Out of the Ditch = The Rebuild Begins ('72 GMC)

[swamp rat]

Just a thought, if the rear sections of the frame have the original bumper mount holes and they are not bent up or cracked it may be a good idea to cut them off about a foot back and save them, i have seen people asking for them on occasion on the parts for sale threads.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking great, I can't wait to get rolling on mine

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Just a thought, if the rear sections of the frame have the original bumper mount holes and they are not bent up or cracked it may be a good idea to cut them off about a foot back and save them, i have seen people asking for them on occasion on the parts for sale threads.

I'll have to remember to check those. If they are in decent shape I'll hang on to 'em. The front part of the frame is already gone to the scrap heap. I still have the front crossmember. But that's going this weekend if nobody around these parts comes and picks it up.

Gary

[GASoline71]

The bed made it's way off the old frame over the weekend. Also the rest of the frame got hacked up to haul to the scrap heap.

I dig the spot on the front of the bed where the build sheet was taped from the factory as it rolled through the assembly line. I'm assuming the shot of white paint was to show that it was gonna have a white top. There is also a "painter's mark" on the passenger side. Cool what you find on these old rigs when you blow them apart.

Also had to break out the cheater bar for some "persuasion" on the front spring eye bolts. The rears were pretty easy since I had installed drop shackles in the past.

Gary

[swamp rat]

Updates??

[Trixxterr]

Wow, inspiring. Subd.

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Updates??

Thanks for the bump Swampy...

Made progress over the last couple of days. Got almost all of the Stainless Steel brake lines installed into the rig. The kit was originally installed in the '72 with a leaf sprung rear end. So I had to do some modifications to the lines and the brake hose tabs. I remounted the CPP power brake booster, M/C and prop valve to mock up the lines.

I had to move the brake hose tabs from the rear of the 1969 front crossmember to the front of the crossmember to accommodate the 1972 brake lines that go out to the calipers. So before I scrapped the 1972 frame I had robbed it of the tabs to weld onto the 1969.

I also had to get creative for the rear brake lines as I still wanted to use the 1972 brake lines but the 1969 hose tab was in a completely different location. So I cut the tab off of the axle tube and then welded it onto the 1972 bracket that held the brass fitting that the lines for the drums screwed into.

Now th long brake line that runs along the frame to the rear was way too long, so I had to cut it shorter, bend a 90 in it, and then double flare the end to fit into the stock 1969 frame mount location.

So a little fab work and some patience and I got all the brake lines in. Now the engine and transmission will slide in between the frame rails very soon. I'd like to leave them out while I do all the cutting on the cab for rust removal, but I'm strapped for space, and I've been tripping over the engine and tranny since I removed them.

So it's been a great couple of days!

Gary

[GASoline71]

Couple more pics...

Gary

[Hawghauler]

Looks good! I'm glad to see you making good progress.
I had the same issues with my '72 crossmember into a '67. Worked out great
though, and couldn't be happier with the upgrades. I also used a '72 rearend to complete the 5 lug conversion and to be able to achieve highway speeds.
So I'm happy to see you're progress.

[Hawghauler]

Cool diff cover btw. Are you going to make a custom panhard bar to clear it?
That's my plan when I finally get time. I already have the heim joints, just need to get time to do it. Soon!

[swamp rat]

If possible and speaking from my experience, if you are going to be replacing any floor along with the rockers i would advise you to not install the engine and tranny until your welded, primed, seam sealed and painted in the bottom. I'm still scratching my head on how to deal with painting past the frame, exhaust ect..

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by Hawghauler

Cool diff cover btw. Are you going to make a custom panhard bar to clear it?
That's my plan when I finally get time. I already have the heim joints, just need to get time to do it. Soon!

Thanks! The stock panhard bar clears the cover just fine. But Since I lowered the rear 4" I need to get an adjustable rod. Not sure if they are fatter than the stock bar. If they are, I might run into clearance issues then.

Originally Posted by swamp rat

If possible and speaking from my experience, if you are going to be replacing any floor along with the rockers i would advise you to not install the engine and tranny until your welded, primed, seam sealed and painted in the bottom. I'm still scratching my head on how to deal with painting past the frame, exhaust ect..

Well poop Swampy... I might just tear into the rust then instead of installing the engine and tranny. I should probably tighten down the cab mount bolts, since it's just sitting on the new mounts with the bolts finger tight.

Gary

[GASoline71]

Swampy, looking at the truck again today as I was crawling under it buttoning up the last few clips that hold the brake lines to the frame... everything I need to do to the cab, floorpan and rockers is outboard of the frame. Should be no problem priming, painting, and any sealer I need to use.

Gary

[swamp rat]

Ok, I found out after I started that I needed to do a partial floor pan and the front cab mount on the driver side, I had planned for the inner rocker, outer rocker and lower A pillar, turned out much more in depth than expected, I thought they were gonna be fine but one of my forum friends told me to get out a sharp ice pick and start testing any rusty or pitted areas.... Low and behold..

[GASoline71]

LOL...

Well poop again... Guess I'll get after it to see if some of the metal is bad beyond the frame rails. There is surface rust of course... but... it is an old GM truck... so I need to really check.

Rust never sleeps.

Gary

[GASoline71]

Cut the passenger side rocker panel off today. Was able to assess what a rusty hunk of junk I'm working with. LOL.

I only have one pic for now.

Gary

[Oly72C20]

Wow! I just read through your entire thread, and first off, glad you were ok after the accident! Second, glad to see another "local" on here and getting some great work done on your truck! I look forward to seeing it at some of the Northwest C10's meets and other shows! Like so many of the others have said, I too really like the black top with the medium green!

Joe

[GASoline71]

Thanks Oly! There are quite a few local PNW cats on here. It's pretty cool! I am planning on attending some shows and get togethers when she's runnin' again!

I have a few more pics of the rust from the passenger side rocker panel during and after removal.

Gary

[GASoline71]

The sheet metal fairy came!

I went over to Dreamers Rods & Pickups NW in Everett, WA and picked up a lot of tins to get the cab floor, kick panels, cab corners and rockers all fixed up.

Time to get after it!

Some of the metal in the floor is a tad pitted in some spots, but there is still good metal until about 2" from the edge of the inner rocker. I bought the front cab floorboards just in case it gets a little hairy in there and I need more metal. If I don't use them, they will be up for grabs here in the local WA North Puget Sound area.

Gary

[swamp rat]

My rust repair is only about half done but follow the link in my sig and read back about 5 or so pages from the last page and get a look at how i did mine. Now that one side is done of i had to replace the whole forward mount i'd probably see about drilling out the spot welds on the inner support rail from the bottom instead of attacking from the top like i did, if you can i'd see about replacing the mounts first before cutting out the rest of the rust, by doing so will help keep the rest of the floor and repair in alignment, once the support is welded into any metal not being replaced and then the holes transferred at the A pillar.. Then cut out the A pillar and fit up the new one and transfer the holes from the cab support to it, but don't weld it in yet until the rest of the panels are all fitted.

Oh, keep in mind that cutting the A pillar where the top of the outer rocker attaches keeps your cuttoff wheel a safe distance away from the door nut plate and cage.

I highly recommend taking measurements of the door opening and mark the location of the measurements for reference, i'm also a firm believer in welding in some support structure to hold the openings in alignment

[GASoline71]

Thanks Swampy! Great job on the patch panels in your rig! I'm not going near as deep as you did into the floor pans. I bought the larger toe pieces "just in case", but so far I am only needing to take out about 2" to 4" out of the inner rocker and floor. The "outer floor and inner rocker" panel I bought is probably gonna do the trick. I have a lot of surface rust that I will treat with Rust Mort and then primer over once I'm done welding.

I took a LOT of measurements and cut the door pillar and kick panel out last night. There will be pics later on.

Gary

[GASoline71]

Score! Finally found a drivers side front fender! Been looking all over hell and back for a GMC font fender in decent shape. I got more than I could ask for as this one has NO rust, just a couple small fixable dings. I had to make a 3 hour round trip for it, but it was worth it!

Gary

[kehstr]

Fixing rust always sucks, that is the big hold up for my truck! Score on the fender, gmc fenders are a lot harder to find than chevy, especially in good rust free fixable condition like ours

[swamp rat]

I don't know if you have used this type of stripper but i have one similar, its dark grey or charcoal in color, and a 3" dia, i think it works super on taking paint off of sheet metal, i think i got mine at Ace hardware..

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Black-Ro...ing+disc&psc=1

I also have one on my 4.5" grinder but its super agressive.

[GASoline71]

Those look like they will work pretty slick. I need something better than what I've been using on my mini disc sander. Those look like they fit the small disc

Thanks for your suggestions on this thread! All help and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Gary