"Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

New project alert!

Carmine is a '79 GMC K15 Sierra Grande with the factory 400 / TH350 / NP203 / 3.42 rear axle. She's nothing really special, her appeal to me was the original drivetrain, air conditioning option and really straight (restored) body in factory RPO 71 Carmine Red. I brought the truck home with no information on it's history. The prior owner had it two years and didn't touch anything. But then I discovered a piece of paper in the glovebox that was a receipt for the sprayed bedliner with a phone number. I reached the second prior owner Greg and man did I get lucky to find his info! He was really happy to talk because had the truck for almost 20 years. He said most of the time it was used around the farm, and he completed a driver restoration in 2016.

I found out that the bed has been swapped which makes sense because it has two fuel doors but one tank (it's super straight though). It used to have painted bumpers, mirrors and steel wheels but other than that it's stock original. I could tell someone with experience had it because the truck is well put together (safe), and everything works like it should. The Q-jet starts the truck with literally a flick of the key, no gas pedal required...every time. Greg clearly knew what he was doing, I like that in a trucks past lol.

The original 400, Turbo 350 and NP203 are completely intact, the only modification being a part-time kit in the transfer case. She needs nothing but I'll be treating her to a little interior clean-up, a mechanical freshen-up and some custom touches.

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Here's another cool part. The truck was built at Janesville, and shipped to a dealer called Easson Sales & Service in Lockwood, MO which isn't far from me. Easson still exists as a parts store. The truck has lived within an hour of that dealer since then. I was able to get the Invoice from GM Heritage.

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I have ordered a large quantity of parts for the truck already, and I'm finding almost everything is backordered. So far I have or am waiting on:

• 4" Tuff Country EZ ride lift kit
• US Mag Indy 15x10 polished slot mags
• Sport rear bumper and brackets, etc.
• Dashes Direct urethane dash pad
• Various dash-related switches, knobs, trim, etc.
• Comfort-grip steering wheel
• Tilt column (used)

I plan to do the lift, wheels and tires along with the interior refresh starting with the dash. I may add carpet and the correct door panels as well. Along the way some mechanical maintenance, re-seals, etc.
After that I'll evaluate the exterior plans. In my head I'm possibly changing the mirrors, doing some small paint work, a complete polish and possible installing trim along with white two-tone or YG2 woodgrain. I don't know who's truck is pictured here on Rallies, but it's lifted similar and has the upper trim, looks rad.

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Invoice from GM Heritage Center. I am a little surprised how much A/C was at this point, $574 list. It would have been roughly half that in 1972 I think. 70's inflation I guess?

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

Is your plan to run 35” tires?

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

That's the plan right now, yes. After the lift is done I'm going to get both 33 and 35 BFG K02's here at my shop next to the truck and do a little comparison. I originally ordered a 3" lift planning for 33's but I changed to a 4" figuring I could go either way.

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

My old one. Carmine interior parts hard to find

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Nice! My buddy is convinced I should put hurricane wheels on her haha. Square body parts market has expanded drastically in the last couple of years and it looks like they're now making most of the correct '79-80 Carmine interior stuff. We'll see what the dash looks like.

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That looks very nice! CarmineRed is a little easier to find because USA1 Industries has the correct color. I do hate to hear your getting a urethane dash. Yours looks good, does it have cracks that I’m not seeing in the pics? The urethane dashes tend to warp. The dashes that are built over a metal frame, like to OEM would be a better choice. Or have your original recovered. I hear Corbin does just that. Someone just showed me their dash that was redone by them, and it was nice! I’ll see if I can find pictures of that dash.
Any help you need on your interior, just ask. I’ve done some CarmineRed belts in the past.

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

Here is the oem dash recovered by Corbin’s. They are in WA.

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Oh wow that Corbin dash looks amazing. Someone recovered the dash in this truck, it's "ok" but not great. I know I'm taking a chance on the urethane, but I think that Dashes Direct might have re-vamped the product and it's supposedly be better than the old wavy/saggy ones. The USA1 units are indefinitely backordered : (

I'll be sending my belts in soon for a little love!

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

This is a 2.5” Tuff country with 33’s. If your thinking you may want 33’s go with 2.5” lift. If you want 35’s (the truck in your example pic has 35’s) then wait for the 4”. With 3.42 gearing I’d suggest 33’s but I’m sure it could handle 35’s too.

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

I did order the 4" lift, most likely will be going with 35's just not 100% decided. All my truck friends and my son all said shortbed gets 33's, longbed gets 35's lol!

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Well the dash arrived today. I was surprised to see it does have metal framework. I bought it through CJ Pony Parts but it's Dashes Direct urethane model: https://dashesdirect.com/product/197...hane-dash-pad/

It's a little saggy on the side of one vent, but overall looks pretty good. We'll see how it installs, I'll keep ya'll posted!

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

Looks good!

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That truck is nice! I look forward to seeing your finishing touches. do you mind if I ask what size tires are currently on it? Definitely understand the plan to go a little bigger. I think a 4-in lift with 35s looks really good. But those original tires fill out the wheel wells pretty well for a stock height truck so I'm curious as to what size they are.

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

Thanks!

Thanks! I know they're 31's. I think 10.50's probably.

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Performed a butt lift today and installed a sport bumper. I had some help from my oldest and he's really getting into this one because it's a 4wd.

Since we also found the radiator leaking last drive it had to come out. So yeah it's been on it's last leg for 20 years from the looks of it. :lol:

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I have just gotten into the idea of repairing radiators whenever possible. It seems so hit and miss with the replacement aluminum plastic ones. And the all aluminum ones are also either not great, or great while really expensive. That one looks to me like the upper inlet needs to be resoldered. That's where the flow seems to emanate from. If that's the case, it might be a cheap fix or something you can do yourself. Eastwood makes paint for radiators that is formulated thin to help maintain airflow. With those fixes, all that is left is to spend about 13 hours with a screwdriver straightening all those little fins, haha.

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

Yeah I used to do that, but man it's pretty much impossible anymore. I own a shop and we've never been able to have one repaired successfully. There are a couple old radiator shops still hanging on but they never want to do the job, there's always a reason why it can't be don't/shouldn't be done or not cost effective. Last time I inquired about a re-core they said $800 and that was pre-Covid inflation plus they said no guarantee, blah blah blah.

I'll probably just run a plastic and aluminum unit for now (as much as it pains me) and keep this one around just in case I ever have the time to repair it. It weighs a ton which also tells me the core is holding a lot of corrosion.

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Lift kit is here, wheels and tires are here...sneak peak...

These wheels were on backorder for over a month, so I scoured the vendors again and found that Jegs had one set. I canceled my original order and thewe were delivered in two days. The US Mags Indy are a sturdy billet wheel for a great price. BFG K02's are on national backorder, there are ZERO 35x12.50.15 in the US along with almost every other make of tire in that size. I really had my heart set on the BFG's for the classic look. I picked up a set of General Grabber ATX's before they're all gone too.

Next update will be a whole new look.

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Thats going to look NICE!

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Awwww yeah!

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I totally get it. I'm hoping that new cores remain available. I am following mr.mud1 in the 67-72s and he has a very original truck whose radiator he resoldered the original tanks to a new core for. Anyway, those new wheels and tires are going to look fantastic.

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Boom!

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The lift went pretty smoothly considering the probability none of the suspension except maybe the rear shocks has ever been apart. The front shocks were original and completely blown. I replaced the drag link ends too. We started it at 9:30, took a break for sit down lunch and rolled out at 1:30. I still have some loose ends; steering stabilizer kit, brake hoses and front calipers and center caps. I also need to figure out how to mildly clearance front fender corners (any tips?).

It rides really smooth, I was thinking it would be a log wagon!

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Sharp pickup! I really like that color!

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That thing looks great! The perfect "Day 2" 4x4 squarebody.

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Thanks, it's growing on me!

Thanks! That's the goal! KC Hilites will be on this truck too : )

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I think the GMC stepside in Hooper was Carmine Red...that one is in my top 3 favorite movie squares of all time.

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What are the other two?

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Blue short stepper from Red Dawn and the black dually 'burb from Twister.

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Copy and copy. LEEVON, sorry about the sidetrack.

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No sweat! Speaking of movie trucks, check the opening scene of The Goonies (my favorite movie). When we got the truck, my son Tanner said "Make it look like a truck from the Goonies beach race" and I am right there with him.

Got some loose ends tied up this weekend! It needed front calipers BADLY, one was pulling hard and they were completely original, basically just balls of gunk. Along with the calipers, new front and rear extended brake lines from ORD. They make a nice stainless braided complete kit with the correct ends, really happy with that. Also installed the Skyjacker dual stabilizer kit and it definitely cut down on the bump steer. I don't think the original stabilizer was doing anything but collecting dirt haha.

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Next up was the lack of tail lights or license plate light. I found the entire rear harness cobbled up under the truck and was able to take it out and make a nice repair on the bench. Since I had the headlight switch out for troubleshooting I went ahead and replaced it too. Now I can drive it to work and my son can drive it to school.

Since I had the bezel off I went ahead and installed the new radio from classiccarstereo.com. It looks great, is easy to use and has an add-on bluetooth module with an indicator light. I put new 6x9's in the rear cab corners with some heavy duty brackets I bought from Ebay I think. The old stereo barely worked and would stop after a few minutes, so it's nice to have some reliable tunes. It was so tempting to start the complete interior restoration at the same time but I had to stop myself.

I also received a bed mad from Holley, and man it really exceeded my expectations! They have the only long bed square body mat for about $145 shipped. It is very thick and extremely heavy. I think it will go nicely with the camper shell I picked up this week (surprise!). :bann:

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One more glamour shot

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It's looking good!

Slotted mags and turbines just have the right "look".

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Awesome! Don't forget Jon's GMC from CHiP's!

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That glamour shot is great! How big is your grin every time you climb into that rig now? And I mean climb, haha. I like the canopy too. I bought a parts truck with one that I told the owner he could keep, but he sent it with the truck anyway. Now I'm really glad. I decided to keep and build the truck and the canopy is the perfect accessory. Truth be told, I like yours the way the last photo shows it, but sometimes a canopy can be so practical.

One more mention of the movie/tv trucks that popped up on your thread. I started a thread about those here:

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...51#post9056251

Re: "Carmine" '79 GMC K15
 

Thank you! I think so too.

I totally forgot about that truck. The inspiration for this truck is the opening scene beach "ORV Race" from "The Goonies" haha!


Man I can't tell you how much fun it is to drive and yeah I really need my tilt wheel conversion to be done because my large belly gets in the way of jumping in. My 5 yo forgot he was in a lifted truck the other night and stepped out into the abyss (gravel) face first and my 5-3 wife needs a hand getting in. In stock form the truck completely blended in, now it's breaking necks. My son Tanner is really stoked to drive it with the nice weather. He and I are both wanting the camper, I have a couple of camping trips this spring/summer and he needs space for baseball gear. I don't think it will be permanent though.