Another New Guy

[csnsdhl]

Hey all, another new member here. I'll try to give you the brief version but lets see!

I found this site roughly 15 years ago when I first acquired my 63 GMC. I was doing some computer work for a guy and i traded my labor for this old truck that was sitting in the weeds down from his house. He told me it wouldn't shift after it warmed up or something like that.. anyways, after honing out the clutch slave and a kit from NAPA where I worked at the time..... bingo! Runs and drives like a champ, and the truck has a neat local history to boot.

Fast Forward to now.

Truck has been inside and run a couple times a year etc.. all is still mostly well. Finally getting ready to fix this baby up this winter! Just coming off a shoulder surgery a week ago so step one, R&D. So here I am typing this and preparing for the project.

At first I wanted to rod it but as you all know the V6 is just too sweet and the cost to play the game can be extreme. That's not what i really want. What I do want is Safe, Reliable, and Fun.

My thoughts are:

Power Steering
Power Brakes
Change Rear End or Ratio
Seatbelts

SO!

A few of my questions and concerns are how to and what are the best ways to proceed. I've done some reading on PS conversions but what is the best route.

The disc brake front and better front components from a donor truck are appealing as is power brakes but more importantly maybe duel chamber for safety. But, can I run hydraulic clutch with a duel chamber and a booster? Anyone done it?

What is my best truck for a donor? Rear end upgrades? Am I going to 5 bolt?

...

One of my other things was possibly putting in air bags, no sooner i went to type this today and someone has shared a similar build! Darn near what I would like to do but need to figure out the $$. Id really like to get this truck nice on a 4K budget.

Alright, enough for now I'll share some pictures.

Thanks All

Casey

[csnsdhl]

more pics

[csnsdhl]

more

[csnsdhl]

more again

[csnsdhl]

A couple of more questions that I have after doing some research...

Are my mirrors a dealer option or something? I've seen similar pictures of these mirrors with the old holes that aren't patched.

Is the rear bumper a factory bumper? I thought it wasnt correct but again think I have seen some pictures.

Also, they have 7000 GWV onn the side of the box.. the VIN indicates 1000, and 5200 on the tab in cab, its got 6 bolt wheels. Would they have put overload spring in the rear or something? Maybe a 5/8 ton? Whats the deal?

[jbgroby]

The drivers side mirror was standard factory equipment, the passenger side was an option and 'sometimes' added by the dealers to entice a buy.

The rear bumper was another option you could add to your truck AND there were several to chose from. Your bumper seems to be aftermarket.

[TJ's GMC]

Welcome aboard! Very nice truck as well.

[GMCNUT]

My thoughts are:

Power Steering
Power Brakes
Change Rear End or Ratio
Seatbelts

SO!

A few of my questions and concerns are how to and what are the best ways to proceed. I've done some reading on PS conversions but what is the best route.

The disc brake front and better front components from a donor truck are appealing as is power brakes but more importantly maybe duel chamber for safety. But, can I run hydraulic clutch with a duel chamber and a booster? Anyone done it?

What is my best truck for a donor? Rear end upgrades? Am I going to 5 bolt?

...

One of my other things was possibly putting in air bags, no sooner i went to type this today and someone has shared a similar build! Darn near what I would like to do but need to figure out the $$. Id really like to get this truck nice on a 4K budget.

Alright, enough for now I'll share some pictures.

Thanks All

Casey[/QUOTE]

Welcome aboard Casey! I like that truck - very nice and original. You will find there is no shortage of strong opinions in this forum, but I want to say that largely in my view and experience, people acquiring new pickups tend to immediately jump to conclusions and spend a bunch of money and sometimes wreck a great original truck only to realize the lack of time to work on one, lack of funds, wife harrassment, and other negatives and eventually sell it. My suggestion is this: you are in no hurry - take your time, and spend only what money it takes to make the truck run drive and operate as it was meant to first - this will be your cheapest cost route. Once operational, with new slim correct tires and new rebuilt and correctly adjusted drum brakes, start driving it during those less frequent than you think intervals and see what you think - you may find that not only are the drum brakes adequate, but steering may also surprise you with how easy it steers (unless you are one of those people insistent on wider than stock tires to look cool or something). If Power steering becomes a must-have, try adding factory power steering - simple add-on optional equipment engineered for that truck without the need for expensive aftermarket units which devalue it and don't work any better in the first place. For power brakes, GMC employed a simple Midland booster you add to the inner fender and run a line to your existing dual master cyl. Again, no need to re-invent the wheel here - all the engineering you could ever need was done for you when the truck was new. optional power brakes and steering work great and INCREASE your trucks value and do not cost you out the wazoo nor cause issues installing or require holes to be drilled or any form of butchery a future owner might have to try and undo.
You mentions changing the rear end ratio; this makes no sense to do. The Dana 44 you have has 3:54 gears which works great on the highway behind a V6 - again, all the engineering has already been done for you. Adding seatbelts is as easy as buying universal seatbelts from classicparts.com or wherever.
You scared me to death saying you wanted to add airbags - I recommend you sell the truck immediately if you cannot feel safe enough driving the truck as is - please don't murder it with un-necessary air bags. The air bag equipped cars of today are entirely engineered around having them, and these trucks were not. You are not going to be driving this truck as much as you think and you will be driving it differently than you would a modern car. Most likely you will drive it on Weekend and only locally anyway - I drive all of my trucks daily and weekly and every one of them has drum brakes, sometimes with factory PB or PS, but completely stock and they operate flawlessly in all types of traffic etc. Give your truck a chance and drive it correctly repaired with new stock parts for the first 6-8 months to a year and be saving your money - if after that period you think it needs mods and disc brakes etc, then you will have the Summer and fall to do that and the money to boot. Good luck, and I hope some of the above opinions help you out

[jrmunn]

Casey - You probably already have this on a 1963 model, but I want to mention it so people will know. One very important safety feature is a collapsible steering column. I remember putting one of these into a 1960 GMC 1/2 ton pickup that my father had. A solid column rod will push the steering wheel into the driver in a front end collision, which is vey bad for the driver. We also added seat belts. I agree with GMCNUT about airbags, since an un-engineered system might push parts of a driver or passenger into places they shouldn't go. I am, however, thinking of installing shoulder belts if I can figure out how to secure them.

JRMunn

[csnsdhl]

Thanks guys!

By air bags I meant for the suspension, my bad!

I think I'm going to follow your sound advice and fix it up close to original, your probably correct in saying how often am I really going to drive it anyways. I still would like to know about duel chamber brakes it seems like a poor system that if I lose one line I lose everything. I get that's the way it was engineered from the factory but IDK. I guess its a manual trans and the e brake works so I can get it home..

I didn't realize the rear end ratio was in the 3.xx i thought it was lower.. been a while since I've tried to drive it down the highway. What can I expect to cruize at comfortably? 60?

Thanks
Casey