Jake Groby UPDATED 1960 GMC build with Photos

[jbgroby]

Hi Guys and Gals,

It's taken awhile BUT I moved all my picture from webshots to Photo Bucket
(2 weeks of work), but there are done. Becasue I can't edit the current build threat (replace picture links) I have to start another one - so I'm going to cut and paste the words with the links in this thread.

I'm copying this build thread from the 47-72 chevy site. The pictures won link just yet will address thsi soom I promice.


TRUCK: 1960 GMc with a 305V-6 3 speed trans, 3.93 rear axle, fornt torsion bar suspention. For now, the photo in the links won't work, webshots switched over to Smile and I' have not put them in Photo Bucket.

In January 2000 I found the first GMC I was to restore in New Orleans, LA. The idea was to have it ready for my son for his senior year. That did not happen because the truck I bought was a basket case. The cab was shot. However, the bed, frame, engine and transmission were in decent condition we decided to keep it and look for another cab and doors. The disassembly began as you can see.

This was the first time I had ever tried to do a project this big. Let alone fool with an engine. Being adopted and a single parent (mom) household, car were just not my thing. A friend Bill who found the truck for me also was into old cars and gave me a ton of pointers of what to do, where to save money and what not to waste my time on.

Many of these pictures were upload in Webshots and the originals were lost to Hurricane Katrina, so I feel lucky to have the ones I saved, when possible I’ll load photos from my CPU. I’ll also post the link to the entire album. I figure this might save server space on the club site.

These pictures show her one day one January 2000.

As you can see the truck was used for plumbing work in the New Orleans area. The custom made tool and parts bins in the bed were a work of art. The owner Ashton Chargois had built these in 1960 and they were still going strong. It took me and my son 2 days to dismantle and the boxes and piping. I have no idea how he managed to put the piping in the bed. Each end was threaded in opposite, as I unscrewed one end, it tighten the other side. I had to take a Saws-All to remove the pipes

We dug right in and starter tearing her apart, saving and numbering the zip-lock bags with the bolts and stuff we took off. In a notebook, we recorded the date and numbers of the bags so we could REMEMBER what the **** the nuts and bolts came off of YEARS later Everybody know what I’m talking about right? The first thing I noticed was the design of the engine which was like no other engine I’d ever saw before. The location of the plugs was the first indication I had that this was a weird engine. Little did I know that it was on the rare side and IT would start my love affair with the V-6.

The Engine

Before I get into the nuts oand bolts of the build and because the engine is the hearts of ANY truck, I ‘ll take a moment to explain why this engine is so radical and different. ( I would have said better, but all that does is start fights)

The 305 V-6 was the brain child of GMC engineers. In January of 1959 GMC decided to design a new truck, with a new type of engine. This was Detroit’s first V-6 and was hailed as a major engineering breakthrough with advances in metallurgy and design; they had developed the first of its kind, a 60 degree V-6 block with 12 degree off-set cylinder bank (narrower which created less friction/drag on the up-stoke). This is the only engine ever to be designed like this. The position of the sparkplugs (inside of the heads, plugs run cooler) and the design of the pistons (3 compression and 1 oil ring). Additionally, 92% of the cylinders are surrounded by water, which eliminated hot spots, the water pump moves 135 gpm. The camshaft sits in a bath of motor oil and is lubricated as soon as it's started. Cam lobes dip into a built-in reservoir of oil as the camshaft rotates, preventing cam and valve scuffing - a major reason why this engine gives long, dependable service.

(The following information is Courtesy of the 60-66 GMC page owned created by Jolly Goodfellow)

With thermostat open, only half the water goes to the radiator, the other half returns to the pump through a by-pass. This results in excellent cooling ability. There is less than four degrees variation in water temperature throughout the engine. This checks the possibility of hot spots. Here's cooling efficiency that is not matched by any other comparable size engine. Life of pistons, valves, valve guides and spark plugs in much greater, and the possibility of head-cracking is held safely in check.

Wires are short & designed to remain trouble-free. Instead of looping around & over the cylinder banks, they're neatly nested between the banks.

Identical left & right exhaust manifolds of special alloy iron & highly resistant to cracking & warping by extreme temperature changes. Large individual ports for each cylinder & short, large diameter passages permit more complete scavenging of exhaust gases. Result is better fuel economy, longer life, & better performance.

Short Intake Manifold with individual ports for each cylinder are a special feature of this engine. Individual ports permit faster intake & more uniform distribution of fuel-air mixture to each cylinder. Because manifolds are short & have a minimum of bends & curves, too rich or too lean fuel mixtures, usually found in longer in-line or V-8 engines are completely eliminated. This results in much better fuel economy, cleaner, more complete combustion & greater engine efficiency.

New, long-reach spark plugs have greater surface area in contact with cooling passages. These cooler running plugs stay cleaner so they last longer. Spark plugs, located inside the "V", away from hot exhaust manifolds, run cooler, have much shorter wires, & are easy to service.

Smooth, precision-machined combustion chamber minimizes carbon deposits, hot spots & pre-ignition. & there is uniform combustion in all 6 cylinders for smoothest engine operation. 6 equally-spaced head bolts surround each cylinder to reduce bore distortion, & guarantee gasket sealing for long engine service.

Valves operate efficiently at any engine temperature, The hardened steel rocker arm shaft is held firmly in place by 5 aluminum brackets. As valves warm up & expand, brackets expand too, assuring proper valve clearance under all operating temperatures. The engine runs quieter with fewer valve adjustments needed, valve life is extended. Brackets at both ends of the shaft, & one bracket between each set of rockers arms holds shaft deflection in check.

V-6 roller timing chains are double-strand, for double durability. They're quit, & positive in action, models 401 & up have a three-gear train.
Compared with other engines of equal displacement, V-6's have the largest exhaust valves of all to keep back pressure low, efficiency high.
Tough, Silchrome XB-steel exhaust valves, hard-faced with Ni-Chrome--plus long-life valve seat inserts.

Self-locking adjusting screws s-t-r-e-t-c-h the time between valve adjustments -- & then lighten the work; it's a simple & inexpensive one wrench job.

Ok Back on track. And to the Engine tear down

These pictures show what it took and looked like to tear the engine down. The back patio was a mess for about 2 months, my wife was having fits and I have to keep everything clean. After the engine was removed we took it to a local shop to have it dipped and de-greased.



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After we got the engine back from the shop then it was time to sandblast, prime and paint. These picture show the work involved over 2 days. The yard where I was sandblasting was Mr. Bill’s place in New Orleans east. His compressor is a heavy duty Leroy industrial road compressor mated to a 1,500gallon air tank. At 125 psi, you can blast for over a 45 minutes before needing to kick on the compressor, Compared to him, we are all amateurs and fly weight hobbyists!


It took over 68 bags of sand, and 16 hours to blast EVERYTHING on the frame and suspension. All work proudly done me and I was really getting into the job. We used a engine hoist on a sheet of plywood to flip the frame over when done.

This pictures show a VERY UNSAFE PRATICE PAINTING WITH OUT A MASK. I’ve learned a lot. However, the way Bill tough me to paint rims was perfect.




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[jbgroby]

Post 2

You remember what I said about the cab being rotten? Well another around 2004 member from the 60-66 club offered me a 60-61 cab for only a $100, I jumped at the chance to grab it. Great deal you say, well the cab was in the state of Oregon and I was in the state of Louisiana, or as my wife said a state "derangment". Steve was his name (I think) and he offered to drive the cab to his dads place in Illinois during the summer and keep it there until I could come get it. YES! Now, it was only 1900 vs. 2,400 miles away! Over a few months I saved up $400 for fuel, food and hotels.

My friend BIG Sam (you’ll see why)

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who had a decent truck and plenty of time off, got together with me and drove to Illinois to grab the cab. The story of the FIRST TRIP TO TRY AND GET THE CAB WAS A DUSEY, Yes I said FIRST TRIP.

On the first attempt we left on a Friday night about 6 PM and was happily on our way north along I-55. We got to about to Granada, MS. At about 10pm when Sam notices his engine temp a little high, so we pull off and into an all night gas station when the lower radiator hose decided to lost loose. At this point we forgot to leave Mr. Murphy (of Murphy Fame, “Whatever can go wrong at the worst possible time, usually does”) at home and he came along for the ride. Of course we had the great luck to be in the only town in America which did not have a 24/7 WAL-MART. We used a roll of duck tape to seal the hose along with some hose clamps to help hold the tape in place and drove to the nearest auto parts place we could find which was a Western Auto, (I had not seen one of those in years).

We parked and tried to sleep in a hot *** truck with mosquitoes along for the ride. At 10:00am the store opened and we were able to buy a new hose I told Sam to replace the upper hose and thermostat while we were at it and as Mr. Murphy was right by our side and decided to let Sam break the cast aluminum water inlet neck right then. So, one more trip back in the store to buy one more part. Oh **** it is not in stock, sorry I can’t help you. After explaining out plight to the mgr. he drove Sam to AutoZone about 5 miles away to get the water neck inlet. YEAH! We be back on the Road Again (Yes, I sang some Willie).

O.K. we blew through Memphis, got to Sikeston, Mo. When Sam notices the temp starting to rise again. We pull over and he figures that the fan clutch is not working, so we get to the local AutoZone and buy a new clutch. Mr. Murphy was right by our side again to inform us that although the store had the clutch it DID NOT have the special tool we would need to remove and install the new one. We are now about 700 miles from home with no way to get back. Then that AZ mgr, called another store located the tool and drove to go get it. We removed the old clutch, put a few more scratches on our hands and installed the new one was kept on trucking.

O.K. we made it about 10 miles when the temp stated to come up Again! We pulled into a motel 6 BEGGED for a room which was not available. We decided that was enough for one weeked from **** and decided to head for home.

That weekend was Founders day and the place was packed! WHAT THE HECK IS A FOUNDERS DAY! We spoke very nicely to the lady at the front desk and she found us a room and asked us if a smoking room with 1 queen bed would be OK? I told her I was so tired that I’d sleep in the lobby if it was O.K.? The room at least HAD a bed, which by this time out eyes are bleeding we’re so tired and dirty. We get in the room and proceeded to attempt to scrub the grease and dirt off. I tell you, them wash rags that we used ain’t never going be white again!

Sam and I were so tired we barely made it to the bed. Let alone give a crap it was a queen and we had to sleep in the same bad. We promised each other we would not grope in the night and let it go at that!

At the time, I wore glasses and ONE OF THE SCARIEST things I’ve ever saw was the site of Sam in his Spiderman Briefs. Picture this, I woke up looked over forgetting where I was at for a moment and all I saw was Spiderman crawling across Sams’ AZZ, I jumped up and grabbed my glasses and made that made it worse because his Big Azz was now in complete and utter focus

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. I took off the glasses and staggered into the bathroom.

Nursing a sick truck back home over 700 miles away is something I wish on NO ONE. We noticed about 50 miles into the trip home that if we stayed at 55 mph the temp held ok, any faster we started heading high. It took us about 16 hours to get back home. The problem was that Sam though he was doing good by prepping for the trip by flushing out the old radiator juice and putting in new stuff, but what he did not realize, that the small rust particles simply clogged up the core.

He brought the radiator to the shop and had it boiled out and he was a good as new. OK 4 more months later I was able to save up some MORE money and we tried again, only this time it went perfect. Got to see the Arch in DAYLIGHT . These pictures show the cab we went to pick up on the SECOND TRIP.



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EVERY place we stopped for gas the guys all came to look talk trucks and to say the Indian term “IHOJLT” I Had One Just Like That”, or the other Indian phrase “IHOJLT-EIWD” I Had One Just Like That, Except It Was Different?

[jbgroby]

Post 3

OK, I got the cab home and it will need to be stripped and checked for rotten areas which were not many except the rockers panels as usual. How did they get that name anyway? Ok. We get a chance to remove the cab. And all is well. My brother gets his friend Rudy Ramelli to make me a great deal on soda blasting the cab., I’d always wanted to try this so I said sure lets do it. My brother and I load up the cab on a small trailer and deliver it to the place. What I did not know was that the deep heavy rust was not removed, so I only wasted a $150.00


I called my EX-friend Fred, Yes I said EX-friend, you’ll see why! To let him know I had the cab blasted and was dropping it off by his shop for him to put the primer on, I had bought all the primer and supplies. No problem, bring it over we’ll get right on it (famous next to last words) The cab sat for over a month in a high humid environment and re-rusted all to **** This is after he used the primer on someone elses project and was promising he fix the mess. I told him no thanks demanded the $200 for the primer and got the cab the **** out of there! I have not talked to him since. This is what a cab will look like if you expose the metal to Louisiana high humid air for about a month or so. First several pictures in album.



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I had another friend named Joe Manent who owned a body shop and does excellent work. He ride is the Puzzled? truck you see in the picture’s. His body work is so good, what you are looking at is 5 different truck parts morphed into one, Ford, Dodge, Chevy, Toyota, and Nissan. He's one all sorts of awards for that truck (lost it to katrina too) You had to see this thing in person to fully get a grip on how nice it was.

Here we are delivering the cab and hood to the Ready Strip in Jackson, Ms. 250 miles from my home. When we picked it up you would not believe the great condition the cab was in, she looked new. I told Joe the day we were to pick up the cab and he was ready that afternoon with the primer and within 15 minutes after we unloaded the cab he was priming it. Please not that the date was August 25th, 2005.



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As most of you know we got his by Katrina just 4 days later. Luckily Joe had primed the cab and although she went under 11 feet of water, the primer keep the metal from re-rusting. However, when you lose everything you own, including the dog, things get in a lot better perspective.

I did not worry about the truck anymore. I was one of the lucky ones in order to find my family a home and everybody was safe. I was working non-stop at the water plant, was able to get off one weekend in every 6 to visit the family and get setup in a new home. Then things started to happen. More later!

[jbgroby]

All that is left is the bed and tailgate. The Hood ornament sure does look really pretty sitting up there "jetting" the truck forward.

[Funky61]

Looks Fantastic Jake! Love the early hoods.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Aww man that's nice! I'd get a sunburn if I had that in my yard because I'd never stop standing there staring at it and grinning haha.

Thanks for the pics

[jbgroby]

I was able to shim up the radiator as I needed to and was able to correctly hang the P/S fender I have literally waited 13 years to put on the badge. I need a hanky, sniff, sniff.

[Andice]

Jake:

Love that V6 and the entire truck!

[FetchMeAPepsi]

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now we need full pics of the whole truck!

[jbgroby]

about 4 hours work.