68 GMC Project Tommy

[CParnell]

25 years ago my grandparents gave me this truck. Even at a young age I loved fixing things and they must have figured this was a good outlet for it. She has some good war wounds, but she worked hard as a farm truck. Life got in the way and even though I always found time to go and visit my grandparents and the truck I didn't have the means to do anything with it. Well some time has past and I finally have the time/money to make this dream finally come true. This isn't going to be a fast build but I hope you will enjoy it. Plans are to keep the six if it isn't cracked and add a procharger and some other fun bits. For now enjoy the pictures.

That's me in the back of the truck with my brother in tow about the time I got the truck.


And on the trip home from the farm.




And the progress today. Also it is almost exactly 25 years to the day that I got the truck.







I'm keeping the end of the box for a shop seat like I have seen on here.

[Hardesty454]

Good lookin truck. What are the main plans? Make sure to not bite off too much. Most get bored and quit that way. :/

[CParnell]

The current drivetrain plan is to run the 6 if it's not cracked. With that I would like to run a small Procharger for about 15 pounds of boost. There is also a couple aluminum heads I'm looking at along with EFI. I would then back that up with a Holinger SMG transmission.

If the 6 is actually broke then It will be an LS7 and T-56 combo.

Haven't decided on a colour yet. White or blue just dunno. Will lower it some and run 18's. I have a million other ideas but It depends on which engine is under the hood. I will be keeping it 68 GMC though and getting copies of the 910 badges from the original truck made.

[thelonerife]

Nice project!

[CParnell]

[Hardesty454]

Nice plans! Hope you got the spare coin if that I-6 is busted. Ls7/t56 ain't cheap!!!

[BigDaddyV]

Nice truck and start, I would love to see the procharged 6 rollin! Rock on, I'll follow along

[Cash3481]

Love seeing GMCs stay on the road. And that red is a bonus. I just sold that exact same colored 68 GMC to a friend. Good luck with the build as you have a great clean truck to start with for sure.

Mike

[CParnell]

More progress today. The six is looking good so far no visible cracks or breaks. Found all my seat foam. Most was in the heater, but some unlucky bastard of a mouse made a nest in the clutch. It didn't end well for them.








And the assistant sleeping on the job.

[SuperC10Tex]

Good start to a 4-eyed !!! Keep the pics coming.......

[CParnell]

Well I got the cab gutted today and pulled it off the frame. Not much left to take apart. What's the best way to remove the frame rivets?

[SuperC10Tex]

Looking good, keep the pics coming!!!

[BigDaddyV]

Looking Good!
as far as the rivits, Cut an X in the top of it with a grinder and use a chisel to knock them loose, or you could try a hammer chisel if you have one handy.

[CParnell]

So I stripped the engine down today. The amount of crap in the bottom of the pan was shocking. I had fun taking it apart, I have built a few engines before but no inline sixes. Dropped it off at my machinist to get cleaned, check for cracks and let me know how much needs to be cut to get the bores back in shape.

[Molberg]

Nice start!... sub'd

[BigDaddyV]

Please share what you learn, I've built every V8 I can think of but never a I6 either. Keep up the good work

[mcbassin]

Looks like a nice project. That cab also looks to be pretty solid. subscribed.

[CParnell]

Well 6 days all on my own and the major disassembly work is done. Next stop is shortening the frame.





Engine is at the machinist and the cab is crated up to take to the body man. Everything is going faster than I thought it would.

[gdavis]

Originally Posted by CParnell

Well I got the cab gutted today and pulled it off the frame. Not much left to take apart. What's the best way to remove the frame rivets?

cut a X on the top of the rivets with a die grinder with a thin blade. Then take a chestle and knock the tops off of the rivet and then drive the rivet with a punch. It will come out real easy. Are you going to put a standard trans mission back in the truck. If not then you will want to remove the cross member where the transmission was bolted to. It will be in the way for the automatic transmission. the cross member will be right in the middle of the transmission pan. Just a little advice. I already crossed that bridge.

[CParnell]

Had a tough time getting up the nerve to do this next bit.

I looked this thread over and took the plunge. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=123624

I think I would have hesitated less cutting a finger off than chopping into what is really a family member not a truck.





Had to take a breather after that one.


Kinda through it together to get a look.

[CParnell]

Also got news today about the 250. After nearly half a million miles it's too worn out to be used. Kinda sad.

So I was thinking about what to do and decided I didn't really want to build an LS based engine. So I had this lying around and thought why not. Will change things a bit and it's gonna be different for sure.

455 Olds

[BigDaddyV]

I was holding my breath as I went threw the cut pics...
and when I got to the second section removal, my heart dropped til
I realized you had the back half flipped over.... LOL, (its to dang early)
Awesome work! Looking forward to seeing that Olds engine runnin!

[CParnell]

So a few things have changed again. I really need to nail down a plan so I don't spend too much.

I have decided to keep the 455 for my 74 cutlass. I picked up a new straight six. I wanted to keep it 6 cylinder like when I got the truck but I wanted it to be more modern. So I picked up a 4.2L Atlas engine. I stripped a bunch of it today, it's very different from the engines I have built in the past and I'm looking forward to building it. Will have to go turbo on this one for sure.

The 455 and the original 250 six.


And the new 4.2L Atlas.

[CParnell]

I dug a little deeper into the Atlas today and I thought you might like to see what it looks like.

[mcbassin]

Very nice job on the frame. You made it look too easy