New (to me) 1968 c30 longbed 305 pics intro n ??

[BabyJsKustomAuto]

Hi all, new to the forum here. Picked this truck up recently and have begun fixing it up. Ive built a few hot rods, and when I saw the info on the v6 page of this site I immediately recognized it as a valuable recourse and wanted to sign up and say hello and thank you ASAP. I bought it locally with a blown brake line and gnarly looking leaky stromberg and towed it home. Was a town truck according to the guy I bought it from.

a buddy has a carb service and happened to have a kit in stock, and I just bought a roll of 1/4" line and replaced all the rear steel reusing the fittings. Front wheel bearings on pass side needed servicing. and could use exhaust, had a few holes I patched for now. Only thing it still needs mechanically is a steering box but im driving it fine





since the photos ive repainted all the wheels and grill white, added a mexican blanket seat cover, taken the bed rails off and reworked the back bumper. you cant see it in the pic w the tailgate down but they had some kind of tow rigging mess welded to the back. it was like a farm job all torch cut pices stick welded on. I liked it, but had a little bit too much going on so i simplified it a little. not sure what i want to do with it. I wanted to lower it, but dont know if i want to spend the money converting to disc for access to drop spindles. I bought the truck cheap and i feel likeright now im "up" with it and am apprehensive about dumping a bunch of money into it, and it drives so wellas is. aside form the box, the front steering linkage and ball joints are good, the brakes look like they were recently done w new shoes n cylinders. even the tires are pretty new.

A few questions for the knowledgeable:

I have the original 2 piece wheels, but it currently has a set of 16" fomoco e250 steelies on it. I read that drum brake wheels wont clear disc brakes and thats one reason i dont want to convert. will i have a problem with these e250 wheels or only with the factory 2 pc?

since it needs a new steering box, if anyone has a steering pump brakcet setup available id consider upgrading to power steering. it seems my parts house has better acces on a power box over manual anyway, they also have a pump and pressure line. from what ive read my 68 frame should accept the box right away, but i may have to mess with the steering shaft and use a different pitman arm? this im unclear

is there any source or does anyone have some nice gmc dog dish hubcaps. 98% of everything is the 10"ish 10 series dog dishes, my truck needs the 12" 3/4 ton ones. It came with one mounted on the ford wheel so i know they exist, id like 3 more or just a new set.

it doesnt appear to have any dampening in the rear as far as shocks, just really heavy leaf and helper springs. is this normal for this longbed? most listings for rear shocks say "exc 157 wheelbase" and even at that my truck is only 137". either way im fabbing somehting to mount shocks in the back, just wondering if this is factory to not have them or if someone removed them.

the truck already has a cool stance, but if i wanted it a little lower it seems to me the only obvious way is the extend the rear shackle a little, except it would contact the bed floor and bottom out the helper spring. I would imagine I could remove those helper springs once i have shocks, and notch the shackle up into the bed floor a little making a cover from above or even raising the whole bed floor a few inches. are there any other quick tricks for another few inches out back? due to leaf spring size it doesnt look like a flip is an option without some major notching and its gonna put the thing in the weeds, which im not neccessarily looking for.

I know i ramble and post in short burst of ideas haha, nice to meet you all too! not sure what im doing bodywise either. I like the trucks natural patina and the striping, it annoys me the doors and bed dont match but im not sure if i can match the cab, nor am i sure if i want to paint the whole truck. wither way it needs a bed floor and rockers. cab corners have bondo on them, so well see what they look like stripped, probly just weld them in quick while im set up for the rockers.

[GMCDAC]

Hello BabyJ's and welcome from the Black Hills! I dig your truck, and rambling is just fine---long as you keep the pics coming with it---LOL!.

First off, I have never owned a '68 but I have 2 from this era, a '70 and '72, so I may not be able to give much help. There may be a "SPID" label on the inside of the glovebox door similar to the first pic that has a lot of important info about your truck. If it is a one ton it is a C3500 in GMC language, not a C30. 3/4 ton is a C2500 like the fender emblems pictured. I'm sure it should have rear shock mounts. The third pic is the D60 in my C2500 showing the shock mounts on it. The 4th pic is what I had to do to convert bowtie 12" hubcaps to look sorta like they belong on a GMC. I made stickers to cover it up. Could not find 12" GMC caps. Time to make new stickers. These caps are from a '73 Chev.

I can't help on the suspension alterations you want to do, I like the stock ride hights.

DAC

[Funky61]

Welcome BabyJKC!!

Nice Stepper you have there. The e350 wheels should work for a future disc change if they are the Accuride 16x7's. Try to look for 73 and up GMC caps in 12" variety; they may be a bit easier to find although not period correct, but close.

Far as adding power steering, first you need to acquire the double groove pulleys; crank and fan. You can stop there and fabricate a power steering pump bracket or continue finding the factory one, another challenge as they too are tough to find.

Here is link to show what the factory type look like. I have seen some use idler pulleys and one with a Big Block chevy-style with remote reservoir.
Again the key is getting those pulleys. Best of luck and again

[bigblockv6]

since it needs a new steering box, if anyone has a steering pump brakcet setup available id consider upgrading to power steering. it seems my parts house has better acces on a power box over manual anyway, they also have a pump and pressure line. from what ive read my 68 frame should accept the box right away, but i may have to mess with the steering shaft and use a different pitman arm? this im unclear

Unlike the 68 Chevrolet pickup trucks the 68 GMC still used the power assist setup rather than a power steering box. The frame rail on my 68 GMC was not raised or indented to accept a power steering box so I came across a 68 Chevrolet in a wrecking yard and cut off that portion of the rail and spliced it to my truck frame. You may not have to go to this extreme, it's possible that a kit for the 66 and prior trucks for mounting a power steering box may work. The power steering pump bracket from a 67-69 1500-3500 series GMC V6 would be correct, I can send you some pics of that if you want.

[BabyJsKustomAuto]

again, thanks for all the info you guys are great! I actually ended up just getting a rebuilt manual box through ym parts house and swapped it already. I can live with the manual steering, ive had a few manual steering cars in the past, this ones just a little tough cause of the e rated truck tires out front. a new box did make a difference though, i think part of my problem is my original was so worn it was binding a bit making the wheel even harder to turn that it shouldve been.

ive been keeping an eye out for those 12" gmc dog dishes, my truck came with 1 on it, so i know theyre out there. unfortunately they appear to be a dime a dozen in the 10" variety for half ton, cant find the 12" for less than like 300 a set!

mine is indeed a c3500 v-six as designated by the fender badge. im familiar with the dana 60, thats not the rear in this truck. maybe it was switched at some point, which may explain why nobody bothered to mount shock absorbers. This diff has like a round cover and housing (not squarish notchy like a d60) and removable front memeber like a ford 9." Its got full floating axles and judging by the housing size at least a 13 or 14" ring gear. did all gmcs come with dana rears in the 60s? if thats the case, this one is definitely not original...

[BarryGMC]

One ton trucks have the corporate ho 72 rear not the Dana 60. It sounds like that is what you have. Also shocks were still an option in 68. The rear Upper shock mounts from a 62-72 leaf spring Chevy or gmc Will work. They have 2 rivets and one bolt holding them on. The axle bracket can come from most any solid axle.