1964 1500 series drivetrain refresh

[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

[Funky61]

What a beautiful V6 and boy is that interior clean! Thanks for sharing and keep the pics coming.

[aphaynes]

Since I am close to your area, who did you have do the work and how were they on price? It would be nice to take mine to someone who now has 305E experience.

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[David R Leifheit]

Originally Posted by GMCNUT

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I kept the plaid valve covers on it because you wouldn't believe the crowd that gathers at the shows to see them.

Did you put the covers on it, or were they there from the previous owner? They look real clean too...

[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by David R Leifheit

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Did you put the covers on it, or were they there from the previous owner? They look real clean too...

I added the Plaids for crowd appeal and interest at the shows - they are so unusual looking to onlookers its fun to sit and listen to people come up and whisper to each other that they can't believe I would paint them that way HAHA

[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by aphaynes

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?

Since I am close to your area, who did you have do the work and how were they on price? It would be nice to take mine to someone who now has 305E experience.

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?

There is a great "old time" mechanic shop here in Arab where quality mechanic work at fair labor rates is still being done - they prefer to do work on older vehicles because they are truck guys themselves and have 60's GMC's and Chevys sitting around there being worked on all the time. The Ceramic coating was done at "its not paint" in Huntsville. They do great work with powder and ceramic coating for cheaper than I have paid elsewhere.

Ceramic coating of exhaust is the only way to go if you want what you pay for to continue looking like it does in my pictures - all high temp paints fail to penetrate the pores in the cast iron and will fail usually within a year in my experience. Ceramic coating is not cheap though - nearly 300 bucks for a set of exhaust manifolds, but oh sooooo worth it when you pop the hood 5 years later

[GMCDAC]

Thanks for starting this thread GMCNUT! I have been looking forward to seeing more info and pics about your GMC's for a long time! It looks great!

DAC

[GMCNUT]

Thanks DAC - will get some more shots of it when the weather gets right again.