My Dusty 71 GMCe Electruck

[Gregski]

so here are some pics of that opposing symmetrical bracket that will put the knob on the outside like on the driver's side

[Gregski]

and here we see how the 91 seat folds forward (the 90s seats don't do this) I mean it ain't all the way flat, but it's not like we're going to be transporting drum sets in there

now I wonder if the other seat does that? I forgot what year it came out of? and since I had 3 of them I probably mixed them up anyway... great!

[Gregski]

and here are The Blues Brothers side by side

I washed the one on the right and boy you can sure tell the difference!

so just so happened as I was driving back home with Thing 2 the other day that the car in front of me had them back window phone number advertisement for automotive upholstery so I jotted it down and texted them this morning, let's see if they can do these babies in black leather with gray stitching for less than $600 each (fingers crossed)

[Gregski]

so swung by my moms this afternoon and showed her how to remove the old seats

[Gregski]

and then we instalized them buckets, looks like we got ourselves room for a 12" center console

[Gregski]

we also tinkered with the driver door

and at first I thought it just sagged 1/4" too much so I loosend the 6 hinge bolts at the door and gently lifted it up with a jack and then I could force it shut but I noticed the bottom still wasn't right,

so I took the striker plate off completely and just tried shutting the door, now I got brand new weather strip on there but the old '72 door would shut easily with it on this one is being stubborn

after further inspection it looks like the bottom corner by the B pillar sticks out at least a good inch away from the cab, the rest of the darn thing is perfectly flush with the cab, any ideas how to fix that, do I need to take off the front fender to loosen and readjust the hinge bolts that hold the door to the cab?

[Gregski]

Christmas in October

[Gregski]

I just had to run over to Mum's Garage LLC and try these beauties on

[Gregski]

Mandatory Stare and Compare

[Gregski]

Houston, I think we have a problem!

I am not giving it a Thumbs Up ha ha I am using my thumb as a precision measuring instrument to point out only 1" of clearance between the new 17x8 rim and the edge of the truck bed, no bueno!

[Gregski]

Top Tip: to all the Young Padawan's new to the sport!

Guys and Gals, don't trust anything on these 50 year old trucks to be matching, even, or perfect. In other words in a case like this, try that new wheel on both sides, as things may be polywampus! As observed in People's Exhibit B below

and don't ask me why this side of the axle and hence the rim sits/drops below the bed line, unlike the other side, ha ha, let's tackle one major malfunction at a time please

apologies about the poor pic quality the Intern left the blinds opened on the South facing garage window

[Gregski]

so what have we learned, well based on the thumb vs three finger salute I am going to go out on a limb and say my bed is sitting crooked and since we just threw it on there the best we could it very well could be, so a 1/2' shift to the passenger side is in order

I threw up some measurements and it sticks out approximately 6 1/2" inches away from the frame to the lip of the wheel well on the driver side and it's hard to see (because of the camera angle) but only 6" away from the frame on the Texter's side

[Gregski]

Alright folks, time to do some tire size math

our new rims are 17x8" so first 8" is 203 millimeters (that gives us a reference)

second 215 is the minimum tire width recommended for an 8" rim

third our stock wheels are 235/75R15 which computes to a 28.9" diameter so essentially we are currently running 29" wheels

if we were to keep the same wheel height we would need to get a 215/70R17 set of tires which is an odd size and not very popular therefor expensive

so we step it down a notch to a 215/65R17 tire size which ends up being a 28" tall wheel and so be it, there is a huge selection of tires in this size

GOOD YEAR
ASSURANCE FINESSE - SIZE: 215/65R17
Passenger All-Season

[Blue GMC]

This is going to sound odd but is the axle centered on the frame correctly. The PO may have done a swap and been off on his measurements when he welded in New hardware

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Blue GMC

This is going to sound odd but is the axle centered on the frame correctly. The PO may have done a swap and been off on his measurements when he welded in New hardware

That is a great point and I am the dingleberry who mounted it in haste in the sellers driveway to get that rig on a trailer relying solely on only my eyecrometer in the dark a few beers in, so anything could have happened, will check for sure

[Gregski]

TireRack oh how I love thee

[Gregski]

One of these has got to fit, if only I marked it somehow

[Gregski]

got a chance to try the new rims on the front and now I know that at least the rims clear the drumulators and any linknesses around that general area, pleased with that knowledge I set off to get the tires mounted

[Gregski]

man tire mounting has gotten expensive here in California they wanted $120 (cause of new stems) I offered $100 cash and we had a deal

by the way I love how these tires fit, they have just a 1/4" of meat past the rim

[Gregski]

mandatory stare and compare

[Gregski]

so here's the driver rear and how much clearance we got

[Gregski]

passenger rear and how much clearance we have on this side

I think once we wiggle the rear axle a little bit and center it we should be OK

[Gregski]

and then we moved on to the passenger front

Note the obligatory Chevy drip pan

[Gregski]

and we finished on the driver side

and oh by the way we do have the center caps and some nice black acorn lug nuts, this was just a trial fit

[Gregski]

I can't wait to charge the battery and roll this beauty outside to take a better look