1966 GMC 1000 - Making it Mine!

[jkalgren]

A few years ago I acquired a 1966 GMC 1000 that I have been slowly fixing up and making it into the daily driver I want.

She's no show truck... but she runs and drives!


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I wanted to paint her in the fall... but she had a job to do this winter... so I had to wait.



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I am just now getting her ready for paint so she can be single color of red. I figured I might share what I am doing here. If you have ideas to share... please do! If you just want to follow along and "live vicariously" through other people's projects...welcome!

[Prowbar]

Welcome and I’m looking forward to your posts.
Looks good! What engine and trans does it have?
Do you have a specific shade of red in mind?

[jkalgren]

Originally Posted by Prowbar

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What engine and trans does it have?
Do you have a specific shade of red in mind?

She's got the inline 250 and a Powerglide transmission... although that was a transplant from a previous owner. Still had a third pedal in it when I bought it, so I assume it had a 3 on the tree originally.



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Still looking at options for paint... need to keep this budget-minded, that is why I am doing it myself.

Definately a red, on the darker side. Maybe Performance Red from Summit or Flame Red from Kirker Automotive. Single Stage.

[jkalgren]

Already completed some minor enhancements to get her to drive the way I want... power brakes and power steering. That power steering made ALL the difference in the world!

I put in a 1-wire alternator when the voltage regulator went bad, and I built a custom dash with gauges that came from another project and maple from off my sawmill. I'm gonna redo the bed with the same maple.



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The new dash made it so I was more comfortable driving it at night... I can actually see the gauges. Now I just need to find brighter headlights! Any recommendations?

[jkalgren]

Last year she left me stranded 3 times!



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Fuel delivery issues when it went below half a tank. It was weird... each time it left me stranded, my wife would bring me a gas can... I'd put in 3-5 gallons (so it was above half a tank)... and then she would start and run fine!

Ended up replacing the fuel lines (metal lines were rusty and starting to perforate, rubber lines were hard as rocks), new fuel pump for good measure, and a rebuild of the carb. Each step helped... but it wasn't really running right again until I rebuilt the carb. Rochester Monojet.

[jkalgren]

First step in prepping for paint was starting to remove the accessories... I started on the top with the cab lights... uh oh!



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Four of the five cab lights were really rusted underneath. In the end, the fifth wasn't looking so hot either.



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Soooo... off to Youtube to watch videos about replacing this roof!

[jkalgren]

Thank God for YouTube... several excellent videos available... and I used ideas from each.

I took the grinder (aka death wheel) with a cutting disc and cut around the roof... near the lip. The trick was to get the bulk of the roof off while leaving the spot welds and seam to deal with separately to make that part easier.

Unfortunately, the inside of the roof was just as bad as the outside!



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So I started cleaning it all up with wire wheels.



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You can still see the rest of the roof panel (the lip) in the pics above... so I needed to deal with that as well.

I bought a spot weld bit from Harbor Freight which did a nice job, once I learned to control it and not drill through both layers! Oops! Used the wire wheel all the way around to expose the spot welds... drilled through each, and then used a hammer and chisel to remove the lip of the roof that I had left.

[jkalgren]

After removing the lip, I completed wire wheeling the inner roof and then treated with Rust Reformer, and then painted it to seal it, hoping it will last another 60 years with that!

I covered the inner panel with KillMat for sound deadening and insulating... hoping to make the truck even more comfortable to drive.



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I looked all around for the roof panel... several manufacturers have it... most between $400 and $500... but the SHIPPING is ridiculous!!! Anywhere from $175-$500!

In the end, I called some of the closer dealers for AMD and OER and found one in Connecticut 100 miles away from me that does enough volume they were willing to order me the roof panel from AMD when they had a large order to place, and not charge me any shipping if I came to pick it up. So... I had to pay CT sales tax (not used to that in NH)... and in the end it cost me $440 and a 4 hour roundtrip. The vendor was Body Shop Price in Meriden CT... and they were FANTASTIC to deal with! They even pulled the panel out of the box when it arrived to check condition BEFORE calling me to make the trip to pick it up, and then helped me load it in my SUV when I got there. Very happy!

[jkalgren]

If you are looking at the dates of these posts... you may think I am time warping and doing this all at once. This has been over the past 4 weeks, and I am just finally posting it all now. I'll be posting more "real time" after today.

So... in the last post, I had ordered a new roof panel and picked it up in Connecticut. I had to grind 2 tabs off it (I understand those are there for the e-coat process during manufacturing) but then the panel practically fit right in. I had to "massage" the drip rail a bit in the one corner...but then popped right in with a couple taps with a rubber mallet.

It was a bit disconcerting to take this brand new panel and immediately drill holes in it... but I do REALLY like my cab lights!



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I took some measurements from the old panel... hopefully it looks good when all back together. I also ran all new wire from the back corner of the cab and used solderstick connectors to run pigtails for each light.

I ran through 3 different options for fastening the roof panel on weighing them against each other based on cost, ease and feasibility. All 3 are valid options and there are YouTube videos teaching each method.

#1 - Panel Bond Adhesive
Would require bare metal on both the inner roof and new roof panel, cost about $100 for the PBA, another $50 for the applicator gun, and then a large investment in vise grips or c-clamps to securely clamp all the way around... probably around 25 clamps.

#2 - Plug Weld with MIG Welder
I have a welder, but no bottle of gas, so I would need to invest in that (which I want to do eventually). It would require weld-thru primer on both surfaces, about 100 holes drilled in the new panel lip for the plug welds, and at least 6 clamps (4 around the corners to hold it generally in place, and another 2 to move around to firmly clamp down where I would be welding.

#3 - Pinch Weld with a Spot Welder
My neighbor has a Harbor Freight 220volt Spot Welder and cord he would lend me... and I have my air compressor set up with a 220volt outlet so I can easily unplug and plug in the Spot Welder. This requires weld-thru primer on both surfaces as well and similar clamps as option #2.

So in the end, I bought a $15 can of weld-thru primer, and 6 $2 c-clamps from Harbor Freight. This roof panel is only the second body panel I've ever replaced on a vehicle. The first was a fender on a 1974 Mustang II which simply bolted on! This is the perfect panel for my first weld-on panel... with it just fitting down in the drip rail and being spot-welded from the factory... I did the same thing! I did have to bare the metal on the top of the flange and the underside of the drip rail for the spot welder to conduct current through.



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That spot welder is a beast to man-handle all the way around that roof... but it made short work of the job!



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Once it was welded, I primed the entire roof, and then seam-sealed the panel in the drip rail.



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Once it cures (24-48 hours) I will put in another coat of primer over everything to prep it for bodywork and paint.

The seam sealer just went on tonight...and now we are all caught up!

[Prowbar]

Very nice work! A spot welder is the way to go, that’s how they did it at the factory. No rust above the windshield on yours? Mine’s pretty rotted out. What seam sealer are you using here? I’m taking notes!