Project Red Ryder

[bnoon]

Just picked this up today for $1850. 1976 GMC Sierra Grande 15 with a 350/350 combo, posi rear, brand new brakes a year ago, new starter (still in the box, not needed, they simply were missing a bolt from the original one), sport rear bumper with hitch bar, AC, rebuilt Quadrajet (less than a year ago). Has good power and leaves 20 foot black marks no trouble. Speaking of rubber... Brand new front tires and near new rears that are only a few months old. Runs and drives out really nice for the most part, but there is just a tiny bit of play in the steering (not bad at all, just not perfect like I like. It's only one pitman joint I believe, easy to replace).

Truck has a few metal issues in the bottom of both fenders and the driver's floor, but everything else is pretty much rock solid. The tailgate has been replaced with a Chevrolet one and a Chevrolet hood emblem was added, so I'm contemplating making the change to the Chevy front grille and fender emblems.

Plans are to replace the missing metal, replace a few gaskets, and drive it for the winter while Mr. Green Jeans goes under the knife again. Come spring I'll paint it and sell it off. Until then, I'll replace the little stuff that isn't quite perfect as parts show up in the Wrench and Go salvage yard about 4 miles from here. Should be good times.

[bnoon]

More pictures...

[73Super8]

I really like it but why the name red ryder? It looks orange to me. Nice shape.

[bnoon]

Its faded red.

[bnoon]

Actually now that I think about it... the red trucks usually fade to pink-ish. Was there a dark sunset orange color? I'll have to get the paint code off of it.

[73Super8]

My Dad had a 76 Chevy C10 when I was a kid and it was orange. Looked a whole lot like yours.

[bnoon]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=592175

That's my old orange '76 that I named Julius. Bright orange. If this one is orange, it's gotta be like a burnt orange or sunset orange or something because it's way way darker.

Looked up a bunch of codes online and it looks to be somewhere between medium red and medium orange paint codes for GM in '76. I may just pull out a $50 Rustoleum paint job though since I'm not going full restoration on it. So it may end up being "Safety Red" anyway.

[bnoon]

Well the RPO sticker isn't in the glove box, but looking at it closer, it is for sure the darker orange color. Going to have to rename it.

Tonight I pulled the starter out and swapped in the new one the previous owner had inside the cab. Starts like a dream now. Pulled a right rear wheelwell liner from the salvage yard to replace the rotted one I have... and planned out a few items that need new gaskets.

[73Super8]

How about "Orange Peel"?

[bnoon]

I think I may go with red for a repaint anyway. We'll see.

[Dads79GMC]

I saw this one!! Glad you snagged it. Box looks to be in pretty good condition except tailgate. How's the cab? Mr. Green Jeans gonna hang around? Mike

[Dads79GMC]

Hah, guess I should have read the intro!!

[68Timber]

That's one of the cooler GMC grilles. Nice score.

[bnoon]

I don't care much for this style grille. I like the earlier 73-74 style.

[rusty76]

Cool truck. Looks like the brother to my '76

[bnoon]

Cool. Do you have a project thread for your '76?

Add my Green Jeans project to your low buck build thread if someone already hasn't. Only about $3000 into that truck including the $1800 delivered purchase price and it's a blast! All parts came from salvage yards or swap meets, or were at least on a discount/sale from Summit. Good times.

[Squareforceone]

I was looking at that one too

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by Squareforceone

I was looking at that one too

Yeah, pretty good truck. Runs well, pretty original. Needs lower fenders and driver's floor work that I plan to do before selling in the spring.

Tonight I did a filter and fluid change on the trans. No more leaks on the pan and no more pause before going into gear. This holiday break I plan to fix the leaky valve cover gaskets and rear yoke seal on the trans. Good times.

[bnoon]

Replaced the leaky valve covers, replaced the plugs, checked the plug wires, tightened the power steering belt, and adjusted the timing. With the new valve cover gaskets, im hoping to do MUCH better on oil consumption. I didn't see any signs at all of burning oil, just leaking about 2 quarts per tank. Also found another trans leak from a loose speedometer cable. Needs a rear yoke seal on the trans next and hopefully that's it for leaks.

[rusty76]

Originally Posted by bnoon

Cool. Do you have a project thread for your '76?

Add my Green Jeans project to your low buck build thread if someone already hasn't. Only about $3000 into that truck including the $1800 delivered purchase price and it's a blast! All parts came from salvage yards or swap meets, or were at least on a discount/sale from Summit. Good times.

No not yet. I've been trying to get one started, though I haven't done anything, lol. Right now she's not going anywhere fast. Though I hope and have plans to start a thread on it this coming year. I'm just going to have fun with it. She's pretty beat but I'm going to figure a way.

You got it man. I'll add you to the list. Thanks for asking and contributing. It means a lot to me. Take care.

[bnoon]

I got the Quadrajet rebuilt yesterday. I had to get rid of the hard starting issue from either the primary jet port plugs or the secondary well plugs leaking. Turns out it was the primary plugs, but I repaired both just in case. For the primaries, I just drilled and tapped for 10-32 thread allen plugs and trimmed them down, then epoxied in place over the top. For the secondary well plugs, I paid $9 for machined plugs with o-rings... wish I would have just done drill and tap there too, but oh well.

The inlet needle was worn as well, which could have cause too much fuel in the bowl, so I'm glad those are included in the rebuild kit. The only other main problem was the primary jets and metering rods were a bit dirty, which caused a part throttle stumble when cruising.

Only result I'm not quite 100% on is the choke setting. May take a few tries here to make sure I got everything put back together as it should be because it seems to not quite find high idle as easily as it should. Trip to the salvage yard to compare against another Q-jet to make sure. Hope that '79 still has the same Q-jet on it tomorrow morning...

On to pics...

[bnoon]

more carb rebuild pics

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Last one. I didn't get one installed as it was dark out and I wanted to go for a test drive. Everything went smooth other than the questionable choke settings. We'll see on that.

[bnoon]

Mirrors swapped out today. I got the dumbo ears off of a GMC van that looked like it was almost brand new. Such a shame it was in the salvage yard. All the better for me though!

[Hankster]

Can't believe I just found out you have this one too.. Why would you pull the sport mirrors off?