My first "truck"

[jonvo4591]

I became the proud owner of a 1979 GMC C35

I was at the car auction with my dad and made a joke about buying it to him. When it came up in line, I started asking him serious questions about it. He said you better go bid on it, so I did. Turns out I won it.

Here's some pics for you pic freaks (I know it's all of you )





And for fun:


It seems like an old park truck or something. It's green, a cab and chassis with the rear frame horns lopped off, and it has big torch blobs from where they cut off whatever was on the back before. The doors are painted over like there was lettering on it, there are remnants of a CB, the horn button is now on the dash, and it had a piece of paper duct taped to the dash that said something like " Do not drive this vehicle on the road no license plates."

It has a 350 and a manual trans, a solid cab, and possibly 67K orig. miles.

I gotta go to the Home Depot and get some lumber to build a box for it in the near future.

What do you think?

[74 C-30]

sweet truck! how much you give for it, if you don't mind me asking? it look like my truck when I started out. whats your plans for it?

[jonvo4591]

no problem. won the bid at 700, 840 after sale fees. I might have overpaid, but If I cared, I wouldn't have Plus, the virtually rust free part is a sweet thing to find here in west Michigan.

Plans, Put a wooden box on it, shine up the paint a little, maybe wet sand the blue paint off the doors to see what's under there, Make it look as good as I can without losing the character. Maybe far down the road, a tranny swap to something with more gears (Like an overdrive!)

[C-10 simplex]

This is too awesome.

1) Is it legal to run it like that---w/out mudflaps?


2) Is/are the rear tires in line with the body/front wheels? If so, i personally, would just get a bed (used or aftermarket) and use that---it would seem much easier than building one yourself.

[jonvo4591]

Don't know if it's illegal or not, I'm not driving far until I get the bed made and most likely some flaps mounted.

The rear tires don't stick out like newer dualies, but it was a cab and chassis from new, so I think the wheelbase is too long for a regular long box. The back of the frame was chopped off right behind the rear leaf spring hangers.

I plan on building an 8' wood bed/box for it, I like the looks of the wooden box, I think it will add to the character this truck already has. And I like saying I built the box. I'll document my build for future reference.

[74 C-30]

building a bed isn't hard at all, and I think it will look good
start looking at NV3500 trannys if you want an overdrive, its what i plan on...someday...
heres my truck when i started

[jonvo4591]

looks oddly farmiliar .... Kinda like our avatars... Freaky. didn't even plan that. It was meant to be!

what's the truck look like now?

[gchemist]

Nice find!
Paint the entire rear end with Zero Rust. It will look great and protect it from rust!

[74 C-30]

well it looks kinda like this, I've done stuff since then, just havent taken pictures (note to self: go take pictures tomorrow)

oh and i second painting the back half, i just used rustoleum though

[jonvo4591]

After I get the bed figured out, and the globs of metal ground off the frame, I'll probably scuff and paint/coat it with something. Uh-oh, here we go. As long as I'm in there, I should......

NV 3500/4500 sounds like it could be highly likely if I get sick of screaming down the road at 55mph at who knows how high RPM...

Also, I've thrown around the Idea of getting it a little closer to the ground. After all, it is a 2wd

[tucsonjwt]

Just a thought - a dump box would be a good way to take advantage of the huge weight carrying capacity you have. I have an electric over hydraulic conversion on my 83 C20 which I have used hundreds of times, but really can't use the whole 2 ton capacity of the lift, due to the 8600# GVWR on the C20. Plus, the wheel housings interfere with the complete dumping of the truck - I put some home made wood tool boxes over the wheel housings to create an unobstructed path to dump dirt, gravel, etc. . You could haul two tons easy with that truck. Flatbed with sideboards and a dump hoist under it would be the way I would go. You could put the dump hoist on anytime - but I would plan the bed with that in mind. Used metal flatbeds are available from equipment dealers - might even get the hoist to go with it. Nice purchase.

[jonvo4591]

Its kinda nice that If I ever have the need for a dump box, I could put one on.

For now I just want to regain its' functionality as a truck, I'm just a 19 year old kid, and I thought it would just be a cool old truck with a little attitude. I hope I can keep it for a long time. I'm sure I can tailor it to my needs as I get older and situations change.

Thanks for all the positive feedback!

[74 C-30]

Originally Posted by jonvo4591

NV 3500/4500 sounds like it could be highly likely if I get sick of screaming down the road at 55mph at who knows how high RPM...

me with a 350/sm465/4.10 and 235/85r16s 55 is 2600ish RPM

[jonvo4591]

I have yet to figure out my final drive ratio, but 2600 ish sounds about right. I gotta get a tach in this thing... It's got the granny dash with the giant gas gauge and Big red idiot lights, Maybe a column mount mini-tach? I have one, but it's going in my baja bug. We'll see what happens.

I've been reading around about the NV 3500/4500 swap, and that trans has a hydraulic clutch? Based on my research there are 2 ways I could go about this issue. 85+ Hydro pedal assembly (a pain to install), or apparently there are adaptors to use the mechanical clutch linkage...

If I'm gonna do it, might as well start collecting parts

[74 C-30]

yeah I got the idiot light dash too, i have a 3-3/8 cheapo tach on the column

as for the tranny stuff, someone will chime in with your answer

[thepenguin99]

Sounds like you got a pretty good deal. Should be a nice truck once you get a bed on it.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Sweet buy what an awesome truck looks like its in pretty good shape to nice find I like the idea of building a wood bed its gonna look sweeeeet Ya if your gonna switch trannys I would look into the NV4500 just my .02 cents. Have fun with the truck buddy!

[jonvo4591]

I've been having a blast tooling around town in this thing, you should see the looks I get

I was leaning toward the NV4500, but that will probably be a ways down the road.

Also, any tips on getting this thing a little closer to the ground?

[tucsonjwt]

No need for a dump hoist now, but my guess is that there is a ready made used steel flatbed somewhere which will bolt on your frame quickly - cheaper and faster than trying to make up your own. Plus, you get the tail lights, mudflaps, license plate holder, etc., without any hassle. This gets you legal on the road, and you increase the resale value of your rig - should not lose any money.
My guess is that with the cut off rear frame rails, this was some sort of dump at one time - maybe picked up steel 4 yard dumpsters.
IMHO - don't slam this truck - a 1 ton chassis is not suitable for being lowered.

[jonvo4591]

ok, maybe I won't slam it, just a mild drop maybe. We'll see once I get a box on there how it sits. I like the challenge of building my own box and making everything work, and I enjoy the satisfaction doing something yourself brings.

Thanks for the opinions, and keep stuff coming. I'll keep you guys posted too.

[West Texas Z]

looks like a good project!

[jonvo4591]

plan is to build a box for it monday night. I'll try to remember the pics

[jonvo4591]

so yeah... box is on hold right now. I'm working on my 67 Baja bug trying to get ready to go to silver lake, and I'm having trouble with the transmission.

now the truck is gettin funny on me. When I bought it the battery was dead, so I had to bump start it to get it home. I may have toasted the alternator doing this. On my way home last night, The GEN light came on about a mile from home. When I pulled in the driveway, I noticed a plume of steam runnign out of the front of my truck. It looked horrible, but it was just that hole in the radiator. So first up: Fix radiator, and test/replace alternator.

I'll keep ya posted.

[jonvo4591]

Ok people. I'm going to get to work on the truck this afternoon.

Plans include new radiator, and a set of belts. The one for the alt. acutally popped off somehow, which caused the GEN light to illuminate. Also that means my waterpump/fan weren't turning, which could explain the extra amount of steam I was seeing.

I will let you know how things go, and then next project is BOX TIME!!!

[jonvo4591]

so as you probably figured out (if anyone's following this), I didn't get the rad. done last saturday. I forgot what I had to do then, but bottom line is I didn't gen anything done. Last night I got a new belt on and a new aluminum radiator in. I still have to let it warm up and go around the block a few times to make sure its all good, but you'll know when it is. I wanna get started on "bed construction" soon, and plans have changed. I want to build a 10' long bed, so the rear has some decent overhang and doesnt' look funny.

Pics of the bed build will be posted. perhaps I shall start a proper "build thread"...