Well, it's home - 52 GMC

[Keevee]

Well, we finally picked up the '52 GMC that we bought half a year ago: 1,900 KM later (1,180 miles) and 3 days of travel from outside Regina, Saskatchewan to Victoria, BC (we spent most of a day in Calgary kicking around); and it's in our driveway now.

Checking it out the past few days (including when we picked it up from our relative's farm), we've established the following:

• Cab floor needs to be patched/replaced (no surprise there)
• Doors and hood open/close amazingly well for only getting a shot of WD40 on the hinges
• Seat is in surprisingly good condition (other trucks we found in the area have had their seats chewed to bits by varmints)
• The box is pretty straight, only the tailgate seems to be bent a bit
• Some sort of bar was welded to the back frame where the bumper mounts used to be, it will have to be cut off
• We got the original radio from the owner! It was presumed lost but he ended up finding it for us
• The running boards/steps are still pretty darn sturdy - I was standing on the driver's side to steer the truck while my brother-in-law pulled it up on the trailer
• The wiring has been hacked and replaced, but that doesn't matter much since we'll be going the resto-mod route, and may just go with a V8

Overall, for sitting in a field for 12 years it's in pretty solid condition! The largest dent is to the rear passenger fender, and all the glass is good except the passenger front.

We haven't decided yet which route we take or the mods we want to do, Thadious here on the board has been very helpful with info regarding an S10 frame swap so that's a possibility (and of course, reading about other people's experiences here has been helpful too!). It will depend on funds, of course. We're in a bit of a quandry, because we also found an AD Chev 3/4- or 1-ton as well with a perfect front end, perfect glass, and even had all the hubcaps! It has rust-thru above the windshield, but is very tempting... like we need more projects!

[Thadious]

Mike:
Congratulations! That's quite the haul, especially thru the Rockies getting that to the coast. It's going to be a very happy camper knowing it won't ever see snow or salt again Looks like you have a great foundation to start from and a handle on where you're heading. Now to convince the wife that you actually do need those extra parts / trucks to make yours complete and done.

Guess it's my turn to pick up the Timmies and drop by! Feel free to holler me when you get the chance and have everything settled in. Nice to know it's the long weekend and hopefully you'll have some free time to spend with the new addition to the family.

Grats again and talk to you soon,
Ted.

[T Hilde]

Don't over look the Dodge Dakota chassis. It comes with rack & pinion steering (no steering box fights), straight frame rails. Swap the rear out to a Ford Explorer (possible to get disc brakes) and get the earlier rotors on front and you have 5 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern all around.

[Keevee]

Thanks guys! Ted, I'll definitely holler at some point soon. Yup, it was a long, slow slog in some places on the way back ;-) Got lots of reactions to it on the trip, plenty of interest in these trucks.

T, thanks for the tip on the Dakota chassis, I'll do some research on that. I found a couple other threads here during a quick search and will read up on them.

[T Hilde]

I'll be posting photos of this soon, oops, I let that slip.