i'm going to document the build of my 66 gmc truck that will be my primary hot rod for next year on this thread, questions, comments, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome.my goal is to have a full weight street driven pickup that will run 9.anything, but cruise around like grandma's oldsmobile. i don't know if i can do it or not, but i WILL give it my very best effort. i originally traded a 1953 ford f100 project for this truck in 1999, it was a complete turd when i got it. it had been completley spray bombed with blue engine enamel, complete with ham-fisted sledgehammer body work. i took it by to show one of my friends when i got it and he asked me if i was taking it to tom-bar (our local recycling center) i told him i was going to fix it up to which he replied "right". i drove this truck daily and worked on it as time and money allowed, swapping the 305 v6 for a fairly hot 355, adding a hidden nitrous system( well the bottle was hidden, the empty bottle brackets and line in the bed worked really well for getting races) i swapped to a 9 inch ford rear, painted the truck a 1994 nissan color called "black emerald pearl" with some lighter green ghost flames. one weekend when it was sitting in the parking lot where i worked some fuckhole rammed the corner of a flatbed into my hood, and spun gravel all over the driver side of the truck ruining the paintjob. that brought on a total remake of the whole truck, i cut the _frame_ in half and removed 12 inches from the center of the truck, and 8 inches from the rear. i dug a step side bed out of a blackberry patch and repaired it to use on my now short bed truck. i bought the power leather seats out of a 1997 chrysler lhs, and cover the door panels myself. i cut some new hols in the dash and angled a pair of guages at me in them, i grafted in a power antenna from a 1992 mercury grand marquis, i bought a salvage yard chrome gmc grille, i installed and custom tuned a tuned port injection system from a 91 z28, and also put in a saginaw car 4 speed, i then painted the truck copper inside and out. i match painted the engine copper with pewter accents. it was beutiful, it was the truck i had dreamed of since i sold my very first vehicle which was a 1966 gmc short bed for $150 when i was 14. i drove it everywhere, i got thumbs ups all the time. then the guy that i got the truck from in the first place moved back here from virginia and came by my shop one day. i took him for a ride up the street a couple of miles. when we got back he asked me if i wanted to sell it. off the top of my head i just threw out a $15,000.00 price figuring that would scare him off. he asked me if i was interested in trades, i asked what he had. he offered me 10 acres of land and a mobile home that had been damaged by fire in one wall that he had just inherited. i told him no at first, and he left, but he kept coming back, and after 3 days i gave in, it was too much to pass up for one truck, so i traded him. it wasn't long after that i wound up in financial trouble with my body shop, and had to sell the property to clear it all up. i came out with enough left to buy a 1957 chevy two door sedan that needed some tlc. i fixed it up and sold it too. the guy that bought my truck drove it for about two months before pulling the 355 and sold it, fuel injection and all for %500.00. he put in a 302 chevy that he built, and it was a dog. they also managed to back a trailer into the right rear fender, and run a grinder across the driver door. he was revving his engine to the moon and popping the clutch all over the place and soon broke an axle, he put in a 10 bolt chevy rear end, welded pipe between the _frame_ and rear end to stop wheel hop, and soon broke the transmission. at this point he removed his engine and traded the truck for a jet boat with my brothers neighbor. i started trying to buy the truck as soon as the other guy got it, and after almost a year of trying my best to buy it the guy finally got hard up enough for money that i got it back in febuary of this year. it will never leave my possession again untill i'm dead at which time one of my daughters will own it. now i beging the long journey of undoing all the damage that was done over the 1 1/2 years that it was gone.

here's the fuel injection system i'll be using, it's on my 65 chevelle in this pic

engine insatlled in the truck, but still running off of a carb

here's the truck the day i got it back


interior shot of before i sold it, the carpet needs replaced now

the von dutch flying eyeball ETCHED into the back window. i was a fan of kenny howard way before the clothing lines, dutch's kids sold him out if you ask me.

one of the maltese cross tailights, this shot is also pretty represenative of the color

the tuned port setup i had in it

here is what it looked like the day after i painted it.

 

Sounds like a fun project!

 

not as cool as the farm truck with the cracked glass but meh its ok haha i kid i kid

 

lol, i guess that'll be the one that i'll be remembered by. it was fun though.

 

Im interested in your build, Im doing a 57 chevy truck now. I also live in Beebe

 

cool, there are quite a few guys from arkansas on here now. we should all see about getting together at centerville or prescott next year.

 

That would be cool

 

i like where this is going!

 

awesome ,
i wish i had never got rid of my 79 trans am
if you ever need something fabbed remember i have lathe , mill , brake .stuff
i still owe you
mike

 

you don't owe me anything, that bottle nut was a gift, if in need something machined i'll give you a yell though. you don't by chance have the ability to respline axles do you?