86 GMC squarebody, my introduction to bodywork.

[superj]

that body style you are converting it to is the best one. i had a 79 step side heavy half gmc and loved it. it didn;t look as good as the ford step sides from back in the day but ti still looked awesome. and the gmc is way better than any stupid chevy, ha ha ha.

 

[Blmpkn]

that body style you are converting it to is the best one. i had a 79 step side heavy half gmc and loved it. it didn;t look as good as the ford step sides from back in the day but ti still looked awesome. and the gmc is way better than any stupid chevy, ha ha ha.

2nd best looking gm truck IMO besides the early 60s apaches. Definitely have a soft spot for the old ford's but I'll never be able to afford one. There's 10x the old gms up here as old fords.

 

[superj]

Same here. This close to Mexico means they are everywhere since Chevy is the national truck of mexico.

I am not sure if it really is but that's all I see when I go across. Chevy trucks and air cooled vws

 

[Blmpkn]

Same here. This close to Mexico means they are everywhere since Chevy is the national truck of mexico.

I am not sure if it really is but that's all I see when I go across. Chevy trucks and air cooled vws

Send some of those rust free trucks my way lol.



Got the front clip unbolted and ready to pull yesterday since it was so nice out. I find it crazy that the whole front end & cab are held to the frame by 6 bolts lol.

I also scored an oem 73-74 GMC grille on ebay

Nice enough condition for what I paid for it. It'll probably just end up truck bed coated to hide the imperfections and match the rest of the truck. Building a driver.. not a show truck so.. good enough!

 

[scotts90ranger]

Those little regular cabs aren't bad with only 6 bolts, the same amount of bolts hold the cab onto a OBS ford crew cab... 4 bolts into the cab and two into the core support...

That grille doesn't look too bad

 

[Blmpkn]

Those little regular cabs aren't bad with only 6 bolts, the same amount of bolts hold the cab onto a OBS ford crew cab... 4 bolts into the cab and two into the core support...

That grille doesn't look too bad

I'm relatively sure the gm crew cabs are only held on by 4 bolts too lol.

I'm happy with the grille for sure. One bar is broken right above the M.. but im sure that's easily enough fixed.

Unbroken ones go for 400ish on ebay, I "only" spent 170 on mine.. with another 50$ for shipping.

I just really didn't want to have to use one of the badgeless repops. Nobody even makes a badgeless 73-74 grille.. just the ugly 75+ style..

Kind of related... nobody makes a repop 60's "cat eye" hood for the gm trucks like what came on the apache.. I find that pretty crazy too. Thats the hood everyone lusts over for that generation.. someone's missing out on making quite a bit of money.

 

[Blmpkn]

Engaged In some super sketchy one-man bed removal today lol.

Used the spinning wheel of death to cut the tops of the bed bolts off and then gave it a good jacking off.

There aren't too many spots that are going to need much fixing, which is awesome. I'm planning on coating the frame with corroseal once I have my repairs done.

 

[Blmpkn]

Little taste of the bodywork needed lol.

 

[Ranger850]

I'm just glad to see somebody else with a work space like mine, no walls or ceilings to confine my creativity.

 

[Blmpkn]

I'm just glad to see somebody else with a work space like mine, no walls or ceilings to confine my creativity.

All about that natural light lol. Way better than fluorescent or led once the bugs come out I find a garage to work in though

 

[Blmpkn]

Rad support finally showed up, genuine Chung fu ching! Nice!

 

[Blmpkn]

Got my inner fenders scuffed, scratches primed, and the top sides coated.

One can of herculiner was good for 3 coats on the top of an inner fender. Need to grab a couple more cans to do the bottoms. I like how the herculiner sprayed and the texture when dry, time will tell how it holds up.

My plan is to also do the radiator support and firewall with herculiner.

 

[Blmpkn]

Got the bottom side of the inner fenders primed & coated today.

Plan for next weekend is to do the same to the rad support.

I found a guy willing to sell me a dana 60 front and a full floating 14 bolt rear for 600$.. hopefully go pick those up by the end of the month. Not sure what the gearing is... but probably lower than the 3.42s in my current axles lol.

 

[Blmpkn]

Stopped by hazard fraught and spent some money at work today just need a bottle and some patch panels and I'm good to go

 

[scotts90ranger]

That should weld like my Mig 170 or whatever on 110V, I'm sure you'll be happy. I haven't gotten a bottle for mine yet as I'm still on flux core (would recommend a bottle for body work) but it is butter smooth... I would check the settings on some scrap, might need more or less.