New Heavy Chevy!

[Grit_dog]

454, Turbo 400, 4.10s....will be a towing and camper hauling beast!
It's even the "camper special."

[Grit_dog]

ppine wrote:
Great truck. It will do everything except drive past a gas station.

Yup. And apologize for the rude comment.
While OD would be nice. Extra nice with the 4.10s
But having a much more reliable Turbo 400 is heads and tails above the 700r4.
Although I sort of wish it had the 4L80 that used to be hooked to the Vortec big block that someone put under the hood.
It’s cleaner though being all original from the flex plate back.

[blofgren]

Thanks for the great update!

[ppine]

Great truck. It will do everything except drive past a gas station.

[Grit_dog]

And through all the parts removal and small repairs I’ve done to date, there has been ZERO rusted up or broken bolts! Literally all the hardware is in bags and can be reused.

[Grit_dog]

So I bought Tamco paint.
Supposedly as high quality as the big brand premium lines.
It’s a small family owned business. So far great service and EVERYTHING, 2.5gal primer, gallon of chassis paint, 2.5 gal sprayable base coat and 2 gal sprayable med solids clear was under $1000!!!!
With their one day annual 30% off sale (luck of the draw there).

And there’s only 1 small bondo spot on the whole truck currently which I saw when buying and it was also prior to the repaint 30 years ago, so it’s solid!
Windshield frame will require a little rust repair on 1 side thanks the holes from the visor....booo. But I have a guy cutting me out a cab A pillar and roof so I can use a good OEM skin and not have to “repair” the rusted area.

I have increased the number of holes to be welded up to 73 each now though.
People should lay off the goofy accessories!!

[Grit_dog]

Got going on paint prep.
Good and bad. Good in that it only has one thin coat of paint on it.
Bad in that, it appears to have had likely a warranty re-paint early in its life due to the typical 80s-90s paint issues. (Thanks EPA....). The exposed surfaces had been sanded to bare metal. Most of the black original primer gone, and re painted with this tan primer and paper thin paint job.
What I found is even though the paint has held on it for likely 30 years, it literally peels off of the tan primer.
So I’ve got about 8 hours and 15 razor blades into scraping the entire truck down to primer. Less than 5% of it is “bonded good”.

Awesome part is it will be laser straight and no “repaint” buildup. Can see the piles of paint peels on the hood!

[Grit_dog]

Kampfirekid wrote:
Nice truck! I thought by the title, I’d find one of those new abortions GM calls their Heavy Duty. Uuuuuugleeeee! Yours is timeless. The new one will be timeless, too, but only because they’ll need to change it in a year due to loss in sales. ??

Ya, no family truckster look going on here!

[Grit_dog]

ppine wrote:
I like the old trucks, but this one would qualify as functionally obsolete.
You could repower it with something much more fuel efficient and an overdrive trans with more gears.

Not unlike the person who is calling it functionally obsolete apparently. But thanks for taking a couple pot shots at it, through the course of this thread.
BTW, I think your old Powerstroke s ucks too, but have refrained from that until now.

However, you seem to be happy with your truck, so shut the ___ up about mine...
And if I want or need more power or fuel efficiency, there are 4 other sets of keys hanging by the door that can do that without "re=powering" this truck.

And Aside from the old Jeep, this is the LAST rig in the fleet I'd want to roadtrip or tow heavy with, even if I dropped in a LSx with a 6 speed.

[Kampfirekid]

Nice truck! I thought by the title, I’d find one of those new abortions GM calls their Heavy Duty. Uuuuuugleeeee! Yours is timeless. The new one will be timeless, too, but only because they’ll need to change it in a year due to loss in sales. ??

[ppine]

I like the old trucks, but this one would qualify as functionally obsolete.
You could repower it with something much more fuel efficient and an overdrive trans with more gears.

[Grit_dog]

camperdave wrote:
I grew up in a 1980 Sierra Classic that hauled us on many vacations with a 6 pac camper on it. Awesome truck. It was a 2wd, 350ci TH400 and sounded so mean. I loved driving that thing in high school, when my dad sold it I was devastated. But by then I was married with young kids in car seats and couldn't justify a single cab.

I’m 100% certain I would go broke towing or hauling anything with this truck!
It has a drinking problem!
I need to get the right speedo gear for it so the speed o meter is at least close to correct and then check mileage. Gut feeling after about 8 tanks of gas through it is that mileage is somewhere between very poor and an abomination.
Honestly expected a bit better, I think, even with 4.10s and big tires.
Couple things might be inordinately against it. I’m sure the front wheel bearings need serviced or replaced. And it has an Edelbrock carb, while I’m not a super saavy hot rod gasser person, couple guys in the know swear that Edelbrocks, while they work fine out of the box and are reliable, tend to suck more fuel and not provide the power that even a well tuned Quadra junk does or an appropriate Holley.

But that’s not a project for now.
Got fuel system cleaned up, fluids changed, it’s driving high n tight. Just itching to tear into it and do the bodywork/paint/interior. But that will require it going out of commission non op start to finish because it’s time consuming enough even if you do it in the right order, once only, with no wasted moves.

[Grit_dog]

ssthrd wrote:
My first truck was a 76 GMC half ton 2wd with a 454 and Turbo 400. I don't know what it had for a rear end, but the 1-2 shift came at 45mph. 50 after a beverage or two if left it in 1st and let it shift itself. Left a patch in second. Lol. The GVW was over 6000 lbs so it had no smog gear. From brand new, I had to put a quart of oil in it every 400 miles. No smoke, and it gave me 100,000 before I traded it in. Racer/mechanic friend told me I had a good one because it was built a bit on the loose side, and using a bit of oil was nothing to worry about. The tranny was bullit proof!

Loved that truck. Thanks for the memory.

I’m not sure if this one drinks oil. Runs good, no blue smoke and no leaks, but I added about 1.5 qts after only a couple hundred miles although I don’t recall the oil level when I bought it. 1500miles on last oil change based on sticker on windshield. Wouldn’t be surprised if it does. Recall as a kid (cause I remember things like this, lol) Dads 74 camper special 454 used oil......for many years. Engine still ran fine when sold just completely rusted away.

[Grit_dog]

^Sweet lookin dually!
Pretty sure the square body GMs are second only to 70s-93 Dodges for the longest running body/chassis style.

[hornet28]

I had this 85 GMC duallie for 5 yrs. Sold it 6 yrs ago. I had a 454 bored and stroked to 489", cowl induction hood, headers, 4spd w/Gear Vendor OD, and 4.56 gears. Was an Az. truck with an all original paint job. It even came with a sheet listing all the paint codes







In the mid 70's I also had a 75 Chevy 4wd, and a 76 Chevy crew cab. I kept the crew cab for 11 tears