the truck

OK, had an hour or so to mess with the truck real quick. I pulled the bench, and farme so I could get to the gas tank, it's pulled out and unstraaped, just waiting to get my truck back to take it to a local rad shop and have it cleaned.

Next I pulled the vavle cover quiuck, and nothing is obviousily fubared, lots of gunk and build up, but seems "OK"

 

Those motors run forever. If you can get it to turn it can be made to run. It might not run well, but unless something is broken inside you just need to remember the basics, fuel, timing, compression and spark.

Chevrolet made three bed lengths in the era of this truck. Each was used exclusively on only one size truck. The short beds are on 1/2-tons, the most common long box is a 3/4-ton and the 1-ton had either a flatbed or a 9 foot bed.

GMC had the same three lengths. However, GMC offered the long bed on 1/2-ton pickups in addition to 3/4-ton pickups.

If you are serious about making this thing run soon you really should run over to the forums on oldGMCtrucks.com. You will find lots of knowledgable and helpful experts over there.

But also check every old truck message board you can find. People often give away these motors in good running condition and you might find one local that is ready to go.

www.OldGMCtrucks.com and www.Stovebolt.com are the places to start.

 

been to both, and they're both a great help, and thanks, it looks like this thing will turn over again with a little elbow grease

on a sadder note, I work my ass off, pay my way through school (minus financial aid), pay car insurance and bought the beater Mazda and then the 1949 with my own cash. I had been saving money all summer to pay for books and bills over the school year as I don't work as much. And had a jug I collected change and some singles in that was devoted directly to the GMC. A guess.... 500+ bucks, well tongith I came home from work, and somebody had broken into my appartment, guys downstairs appartment didn't hear a thing and the money's all gone. I've down about a 1/4 bottle of jack so far and have no idea what I'm gonna do, I thank all you guys for the help so far, but looks like work is gonna be postponed til I know if I can pay school, books, and bills and see if there's anything left over. Just when i had come up with a REALLY great plan for her and finalized it, always a firm believer in shit happens for a reason, and u gotta take it for what it is... no one was hurt, they didn't stick around long enough to take much else (think I came home and scared them off), and tomorrows another day

bottoms up

 

That fucking sucks Charlie. Sorry you got hit. It's getting hot for break-ins in town. I just heard two girls in town were hit tonight, and they were hit TWICE before this same week.

I'll buy ya' a beer or two this weekend. Then we'll see if we can bring that thing back to life.

 

I've always been the type for the revenge or pay back that they NEVER forget, I know karma's a bitch and they'll get theirs, but I really hope they come back or I cross paths with them, cause I won't kill them, or put them in the hospital, thats too easy, I'll just make sure i disfigure them in some way, some horifying, obvious way, that everyday when they look at themselves, they'll think of my face and what I did to them

that's jersey

 

more better news, in my drunken, sitting up all night, I realized my digital camera and Ipod are both gone too, a detective's hopefully coming over later on to see if they can't get any prints, we'll see though, day keeps getting better, I'll see you guys early tomorrow in Asbury

 

OK better news, I ripped the whole front sheet metal off to get to the engine, she spins, a little tight, but nothing bad, the diesel/marvel/brakefluid mixture seems to have done the trick, I'm washing the engine bay today and cleaning out the gas tank, and then I'll start with rewiring the engine, it's starting to look up. Only probalem, like everything else, I start into it and I realize, I probably need working brakes before an engine, HAHAHA, oh well, one thing at a time

 

What was learned today..... you never have enough hose trying to reach and clean out the engine bay, the wiring is always 50 times more F'ed than you thought, and cleaning out a gas tank is a bitch no matter how you slice it..

TECH tip, if you use the glass beads method to clean out the tank go to a local craft store, and they have glass beads that are shaped like tumbled rock, weird shaped, no real flat surfaces, get about 5 or 6 packages (about a buck-1.30 a piece) and dumb them in, rock it around, twist, turn, shake, when your arms get tired, do it some more, for some reason, their shape, whatever, the varnished gas and rust are just attracted to them, and they get covvered, but round marble ones, don't work for Shit

I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep this tank or not so I didn't go all out, but on the tank I keep, I'll do the tumbled-rock shaped glass beads, then diluted muriatic acid, followed by baking soda to neutralize it (be careful to only do this a little at a time as, this neutralization process is exothermic and will give off heat) AKA bad for a gas tank, let it dry out, and then seal using either eastwood or POR15 product. Reason I will do this, is the beads seem to really break up the surface rust and larger varnish, the muriatic acid will give you a cleaned metals surface, and then the sealer will give you a tank that should last you as long as the car.

 

Alright guys as if my amazing luck for this month needs to get an better, I think the rear axle in the mazda's done. So now the daily driver's out of comission, 'm gonna see if I can't work on it all day and get it back up and running, but thought I'd give youguys a good laugh, that my 57 yr old GMC will probably be more reliable than my 19 yr old daily driver, HAHAHA

Rodwerkz, mike47,and repoman, don;t think your getting outta being stuck introducing me to ppl and dealing with my shit in NYC, I'll get there no matter what, but your asses better have a whole SHITLOAD of beers waiting for me to drink this past couple weeks away

 

Just came across this thread, and I'm glad you've rebounded somewhat from your break-in, and continued to work on your truck. Sounds like you have a great project on your hands. Good luck, and welcome to the HAMB.

 

Funny shit aint it, my Hotrod is more dependable and trustworthy than my 86 chev POS pickup. My wife actually felt better about me driving the hotrod to asbury than my pickup to aberdeen to pick up my lathe earlier that day...

C-ya in NYC.. Hope you make it..

No luck on the rear in our junkie but my brother-in-law is calling around.. Unfortunately you don't see to many of em around.. Plus with scrap prices so high there isn't much that doesn't get scrapped up here in north jers.

 

on the project note.. if i was gonna try to do a swap i'd go for a front clip before a frame swap... Frame swaps are alot of work, and even more work for it to come out decent.

 

Yeah man, I'm all for NYC still, I've done alleycats (messenger style bike races) and valeted in the rain, I love it, just gotta talk the girlfriend into coming along

on truck note, got her towed home today, guy who towed it back has a 65 buick that he's been working on, cutest daughter ever too was with him for the ride, then me and the girl took a ride to PA about 45 min drive and I picked up a rear for 100 bucks, gonna try to put it in in the next day or two, for now, gonna borrow a ride from pops. See you guys tomorrow

 

Ok, little update, started to look into the wiring a little bit while I'm waiting for the tank to dry out and get some spare time, and quickly realize it's a mess! wires splied into each other, switches color 4 times along the length, routed past the headers, and exposed wiring where the sheaths have worn through, fire waiting to happen, so I ripped it all out, ran to the store, picked up a bunch of wire and am gonna start rewiring the whole thing this week, also ordered a camera, so hopefully will post some pics soon too

 

Been a while, but thought I'd update, Mazda's back togethers, had some money/health problems with my girl that i had to take care of, so haven't done much to the GMC, but my girlfriend's father has been builing his new shop and have been helping him over there, 40x40 building, concrete slab pouring, and ceiling laid, the next two weeks will have R30 insulation blown into the roof, the OK from inspector, insulation on the walls and electrical run. BUT I did spend my anniversary, not with my girl (HAHA) she was working, but picking up my $150 Chevy S-15 with her father to use for my "S10 swap". I'll get pics up as soon as I buy a new camera

The plan keep true to the chevy/gmc thing, build a reliable truck, and all the parts can be replaced at any local parts store, found that different touch I was looking for.... 89 chevy S15 standard cab. long bed frame, 5.3 liter gen 3 chevy motor w/ 4L60E trans, smog delete, headers, cam, AC and heat, bravada BW 4472 all wheel drive transfer case and cross member, 8.5" 10 bolt limited slip disc brake rear, bravada front diff, knuckles out from a 98+ blazer gives dual piston front brakes, blazer gas tank (goes behind rear axle, better weight distribution), low mean parts runner/shop truck, should give me some mean acceleration, and still some pretty good gas mileage

thats til it's "too slow" and I start researching the twin turbos, HAHA I'm already designing, throwing ideas around for a ford tudor like you've never seen before