'65 GMC 1500 project. From the Netherlands

[Funky61]

Musicman70 from 67-72 Chevy forum (Funky61is that you?)

Yes, one in the same Prowbar.

Great work and thanks for posting your progress.

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[Prowbar]

Went ahead and stripped the complete front end to prepare for paint. Will do the front suspension and steering at a later date. Don't want to keep the truck off the road for too long, or I'll start to miss driving it

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Just been busy cleaning up all the parts, removing almost 60 years' worth of caked on grease.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Originally Posted by Prowbar

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Went ahead and stripped the complete front end to prepare for paint. Will do the front suspension and steering at a later date. Don't want to keep the truck off the road for too long, or I'll start to miss driving it

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Just been busy cleaning up all the parts, removing almost 60 years' worth of caked on grease.

That grease removal was one of my least favorite parts. I bought a 5 gallon bucket of Super Clean (purple stuff) and it helped a lot. Still wasn't fun though.

You're making some great progress. How cold is it where you are right now?

[Prowbar]

Originally Posted by FetchMeAPepsi

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That grease removal was one of my least favorite parts. I bought a 5 gallon bucket of Super Clean (purple stuff) and it helped a lot. Still wasn't fun though.

You're making some great progress. How cold is it where you are right now?

Thanks Fetch. the weather varies between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit right now (converted it for you guys

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)

For grease removal I use a product called Elbow Grease

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The best way I've found is a trip to the local car wash to spray the 'wet junk' off and then use an old flat-bladed screwdriver and a putty knife to scrape off the thick, dry layers. It is so caked on that no solvent really penetrates it. A variety of brass, steel and nylon brushes are used also. For the last bits and to clean the surface I use my parts washer with a degreaser. To prep for paint a silicone remover fully cleans the surface.

Parts such as the bell housing takes a couple of hours to fully clean, but in the end, it's all worth it.

Forgot to mention, but the previous owners in the USA must have driven over a very hot asphalt road as there is a nice thick layer of asphalt in the fenders, covering up all the bolts. Fun stuff to find them and get them all loose. No rust or stubborn bolts, nowhere. That is a blessing.

The only rust spots I have to fix are the typical front fender reinforcements, a small hole in the floor, and a spot in the radiator support because of a leaking battery.

[lizziemeister'sV6]

Could be that the tar coating you're talking about was applied as undercoating when the truck was new. A good idea that worked well until the coating aged and cracked then allowed road grime to get under it and cause rust. We have all experienced the outcome of salt/dirt that found pockets and seams to rest in over the years - some of us more in the "Rust Belt" compared to the sunny southern states.

[Prowbar]

Originally Posted by lizziemeister'sV6

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Could be that the tar coating you're talking about was applied as undercoating when the truck was new. A good idea that worked well until the coating aged and cracked then allowed road grime to get under it and cause rust. We have all experienced the outcome of salt/dirt that found pockets and seams to rest in over the years - some of us more in the "Rust Belt" compared to the sunny southern states.

Pretty sure it is asphalt. I added a picture. Some layers are 3/4" thick. There's still lots of OEM undercoating on this truck, which is a very thin gray layer. It flakes off now. I have also found the original GM rustproofing in the doors. It also comes off in big chunks.

Anyway, this is a CA built truck and it had a Washington title on it when I bought it. It must have spent most of its life in very dry conditions as there is only very light surface rust on everything, except the usual rot in the fenders, rockers, doors, hood cab corners, windshield etc.

The picture is a shot of the right fender reinforcement, behind the front wheel. It has some damage and a piece of tin can along with lots of Bondo was used to 'fix' it.

[Prowbar]

Busy on the front-end work. Originally I wanted to paint the truck in the 503 light green/turquoise color, but decided against it. There is still a lot of good original Flame Red paint left, and I've decided to bring the original color back as best as I can.

Right now I'm working on removing the layers of spray paint to reveal it. It is a tedious process, to say the least, but we're getting there. I'm using green ScotchBrite and nylon Dremel brushes to remove the paint.

I've cleaned up and painted the frame rails and part of the front end. These areas will not be easily accessible again when the 478 is in. The front end needs a total rebuild anyway, which is for a later stage. I could do it all at once, which is preferable from a restoration standpoint, but again I don't want to have it off the road for too long.

Once the firewall is completed, I can get back to the engine work and complete it. The engine can then be dropped back in.

I'm also working on rebuilding the starter motor and engine wiring harness. The engine harness was a fire hazard in the making. It will be redone with new cables while re-using the old connectors.

[Prowbar]

Working away on the truck. Most of the firewall paint was removed. A caramel disc (usually used to remove stickers) is an effective method to remove old spray paint. A couple of spots need to be touched up to finalize the firewall.

I rebuilt the starter motor with a new Bendix, brushes, and bearings.

478 has the timing cover and top end installed. Need to make a slight dent in the 305 oil pan to clear for the governor; the 478 oil pan is deeper. Can't run the 478 pan due to the slope in the pan interfering with the front end.

Also, I wanted to run the original 4-groove pulley due to the external weight. Turns out I cannot, it hits the water pump pulley on the light-duty timing cover. Planning to make a fixture to balance the 305 pulley to the 478 pulley; I will make up an external weight, which can be easily bolted to the 305 pulley.

Also working on the engine wiring harness. Hope to install the 478 soon, when the firewall work is completed.

For reference I took a picture of the crank shaft keyway. It has a very odd shape to it, basically an extended Woodruff key.

[Prowbar]

Completed the firewall paint strip. Wanted to touch up spots first but decided to re-paint as a whole. Primer was next, it also serves as the conversion layer between the old and new paint. New 2K epoxy paint was mixed in the correct color, using an old panel as a reference. The firewall was then painted Flame Red, the original color of the truck.

Now the 478 can be installed (finally!!)

Did a lot of preparation work also. for example, the throttle and clutch linkage are all steel-on-steel. All of the linkages and holes showed excessive wear. I welded up the worn parts and filed or turned them to original size. Bronze bushings were made up, the old holes bored out and the bushings are pressed in and further secured with Loctite. The throttle linkage is shown as an example here. I also added a washer on the clutch linkage rod, as it did not have a good surface for the axial reaction forces.

Parts such as the timing indicator on the front pulley and other small parts are sent off for zinc plating.

There is also a picture of the balancing fixture for the front pulley.

Lizziemeister made a good comment about the undercoating last time. I check other trucks and indeed, what you can see on the firewall is the original undercoating. However, some spots are so thick, I figured it to be asphalt. How thick is the undercoating on your trucks? In the nooks and crannies of the front fenders.

[Prowbar]

Originally I had planned to also paint the front inner fenders and radiator support etc. That will have to wait for another time, as there is a car show coming up that I would like to attend, and the weather is getting better by the day. I'm getting the urge to drive it again. Have to keep the big jobs in sections to avoid having it off the road for too long.

Rust repairs are the next job when this is finished.

Anyway, the second post is to show off the added ported vacuum advance port.
Originally this engine had no ported vacuum advance port, and I prefer ported over full manifold vacuum for drivability. Therefore a small aluminum block was made with a hose fitting. A small hole was drilled in the carburetor to allow for ported vacuum.

I could have gone with the Holley 500 CFM 2 barrel, but the engine will be running on propane most of the time so there is no benefit from it really. Also, the Holley throttle blades are the same size as the Stromberg WWC, so I doubt it will be inferior in airflow.