My 85 GMC Project

[Turbo85GMC]

I thought it was about time to start a thread on the build-up of my truck. Let's see, it's an '85 GMC C1500 with a 305 and a 4-speed SM465 with granny first gear. I got it back in... hmm... I think it was '04. The guy I bought it from was the nephew of the original owner, and used it as a daily driver. The reason he said he was selling it was that it would overheat. I checked out the engine the best I could for signs of dammage from overheating, seemed ok. I made a low-ball offer and drove it home.

First thing I did was replace the entire cooling system. New radiator, water pump, thermostat, hoses. Problem solved, hasn't overheated since.

In order to pass the state inspection I had to replace the washer motor, fix the plate lights, replace a ball joint, replace the windhield, and replace the muffler & exhaust pipes. That took until the next summer.

Used the truck to move that summer and the wife saw the benefits of having a truck.

The truck started to stink like gas and I found a pin-hole leak in the gas tank from rust. Replaced it with a poly tank. In the fall I had to replace the heater core after it blew and gave me a steam bath on the way to work. I also rewired the headlights to use relays at some point in there.

[Turbo85GMC]

The latest (mis)adventure started innocently on the way to get the state inspection done two years ago. I was driving around the neighborhood warming up the engine when I pulled into an empty parking lot to test out the brakes. Get it rolling good... stomp! ...pop! (oh ****...) ...roll to a stop down the other end of the parking lot. Good thing the lot was empty!!! The brake line where they pass under the radiator were so rusted out that it blew out when I stomped on the pedal. At least it happened in a parking lot and not out on the road on my way to the inspection.

At that point, I decided to replace all of the brake lines & hoses, just to be safe. Well, if I was going to replace all of the brakes, maybe I should drop the truck at the same time? Why not? I'd been thinking about doing it anyway.

[Turbo85GMC]

To bring the story up-to-date, I've completely replaced the entire front suspension. UCA's, LCA's, drop spindles, drop springs, tie rods, pitman arm, idler arm, brake calipers. I did keep the drag/center link, after it got a cleaning and fresh coat of paint.

That's where I am right now. Next I need to tweak the front brake hoses to clear the drop spindles and connect the front hard lines. Then I can put the front wheels back on and put the front end back on the ground.

Next task will be installing the flip kit in the rear, as well as new brakes & lines for the back. That should get it back on the road!

[Turbo85GMC]

Here's a pic of the truck after I brought it home.

[Turbo85GMC]

Here's a picture of my truck as it is right now (i.e. waiting for front brake hoses/lines):

[Turbo85GMC]

Headlight relays I wired in, they almost look like they belong there:

[flamingbig10]

Looks solid for a northern Truck

[OrangeAnimal]

I agree it looks like a solid truck. I love playing with old cars and trucks. Keep it simple!

[tvblazer78]

Ya that looks good..

[bigblazerboy]

i like the pin stripping. i think your truck would look sweet with the running boards and shell off and lowered some

[Turbo85GMC]

Hi all, Thanks for the feedback! The guy I bought it from said that the original owner (his uncle) used the truck to tow his boat to the lake. Judging from the amount of body rust, I don't think it saw much in the way of New England winters. It's got rust in some spots, but not nearly what other trucks have around here. Body work will be next after all the mechanicals have been gone through.

[84 400]

Welcome. I am from Andover MA

[Turbo85GMC]

I finished up the front brake lines this past weekend and was excited to get the truck back on all-fours again. A little too excited it seems. I bolted on a wheel and it wouldn't spin. Took the wheel off to check the brakes, and the disk turned just fine. I put the wheel back on and found that the inside of the rim rubs just the tiniest little bit on the LCA.

Ahh, now I remember reading way back when I started this project that the stock ralley rims may (will) rub slightly. I want to put on a set of the 17" Impala SS wheels, but they're not it the budget right now.

I checked the range of motion of the wheel and found that the LCA needs a little grinding at three spots. The spindle also needs a little grinding where the tie rod connects to it. The wheel weight on the inside of the rim rubs that part just a little.

Guess the truck will spend another week up in the air. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get it back on the ground next weekend.

[Turbo85GMC]

This past weekend I took the grinder to the lower control arms and spindles. Boy was that hard to start grinding on brand new parts! Anyway, here's how it went:


1) Retrieve wheel from other end of garage and put it on
2) Finger tighten couple of lug nuts
3) Turn steering wheel until wheel contacts, back off slightly
4) Slide under truck
5) Spin wheel by hand to see contact point
6) Slide out from under truck
7) Turn steering wheel back to center (so wheel won't get stuck)
8) Take off lug nuts (which now require wrench to get off)
9) Take off wheel and set aside, watch it roll to back of garage
10) Grind down brand new suspension part
11) Repeat steps 1-10
12) Repeat again
13) and again
14) and again...
15) and again and again and again and again... ad nauseum
16) Finish one side!

Now onto the other side...
1) Dig out air cut-off wheel
2) Cut off 90% of that I ground off from the other side
3) Test fit wheel
4) Touch up with grinder
5) Done!

Funny how the second side goes quicker, isn't it?

Now you would think that putting the front end back on the ground would be a quick job, wouldn't you. Well, I did. Turns out that my bottle jack, which fit under the crossmember before I started this process, now bottoms out before the truck is on the ground. It took about half an hour of swapping in and out two jacks, jack stands, and a bunch of wood blocks to get the truck back on all fours.

[Turbo85GMC]

Next, on to wheels.

With the truck back on the ground, I could see that I needed to change the wheels. The rims are the stock Rally type, 15x8 I think. The tires on there are 31x10.5R15 M+S and are HUGE! They actually tucked up into the wheelwell by about 1.5", which looks cool, but means I can't turn the steering wheel without slicing up the tires. (pictures coming...)

A bit of reading on what others had done, and people mentioned using Van Rally wheels since they are 15x6.5. That would pull the wheel inwards, and give more clearance with the fender lip. SCOTI has a nice pic of his truck here. He said he's running 215-70-15's on the van Rallys up front, and 255-70-15's on truck Rallys out back.

Thought I'd try the van rallys, so the search began. I found a place right near work that had a pair of 15x6.5 van rally wheels so I went over at lunch today and picked them up. (pictures coming...) Now I have to see if I can hunt down some decent used 215/70R15 tires to get the old girl rolling again.

[lnwlfbsktbll]

I've got truck rallies (i think they are 15x7 but might be 15x8) on mine drop spindles up front hangers and shackles in the rear and i run 275/60/15 and the only rub a tiny bit on the inner fender on extreme cornering/large bumps but tire clears everything else

[silvereagle07]

I have 15x8 ralleys on my truck with a 4/6 drop and it doesn't scrub unless you put it on the door handles in curb. 275-50-15's all around.

[Turbo85GMC]

As promised, here are a couple of pics of the old wheels (not factory tires!) after the 5" drop up front.

This one shows how much the wheels tuck up into the fender well.


This one shows the lateral clearance between the fender lip and the tire. Can't even fit my whole finger in there! It's about a 3/8" space. (sorry the pic is fuzzy)


Needless to say, these tires are a no-go. Unless I plan on only going straight and never making a turn. I'm getting a set of Impala SS rims from another board member, so I promise more pics when they arrive and I get them installed.

[flamingbig10]

the van rally's and 8" truck rally's are a good wheel combination and mightget some for my truck

[Turbo85GMC]

Boy it's been a while since I've updated my progress! To quickly bring everything up-to-date, I've removed the rear axle & springs. Disassembled, de-rusted, and painted the springs, they are just waiting for reassembly. Disassembled drum brakes (only one side at a time!), waiting for parts for reassembly.

Let me tell you, getting the leaf springs out was a huge PITA! It took 3weekends to grunt, strain, swear, and try to get the spring bolts out. I only got 2 of them out. It then took one weekend with a cut-off wheel and a sledge to get the other two out. And then getting the old bushings out of the spring ends! That took another weekend.

Geesh! All of this just to do a flip kit on the rear end. Well, I'm getting to the point of actually putting things back together instead of taking them apart. Guess that's a good sign.

[joe231]

Cool thread!!

can't wait for more progress.....

[Turbo85GMC]

Here are some long-awaited pics of my "Poor Man's Bed Lift"!



As you can see, it gives a good amount of room to work on the C-Notch under there. If I was to do it again, I'd stand the 2x8's on edge and secure them with some ladder type blocking. That would gain me another 6" and be stronger to boot.

[Turbo85GMC]

Originally Posted by joe231

Cool thread!!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by joe231

can't wait for more progress.....

Comin at ya!

[Turbo85GMC]

Had a day off this week, so I started the C-Notch!!!

Support the frame in front and in back of where the notch will go.


I temporarily installed the rebuilt springs with the drop shackles (sorry, no pic) and measured the center line of the axle. Oh, if you have the axle off at this point, be sure to place the flip bracket on the spring. The bracket relocates the axle rearward by an inch or so compared to stock location.

Marked the location for the cut.


Take a big deep breath... and cut the frame...

(Notice the C-Notch clamped to the top of the frame rail for extra support while cutting.)

Realization #1: I was cutting up the (perfectly good) frame of my truck. (Aaaahhhhh!!!!!)
Realizatino #2: The metal of the frame was not nearly as thick as I thought it would be. (Hmmmm...?!?!?!?)

Test fit the C-Notch.

As you can (hopefully) see in the second picture, the cutout needed just a bit of grinding at the top to fully clear the weld on the C-Notch.

Started drilling holes and bolting the C-Notch in... (more pics next post!)

[menace121978]

nice progress man. way to go!! cant wait for pics of that baby on the ground...