1958 gmc

[NWA58]

Hey guys, after several years of searching for a truck to build, I finally landed a 1958 GMC 100. The '58 GMC immediately caught my eye as something "different". There are lots of images out on the old interwebs, but I don't know that I have ever seen one in person. The unusual grille, double headlights and the huge bumper bullets definitely set it apart from all of the Chevy's.

Found it sitting on a farm on Thanksgiving weekend, struck a deal, and had it in my garage the following Monday. After 6 grueling days of tearing it down to nothing, I had a huge pile of parts to figure out what was good and what was not. The bare cab and chassis was in very nice shape with little rust. Cab corners are normal, but other than that, rust was isolated to the lower right door hinge pocket.

Because it was a long step truck, I knew a short bed was in it's future. I found a heavy truck chassis guy that offered to shorten my frame the 9.25" required to fit the short bed for only $300. I figured his welding expertise and heavy equipment were well worth the price. Before loading it back on the trailer, I did some serious math and put together an Excel spreadsheet of the $ it would take to build the truck. I was at a crossroads... sell the parts for more than I paid for the truck, or build my dream truck regardless of cost. So I chose to do a little bit of both.

I pulled the cab, leaving a bare LWB chassis. After selling the rolling chassis and long bed, I had $0 invested in my truck. This was a clean slate to build what I wanted. Having researched and shopped for the years leading up to this moment, I knew what I wanted to build. So with a call to TCI in mid-December, I had a new chassis in my shop on February 1. 1 week later, it was fully powder coated and I began assembly. I sourced a low-miles Corvette LS2 motor and built a 4L60E tranny. After scouring the web for fuel tank and radiator options, I realize that my budget is already blown.

Stay tuned for more updates. The cab is body-worked and just about ready to go on the rolling chassis. I have a few surprises up my sleeve that will make this one very unique truck.