Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Got the tires mounted on the AR TTII wheels and onto the truck. Gotta love those instant gratification moments, take 'em when you can cause they're few and far between!
Tires are Toyo Proxes III 255/60R17 .... went back and forth a million times trying to choose between 17 or 18's and hours looking at posts with photos of both. Pretty happy with the result in the end and I think it fits well with this truck build sitting stock with no drop.
These tires were supposed to be identical diameter to the original 15's but in the end come out to about 1/2" more which is ok I guess.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Finally back at it and got the box completed. Between work and other projects the truck sat for more than a year but in August managed to get a few weeks to at least get started on body and paint with the box. Got all pieces prepped and primed and got the tailgate, front panel, wheel wells and rear frame rail painted. Bed sides are prepped and primed ready for paint. One bedside is new aftermarket and one is an old original that was in good shape but still needed a fair amount of body work.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

December things slowed down so set up the garage for painting the bedsides. Winter temperatures sub zero just added to the challenge but managed to make it happen. Was disappointed with the result with lots of dirt flecks in paint caused by poor air supply even with a double filter setup at the gun. Culprit ended up being a cheap air dryer that had corroded inside .... should have just gone straight hose from filter/ separator at receiver. Live and learn I guess. Contemplated sanding it out and doing over ... for about 20 minutes and a beer or two and that thought went away quickly. Sanded and buffed and it improved quite a bit. Far from perfect but it will just have to do.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

After sanding and buffing over the holidays I managed to get the box mounted on the truck the past couple of days. The colours don't match with older faded in uv paint on the cab with new paint on the box. Once its all cut and buffed and sat outside for a month it will be ok. Feels good to have it on finally and best of all - space to work in the garage again! I have the white oak bedwood in storage been stacked drying for over a year at a contractor buddy's place. He will run it through his jointer and machine them to the drawing specs that GMC Pauls made available for us ... thank you!!
So body and paint is FINALLY done and in the rear view mirror and thank God for that!! Should be on the road for this summer fingers crossed.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

good looking truck,you've come a long way.i have the motor and trans out of my truck now but not for long,then i build some kind of backwoods spray booth like you did for some paint work.i'd rather built a dozen engines,but has to be done.take care.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Tks! I hear ya on paint work versus just about anything else. I struggled from start to end with the body and paint as this was the first time I had ever tackled that in any serious way. Kept telling myself that it will get easier and more fun as we learn and move ahead. Still waiting! I've lost count of the # of versions of backwoods spray booth setups in the garage. It does feel good when you're done to stand back and look for sure but it would take an awful lot to convince myself to do body and paint again. If I did the one sure thing would be base/clear instead of single stage 100% for sure. At least now I get to focus on tying up the remaining sparks and bolts loose ends and get it on the road so that feels pretty great. Bedwood is on the way!

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

it all looks great,we'll look back at this in a 100 years and laugh..

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Man i love this color combo, my grandfather had one when i was a kid and that is the reason i got into these trucks. He was a mechanic by trade so i guess that is where i got my interest in tinkering with cars as well. Was this color combo available on GMC's from the factory?

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

The hugger orange / fremont white color combination with these division lines was a standard factory option for a few years including '72 which this one is. There were several other colour combos with white as well and they all look pretty classic cool in my opinion anyways. There are a lot of trucks on here that have been done in this orange/white combo and love it every time I see another one.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Agreed, mine is dark blue/white in the same scheme, if i could have found an orange and white that is what i would have had. This is the first time i have seen a GMC in the orange and white scheme but my knowledge on these things is thin at best compared to most on here.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Got the back end wired and cleaned up. Built wiring harness for the rear with wired grounds to frame rail - none of this ground through body panel connections. Crimped-soldered-heat shrinks and mesh loom .... took more time than I thought it would but that's pretty much the story of the whole truck.
Got bumper mounted all good. Had to slot one set of holes on the brackets to make them fit.
Received exhaust tips a few days ago. Not sure if I'm going to like the look of them or not. 4" outlet they remind me of what these young guys stick on Honda Civics. 3" outlet would have looked a bit nicer but hard to find it seems.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

My buddy Scott delivered the bedwood today ..... sweet! Local white oak that he milled up in his shop. He's a craftsman timberframer so all set up for this stuff.
Finish on these will be an oil stain instead of varnish and Por15 on the underside. The results from the Mar-K tests are pretty conclusive for why I choose to go that way. Even the best varnish product money can buy gets eaten up by UV after a couple of years and you have to pull out the entire bed to refinish. Oil based stain may not have a coffee table varnish finish but it's a truck, not a coffee table! Reapply oil every year or two in a couple of hours I can live with that.
Oil stain product will be Ligna Exteria which is a Canadian product I believe. Not sure if it is available in the U.S. Was considering Penofin also but Scott uses Ligna and swears by it. Brought a couple of samples up and looks good to me. Will go with Mahogany stain as I prefer a darker brown-red look than the lighter natural stain look. The sample in photo is on red cedar so will be slightly lighter on white oak.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

beautiful work on the bed boards,i'll be watching to see the finished product.take care.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Great progress!

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Buttoning up a few underside jobs before I install the bed planks. Went with a cable winch style spare tire holder. Chose one on Amazon that had what seemed to be the simplest mounting design and used a piece of 3" channel bolted to underside of top frame rail. Easy to do, works like a charm and cost less than $100 all in.
Will wrap the exhaust with insulation on the bend sections over the axle and then should be ready to install the bed floor planks. Thought about using the steel deflector plates between the pipes and wood planks but I like the exhaust wrap better.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

that looks alot neater than the stock affair under my truck,i just may have to update that mess?

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Its a neater and cleaner install and most important - a whole lot less drama and gnashing of teeth when the time comes where you actually have to go underneath and drop the spare.
When you don't have access from the top side like I did the install would be a bit less neat and clean though.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Looks good sir...I'll be doing a lot of gnashing of the teeth, I don't have a spare. Didn't think of that one, back to the drawing board for me.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

A short update .... slowly making progress getting the bed wood installed. Had a few things to get tied up underneath before closing it in. The cable winch mod for the spare tire works like a charm. Insulated the exhaust pipes with glass wrap insulation instead of mounting deflector plates under the bed wood. With about 1" clearance between the planks and the pipes with insulation pretty sure it will be fine.

The bed wood install is time consuming because I'm doing it mounted on the frame instead of separate and lifting entire box onto frame when complete. Lots of up and down on and off the creeper! Thought of pros and cons both ways and decided on this way mainly to have less risk of scratches and dings flipping the box around. Finish is an oil based stain that still looks good and easy to reapply in about 2-3 beers on a sunny afternoon every 2nd year or so depending on UV exposure. Bottom side of planks is done with POR15 as per what Mar-K suggests from their study. If all goes well hope to have the bed wood buttoned up this weekend. That may take a box of beers.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

looking good,great work.i'll bet it will take a box of beer,maybe 2??

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Got the bed wood buttoned up yesterday. Man that is a lot of carriage bolts! I first got all of the nuts on hand tight for entire bed before tightening them all down as final stage so that is more trips up and down on the creeper than I can count .... and really makes you feel your age (62) when it seems like yesterday rolling around on a creeper was no big deal and you flew up and down.
So pretty happy with the outcome but was hoping the colour would be a big darker and redder. No big deal easy to apply another coat of oil stain.
So the 2do list to complete the back half ....
- upper and lower trim on box side panels
- tailgate upper/lower trim, hardware and mounting
- license plate light install
- a few loose ends underneath tie up wires etc and not forget to get a breather in the diff vent hose

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Wood looks good. LMK what cruise nights you will go to and we can meet up. PM if you like.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

This afternoon managed to get a few things ticked off the list.
Tidied things up underneath but still need to get a breather for the diff. At least I can stay away from the creeper for a while now.
Got the lower trim done on the bed panels. Holes and everything lined up well with no drama .... just the way I like it. The upper trim will be a bit more finicky to place and you only get one shot at these so will take my time with those.
Stuck the exhaust tips on and they look ok.

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

Bit of an unfortunate setback. Just when things were starting to roll along nicely and seeing the light of day when the rubber hits the road had a small accident last week and kinda shattered my left wrist. Had surgery with plates and screws so won't be turning much of anything for at least a month but just maybe I can sneak in a few small easy jobs in a couple of weeks we'll see. Tripped and fell backwards in a parking lot and put my hand back to cushion the fall. Sigh !!

Re: '72 GMC long/fleet in Ottawa area
 

well now,that sucks??take care.rest up.you'll be a 110 % before you know it.