Hi guys! I've been reading the forum the last few days. I'm anxiously awaiting delivery of my new toy - a '47 GMC 100. It looks fairly unmolested, but rough. My plan is to remove the cancer, upgrade the drive train, replace brakes as needed, and restore the interior. Then it'll be a daily driver. I'll go over the details of my engine and trans options in a post after the photos.
Engine choices are fairly obvious to obscure: Small block chevy with a 700R4 Small block chevy with a 4 speed Buick nailhead 401 with a ??? Buick nailhead with a 4 speed I don't know if the nailhead will fit, but the look of it, and it's uniqueness seem a perfect fit for the '47. I'm open to suggestions, ideas and experience, but I can be a bit thick headed. Thanks in advance! -sean
Welcome Sean! Glad to have you aboard! I like your idea about dropping a nailhead in your jimmy! Evan, aka Coilover, has probably done that in his many years of building awesome rides. Enjoy your ride and keep us posted! Ken
Welcome aboard! Looks like a fun project. Hope to follow your progress on here as things get going. Damon
Have used several nailheads in swaps and they fit well. Most memorable ones were in a Vega sedan delivery and a Volkswagon Beetle. Both were street cars and not race only ones. Put a 401 and a 455 in AD trucks and if IRRC they were easier by quite a bit than a 500 Cadillac. I'm sure I have old slides but these were done before computers were on the scene so no ready pics. Do have one of the 500 Cad in a 51 GMC because it came back for a rebuild on the engine after 25 or so years and 200k miles. Oh yeah, the double roller timing chain on the steering is still going strong after 200k miles and NEVER needing adjustment.
New Truck ! A nice find , I take it those pix were taken in the junkyard you found it in ? . Lotsa hard works ahead , best of luck with it , it seems a crying shame to cut up a nice stock one like that but you're footing the bill so have at it ~ just be aware all those old rusty stock parts are NO TRASH ! others will want them .
I've been reading quite a bit lately. I travel a lot for work and scour the Internet when not home. Recently, all of my attention is focused on the truck. In my catalog searches and online parts sellers I see quite a few people listing parts for 48-54 in ref to the GMC AD parts. Some say 47. Were there many changes between 47 and 48? Or is it because 47 was one of those transitional years where they made 2 different models, both the AD and the previous model? I'm leaning more and more towards running the six with a 12v conversion and repairing/rebuilding what needs it then reevaluating the engine trans choices. Is there a 4 speed or overdrive that is period-ish that might help with freeway cruising? Thanks guys!
Period overdrive transmissions are out there, but seem difficult to come by. If you're staying with an inline six-cylinder, you may want to consider a mid-1980's S-10 or S-15 five-speed manual. That's the option I chose for my project (using a Chevy 235). It's a relatively painless process to mate the newer transmission to the older engine. Damon
Road Speed First get it running , driving and stopping , then put some tall & narrow tires on it like God and Generous Motors designed it to be (32" O.D. LT Radials) , you'll find it'll easily go 55 MPH in stock form and if you really need more , you can re build the old rear end with 3.55 ratio gears and it'll hum along @ 75 MPH all day , all night , no worries . Resist the urge to make the job over complicated until you've tried it and know 100 % what you want .
Since I still don't have my truck I've been reading a lot and looking at lots of photos, etc...I don't think my truck is a '47. '47s are supposed to have a unique grill - mine looks like all the other GMC grills I've seen. Also, I've been trying to decode the serial #FC102 108429, that tells me it's a '47-50 125" 1/2 ton. I've looked at OldGMCTrucks.com and I have to think that it's probably a '50. Can anyone confirm or deny my findings? Thanks in advance!
I totally agree with Nate here! This is what I did to mine, got the tallest tires I could get that weren't super heavy duty ones. The GMC is the way to go Welcome! I can go 45-50MPH, but I have the 3/4 ton with very high rear end. But it does the job just fine! Just put it to work again last two weekends. One was building a sandbox for my son! 2 loads of 2980lbs of sand. And last weekend was a deck build for a buddy of mine
