Slow moving '79 1 ton project

[jonvo4591]

Hi everyone. This will be my slow moving project thread to document the random things I do to my '79 GMC 1 ton dually cab/chassis.

Here is a pic of when I first got it.


It still looks the same on the outside.

First off, I took care of the leaking radiator and missing drive belt, now it's driveable for more than 4 minutes, so I can move on to other things.

Here is my realistic wish list:
wood flat/stake bed,
Lowered a little bit to a more reasonable height,
louder muffler
full gauge cluster
swap rear end gears to a more cruisable set
Chalk board paint on the doors to make whatever speed shop logo I choose

My possible long term wish list:
6.0L LQ9
T-56 6 speed
(Or NV4500)

I'm going to menards tonight to price out wood for the bed. I will take progress pics of whatever I do and post them here.

Enjoy!

[STOCKISH]

Awesome, cant wait to see the wood bed!

[jonvo4591]

Thanks! Just priced out wood tonight, probably going to get it this weekend, I look forward to driving this thing a little bit more now. I just need to ditch my HUGE leaf springs now. I want to find some regular 1 ton springs and U-bolts to replace the 16-leaf-per-side springs with helper springs that lift the rear like a foot.

[jonvo4591]

SMALL update:

The PO (which I think was a towing company) must have been really short. So short that they had to weld like a 2 inch extension onto the clutch pedal so they could reach it. Well, today I just decided to cut that off, and now I can control the clutch a lot better. Its nicer because I'm not just waiting for it to engage. It felt like forever before it would catch when the extension was welded on there, so I took a sawzall to it and then ground the rest smooth.

sorry, no pics of this one

[STOCKISH]

16 leafs per side! Holy Cow. I bet that thing rode like a covered wagon. Should be much better with 3/4 or 1 ton stock springs.

[jonvo4591]

haha! as of right now, it still does ride like a covered wagon. I'm getting good at dodging potholes in this thing I just need to locate some semi-normal springs and u bolts and such.

Oh, yeah. I bought a cherry bomb tonight too...

[jonvo4591]

Hey guys. It's update time. I've driven the truck a little more lately, despite still having basically solid rear suspension.

MAJOR UPDATE THOUGH: I got the wood bed built. I just have a few more issues to sort out on it, such as where to put the filler neck, notch out the sides for tire clearance, treat the wood, and mount it to the frame, but I do have some mock up pics.

Here we go:




Keep in mind it's not mounted, we just eyeballed things for the photos. The people in the pics are my friends who helped me out with the project.

after recently deciding to keep the truck (I had in my mind I was gonna sell it for a while), I'm going to slowly upgrade/fix things to my liking. probably step number 2 after the bed will be finding some more managable springs for the rear and possibly the front depending on how low I want to go with the truck.

I'll keep this updated as I go along so have fun watching!

[C-10 simplex]

Bed looks good.

Is the 1 ton/ and or chassis-cab frame shape the same as all others----1/2, 3/4 , except thicker and heavier. Or is it totally different?

[79gmcclassic]

IMO you probably should of made it wider

[jonvo4591]

I really wanted it on there so the truck would be funcitonal. I didn't need anything more than just a regular truck bed size, but there ended up being more bed floor because I don't have any wheel wells to deal with.

The other reason I wanted it on there was for looks, so it actually looks like it has SOME purpose other than to attract attention, which it did.

I'm not entirely sure on the frame variations between 1, 3/4 and 1/2 ton. I never really thought about it to be honest. I've heard people say I should just throw some 3/4 ton leaves on there, but never thought about if it would work or not. At this point I can only assume it will, but it's something I can look into.

I've decided that since I'm gonna do stuff on this truck, I might as well go all out or nothing, so all out it is. I'll slowly peck away at things one by one, but my ultimate goal for it is to have a 6BT cummins under the hood backed by an NV4500 trans. All I really need then is a rolled over dodge truck.... You'll see updates as things come into fruition.

[jonvo4591]

Alright guys, I figured I'd give you some pictures. I'm sorry, I didn't get too many in action shots of the actual construction process, but here are some pictures of how the truck sits at the moment, and how I mounted the bed for now.



This is how it's mounted in the front on both sides

This is the rear mount on the driver's side.

I tried to eyeball the centered-ness because the frame is not perfectly straight due to the suspension picking it up higher on the driver's side. in a 3/4 view you can see that the bed sits a little higher in the back left corner.


Any input on what to do with the gas filler? through the floor or out the side?
What about cutting out a little on the sideboards for some tire clearance?

[RandyP]

I'd round it out a little above the wheels, would give it a better look in my opinion vs the straight piece of wood.
I'd put the filler neck out the side somewhere, build you a box or something for the housing. You'll want to protect that filler neck and such with something, think massive tire blow out. A tire blowing apart and the tread separating from the wheel causes massive damage and could in fact tear apart your filler assembly.

[jonvo4591]

That's definitely something to consider. I was thinking to notch the sides out a bit as well.

Friday afternoon and/or Saturday will be my next chance to work on it. Plans include sealing the wood and doing whatever else needs to be done to make it drivable once again.

[RandyP]

You can get a sheet of diamond tread plate and cut pieces to put on the front/headache rack area, that'd look cool.

Put you some stake pockets on the sides so you can build some side boards to slide down in them. Could even build the side boards to have some 1/2" or 3/4" plywood going down further. All sorts of things you can do with a custom wood bed like that.

Paint the edges black and stain the actual floor area, would give it a nice contrast as well.

[jonvo4591]

My thoughts exactly. In the near future I'll be throwing on some stake pockets and making some stake sides to match the front boards. I'm going for that "old-farm-truck-turned-speed-shop-truck" look. Maybe I'll put some speed shop lettering on the doors sometime...

So there's a lot on the old to-do list so far, but my main concerns are
-Swap to a higher (numerically lower) gear ratio for the eventual Cummins transplant
-Find a rolled 2WD dodge truck with a Cummins and a 5 speed
-Probably some drop spindles up front, along with the added weight of the Cummins to drop the front a bit
-Get new springs for the rear that don't rattle out my teeth
-bla
-bla
-bla

Those are not in any particular order

[jonvo4591]

OK Fellas!

The plans for this ride have changed just a tad.

I no longer plan on doing a cummins swap. I'm concentrating most of my funds on my dream since I was a young(er) boy. I'm going to begin the long process of building a traditional style hot rod from a Model A.

This doesn't mean the truck is leaving me, though. I still love my truck. I will most likely be staining the bed saturday because the beginning of the next week looks like it's not gonna rain.

As far as other things I'll probably do to the truck, there will be a few.
Swap gear ratios to a 3.73:1, maybe a tranny rebuild, if conditions are right, maybe build the old 350 up a bit. I want it to be a reliable ride that I can go anywhere with and get a little better than 10 mpg.

I'll keep you all posted!

[palposity]

Nice job on the bed!

[jonvo4591]

Guess what I did today.....

[48cj2a]

See if you can spot some heavy flat beds, grain trucks etc and see how the gas filler might be mounted on them for ideas. Heres a newer GM truck, you could go to the local Chevy Dealer and probably order the recess, filler, and gas cap so it all filts properly.



Still think a radious cut above the wheels would look good. Take a pencil and some string. Tie the string around the pencil and hold one end at the center of the center cap and let out enough string to draw a radious on the bed side like this:



Since your after the old Farm Truck look some wide and long mud flaps would look good too. If you don't offend Mom some of those cool Chrome Girls too:

[jonvo4591]

Yeah, I was kind of wondering how I was gonna do both those things. I was thinking I would maybe just cut out a notch in the side board and mount my filler neck there and run longer hoses to the tank. I think that plastic stuff might throw off the vibe a little bit.

As for the wheel well.... I took it for a ride to my friends house, and his brother who was following me said that everytime I hit a bump my right rear tire rubbed the side board and sent up a little smoke, so tomorrow I think I might try and address both these issues.

Another issue I have is that the leaf pack is taller on the left side than the right side. This makes my tire clearance different, but it also makes the bed look crooked from the back (which it is right now).

I'm not sure what could cure such a problem short from new springs, which are in the plans, but that will probably result in me having to rethink my bed frame a little bit to clear the tires once the rear end sits lower......

So many little things to think about.

Stay tuned!

[48cj2a]

Originally Posted by jonvo4591

I'm not sure what could cure such a problem short from new springs, which are in the plans

Another option is to remove every other sping after the main and second spring. Go to the part store and get new spring center pins.You may be able to reuse your ubolts if you can wire brush the threads and soak them with penetrant.

[jonvo4591]

I will have to check into that removing some springs.

I'm not sure how well that would work because then I have a feeling my springs would end up like 6 inches shorter and the threads on my u bolts might not go up that far on the bolt.

I didn't really want to mess around with disassembling the leaf packs, but It is an option to be considered, since It can be done for almost free.

I'm gonna see what I can do today as far as the gas door and wheel cutouts go.

[Rpratt]

I live in grand rapids and have lots of dually stuff. I know that I have a set of springs, and I know a guy with 3:73 rear if you are still interested.

[jonvo4591]

I'm very interested. I just thought I'd get started working my way from the back to the front of the truck slowly re-doing what needs doing (in keeping with the theme of slowness...). I recently discovered a puddle by my right rear tire(s) which turned out to be gear lube.... axle seal blew out.

That basically triggered my mind to think: well, might as well swap gears. then we might as well swap springs if the axle's coming out... well then I need like 10 other things.

I've got some interest in the springs, but curious about the 3.73 rear. Since my truck was sold new as a cab and chassis, the rear axle is narrower than a normal dually pickup, so the wheels are tucked in more even with the outside of the body. Is this rear you're referring to the narrower one? And out of curiosity, what would you think he's asking for it?

[Rpratt]

Originally Posted by jonvo4591

I'm very interested. I just thought I'd get started working my way from the back to the front of the truck slowly re-doing what needs doing (in keeping with the theme of slowness...). I recently discovered a puddle by my right rear tire(s) which turned out to be gear lube.... axle seal blew out.

That basically triggered my mind to think: well, might as well swap gears. then we might as well swap springs if the axle's coming out... well then I need like 10 other things.

I've got some interest in the springs, but curious about the 3.73 rear. Since my truck was sold new as a cab and chassis, the rear axle is narrower than a normal dually pickup, so the wheels are tucked in more even with the outside of the body. Is this rear you're referring to the narrower one? And out of curiosity, what would you think he's asking for it?

I know he wants 100 bucks, I THINK it is going to be the wider of the two because I'm trying to buy the dually box from him. The parts are in Indiana, I am planning on going tomorrow morning to get the box, I was going to pass on the rear because I need a D60 front to match and they are super hard to find with 3:73 gears.