[GMCNUT]

Hey guys; I haven't ever really had a "build" to share with the group exactly because I have just been simply driving my 1964 1500 series around this first 2 years while I've owned it, but now's my chance. Following this Summer's car show and swap meet fun we had with the truck entering it in the unrestored class in local shows and carrying swap meet parts in the bed, it was time to do a serious engine re-gasketing and clutch replacement, to stop annoying oil leaks all over it and repair the worn out original clutch. So about a month ago I carried it and had a local shop remove the now 89K original mileage 305E and re-surface the heads and flywheel, install valve guides, and other normal freshen up work associated with engine heads, and to re-gasket the whole engine to stop a myriad of oil leaks resulting from the crankcase ventilation system being clogged and the engine getting used a lot before I bought it. None of the 12" clutch disks were flat enough to work on the 305E, so we re-built the original 11" clutch and now it works great. So, while the engine and trans were out, we stripped all the old gunk and oil and dirt off everything and repainted the trans and engine. We used the Duplicolor 1605 Ford Red (as suggested on this forum) and it looks great. I hesitated, but went ahead and spent the extra cash to sandblast and ceramic coat the original Y-pipe, heat riser and both exhaust manifolds because my experience with Eastwoods' exhaust spray paints has been lackluster, so ceramic coating squares them away permanently - they will look just like you see them 10 years from now. So today the shop was done with her finally and I drove it....what a difference! More power, torque, cleaner shifts, everything seems totally different. Its a lot quieter too - had two nasty exhaust leaks when I got it so its quiet as a mouse now. The mechanics said they has never been into a cleaner, less wear engine with this many miles - said in addition to no ring groove whatsoever and no play wear anywhere, there was even still factory paint inside the water jackets. They also changed the positraction fluid in the Powerlock rear end and re-gasketed that too. So now, after already rebuilding the control valve and slave cyl on the Power steering back in the Spring, this truck is ready for the road and will have no leaks anywhere, and a super clean, tight and quiet drivetrain. I kept the plaid valve covers on it because you wouldn't believe the crowd that gathers at the shows to see them. The original Fawn floormat had never been out until this job, so I added a couple shots so you can see how clean and rust free this cab floor is too - See what you think, and thanks for looking at my first "build" pics