'65 GMC 1500 project. From the Netherlands

[Prowbar]

Thanks for the compliment, Steve.

Indeed, as you said, the synchros were still good, but the wear cannot really be detected other than the "points" of the internal thread in the synchros getting duller, thereby needing more effort to cut through the oil layer on the cone. I have noticed improved shifting times, but this can also be psychological rather than factual.

Ended up ordering the kit from Transmission Parts Distributors in NJ. I ordered from them since they shipped worldwide and had the synchro's. Didn't contact Novak, I contacted them in the past but never got a reply. If I were to do it again I would order the Ebay rebuild kit. Saves a lot of money. I believe all the kits are the same, and the 63 and earlier transmissions seem to have a different front secondary shaft roller bearing. I got 2 bearings in the kit that I did not use.

I did notice that the input shaft bearing in the kit is a C3 style bearing, which is normally only used for 2 press fits (shaft and hub). These have greater internal clearance. Possibly selected for misalignment purposes? The trans has a press fit on the shaft and a loose fit in the case, therefore not needing a C3 bearing.
Anyway, the original New Departure bearing was also of the reinforced type with more ***** and a filling slot to accommodate. The new bearing is just a standard-size bearing, with a standard amount of *****.

I wouldn't be surprised if Novak just splits up the kits with the right parts for the transmission year.

As for the A/F, I am running just below Stochiometric at cruise on propane (around 14.5-15.0, Propane is around 15.2-15.5 AFR stoichiometric) and it runs really well. Idle it set to about 13.5. Haven't had any problems with a lean condition problem (no surges, just constant power @ cruise) so far. This might be because of the propane. Gasoline is kept as a backup only. Indeed, I have an AFR on the driver's side exhaust but could also tap into the passenger side exhaust, have a bung on it as well but it is plugged off now.

I like to tinker around but also try to listen to good advice... it is a fine line for sure.

[Prowbar]

Not much to report other than that the truck is running great. However, the pinion bearings start to make a little noise. Via a guy in Germany I managed to score a rebuild kit as well as a 3.54 ring and pinion set! The 3.54 ratio should definitely aid in driveability and has been a wish of mine for quite some time. Granted, they are the cheaper DANA SVL sets, preferred OEM Dana but we'll see how these hold up. Still need a new yoke since the original R&P is 10 spline instead of 29 spline. Will probably order it from Rockauto.

Gives me a proper excuse to pull the old Dana 60, fully rebuild it, and give it a nice layer of black chassis paint.

[Prowbar]

Pulled the old Dana 60 today. Went pretty smoothly. Broke off one of the U-bolts, see picture. I'll tell ya, when you're laying under the truck without hearing protection and you're breaking them loose using a big pipe and a wrench, these make a nice bang when they snap!

Glad I took it all apart, the lower axle retainers gathered a lot of crud and were corroding the U-bolts. I am planning to drill out the drain holes to 1/2" or so instead of 5/16". New U-bolts will be installed :teehee:

Got a new Spicer 29 spline yoke to fit the new gear set. Planning to take the whole axle apart and clean everything up, then start with the regear process. I'll use the old bearings as setup bearings, found a nice article describing the whole regear process. It takes a little patience to do it properly but in the end, the result makes it all worthwhile. Should allow me to do 60 comfortably instead of straining the engine. Usually drive around 55 anyways.

[Prowbar]

More progress on the old Dana 60. Disassembled everything and cleaned up the outside. Lots of dirt and rust came off. It will be painted with epoxy chassis paint when the axle is finished.

The first step in the process it to make a case spreader. I designed my own, based on the original tool. The Allen head bolts fit into the holes in the differential case.

Man, this thing is filthy on the inside. A black goo of metal and old gear oil has coated the inside.
When I got the truck, it seemed like the 1965 gear oil was still in there. Sure left its mark on the components. The pinion bearings are funnily enough OK, still a lot of small indentations in the races of debris in the oil. The carrier bearings are shot. The non ring gear side has small pits from debris, but the ring gear side bearing has extensive spalling and the bearing also spun on the carrier itself :pullinghairout: Forgot to take a picture! Will do it later.

Luckily the damage is not too bad, it could have been worse...
Time to repair the carrier. Planning to make a sleeve to repair the damaged surface. Will continue tomorrow.

Then I can use the old bearings as setup bearings, and start the ring and pinion installation.

For fun, I checked the gear pattern before pulling the old carrier. The backlash is way out of spec, but the pattern isn't too bad considering its age.

As you can also see, one of the pinion preload shims came out broken. The pinion oil slinger was also damaged (not by me!) Maybe I got a Monday morning differential?

[lizziemeister'sV6]

Very similiar to the Model T Ford rear axles I been pulling apart. Between the 600W grease and the dissolved babbitt the gunk is undescribable. Getting enough of the original Hyatt roller bearings and sleeves (need 4 each) to complete one axle as an extra.

[James]

At least you had gear oil in your. The previous owner of my truck had spindle seals and pinion seal leaking. What they did to fix the spindle is to pack grease in them. Didn't do anything to the pinion seal. When I removed the drain plug, I only got a table spoon of oil. When I open it up, everything was worn out. I had to replace everything.

[Prowbar]

Very similiar to the Model T Ford rear axles I been pulling apart. Between the 600W grease and the dissolved babbitt the gunk is undescribable. Getting enough of the original Hyatt roller bearings and sleeves (need 4 each) to complete one axle as an extra.

Good idea. Bet they will come in handy when you get another axle to overhaul.
Lack of maintenance (even as simple as an oil change, takes 10 minutes) seems to be a common thing...

[Prowbar]

At least you had gear oil in your. The previous owner of my truck had spindle seals and pinion seal leaking. What they did to fix the spindle is to pack grease in them. Didn't do anything to the pinion seal. When I removed the drain plug, I only got a table spoon of oil. When I open it up, everything was worn out. I had to replace everything.

Hmm. That was quite the chore I'd imagine... Great solution by the previous owner... Pinion and axle seals are like 30 bucks total and take a couple of hours to install...

[lizziemeister'sV6]

A little insight on the Model T Ford - the engine and transmission shares the same engine pan - couple this to an enclosed drive shaft to the rear axle the engine/transmission oil has a free pass to the differential gears if any leakage occurs past the driveshaft babbitt and brass bushings - believe me when I heard (and believe) they leaked directly after they left the assembly line. Ok, rear pumpkin gets extra gunk from the engine/transmission pass the pinion bearing and raises the level in the pumpkin above the axle shaft level and then the mess runs or creeps pass mutliple thick felt washers that seal them at the wheel hub and drips out the brake drum onto the tire and ends up on the ground. Nothing but a oily, greasily, dissolved babbitt and metal particle infected puddle. But, I love it. :thumbsup:

[Prowbar]

A little insight on the Model T Ford - the engine and transmission shares the same engine pan - couple this to an enclosed drive shaft to the rear axle the engine/transmission oil has a free pass to the differential gears if any leakage occurs past the driveshaft babbitt and brass bushings - believe me when I heard (and believe) they leaked directly after they left the assembly line. Ok, rear pumpkin gets extra gunk from the engine/transmission pass the pinion bearing and raises the level in the pumpkin above the axle shaft level and then the mess runs or creeps pass mutliple thick felt washers that seal them at the wheel hub and drips out the brake drum onto the tire and ends up on the ground. Nothing but a oily, greasily, dissolved babbitt and metal particle infected puddle. But, I love it. :thumbsup:

And coupled with very crude oils by todays standards it is likely to generate a sticky mess.

[Prowbar]

Continuing the Dana 60 rebuild. The carrier bearing spun, its damage has been repaired by means of a sleeve. See pictures. The carrier was set up in the lathe using the 4-jaw and a tool was made to use the live center of the lathe in the spider gear bore.

The sleeve was made, and the damaged area of the carrier was undercut. The sleeve has a .0004" press fit, which is very light to avoid unnecessary tension on the sleeve as the final wall thickness is about .080" at the final dimension.

The sleeve was pressed on and secured additionally with LocTite 648. The carrier was then indicated again on the lathe and turned to the final size for the press fit of the bearing. I had some chatter at the last cuts, but I always finish the lathe work around .002" oversize and then use emery cloth to obtain the final dimension. I prefer this method because I'm able to remove the peaks of the material left by the turning operation, which results in a much-improved press fit. The last picture shows the final product. I also added the factory chamfer.

I also disassembled the carrier to clean all the parts, which was then reassembled with assembly lube. The new ring gear was also installed with new bolts and green LocTite.

[Prowbar]

The first picture looks like the inside of a sewer pipe! But it turns out to be the axle tube! An enormous amount of crud and rust gathered in there over the years. Using rags and rods and lots of brake cleaner, the axle tubes were cleaned up. You can see how much rust gathered in the carrier housing in the next picture.

I made sure to clear out the vent on the right axle tube, I believe it was blocked due to the crud. Planning to go through the tubes one more time using a rotating wirewheel on a drill to break loose the last amounts of crud.

The housing or pumpkin wasn't much better. The thick black paste coated the bore. The best method was a rotating wirewheel mounted on a die grinder, which loosened up the crud and left a cast iron gray finish.

Lastly, the old bearings for the carrier were turned into setup bearings, and all the shim packages were measured and recorded. The old pinion-bearing cup OD was ground down as well to aid in pinion depth setup.

The old pinion did not have a press fit for the pinion bearing closest to the yoke, as it is clamped in place by the yoke and the shims. The new pinion does have a press fit there. To aid in setup, the press fit of the pinion will be turned into a sliding fit like the original.

Now the setup may begin.

[Prowbar]

First time setting up gears. Quite the learning experience. Been busy with it for about 1 1/2 days, restarted from the original shims 2 times. This pinion had no depth marking, so I assumed it to be 0. Kept adding pinion shims while I had to decrease pinion depth. The contact pattern threw me off because I did not apply enough drag on the carrier when testing. Anyway, almost there now. Just need to move my pattern a little more to the heel and close up the backlash some, it is at .010" now.

Then I'll add the preload shims to the carrier. When I'm satisfied I'll install the new bearings on the carrier and pinion, and I can recheck my pattern and set the pinion preload.

Planning to fully clean the housing one more time before installing everything for the last time.

I've ordered new U bolts and leaf spring bushings from Stengel Bros. I got the tip from James, thank you for that.

Planning to remove one leaf from the leaf spring package. I'll leave the overload springs in, don't want to change a lot from stock, but remove one leaf to see if the rear suspension improves.

The front leaf spring bolt has a nut in a difficult-to-reach place. Need to bend a wrench 90 degrees in order to reach the nut. Can't do it any other way with the bed installed.

[Prowbar]

Here is the completed Dana 60 setup. Completed this quite a few days ago but have been busy with other stuff.

Did some more fine tweaking to the setup using the setup bearings. Could get some, but not many improvements to the pattern I've posted before. If these were OEM Dana gears it would have probably shown a much better pattern.
I could not shift the drive pattern closer to the root as the backlash would suffer in that case. When I was satisfied, I installed the new bearings. The carrier preload was also added. It was .006" total. (2 shims of .003", 1 on each side)
The new bearings shifted the pattern a little to the toe side. The backlash is .005". I set it up on the tight side of the spec as I suspect that it will wear in.

Before installing everything for the last time, I cleaned the housing one more time. Using a steel wire brush on a couple of extensions for wood drill bits, and a drill to drive it, the last crap in the axle tubes was cleaned out.
I then installed the new bearing cup for the pinion, with the correct slinger and shims. The pinion preload was then set at 25 inch pounds. To torque the pinion nut I made a simple tool from a piece of metal strip. Prefer this method to ruining my new yoke with a big pipe wrench (that I didn't have in the first place) I bought a 2nd hand inch-pound dial indicating torque wrench to set the preload.
The pinion seal, new pinion nut and washer, and pinion seal were then installed. I installed the new carrier and torqued the caps to spec.

To catch all the metal particles from the break-in, I've glued in two neodymium magnets next to the carrier. The sheet metal cover was then installed. Before the final installation, I straightened it as best as possible. It always leaked some with the gasket due to the bolts deforming the holes. I also ran a file over the gasket surface and it showed a lot of burrs and displaced metal. This may be another source of leakage. I've read of good experiences where people omitted the gasket entirely and only used RTV. I might try this after the break-in.

Break-in will consist of 20 miles of driving and a complete cool of the differential. I'll repeat this once. Then 500 miles of gentle driving, before draining the break-in oil and topping off with fresh oil. I'll remove the cover and clean the magnets at this time as well and recheck the backlash and pattern.

The next task is to rebuild the leaf springs. Stengel Bros supplied new U bolts and bushings. Hope to start tomorrow.

[Prowbar]

Here is a picture of the final assembly. Note the neodymium magnets, placed to the right of the carrier. (The picture is upside down when you click on it but in proper orientation in the thumbnail)

[tbucketnut]

Well done David.
That pattern looks pretty spot on to me on both drive/coast.
Sometimes it just takes more time to go after the pinion depth to get it looking good on the gear surfaces. I have the same feelings on the backlash .005 seems like a real good setup on new gears - it definitely will wear in a couple or few thousands. Those gears should be nice and quiet if NOS-IMHO. I have found sometimes using some aftermarket brands a little gear noise is still possible with good clearance setups, however it is benign.

I recently did 2- 3.55 setups on 1952 and 1953 pickups with aftermarket gear sets and they both were completely quiet. One could argue you couldn't hear it because of the noisy tires and suspension on one of the trucks though.Patterns are similar to yours.

Again well done, your methods, dedication and persistence to the setup process are to be commended.

[Prowbar]

Well done David.
That pattern looks pretty spot on to me on both drive/coast.
Sometimes it just takes more time to go after the pinion depth to get it looking good on the gear surfaces. I have the same feelings on the backlash .005 seems like a real good setup on new gears - it definitely will wear in a couple or few thousands. Those gears should be nice and quiet if NOS-IMHO. I have found sometimes using some aftermarket brands a little gear noise is still possible with good clearance setups, however it is benign.

I recently did 2- 3.55 setups on 1952 and 1953 pickups with aftermarket gear sets and they both were completely quiet. One could argue you couldn't hear it because of the noisy tires and suspension on one of the trucks though.Patterns are similar to yours.

Again well done, your methods, dedication and persistence to the setup process are to be commended.

Appreciate it Steve! These are DANA SVL gears. They are marketed by DANA but made in India - did quite a bit of research on these gears before buying them. Couldn't find anything bad about them. The backlash is nice and consistent and the pattern is too. They have a phosphate coating but the machining is quite nice I must say. Unfortunately no depth marking on the pinion. Couldn't pass this set + rebuild kit up, as it was for sale in Germany.

Anyway, otherwise I would have settled for DoctorDiff's Dana 60 3.23 gears and rebuild kit.

Had to look up what benign meant! Running 14-inch turbo mufflers that produce a nice sound; don't think a little noise will bother me soon. I am always on the listen for any bad noises though...

[Prowbar]

Started on the leaf springs today.

The blocks that secure the axle from underneath were full of dirt and rust when I pulled them. I've cleaned out all the hard rust using a needle scaler and drilled out the small 3/8" drain holes to 3/4", ensuring no crap can build up in these blocks anymore and cause rust issues!

The second photo shows the worst bearing that I pulled out of the Dana. This is the ring gear side carrier bearing. Note the extensive spalling on the race and rolling elements. The whole race is pitted as well, I believe due to metal contamination in the oil.

Picture 3 shows the first leaf spring for disassembly. Using a little propane torch action and some WD40 the center bolt broke loose, I also loosened up the straps at the end. The old bushings were pressed out. Stengel Bros supplied new bushings which are identical to the old bushings! Very happy with them and the company. The article number for the bushings is MR164.

Before disassembly, I used a center punch to mark all the springs for proper orientation.

Picture 5 shows the front leaf spring bolt. Ended up buying a cheap wrench to use on the nut, worked quite well. Took a long pipe and some persuasion to break them loose! The other side of the leaf spring bolt was already loose... when I bought the truck. I knew about this but forgot. The nut did keep everything in place but did not exert any axial force required to keep the bolt and bushing in place - it oblonged the hole quite a bit. Forgot to take a photo... Going to build the area up with welding to restore it.

Next up: wire-wheel everything to clean up the rust, apply a rust converter, and cover them in chassis paint. Someone I know used the chassis paint on the springs as well and it is still in place, was skeptical at first whether it would hold up to the spring action of the leaf, but it seems to perform quite well. I'll remove one leaf from the package as I said before. Before reassembly, I'll also apply waterproof grease between the leaf springs.

I've ordered new 3/8 and 5/8 UNF bolts and locknuts locally to replace the leaf spring bolts and center bolts. I can easily convert a hex bolt to a center bolt by modifying the head in the lathe. Forgot to order those from Stengel Bros, oh well.

[Prowbar]

Here is are the new bushings compared to the old.

[Prowbar]

Used a wirewheel on the angle grinder to remove the rust. For the leaf springs clamps securing the upper 3 springs, I heated them and let them slowly cool down to remove all the stresses from bending. After that, a rust converter was applied. This was allowed to dry for a couple of days.

A layer of 2K chassis paint followed. All the new bushings were pressed in, which went very well. The leaf springs were reassembled. Water-resistant, extreme-pressure grease was applied on each leaf before assembly. I use the vice to press the clamps back in place. None of them showed any signs of fatigue or cracking.

All springs were put back in the order that they came from. I left out the lowest leaf from the standard springs, so there are 6 instead of 7 in the package now.

Because of the temperature outside, I will do the welding job on the oblong holes later, when I have it inside again. Makes everything much easier. Right now it is freezing here. Only need to remove the 2 front bolts and raise the axle to access it.

Hope to install the rear axle tomorrow. The temperature is not ideal, but as long as the wind doesn't blow too much we should be fine.

I do drive it in the winter but not when it is wet or when there is wet salt on the roads.

Still need to redo the front suspension as well. We'll see when there is space inside the workshop.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Looking good! But you're missing out welding in the freezing cold. Imagine the stories you could tell your grandkids about both burning and freezing at the same time! And if it's wet, there's the shock factor that works better at wking you up than a bucket of coffee

[Prowbar]

Haha, don't believe I missed out on anything Fetch... :teehee:

Finalized the Dana 60 install yesterday.

Took one additional leaf out of the leaf spring package as I've seen some forum posts where the 1500s had a 2000lb and 2750lb leaf spring package. I'm pretty certain mine had the heavy-duty 10-leaf package. Decided to remove two leaf springs to get closer to the 2000lb rating.

Anyway, installed the rear axle with all the new components. The new U-bolts needed a slight modification in the corner. The originals were forged and allowed a much sharper radius due to their shape.

The brakes almost bled themselves by gravity only, only the right one took 3 pumps to clear out all the air.

Had to install the axle outside around freezing temperatures, that SAE 90 gear oil is thick as molasses... Quite a lot of fun creeping underneath the truck to fill up the axle to the required amount.

Used lots of rust-preventative grease and anti-seize on all the components. When I had everything installed and the bolts snugged, I drove it on the lift to finish torquing all the bolts to spec. All the U-bolts and leaf spring bolts needed to be torqued to 200 ft-lbs according to the book... Quite the chore to do, the U-bolts stretch a lot before the torque spec is reached.

When all was said and done, it was time to break in the gears. Drove home, around 15 miles under light throttle. Checked the temperature halfway through the trip and when I was home. The temperature halfway was 77 Fahrenheit and 95 degrees Fahrenheit when I got home. Looks pretty good. No strange noises or howls either as far as I can tell.

The suspension is much improved now. Could use some new rear shock absorbers, though. The original Delco Remy's are still installed but show their age now.

Did another trip today, 15 miles or so. The end temperature was around 100 Fahrenheit, I drove at around 40-50 miles per hour this time.

The 3.54s gear change makes driving a whole lot more fun compared to the 4.11s! The 2nd and 3rd gear take much longer before you have to shift, and there is no need to rev up the engine as much. Driving 55 in 4th gear is very pleasant, not having to wind out the engine as much.

Very satisfied with the change so far.

[James]

Looks really good. The 3.54 gear made a big different in my truck too. You just need to recalibrate the speedometer.

[Prowbar]

You're right. Went around hoping to find a 3.54 speedometer gear and yoke for the SM420, but to no avail. However, it looks like the speedometer is now the speed in kilometers per hour divided by 2. That makes it easy to remember. But I have to confirm that using a GPS.

[James]

I used the adapter to correct my speedometer/odometer from:

<br><font color='red'>To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?</font><br>

The specific one I used is: AA12844/CBI 16257

[James]

Here is a catalog on it.

[Prowbar]

I used the adapter to correct my speedometer/odometer from:

<br><font color='red'>To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?</font><br>

The specific one I used is: AA12844/CBI 16257

Wow, impressed with their selection. What did an adapter of theirs set you back if I may ask?

[James]

Wow, impressed with their selection. What did an adapter of theirs set you back if I may ask?

On October 2016 it cost me $103.24. The ratio I needed was 1:1.2844. Your might be different if the speedometer/odometer is original. Mine has been refurbished and brought up to a newer standard.

I found this out the hard way, I bought it cause it looks alot better than my old one. :pullinghairout:

[Prowbar]

Long time no post.

Been busy with the GMC, though. Started on the long awaited body work.

List of rust repairs to do:
- Front fenders + reinforcements
- Both lower side of doors
- Both rockers, kick panels and floor sections
- Upper front windshield frame is completely rotted away. This will be quite the work I think.
- Hood, corners and around the hinges.
- Right hand cab corner.
- New windshield rubber
- Rebuild the vent windows.
- Bed fenders & dent removal
- Bed rear cross sill
- Tailgate dent removal
- Right side cab braces

Started with replacing the tired cab mounts with polyurethane cab mounts. This way we have a good starting point. Next up is the the driver side door. Replaced the hinge bushings as well.
Driver side doors needs 2 patches in the outer skin, and a completely new inner bottom panel. Was my first serious sheet metal, made some mistakes and learned from them.

[Prowbar]

Work on the passenger side door. Used a new inner door bottom patch panel. Outer patches I made myself.
Went a little overkill with the curvature at the ends, the patch panel is too curved at the ends. Corrected this later.

[Prowbar]

Front fender work. The support was completely packed with dirt. Replaced the outer skin and inner support. Made big drain hole to prevent dirt from trapping in there. Using a cardboard template with the right contour to check my work.

[Prowbar]

Some flat black paint for now. Filler and real paint prep to follow when everything is finished.

[Prowbar]

Long time no post. Have been busy graduating.
Went ahead and tackled the driver side rocker and floor after completing the door and front fender.

Removed the rocker, which turned out to be not too corroded, except that the spotwelds were a pain to remove.
The inner rocker had definitely seen better days, so did the floor around the kick panel.

Didn't buy the inner rocker + floor section patch panel, figured I make my own out of sheet metal. For the other side I'll buy the premade panel, though... Saves a lot of time.

Ended up repairing the inner rocker. Removed the bottom of the A pillar, since there was a lot of rust in the floor there. Steve (tbucketnut) sponsored me with the patch panels some time ago, thanks Steve.

Cab mounts were still solid except for the a small section that I could weld in easily.. Was glad that they did, since it gave me a good point of reference to work from.

[Prowbar]

Went ahead and tackled the floor, which had some holes in it. Didn't think it would be this bad, though. Replaced all the sheet metal that looked like the landscape of the moon...

Bought a new kick panel, had to change the location of the holes to make it fit but otherwise fit fine. Made a complete floor section out of multiple pieces, replicating the original, including the bend section where the floor panels are spot welded to each other.

When the floor section was tackled, I welded in the bottom A pillar.

We have access to a portable spot welder, used this where I can to replicate the factory look.

Gave the new section a good coat of paint and spot welded in the rocker. Had to rework the rocker quite a bit to match the original, and cut and weld all the stepped sections to fit the contour of the cab properly. When all was said and done, the rocker was spotwelded in.

Took quite a bit of time to do it properly, but am satisfied with the repair. The door fits in great and the gaps are nice and consistent. New door seals are in as well.

Next task is to remove the front window and weld in a new inner roof section.
There is some rust in the roof as well, in the upper a pillar and outer roof section as well. Drip rails need to be cleaned and re-sealed. Will probably be a heck of a job. That repair has the most priority because of the severity of the rust, but wanted to do this repair first to get the hang of sheet metal work, then move on to the more challenging tasks.

For now, the truck is back on the road and I am enjoying her again. Maybe in a few months I'll start on the front window.

I figured out my mysterious driveline noise and am working on a fix. It ended up being in the SM420 transmission. This will be shared in another thread in the transmissions section.

Also had issues with a intermittent misfire, that ended up being caused by one of the PCV valves. Capped them off and am using a Ford 460 PCV oil cap now, just like sclor posted on the forum.

[BobBray]

Nice job!

[Prowbar]

Thanks Bob. Now onto the rest of the sheet metal. Suspect the windshield/roof will be a major operation... A nice task to do when the weather turns.
Back to enjoying the truck again now that we have sunny weather.

[tbucketnut]

This is bringing back a lot of memories David. You are doing a good job on the replacement panels. As bad as it seems, I really enjoyed that part.

[Prowbar]

This is bringing back a lot of memories David. You are doing a good job on the replacement panels. As bad as it seems, I really enjoyed that part.

Thanks for the compliment Steve. It is tedious work, i.e. lots of trial fitting, grinding, rewelding on patch panels to make them fit. But welding the panels in and creating fresh sheet metal is a rewarding task, something you can take pride in. Knowing that with a good rustproofing treatment, the truck is ready for another 60 years of service.

The main gripe I have is where you figured you cut enough rusty metal out to have solid, fresh, weldable sheet metal. You trim the patch panels to size, only to burn a hole through what looked like good sheet metal, but was already rusted out.

By the way, Steve: did you recieve my email?

[Prowbar]

Short update: Got the truck on the road after this side of the rust repair was completed.
Also rebuilt the vent windows with new rubbers.
Have been using Goliath (David in his Goliath) the last months as a daily driver. The 478 has plenty of git up and go to keep up with traffic. Turns a lot of heads for sure.

Next project is to do the other side and replace the windshield, along with the needed rust repairs. The next phase of the project is to completely strip the truck to the bare chassis. Planning to tackle the front suspension, strip the bed and start prepping for paint. Have been doubting between the original Flame Red and Turquoise/Teal but the Turquoise is winning me over.

Some engine work is due as well, including a camshaft ground by Mike Jones and the rubber rear main seal upgrade. A reinforced clutch will be put in, along with the original rebuilt SM420 transmission with new bushings, bearings, synchro's and an upgrade to fix the annoying rattle that I've been experiencing.

Hope to start working on the truck in a month or so. Have to finish my last school assignment first.

[Prowbar]

<br><font color='red'>To view some links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Maybe you should introduce yourself with a new topic?</font><br>

Finally taking the truck off the road to continue the restoration work. Expect some updates to roll in the coming weeks/months.

Made a video to show the current state of the truck, enjoy.

[Jim A]

Nice work.
Curious about the master cylinder. My '60 is side-by-side for clutch and brake. Is that also a dual cylinder?

[Prowbar]

Thanks Jim. Yes, this is a dual master cylinder from a 1967 C10 which I've upgraded from the standard single pot master cylinder. I believe 63 was the last year for the hydraulic clutch, mine has the mechanical clutch. Both reservoirs are used for the brakes, one for the front and one for the rear.

[blang]

Just been reading up on this thread and Man ya'll are some pros in here

[Prowbar]

2 Land Rover gearboxes and 1 New Process transfercase rebuild further, and I'm finally able to continue the work on old Goliath.

I started with the front end, right now I'm working on the driver side front fender rust repair. More to follow on that later.

Question for fellow GMC restorers: there are some rubber flaps/weatherstripping in the fender that is stapled to the sheet metal. Have anyone restored this, and can you tell me how you did it? Seems you need a very powerful stapler to do so.

The driver side corner of the hood is rusted out and pretty difficult to repair with no patch panels available. Rustbucket told me that he has a patch from an original hood available, which will be of great use when I have it here.

10955
The first serious task has been the steering box. Mine had quite a bit of slop, but most of the slop came from the joint in the pitman arm. I could tell that the bushings of the steering box were worn too. I removed the box and this was the grease that came out of it:

10956
I removed 60 years of grime and grease as best as I could with a wire brush. I as understand these were left bare cast iron from the factory and I wanted to replicate the original look.

10957
Buying new bushings from Ebay and having them shipped here was too much (Ebay international shipping is expensive) FWIW so I made my own from metric split bushings. These have better pockets for the lubrication as well.

10958
I turned the OD and ID for the bushings by making up 2 fixtures in the lathe. Aimed for .002" (0,05mm) clearance as per the manual. new bushings definitely tightened up the steering box.

10959
Here is a picture of the OD turning.

(continued in the next post)

[Prowbar]

10960
Next up I needed to turn the ID. I made a bushing that has the same bore size as the steering box. This allowed me to press in the bushing and size it to the required bore for the .002" clearance.

10961
Pressed in the new bushings and a new seal.

10962
Re-assembly of the ballscrew. The ballscrew and bearing surfaces looked very good. I had previously bought another steering box to rebuild in the meanwhile, but the ballscrew and bearing surfaces had extensive pitting. At least it came with a good pitman arm to use.

10963
Steering box assembled and filled with the class 0 EP grease as per the manual. Made my own gasket to use.

10964
Here is the final product. I set the axial clearance of the ballscrew and the gearing. A new seal for the steering shaft was installed as well. Most of the slop is gone, but there is still a little bit present.
Much better than what it was. You can tell that the new bushings have an effect on the clearances because the slop has been removed from the center position, which is a positive (usually most slop is in the middle). When the surfaces break in again I may be able to tighten up the gear a little bit more to remove the rest of the slop.

The steering box has been coated in a rust preservative to prevent further corrosion and retain the bare cast iron look.

[Prowbar]

Tackling the driverside fender was long overdue. I had already broken off the bolt when I removed the front end to paint the firewall, so it was flopping around on the truck.

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The inside of the front fender was chockful of asphalt. I'm guessing they drove over a wet asphalt road back in the day. I did provide good rust protection however, it had to come out to do the job right. It was quite a bear to remove and cost me a couple of hours before everything was removed.

The dent was pretty big, I took most it it out before cutting off the rusted out section.

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A nice frisbee disc of bondo showed up when I cut off the outer skin.
Welded in a new support and added a large drain hole on the bottom.

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Went on to weld the new patch panel in place. I used the contour from the patch panel to restore the contour.

[Prowbar]

Here is the new patch welded into place. I could have taken out the last bit of Bondo, but it is solid and I left it be.

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The last step is to remove the small dents, lots of sanding and preparing for a layer of epoxy primer. I bought some sanding blocks to try, I still have to finish sand the fender. The rust will be treated with rust converter before spraying on the primer. I'm sanding down to the original flame red paint as it is still in good shape.

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Already prepped the other fender as well.

Still have to do the mudflaps and seals. Decided to make new staples by bending them from stainless steel tig wire and drilling small holes in the new panels. The L-shaped panels were completely rotted out so I bought new reproductions.

The plan with the paint is to shoot 1 or 2 layers of epoxy primer, then the bodywork, followed by another coat of primer. Then 2 coats of epoxy 503 light green.

As you may have read previously I kept debating between the original flame red and light green, but settled on the light green.

I already started on the hood rust repair. This will be covered in the next posts.

[Prowbar]

Starting on the hood. The passenger side hood corner is pretty rusted out, I have a patch panel coming my way thanks to forum member Rustbucket.

Both sides where the hood reinforcement is spotwelded to the side of the hood are rusted out on mine. I haven't seen other trucks than are worse than mine.

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A pretty straight forward job, though. Starting on the driver side, I drilled out the spotwelds only to finds that the inner brace is rusted out too. The outer skin was already starting to tear its way through the thin metal.

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I made up an oversized patch of 18 gauge sheet metal to cover both sides.
I then made an inner support that I welded in. The new outer section was spotwelded to the inner support brace and then fully welded in place.

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As you can see I has to extend my front cut a little lower to deal with a high spot that I couldn't seem to get out except to cut the metal and weld it back together. This did the trick.
After a lot of going back and forth I had the body lines pretty straight again. Took out a small dent where the V6 logo resides.

On to the other side. I'll post an update when that side is finished, but I am first waiting on the new patch panel to it weld in. There are quite a few dents on the other side, plus with all the bondo and the piece I cut out there is a lot of tension in the metal, making it impossible to get the bodylines like I want.
When I have the new corner to weld in I can make adjustments there to adjust the bodylines.

My job contract runs to the 31st of December, after that I have 2 months to work on old Goliath before heading to Wyoming in March!

The to do list before flying out:
- Front end sheet metal work completed, primer and paint the inner fenders, inside of the hood, radiator support etc.
- Pull the engine and transmission and make them ready for final installation.
- Remove the cab from the chassis and complete all rust repair work on the cab. Clean up and paint (parts of) the cab in turquoise.
- Paint the frame for the final time.
- Rebuild the front end.
- Install the completed engine for the last time and reinstall the cab and front end.

I'll leave the bed as is for now. This will be tackled later.

My thought process is to do all the work required to avoid having to pull everything back apart to complete the job. Before flying out the truck should be back together for storage.

We'll see how it all works out but this is the plan.

[Prowbar]

Looks like I'm having to adjust my schedule, was a little too optimistic I think.

Right now I have the front end sheet metal torn down and most of the rust repaired. Still need to do some sandblasting to prep the parts for paint.

The small parts I'm able to blast myself, however the sand blasting cabinet is one of these El Cheapo's, basically a piece of garbage, but it allows you do to do it yourself, which I like.

The large body panels like the inner fenders, grille, bumper, front suspension etc. will be farmed out. Next week I hope to bring them to a company that will do these for me.

I straightened out the bumper, which was quite a lot of work but it looks straight again.

Most of the parts that need to be zinc plated are prepared.

Starting on the front suspension now. Hope to get it disassembled this week, then that can go to the sandblaster as well. I might start on the body work for the front fenders then.

Hope to get the sandblasted stuff back in two weeks or so, then on to paint and re-assemble.

Decided to focus on the front end. (everything up to the firewall)
The cab and bed will be done later.

[Jim A]

That hood hinge area corrosion is awful. Snow and salt impaction?
My 1960 is really clean there, even though its first ten years were in Alaska.
Only bad areas are rockers and lower door posts. And a little floorboard.
I hope to see your finished product pics some day.

[Prowbar]

That hood hinge area corrosion is awful. Snow and salt impaction?
My 1960 is really clean there, even though its first ten years were in Alaska.
Only bad areas are rockers and lower door posts. And a little floorboard.
I hope to see your finished product pics some day.

I'm also surprised by the amount of rust about the hood hinges. Other trucks don't have this much rust in these spots.

I'd love to see your truck Jim, if you're willing to show it on the forum, especially since you owned it for so long.


As for my truck, this is how Goliath looks now. The front end is completely tore down.

Decided to leave the engine in place for now. Sorry for the rag on the engine, its purpose it to keep peoples dirty hands from "inspecting the engine" :teehee:

I am hoping to remove the large crossmember tomorrow. I'll support the engine using a jack stand under the timing cover, just like the motor mount in the big trucks.
The crossmember can then be sandblasted.

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Got the inner fenders, radiator support, battery box, bumper, grille all straightened out, dents removed, rust repaired, ready for sandblasting.
Big parts in the photo will be farmed out, the small items I can do myself.

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Disassembled the front suspension, am taking everything apart for sandblasting. New balljoints will be installed.

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Here is a shot of the straightened out bumper. It was pretty crooked on the driverside. Along with the big dents in the front fender I am assuming they drove into something substantial. They crudely welded the bumper back together. Took me quite some time to reweld it and straighten it under the press. I made some support blocks from wood to aid in straightening.

New hardware will be used throughout the rebuild. Getting the proper Grade 8 bolts here is very difficult (I can get Grade 5 easily) so I am compiling a big list of items to purchase while I'm in the US. :upyes:

Hope to start on the epoxy primer and paintwork next week.

This time we're doing it proper. Having a good time here :rowdybeer:

[Prowbar]

A lot has happened since the last post. Got the whole front suspension torn down to rebuild. Sandblasted all the parts in the blasting cabinet.
I made an extension for the cabinet to be able to blast the front crossmember. I could not reach every spot, but at least I could do the cast pieces and sides.

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Here are all the parts from the front suspension sandblasted and prepped for paint. I could not remove all the pitted rust with blasting, so I lightly coated the bare steel parts with the rust treatment that I have good success with. This is applied in a light coat with a brush, left to dry ~15 minutes and the excess wiped off.

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Here are the first parts in primer. I assembled the spindles and wheel hubs before painting. I assembled everything with ceramic grease on the fasteners. I used a 2K epoxy primer. This will be followed up by a 2K topcoat, gloss black like the original.
The spindle/backing plate on the right only has a light coat on the picture.

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Here I am assembling the control arms. I marked everything before disassembly to clean up the control arms. All the threads and rubber seals looked very good. I am replacing the grease fittings, using the old ones for painting.

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While assembling I ran across an anomaly. The book lists this dimension of 3.50" as a reference measurement. I centered mine as best as I could and came out to 3.60". If I put it at 3.50" the control arm was pretty off centered in the control arm. Not sure what is going on here, any of you might have a clue?

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Because I had the steering box, idler arm mount and front crossmember off, it was a good time to repaint the outside of the chassis rails.
I am reusing some of the old hardware but have bought new nuts and have new bolts for the steering box/idler arm mount. Grade 8 bolts are a PITA to come by here and they are expensive (~5 USD per bolt...)
I only but what I need, they come in a phosphate finish only so they will be painted anyway for rust protection.

Before I leave for the US I hope to put together the front suspension for primer/paint the body panels. The truck will be moved into storage for the time being.

[Prowbar]

Update time!

Last time I left off that most parts were sand blasted, some in primer.
I continued spraying 2K epoxy primer on all the suspension parts.

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Here are the parts in the gloss black topcoat. This is a industrial quality 2K polyurethane paint (Sigmadur 550)

Both primer and topcoat laid down very well, even considering I was painting at low temperatures. I did preheat the parts to offset the cold and to prevent moisture from forming.

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Time to start assembling. The new phone that I have doesn't have the same picture quality that the old phone had, which is a shame.
Using part existing and part new hardware. I am using ceramic grease on all fasteners.

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Using new upper balljoints and lower balljoints. Here I am pressing in the new Moog 7053KT balljoints.

Continued in the next post.

[Prowbar]

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Here I am reinstalling the front springs after both upper and lower control arms were reinstalled. You have to pay attention that the spring is properly seated in the spring pockets. It took 2 jacks to get the travel required to compress the spring fully.

I noticed some yellow paint marks in the front crossmember which convinced me I have the Heavy Duty spring package (I have the 10 leaf leafsprings in the back too, I took 2 leafs out of them previously)

The front springs are so heavy that I could not fully compress them to start the nut on the upper balljoint spindle without lifting up the truck, so we used a large steel tube to hold down the frame so I could start the nut.
Then I torqued both balljoints nuts to spec.

I kept track of the alignment shims and put them back in the right order, but plan to realign the truck after I come back from the US anyway.


The local company that does all the zinc plating for me finally had my parts ready so I could continue the front suspension work.

I went ahead and assembled the front brakes with new hardware:

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Had the dust covers zinc plated, cleaned up the wheel studs and pressed them in. Cleaned and repacked the wheel bearings.

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Finally ready to lower it back on its wheels. The new dust caps are from Dorman, part number 13977. Took me a while to find replacements but these fit well! I also installed new lug nuts.

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The parts that I got from Pat (Rustbucket on the forum) finally arrived!
A set of OEM bumper brackets, the patch panel I need for the hood corner, and a headlight ring. I also ordered the correct large flange hex head zinc plated bolts to reassemble the body panels. These came from Ebay and the seller only shipped to the US, so Pat snuck them into the box for me.

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The weather is warming up here. Already have most of the body panels in primer, plan is to shoot the radiator support, inner fenders, filler panels in gloss black this week. This will be the last week before flying to the US to I have to put the truck back together for storage.

Plan to do one more update before I leave! Have a good weekend!

[Prowbar]

Here's the last update covering the front end sheet metal.
As mentioned I blasted the small items myself, larger ones were farmed out.
I recieved the panels back sand blasted, they did a nice job. I went around the nooks and crannies to get the last dirt, blasting media out and then coated the double seams with the linseed rust treatment. This should prevent rust from forming between the seams. The picture was taken before the excess was wiped off.

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The next step was to spray everything in epoxy primer. I used the same high build primer as I did to coat the front end parts. Here are the radiator support and bumper with a good coat. I use the wires to move the parts around.

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The high build primer is easily sanded smooth to create a flat surface for final paint. This was my first time doing it and I learned a lot about body work. Paint doesn't hide any flaws! :teehee:

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The parts were then sprayed in the Sigmadur 550 topcoat. I then continued to prepare the parts for assembly on the truck. I chased all the threaded holes in the panels and add the fender seals to the inner fenders. I bent staples from stainless steel TIG wire to replicate the factory look.

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I wanted to use new hardware but had a hard time finding the correct bolts for the sheet metal panels. I ended up finding them on Ebay, Pat (Rustbucket) shipped them to me.

The left is the Ebay large flange bolt, the middle is an original sheet metal bolt and the bolt on the right is the typical small flanged bolt. The bolts with the small flanges are used mainly for the bedsides and fenders.

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Continued in the next post.

[Prowbar]

Here are the headlamp mounting plates. They were black on my truck, so I painted them black as well. I riveted the adjuster screw nuts to the plates, as well as the springs.

The holders for the lamps were zinc plated. I freshened up the headlight rings.

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I ended up painting the grille and bumper in white but the paint did not spray well and leave a good finish, so it will be redone. I did get a almost perfect color match with the original, so the plan is to use the color from the paint and match it in a 2K polyurethane paint and redo the whole thing.

I am also planning to black out the bar behind the GMC letters.

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Here is a shot of the installed bumper brackets. I sand blasted and painted them.

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The parking light lenses were long gone, so I bought new reproductions.
I had the original "buckets" zinc plated and riveted them together with new gaskets.

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Here is a picture of the restored engine bay. I forgot to dust off the heater box :banghead:

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The truck has been parked in storage for now, since I'm leaving for Wyoming tomorrow. Hoping to resume working on the truck when I get back.

See you in 6 months!

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Great progress! I dont always comment, but I'm really digging your thread. Enjoy America! Wyoming is very friendly and fun, though I imagine it's going to be covered up in a blizzard by the time you get there!
Maybe let us know you got touched down safe!