Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

one of the first things that had to go was the ugly heavy duty (nothing wrong with) rear bumper. think of this, this way, Rusty was a long time hard working race winning thoroughbred, who has now earned the right to retire on the green pastures and enjoy the easy life (hardest gig he'll ever have is fetching a Christmas tree for us once a year, hee hee)

Umm yeah, I pretty much broke all four big bolts holding on that heavy beast to get it off, I didn't know I had it in me, that type of super human strength (what's that you can clearly see the cheater bar in the pictures, nah)

[Gregski]

if you suffer from being anal like I do, then you will clearly understand why a CHEVROLET tailgate does not belong on a GMC, lol

so it had to go too, man taking things off is so much fun, I once took a '68 Mustang completely apart, but heck that's a different thread all together (and yes it's out there on the InterWebs somewhere)

[Gregski]

why do we call em Valve Covers when the valves don't even live in there well their tails do but anyways, the manual calls em Rocker Covers

these had to be the crusties lids I have ever worked on / with, not too crazy about the gloss black finish but hey that's what I had, I may scuff em up and reshoot them with Semi Flat, we'll see

yeah I forgot to paint the filler cap ok, the devil's in the details, must have been a Monday Night Football night, LOL

no flippin idea why that one pic comes up upside down, guess you can just turn your head to see em, jk

[Gregski]

if you look closely at the original pics you will notice that Rusty was a three legged dog, the front right wheel is a spare and does not match the other three Jackman style wagon wheels, so I found a close enough match (believe it or not the guy had THREE wheels for sale, LOL and I talked him into selling me one and using the other two for a trailer project - win / win)

started with a wire wheel to clean up the rust, then some sand paper to scuff it up, and had to use etching primer on this chrome wheel and decided to go with Semi Flat black, really like how it turned out, gonna paint one wheel each weekend and allow it a week to cure before lugging it back up to the truck

had the new tire mounted before painting so they won't scuff up the new paint job, the white garbage bags are taped around the brand new tire and NOT the old jacked up one, not sure why they make it look flat but it's fully inflated must be the camera angle, that's all

lemme know what you think? do you like the black better than the white?

[El Dorado Jim]

Originally Posted by Gregski

why do we call em Valve Covers when the valves don't even live in there well their tails do but anyways, the manual calls em Rocker Covers

these had to be the crusties lids I have ever worked on / with, not too crazy about the gloss black finish but hey that's what I had, I may scuff em up and reshoot them with Semi Flat, we'll see

yeah I forgot to paint the filler cap ok, the devil's in the details, must have been a Monday Night Football night, LOL

no flippin idea why that one pic comes up upside down, guess you can just turn your head to see em, jk

keep em chevy orange!

[Woodyboat]

Originally Posted by Gregski

if you suffer from being anal like I do, then you will clearly understand why a CHEVROLET tailgate does not belong on a GMC, lol

That's funny! I guess I'm completely the opposite 'cause it wouldn't bother me at all. I've been searching for a replacement tailgate, too. I've been checking the inventories of several pull your own junkyards around here and, finally, a GMC square body showed up at one of the locals. I cruised over there to see if the tailgate was there and would it be in good enough condition. Sure enough, it has an excellent tailgate. I scored it and all the hardware for $45. I rushed home all excited and put that baby on my truck content that, at last, I didn't have to worry about stuff flying out the back.

Then, when I went to show it off to a friend, I noticed that it said "Chevrolet" on it. Yup, the junkyard had the truck listed wrong.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Woodyboat

That's funny! I guess I'm completely the opposite 'cause it wouldn't bother me at all. I've been searching for a replacement tailgate, too. I've been checking the inventories of several pull your own junkyards around here and, finally, a GMC square body showed up at one of the locals. I cruised over there to see if the tailgate was there and would it be in good enough condition. Sure enough, it has an excellent tailgate. I scored it and all the hardware for $45. I rushed home all excited and put that baby on my truck content that, at last, I didn't have to worry about stuff flying out the back.

Then, when I went to show it off to a friend, I noticed that it said "Chevrolet" on it. Yup, the junkyard had the truck listed wrong.

what a funny story, thank you for sharing and wow, $45 bucks for a tailgate with hardware, that is a great deal!

[68Timber]

Congrats on getting the engine/transmission upgrades done. Other than sorting out the engine temp issue do you have any other plans for the truck?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Congrats on getting the engine/transmission upgrades done. Other than sorting out the engine temp issue do you have any other plans for the truck?

tons still left to do, we are in year 2 of a 3 year upgrade plan, culminating in a POSI rear end, how fitting wouldn't you say

[y5mgisi]

Rock auto lists brand new flywheels for under $60. And complete clutch kits for as low as $80.

[Factory Guy]

Originally Posted by Gregski

one of the first things that had to go was the ugly heavy duty (nothing wrong with) rear bumper. think of this, this way, Rusty was a long time hard working race winning thoroughbred, who has now earned the right to retire on the green pastures and enjoy the easy life (hardest gig he'll ever have is fetching a Christmas tree for us once a year, hee hee)

Umm yeah, I pretty much broke all four big bolts holding on that heavy beast to get it off, I didn't know I had it in me, that type of super human strength (what's that you can clearly see the cheater bar in the pictures, nah)

Only bumper I have seen that matches mine!