[Gigem]

So at this point, we are just waiting to put the new crate motor in. I had to order some more parts, and Ben put a roof on his house.

He asks me what I want to do with the old motor. I have no need for it, so I tell him to keep it. I also suggest that he tear it apart and do a proper autopsy on it, as he was getting a fair amount of heat from YouTube trolls suggesting that we should have just replaced the one busted piston...

Here is the third video, where he tears into the motor.

1972 GMC Sierra Grande Left 9 Years W/O Intake...

[Gigem]

This brings us up to the present time. Ben should have all the parts he needs to get the new crate motor in and running. I'm really hoping that the transmission is good, as my budget is getting obliterated!

He says he is shooting to turn the key on the new motor by the end of next week. Hopefully I'll get to hear it run (on YouTube) by the end of the month!

Once it's running, driving, turning and stopping correctly, I'll have Ben do some interior restoration on the truck. New door panels, new carpet, new dash pad. Need to fix the passenger side exterior door handle. Need to get the windows to crank up and down easier and smoother.

I'm sure there will be many other gremlins to chase. All part of the fun!

[Chevyland]

Nice start to your build thread
That engine sure looked original to me
What are the last 3 letters on the front block stamp
In front of passenger side head ?
If it is original I would at least keep it.

How about the square decal ? Or whatever it is
On the doors around the key lock ?
I’ve got a super that has something like that
I have never seen it before
Can you post a close up

[Leonard60]

Subscribed

[Gigem]

Originally Posted by Chevyland

Nice start to your build thread
That engine sure looked original to me
What are the last 3 letters on the front block stamp
In front of passenger side head ?
If it is original I would at least keep it.

How about the square decal ? Or whatever it is
On the doors around the key lock ?
I’ve got a super that has something like that
I have never seen it before
Can you post a close up

You know, I looked up the three letter code on the block a long time ago, when I first tried to buy the truck from my niece. I don't remember the code, but I do remember looking it up on NastyZ28.com and confirming that it was not the original motor. And the guy my brother-in-law bought it from told him that it wasn't the original motor. I'll see if I can get Ben to check the code for me...

And I'll get him to give me a picture of the square decal thing too. I figured it was a deal added item of some sort.

Truck is 200 miles away from me, so not easy for me to lay hands on it right now.

[davepl]

Here's mine which is very close to yours except for color:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=507395&page=1

I'd consider the LS platform if you don't have the original, honestly....

[Already Gone]

subscribed

[special-K]

That really is a decent Sierra Grande yet. Those keyhole trims are aftermarket. Pretty popular in the '70s. GM might have even sold some. I think by the exhaust that engine might be out of a Chaparral.

Apparently you don't have the original motor, did consider the LS platform, and decided on the crate engine instead. I'm sure you will be very pleased.

The internet is funny how internet experts would bother him about not just replacing the broken piston when no one knew the condition of the engine at that point. We still didn't know what was blocking it's rotation. We never saw the bottom end. We don't know that the cylinder needed a bore. Some engine experts to be commanding what should be done before they even know what needs to be done. Myself and all engine builders I know tear engines down completely before making a full assessment... unless there's a hole in the block or something else obviously catastrophic.

[Chevyland]

...

[72c20customcamper]

Nice start to the build thread. Sometimes ya just need to get new. My 467 destroyed the # 8 piston . Decided on a new 496 instead of a rebuild. You made a wise choice

[underliner6]

This is a great build thread. The mixture of Ben vlogging the build and your perspective from the posts is great. Really gives a deeper view into build that we can relate to and have known and loved with our own trucks. Please keep it up

[Chuck A]

Originally Posted by Gigem

And I'll get him to give me a picture of the square decal thing too. I figured it was a deal added item of some sort.

I remember seeing those square decal things with the Chevrolet logo for sale at Kmart back in the 70s.

They were advertised as protection from the other keys on your key ring from damaging the paint underneath the key hole while locking/unlocking your door.

They came in lots of other manufacturers logos as well.

[Gigem]

Motor going in tomorrow morning!

[Gigem]

Motor in

[Gigem]

Video of motor going in. It's running now, should have a new video soon!

1972 GMC Sierra Grande Left 9 Years W/O Intake...

[Lanman1972]

Sub'd

[Mike C]

Cool truck. Great project. Looking forward to seeing it around the Austin area!