'65 GMC 1500 project. From the Netherlands

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Originally Posted by James

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A full floating rear axle is lubricated with the rear end oil. If someone put grease in the hub bearing it was because the oil seal was leaking. Installing the Speedi Sleeves should take care of the problem. On my truck I cleaned the grooves and filled it with Devcon Titanium and sanded it down smooth. Have over 6300 miles on it and no leaks. When you fill the rear axle raise one rear wheel as high as you can go to allow the rear end oil to flow into the hub. After 30 minutes or so do the other wheel. Then recheck your rear end oil.

Hope this help.

Sure does James, will do like you instructed here. Thanks.

[LEWISMATKIN]

also, when you do your final fill, place your thumb over the lower 1/2 of the fill hole and fill the rear axle untill the oil runs out over your thumb, then reinstall the fill plug.

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Originally Posted by LEWISMATKIN

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also, when you do your final fill, place your thumb over the lower 1/2 of the fill hole and fill the rear axle untill the oil runs out over your thumb, then reinstall the fill plug.

Could you tell me why you would 'overfill' the axle like that?

[LEWISMATKIN]

so that oil will migrate down the axle tubes and continually bathe the wheel bearings in oil. I have seen too many rear axle bearings and axles destroyed due to lack of lubricant.

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Hello, another update.

To sum up what I've done so far:

- Filled the rear axle with diff oil, using the instructions given here. No leaks from the diff cover and wheel seals so far

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-Rebuild the Stromberg WW carburetor.

-Cleaned out the oil bath air filter

-Pre-bent all the steel brake lines for install, copying the old lines, with a couple of extra lines for the dual master conversion.

-In the process of painting the frame with a rust convertor/stopper and then a proper chassis/frame paint.

-Repaired the wiring harness that runs to the taillights.

-In the process of installing H4 lamps. These are required here as the original sealed beams are not allowed in the Netherlands. The connectors are pinouts are the same so they are easily installed and could be reverted if needed.

-I will be saving the original GMC tailgate and rear fenders (if possible). They are now at the sandblaster to remove the baked on paint from the fire.

-In the process of rebuilding the deluxe heater. It will be powder coated black and assembled with fresh gaskets. The heater core is still good and the blower motor could use a little oil on the bearings.

-In the process of performing all sorts of interior related work. From glove boxes to heater controls.

- Forum member AZKen, is helping me out with a ton of parts that will be needed for the build. Much obliged Ken.

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Here are the installed H4 lamps. I bought them from a fellow that sold these lamps to be used in American cars with sealed beam lights. Unfortunately they are of crap quality, made by Autopal in India. I have to modify them, remove the built in parking lights. Also he supplied 4 regular beam instead if 2 low and 2 high beam. This is needed to properly install them in the mounting bezels. The spacing for the 3 prongs mounted on the back of the light is different on low vs high beam so they don't interchange. Aka this had to be modified.

Anyway, cleaned all the connectors out first and installed everything with a dab of dielectric grease and all worked the first try.

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Also received my new repro bedsides and panels. Very excited to have them. The boxes got a little wet during transportation but the moisture never touched the panels. They look really good. After the frame paintjob and brake lines the bed can be build up on the truck.

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Working on the frame paintjob. Already did the rear of the frame while it was on the ground, now doing the frame rails underneath.

I'm using this product for the first layer:

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Basically a product that penetrates the surface rust on the frame. This seals off the rust. It is applied with a very light coat. luckily the frame had very little loose rust that had to be brushed off first, so this saved a ton of time.

When this coat is fully completed, I can move on to the final paint. This is a black chassis/frame paint from Monopol. It is a 2 part deal, based on epoxy.

Some places of the frame I cannot reach right now, because other parts are in the way. These will be done later, whenever the cab is lifted off. I will do what I can, which is the frame and crossmembers, parts of the radiator support etc.

To project the several grease fittings on the front suspension and driveshaft from dirt and dust, these are small cups available for them. To try these out I have fitted them on the grease fittings. We'll see how it works out in the long run.

Also discovered that the oil pan and bellhousing recieved a nice dent, luckily no rubbing from the flywheel. See picture.

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Some shots of the inside rockers and floor. The drivers side inner rockers is pretty rusty. But overall condition (regarding rust) is still mint compared to some I've seen.
There is some kind of old undercoating left in some places underneath the cab, the light grey stuff. There are also a lot of dirt deposits, these are as hard as rock. To get it off I'd have to beat it off with a hammer and screwdriver. But it did a great job protecting the metal underneath from rust, believe it or not.

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Still working on the frame paint. Due to other people wanting to use the car lift, it had to be on and off. Which allowed me to complete the whole dual master cylinder brake system and my reproduction of the original tailpipe.

The new brake system uses a repro master cylinder from a '67 C10/1500, which is filled with DOT 5 silicone brake fluid. The whole system is based upon the original regarding line placement, and there is an extra set of lines running to the front right wheel. The original T-sections are all used, and I made up extra brackets to hold the extra brake lines in place. If one wanted, this mod would be easily reversible and it looks like factory, with is what I like. See pictures.

The tailpipe is welded up from a straight piece of 50mm (almost 2 inch) pipe and two 90 degree bends. I tried to replicate the original tailpipe as closely as possible. It angles down a little and exists at the same spot. See pictures.

The tires that came with the truck had tons of dry cracks and were swollen in some areas. Running the DOT codes on the tires told me that they were made before I was born! The newest one was from 1998, my birth year

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Scored a good deal on some new Toyo tires, 235/85 R16. I had them install the white lettering towards the inside.

Also did a lot of rustproofing inside the cab. All the areas with surface rust were covered in a light layer of roestfixeer, the stuff I linked previously. Areas that are double walled or bolted together, and the threads of screw/bolts recieved a coat of Mike Sanders Rust Prevention Grease

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. I apply this grease generously, while its cold. When it gets hotter is starts to creep between the sandwiched panels, creating a 'live' rust protection. It also works wonders in door bottoms. Just about any place where it is not exposed to the open elements. I plan apply this whenever I can, when I take something apart and reassemble it is given a coat of grease.

Also. Underneath the bench I found a strip of duct tape. Never thought anything of it, but when I pulled it from underneath the seat I found out it was the original 'sales poster' which was taped to the window. It had the original salles price (3500 USD) and a phone number! Will give that number a call ASAP. Hopefully the original owner is willing to tell me the story on this one!

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It's been a while. Got the frame all painted. Had to move the truck to a new location, so another project (VW Bus Type 3, not mine) could use the car lift.

Recieved a whole lot of parts from AZKen, thanks again Ken.

Have not been able to call the owner, for some reason it keeps saying the person is not accepting calls at this moment. Maybe they blocked me because it is an odd number? Not sure.

What I've done so far:
-Frame fully painted.
-Cab rustproofing. Rust converter on the floor, both sides, underneath the dash and in the doors. The doors were then sprayed with a layer of Mike Sanders grease. Also used underneath the dash and on screw threads.
-Rebuilt the alternator with new bearings.
-Rebuilt the heater controls. Repaired the arms that broke off, installed new heater knobs. Went through the switch for the fan, cleaned all the contacts.
-Rebuilt the wiper motor.
-Installed and cleaned the wiper switch as the original was missing.
-Installed a new fuel sender.
-Re-lubed the speedometer and cable as they were dry, went through all the dashboard lights and gauges. Made a new lens for the turn signal as the bulb had gotten too hot and melted the lens.
-Installed a new wiring harness for the turn signals. Still have a ground issue in one of them, need to make the tool as described in the manual to remove them and clean the contacts.

In process:
-Deluxe heater box powder coat
-Door locks repair
-Dome light install
-Reassemble the doors after rustproofing, still need the window seals as they are gone.
-Wiper arms and hinge rebuild
-Glove box install.
-Rebuild the light switch and rheostat.

There is much more to do, of course, but I hope this gives an idea of what is going on at the moment. So far all the electrics are working first try, except for the one ground issue, got to love it. Of course I try to clean all the contacts and connectors, and reassemble with dielectric grease.

These are great trucks to work on. Got to love all the high quality and perfectly rebuildable components. Also, everything says 'MADE IN U.S.A.'. Makes you feel a little patriotic, even as a non-American.

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