65 Build

[jturk]

Hey everyone I am new to the forum and I am working on a 1965 GMC SWB fleetside. I've been working on ity for quite a while and am now pushing forward. I.ve got some pictures but haven't figued out how to attach them yet. Will do so once I figure it out. Look forward to comments and any help. Thanks.

[tommyduncan]

Look forward to seeing it. I don't see too many short bed GMCs for some reason...

[jturk]

I think I've figured out to add some pictures, so lets see how this works.683

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[jturk]

Hey Guys,
Have been working on the cab replacing the outer floors and rocker panels, also put some patch panels in the front fenders. I've never done much body work so the progress is slow and a real learning curve. I'm lucky that my brother ran his own body shop for years, so he's helped with a ton of questions. Here's a few pictures of the rocker panel and floor repairs. Later.

[jturk]

here's some shots of the truck with the cab and fenders installed. Also the front is lowered 4 inches and the rear 6 inches, has front disc brakes, power steering, 3.73 gears with a posi in the stock Dana 44. Currently working on getting a fuel tank to install in the rear. Will update when things progress a little further.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

here's some shots of the truck with the cab and fenders installed. Also the front is lowered 4 inches and the rear 6 inches, has front disc brakes, power steering, 3.73 gears with a posi in the stock Dana 44. Currently working on getting a fuel tank to install in the rear. Will update when things progress a little further.

Great looking truck! Subscribed to your thread :)

I envy that PS and 3.73 :woowoo:

The rocker panel job, how tough was that? Did it take days or just a few hours?

Cant wait to see the next pics. :goodluck:

[jturk]

FetchMeAPepsi,
Appreciate your kudos on the truck. I had some serious medical problems a while back, but I am really good now. This caused a major delay in the rebuild, but now I've started again and am having a ball working on it. As far as the rocker replacement it took me about 3 days per side, but remember I'm a real novice at body repair and am still learning big time!!

[jturk]

Hey Guys,
Latest update on build. I've just got a tranny for the truck. I'm going standard so I got a 2009 Colorado Aisin AR5 - 5 speed. Since I'm going either stock 327 or a 4200 I6 this tranny should work really well. See photos of tranny.997

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[jturk]

Hey Guys'
Since it's bad weather here I have been working on the dash for the truck in the basement. I can't decide wether to refinish the original or to redo a bad one I have with some auto meter gauges. Here's some pictures of my dash before and after cleaning, but not redone. Also here's some shots of the autometer units I'm thinking of using. Which way would you guys go? Just can't decide.

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[David R Leifheit]

Hey Guys,
Latest update on build. I've just got a tranny for the truck. I'm going standard so I got a 2009 Colorado Aisin AR5 - 5 speed. Since I'm going either stock 327 or a 4200 I6 this tranny should work really well. See photos of tranny.

hm. Shifter looks far enough back to come up somewhere in the middle of a bench seat, or somewhere between a set of buckets. Could be a little too far back to be useful.

[jturk]

David,
I am going to go with buckets once I get that far. I will test fit this tranny and see where the shifter ends up. Since it was basically free if it doesn't fit I'll go another route Then I'll just sell it and get another trinket for the truck.
.

[jturk]

David,
Since the tranny was basically free I decided to give it a try and see how everything works out. If good OK if bad I'll just sell it and get something else. You know how it is the price was right so we'll see what happens.

[jturk]

Update on tranny. I measured the tranny and compared it to a muncie M20 that I've got in the garage. The distance from the bell housing flange to the middle of the shifter the muncie is 26.5", the Aisin is 25.5". My friend has a muncie in his truck and the shifter looks real good with the bench seat. That makes me believe that the 5 speed will work out equally well. I guess I'll find out for sure when I fab everything up.

[jturk]

Hey Everyone,
Well winter has finally released its grip(well a little) so I've finally been able to get some work done on the 65. During the winter I got an engine, trans adapter, bell housing, and motor mounts. Listed are the highlights of each step of the build:
1) The engine is a 5.3 truck out of a 2005 Tahoe with only 55K miles. I got it at
LKQ with all of the accessories, wiring harness, and computer. It's really clean
and ready to go.
2) The rans adapter came from Novak Adapters and adapted the 2009 Colorado
tranny to a stock GM 621 aluminum bellhousing. This adapter is machined
from aluminum and it fit perfectly and was really simple to install. Also the
installation instructions were very good.
3) The motor mounts that I used are the ones by Dirty Dingo. They look really
good and fit like a glove. What I really liked about them is the fact that they
can be adjusted both forward and rearward to line everything up with the
engine and tranny.

I've posted some pictures so let me know what you think. Next step is to remove the cab and install my under bed fuel tank, drive shaft, brake lines, and fuel lines.
I'll update once I get a little further along.

Thanks for looking guys,
JTurk

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Where's your 305V6? Did it die or you just wanted a tahoe engine?

[jturk]

Hey Pepsi,
Just decided that I wanted better power, better fuel economy, and better overall drivability and the 5.3 provides all of that. Made my choice once I thought long and hard about what I needed and wanted. Also since I've put a lot of non- stock parts and personal touches on the truck. also it was just a decision on what I'm going to do with the truck. I'm happy with my decision and I guess as long as I'm happy with it everything is good. I appreciate your comments and thanks for looking.

jturk

[aphaynes]

Looks cool.
Bare with someone who does not know very much :oops:
What rear end are you having to mate this to?

[jturk]

Aphaynes,
Thanks for the compliment, I don't worry to much about a lot of experience, after all we all started learning sometime. The rear end in the truck is the stock Dana 44 with a positraction and axles re-drilled for 5x5 bolt circle to match the front wheels. Looked at your profile, what type of engineer are you? I'm a retired Electrical engineer. Just curious.

[aphaynes]

Aphaynes,
Thanks for the compliment, I don't worry to much about a lot of experience, after all we all started learning sometime. The rear end in the truck is the stock Dana 44 with a positraction and axles re-drilled for 5x5 bolt circle to match the front wheels. Looked at your profile, what type of engineer are you? I'm a retired Electrical engineer. Just curious.

I am as well. Though it seems I work mostly with software than actual circuits these days :) Though I don't plan to be doing that much longer, but that is a story for somewhere other than this forum ;)

Thanks for filling me in! Didn't realize you had changed the front. I need to read your thread one more time and see what all I missed. :ahhhh:

[nathankershaw]

Awesome swap. Well done!

I'm pulling the 305 V6 and 2 spd as we speak to hopefully get a 350 with 700R4.

[jturk]

Hey Nathan,
Thanks for the compliment. I've been working on the truck as time permits and it's coming along slowly, but I'm in no hurry. Here's a few pics of some updates thats been done recently. If you get a chance post some pics of your ride, really like to see what others are doing.

[jturk]

Well it's been awhile since I've posted anything so thought I'd update on the progress. I've installed a new crossmember for lowered trucks, also added a shortened and balanced driveshaft with new universals and transmission yoke. Also I've added a new fuel tank in the rear of the truck. The tank fits really well and has the EFI fuel pump and a sending unit installed. Also just yesterday have gotten a new engine wiring harness which isn't installed yet. Also installed a new dual master cylinder with proportional valve. Working on locating a reasonably priced radiator for the Vortec engine. I've attached a few photos, and will update as some progress is made. Oh yeh the most important photo is of my new granddaughter!!
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[Andice]

Looking good!

[jturk]

Hey Everyone,
It's been quite a while since I've posted any updates so thought I'd update the latest. I've gotten an original radiator support panel and tailgate at the Carlisle swap meet and have sandblasted them. They are in fantastic condition versus my old ones. Also blasted the front fenders. Still working on some other parts. I've gotten the wiring harness for the Vortec 5.3 and have actually started the engine for the first time. It runs really well and also looks pretty good. Also got the aluminum radiator and fan system installed. This pretty much completes the chassis, so now comes the challenging part, the BODY WORK. Can do it but I'm really slow at it. I've attached some pictures of some recent updates. Will update when things change.

[jturk]

Hey Everyone,
Have made some progress on the body work. I've blasted pretty much all of the body parts and so far everything is coming out really good. I haven't found any rust areas or holes in any of the panels so far. I've just started blasting the cab, which is the last part to be done. I've added some pics of the fenders and the blasting process.
Later,
JT

[jturk]

Hello Everyone,
It's been quite awhile since my last update so decided to do just that. Recent items done are the installation of bucket seats from a 68 Camaro, installed power brake booster setup, and installed the clutch master cylinder linkage. Also have recently added a roll pan to the rear of the truck and started doing the body work. Also have installed the gas pedal assembly for the throttle by wire for the 5.3 engine. Basically just test fitting everything prior to paint. Here's some pics of some of the updates.

[TJ's GMC]

Looks good! :thumbsup:

[Onuma]

Nice work!

What type of coating do you have on the frame? POR-15? ZeroRust? Eastwood? Also, I should ask how you went about blasting -- looks like you did it outside with a tarp for easy cleanup. Aluminum oxide, or something more eco-friendly? I've only used a booth blaster, but I don't always have access to one.

Did you hand-make the roll pan, or order one from LMCTruck or another site? I like the look of that. Since I have a '66 with a rotten rear bumper (and I mean...ROTTEN) I may go with that look instead of replacing the chrome. My front bumper, however, is in pretty decent shape. Very little exterior rust, and only minor flaking/chipping on the chrome surface. A blast & rechrome is probably in order, but it will make do if I don't refinish it.

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[jturk]

Onuma,
Thanks, I used POR-15 on the frame and brushed it on. It's not the cheapest, but works and looks great. The frame was sand blasted using Black Magic XXF sand blast material. I got the roll pan at Mar-K in Oklahoma. It's very well made and was very easy to install. I see what you mean about your rear bumper, pretty bad. There's not a whole lot of price difference between the pan and an aftermarket bumper, but I really liked the look of the pan so I went that way.

[Onuma]

Thanks for the quick response.

I can fabricate a roll pan, if need be. I like to learn things the hard way -- hand-making one of those would certainly qualify :ahhhh: Can't really do that with a chrome bumper.

[jturk]

Hey Everyone,
I've been working on a design for the console that I plan on building for the truck. This mockup is 11" wide in the interior and about 6" tall at the shifter. Plan on putting the stereo and HVAC controls in panel in front of the shifter. Will put 2 stainless steel cup holders in flat spot at the rear of the shifter and power window and power lock switches in small slanted panel at the back of the shifter. I've attached some pics of a cardboard pattern that I've come up with and assembled. Would really like to get comments about the design both good and bad so don't be bashful. Also if you have any suggestions to improve it let me know.

[jturk]

Well I've been working on the body work for the last few months, and it's been a real eye opening experience!! It has taken me 2 to 3 times longer than it should to get most things done, but thats OK and I can always say I did it myself and it's been fun and challenging. I've been using and HVLP turbine paint system so far and it seems to work really well even though I have nothing else to compare it to. So far I've got it into primer/surfacer and am presently block sanding, sanding seems to go on forever. Here's a few photos of my progress to date.

[TJ's GMC]

Making good progress!

[jturk]

Hey Everyone,
It's been quite awhile since I've posted updates of my build, but I've had some severe medical problems with my Mom and had to spend the last 6-8 monthes taking care of and getting her back on her feet. So obviously I haven't done anything with the truck. Afterall family comes first. She's doing very good now so I'm able to finally get back to working on my truck.
I've started to paint the 65 with a Kirker basecoat clear coat, called Pacific Blue. This is my first attempt at painting a vehicle, so we'll see how everything goes. Have got some parts painted with other to go in the future. I like the color and thought I'd pass along a few photos to see what everyone else thinks. Later folks.4859

[TJ's GMC]

Looks great! :thumbsup:

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Nice color there! WDShaffer is a painting guru so if you get stuck you might give him a PM. He's pretty helpful if you ask and he has 999999 years of painting experience (give or take) :lolsmack:

[jturk]

Well I've finally clear coated most of the large parts but I need to paint and clear coat a lot of the smaller items yet. The next step will be to color sand and buff, man thats going to be a lot of fun!! Here's some pictures of some of the parts after clear coat.

[Funky61]

Great color! Will it be a two tone as well?

[jturk]

Thanks Funky I'm really happy with the color. I liked this color when I went looking for paint. It's "Kirker Pacific Blue". No, I'm not doing a two tone I'm really partial to one solid color.

[TJ's GMC]

Very nice!

[jturk]

Hey Everyone,
Well I've finally started the assembly process on my build. Did some work on the chassis and installed the cab and bed so far. Next step is to install the front clip and fenders. Here's a few shots of my progress so far. Will post my progress as it happens.

[MrCos]

your making some terrific progress!
keep it up!:ok:

[jturk]

Hey everyone, I've been making some progress on the assembly of the 65 and thought I'd post some pictures. Pretty much have the front end together, minus the hood, and have been working on the bed wood. The wood is test fitted and now needs to be removed and have the holes drilled, fuel door attached, the final finish applied and finally re-installed. Also have gotten my new crimp tool for the wiring and will be doing that process in the near future. Also have ordered new door checks and will install doors once they show up. Thanks guys and later.

[TJ's GMC]

Nice!! :thumbsup:

[jturk]

TJ,
Hey TJ good to hear from you, I haven't seen you posting on the site to much lately. I really enjoy reading your posts and looking at your videos. Later.

[TJ's GMC]

TJ,
Hey TJ good to hear from you, I haven't seen you posting on the site to much lately. I really enjoy reading your posts and looking at your videos. Later.

Thanks man! Been here checking in just about everyday. Haven't done much on my GMC since the engine overhaul. Just been driving it and enjoying. I do need to make some driving videos on it, but my focus has been back on the 66. I recently purchased a 60-61 GMC shop manual(over 750 pages) that covers the 1000-5000 series models and have been nose deep in reading. haha Hope to find one for the 64-66 series.

[jturk]

TJ, Yeah I totally understand where you're coming from. I got the manual for the 65 about a year ago and it took me quite a while to go through it. Been really busting it lately trying to get things done before winter sets in. Really can't stand to work when it's freezing in the garage. Later dude.