My Luxurious late model truck (not so much)

[Woogeroo]

That's a lot of fancy stuff on that there late model contraption...

-W

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by hartbraker

Kevin,

I'd hate to sit here and tell you I'm going to steal your wheel tire combo... but good golly miss molly does that just look too right on there. I have the EXACT truck.... kinda. It's a White 1999 GMC HD 2500 standard cab long bed big block with only 74,000 original miles.

I already picked up a set of pitted Ohio PYO's off an 07' but wanted to verify with you that the tires fit the stock ride height for our trucks with NO rubbing issues. Cannot stand when tires rub.

I absolutely love your approach to this truck and envy the condition of you guys starting points for trucks down south. I've followed this thread, the stepside, and the flat bed since day one. I absolutely love what you did with the flat bed, but I have to admit... I've always been a square body guy first, but this round body is really starting to come around. I absolutely love it, great work and I'll be following through to the end.

Its a good combination. Everything fits and clears just fine. I actually used the late model lugnuts that came with the PY0 wheels, but they're identical to the original lugnuts other than being in better shape due to being 12 years newer. To mount the early center caps on the late wheels I had to rob the plastic lugnut caps from the late model center caps. The early lugnut caps didn't reach deep enough to grab the lugnuts when mounted on the PY0 wheels.

Originally Posted by aggie91

Dang nice work for a full day. The end result is a truck that looks good with the new wheels/tires and now has a good rebuilt leak free driveline.

Are you going to redo the front brakes/wheel bearings & seals too?

The front brakes looked good when I had the wheels off yesterday. I will definitely be putting three new rubber brake hoses on shortly, but otherwise all looked solid. These trucks use a sealed bearing/hub assembly on the front. It's not serviceable, just replace when they fail. I looked them up and the price is high enough that I'm gonna see how long these will serve me before replacement. The truck has some new front end parts on it when I got it, tie rod ends, idler arm, ball joints and one axle.

Originally Posted by Woogeroo

That's a lot of fancy stuff on that there late model contraption...

-W

I know it. Every since I got a telephone and inside bathroom I've been feeling fancy. Next thing you know, I'll be wearing new overalls and shoes both, at the same time.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I know it. Every since I got a telephone and inside bathroom I've been feeling fancy. Next thing you know, I'll be wearing new overalls and shoes both, at the same time.

Hide your mothers & daughters.....

[likaroc13]

Nice work on the rear end, & great tutorial as somebody else mentioned. I too like the looks of your wheel/tire choice on there.

[tommyd241]

Nice work! Truck looks great!

[Enginebuilder]

This truck has already undergone quite a transformation, and I expect that by the time all is said and 'done', its previous owner wouldn't even recognize it.

Nice job!

I'll be very interested to see what you come up with for the grill/headlight rework.

[eldogg]

I've been off the forum lately, No C10 anymore and way too much work. I'm glad to see your putting your touch on the 4X4. Looks Great. The 255's are off the hook. I put 305/70/16 Mickey Thompson ATZ radials on my wife's K2500 LWB and thought I had nailed it, but it may get some 255's next time. Thanks for posting the whole thing. Your a serious motivator.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Check the seat off of the project list. It's all finished now.

First, Valerie used her little carpet cleaner machine to do over the entire thing. That helped a lot. There was one seam where the driver slides in and out that had started to separate so she got some matching thread and sewed it up. I didn't take any pictures of it because the finished product is invisible to the eye.

Then, you guys have followed the adventure in refinishing the wood parts. Again, Keith helped me with a good game plan. I will say though, this morning I wasn't totally happy with the finish so I nibbed it down with 320 paper and hit it with one more coat. That did the trick to my eyes. Now I'm happy.

On my way home this morning I stopped by the upholstery supply house. I've used this place periodically for 20 years now. Its a mystery to me why more folks don't know about them. Anyone in DFW area that needs upholstery stuff, let me know and I'll get you directions over there. To describe the selection as vast does them a disservice. Those rows are very long and very tall. Notice these are rows J and I. That's about halfway down the building. Do your ABC's and try to grasp a row like this for each letter. Huge. It boggles me to try and grasp their selection.







Leather hide section. They also have a full selection of tools, supplies, SEM vinyl dyes and hardware.

Name & location of this place?

[Tx Firefighter]

Larry Dennis Company in Haltom City. Right on Airport Freeway.

http://www.larriydennis.com

[tune_1]

kevin
Like what you have done and really appreciate the effort in posting all of the work and reasons for your choices.

thanks
Dwight

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Larry Dennis Company in Haltom City. Right on Airport Freeway.

http://www.larriydennis.com

Thanks brother.

[Tx Firefighter]

I kind of put the cart in front of the horse here.

With my nice interior pieces all meticulously installed, I decided to poke around behind the dash to get the game plan for installing a stereo head unit. The more I looked, the more I didn't like what I saw.

So, cart before the horse, I took a bunch of the dash apart and have some hard core cleaning to do in the near future.









So, I'm looking at vacuuming, cleaning, wiring repair, bulb replacement, hardware detailing, stereo install and whatever else pops up along the way. I just can't stand to call a truck my own until I've personally put hands on every single square inch to get the previous owner's funk removed. And there's plenty to remove here.

[flashed]

Thats a little grungy but I bet you will have it done before I find the time to change my oil .

[aggie91]

Its amazing how dirty the interior can get behind all those panels. I agree, you got to get it clean to realy know what you have. Looks like you get to do a good cleaning this Father's Day weekend.

[Tx Firefighter]

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do to perk up the front end of this truck. Maybe a grille swap to the chrome one or something.

My crap is haggard. Old picture, but it hasn't gotten any prettier in the last few months.



Mainly it's just faded and dull. The grille is solid and not broken.





But, for some reason I just can't get excited about the front end swap. Fact is, these big sealed beams are about the best headlights put into these trucks. They don't get foggy like composites since they're glass. Plus, it kind of has a rugged look. And, the grille swap to either quad sealed beam 88-89 or composite 90-up units requires wiring mods with different plugs too.

Then I ran across this picture on here. Stolen picture....



I kind of illustrates to me that this front end can look decent when its in good condition. I'm really thinking about hitting my local Certifit warehouse and picking up fresh lenses for mine, a couple of cans of paint (argent and black) and freshening up my current setup. I figure with new lenses and the paint and tape I'd be into it 30 bucks.

[flashed]

I think it will look nice with a fresh coat of paint and new lenses .

[Primered_69]

The dog makes the thread but what about Rose?

[aggie91]

I would redo the grill you have. I think it is a better look for a 4wd work truck. You already are making the changes to the inside to make it nice and comfortable. Just keep it low dollar, but high in the detail like the rest you have been doing.

If it ain't broke...detail it!

[Stoney]

I'll bet the grille is already out sanded and ready for paint.

[Palf70Step]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

I
But, for some reason I just can't get excited about the front end swap. Fact is, these big sealed beams are about the best headlights put into these trucks. They don't get foggy like composites since they're glass. Plus, it kind of has a rugged look. And, the grille swap to either quad sealed beam 88-89 or composite 90-up units requires wiring mods with different plugs too.

Then I ran across this picture on here. Stolen picture....



I kind of illustrates to me that this front end can look decent when its in good condition. I'm really thinking about hitting my local Certifit warehouse and picking up fresh lenses for mine, a couple of cans of paint (argent and black) and freshening up my current setup. I figure with new lenses and the paint and tape I'd be into it 30 bucks.

I personally have always preferred the single headlight look of these trucks even more than the the 95-98 dual headlight GMC grill.

[Tx Firefighter]

I went to Certifit and they couldn't help me. I needed four lenses, two amber corner lenses and two clear turn signal lenses. All of the TS lenses they had on hand were cracked. I wound up having to come home and have Valerie order me some TYC ones from Amazon. I also got some interior tidbits ordered, some underhood stuff I need, and some stereo stuff I need. Lots of good stuff coming. Not too much money but lots of items. I love that Amazon free 2 day shipping.

I'm gonna be tied up tomorrow, but after that I'll dig into refreshing the grille and cleaning and detailing the dash stuff. With fresh paint and lenses, the grille ought to look a lot better.

[Tx Firefighter]

Well I was losing sleep over the grungy dash stuff.

You wouldn't have respected me if I didn't. Before I can sleep well, every wiring harness has to be cleaned and inspected. Everything behind the dash has to be fussed over. All screws and clips. Everything clean, clean, clean.

So I ripped it all out. .



There are standing piles of dirt on every flat surface.

[imjeff]

I knew it would come all the way apart! I, too, am riddled with a bunch of OCD and frequently end up six layers deeper than originally intended. And no, I don't care that no one will see it! Great job Kevin, as always!

Jeff

[Palf70Step]

[Tx Firefighter]

I wound up cleaning everything spotless or nearly so with Valerie's little mini shop vac and brush. Then I dyed the dash with SEM dye. That stuff is sure expensive, but well worth the money. It's not you're usual parts store Duplicolor stuff. Then Valerie helped me get the dash carefully back in place. The dash was in okay shape, but when I got it on sawhorses, there was noticeable fading and dis coloring in the topside. Hence the dye job.

The phone pics aren't showing it too well. In real life its slick and beautiful.





There's a whole lot of stuff going on behind that dash so two sets of hands putting it back into place was welcomed. You've got to snake the wiring harnesses just so and install the ducting afterward, then slip it all up into place.

I'm currently out of dye. I need one more can to finish with the glove box door and ashtray. I also need a radio. Progress is gonna slow for a week or so till I can scrape up some more cash. I do have dash speakers ordered along with my grille stuff. That all shows delivery this week.

I also removed the grille and will take it to the station with me tomorrow to begin sanding and painting it.