1977 High Sierra ole farm truck

[gmachinz]

Okay....so my father in law has been languishing on his truck build for several years-gathering parts, keeping it in running condition, etc. Then one day he got real ambitious and took the rusted front end off! Well, he wanted my help to bring it back to life so, I started gathering hard to find parts for it and got involved in the teardown of it too. It helps having some help and a good direction to go for the build. It was medium blue to begin with inside and out....he wants a medium, dark charcoal and black for the inside and black on the outside. My suggestions for him were:

1.) Tach cluster (I provided to him my last nice 78-79 style)
2.) Perfect Dashpad (I restored the High Sierra dash trim)
3.) Serpentine conversion
4.) New oil pump and timing set
5.) Degrease/paint engine
6.) Overhaul the entire AC assembly
7.) I will provide restoration/reproduction harnesses for everything except the main dash harness-(I'm using some of his for reference since a few connectors are oddball)
8.) I'm doing some rust repair
9.) New glass
10.) I'm restoring all of the interior

So, that covers the major stuff but theres always stuff to do. This afternoon I prepped the firewall and restored all of the AC stuff-installed new evap. core, heater core, resealed the firewall enclosure, installed drier, orifice tube, blower motor resistor set, AC high blower relay and installed firewall padding after reinstalling pedal set and bolting fuse panel back up. Tomorrow we will install oil pump/pan, timing set/cover, serpentine brackets, water pump, fuel pump, headers and then I'll need to finish my floor-firewall rust repair....only a little patch nothing major. I only have a couple pics since getting involved on this truck-we have a 69 Camaro to start right after this truck and then its on to his 68 Z28 he's had since 1974 that is a frame off job. He's retired now so I joked we should just start a shop....between his experience and mine, wrenches would definitely be flying around getting stuff done! Lol!

One pic shows why I get irritated with aftermarket stuff-the receiver drier diameter is smaller than OEM which means the bracket that secures it to the metal brace riveted to the firewall enclosure won't reach the hole-not sure what to do about that-anybody have a NOS drier sitting around for sale-? Lol

[gmachinz]

Got a little more done yesterday-pulled the pan oil/timing cover and installed new pump and timing set....easy to do on a 4x4. Father in law degreased engine some more, hit it with some VHT engine enamel high temp black. I began installing one of my serpentine kits, began re-assembling dash cluster area and mounting the lower AC ductwork. Can't really install the crossover ducting until I finish making new climate control harness for it. I made new foam seals for the ductwork so eventually once it all running the blower oughta be BLASTING air through them vents!! I do need to source a few more High Sierra specific parts for the dash but it'll come together quick.

Father in law has a job this week:install oil pump, blast/prime/paint oil pan, install aluminum intake and valve covers. Then after that I can start routing his new harnesses by next weekend! Stay tuned!

[dragonball98312]

77 is a great year Coming along nicely looks like he has the right helper. Glad to see you went with the oem tach and not after market like every friend I have

[gmachinz]

The motor is original all and has I'd say about 140K on it but runs really well. He started off just wanting a decent hauler....then I found a perfect 77 Dashpad, then I restored a gauge cluster for him, so it snowballed into a better than he expects build. I'm on the hunt for a 77 High Sierra gauge surround since he wants to put the original radio back in it.

After his truck is finished we have his 69 Camaro to start building-its a plain jainer but we're doing an SS clone out of it just a good ole school street car-396/M21 close ratio 4-speed, 12-bolt w/4.10's.

After than I may do an complete frame off on his 68Z-28 which he's owned since 1974.

[77K10Silverado]

Following! Looking forward to watching. I'm partial to the 77s as well, check out my build!!

[gmachinz]

Nice build of yours as well. The previous "body guy" did a horrible job sectioning in new rockers and floor patches....I'm basically re-doing what he did. The guy tried to overlap the new rocker section over the old at the edges.....not a good idea since when you attempt to close the door, the bottom rubs against the new rocker with all the body lines looking good. What did he think would happen once you've got paint and clear on everything? I can't stand inept body guys.....if you can't pay attention to details then why bother? Anyway....working on the trucks' harnesses today so I'll have pics of those in a bit.

[gmachinz]

Well, the climate control harness is done-heres a few random pics of it-I went ahead and added a diode on the AC comp. connector since the original did not have one. The split loom is heat/flame resistant as evident by the blue marking on its spine-275F protection and standard has a grey spine (257F)-I use the grey marked loom for interior protection and blue for underhood-that also includes forward lamp harnesses too.

[gmachinz]

One more...

[77K10Silverado]

Can you explain what the diode is for? Looks good!!

[gmachinz]

The diode provides a path to ground for the current when you turn off the AC compressor-it uses quite a bit of juice and adding a diode helps eliminate voltage spiking.

I did find (only 1) woodgrain style gauge bezel in a K5 which was on its side under a tree. I found some other cool stuff at my favorite truck yard. I also found some nice headlight bezels for the 77, a few sets of Sierra Grande door panels, etc. as well as stuff for my 86 too.

Here's a pic of the bezel before I restore its finish....very good shape for its age!

[gmachinz]

Ok...got a little more done today. Pulled the intake, routed the climate control harness, finished installing the under dash ducting w/all new foam seals, then mocked the new dash in place just to get a sense of how it'll look. The tach wiring is routed although I needed to change out the fuse panel lead (its a 78 tach setup). Also, I swapped out the grounding bolt on the cab for an 81-up style to allow for multiple grounds. Really just a lot of little things to do....going to route new engine harness after intake is on. Here's some pics....

[gmachinz]

Here's my tip of the week!! Krylon has a gold and a watermelon color that are dead matches to the stock GM dual throttle return spring colors for those who are really picky about under hood colors and such....its turned out so cool that I bought extra cans for myself!

[77K10Silverado]

Looking good.

[gmachinz]

I told my father in law that I'm gonna prime and paint the kickdown & throttle brackets 305 Chevy blue. Along with a blacked out motor and aluminum valve covers, t-stat housing, cast coated water pump and a detailed serpentine bracket set its all about adding spots of color to accent the various greys and blacks. He don't like the 305 blue but I assured him after I get all the little parts like that painted and cleared, it'll look killer but at the same time its all stock stuff.

[1774btcrew]

Originally Posted by gmachinz

The diode provides a path to ground for the current when you turn off the AC compressor-it uses quite a bit of juice and adding a diode helps eliminate voltage spiking.

I did find (only 1) woodgrain style gauge bezel in a K5 which was on its side under a tree. I found some other cool stuff at my favorite truck yard. I also found some nice headlight bezels for the 77, a few sets of Sierra Grande door panels, etc. as well as stuff for my 86 too.

Here's a pic of the bezel before I restore its finish....very good shape for its age!

You went with the earlier style grain pattern or are you going to change it? Looks like the truck is going to be a nice one!

[gmachinz]

Well, until I can find a suitable 1977 one, this will have to do. These dad-gum bezels arent easy to find. More than anything, I really enjoy saving nice parts to use on good builds that would otherwise just get crushed.

[1774btcrew]

Originally Posted by gmachinz

Well, until I can find a suitable 1977 one, this will have to do. These dad-gum bezels arent easy to find. More than anything, I really enjoy saving nice parts to use on good builds that would otherwise just get crushed.

I know how it goes! Have you found a way to bring the color back to the faded woodgrain? I haven't found a good way to do it. I have been thinking of some sort of tinted clear coat might be the solution. But as of now haven't tried it.

[gmachinz]

I have used a plastic lense cleaner to remove the yellowing/oxidation, then I use a plastic polish to bring the glossiness back. But, once the UV has done a good number on it, there isn't anything that can be done.

I'm a graphic designer by education so I have designed replacements woodgrain bezel inserts for various Monte Carlos/Cutlasses and GP's. I could do the same for the early style woodgrain using my graphics programs and die-cutting table but I just haven't had the time yet. I don't know if its worthwhile-I can design a piece of much higher quality than LMC could ever source with better material but again-its a time invested kind of thing. Most people go the custom route it seems vs. the restoration route.

[1774btcrew]

I am quite sure there are several people from Saudi Arabia area that would love to have high quality pieces with the RIGHT grain pattern! None of the aftermarket pieces that I have seen have the correct wood grain.

[gmachinz]

Well amid other things on my to-do list this evening was to restore the finish on a woodgrain cluster bezel-I still need to touch up the white lettering on the radio spots and light switch but here's how it turned out so far:

[gmachinz]

I love the fact that this bezel sat neglected in a junkyard Blazer for probably the last 15-20 years before I happened upon it this past weekend and now after some refurbishing it will have a good home in a clean 77 High Sierra build! I love this hobby!!

[gmachinz]

Ok....I finished the bezel last night. I ended up detailing the white lettering, doing a final few light dustings of "wet look" high gloss clear and it COMPLETELY brought back the NOS look that this woodgrain overlay had when new. It turned out better than I thought. If I find these at swap meets in decent shape, I think I can refurbish them enough to offer members some nice ones in the future. Obviously I don't have the means to "chrome" the plastic nor am I a fan of "imitation" spray can chrome either.
But, for a driver, I think this will do.

[gmachinz]

Hopefully by this weekend we will get around to installing the new intake/carb, route the new reproduction engine harness and I'm refurbishing a 1979 C65 big series truck tach cluster and my father in law will need to decide which cluster he wants to use in his truck-whichever one he doesnt use will be up for sale. So, more progress to come on this ole girl....

[gmachinz]

I went through my interior parts stash and found a nice GM AM/FM stereo, knobs, various AC vents, etc. So I need to repair the radio opening but here's a few more interior shots.

[gmachinz]

1977 dash ground junction.....