1964 GMC 1500 "Crustine"- Build thread.

Alright, back to finishing up a little. Here are some pictures of a nice load Crustine pulled. She done real good. I was impressed.
These are actually this year in May I believe.

 

After that load one of the rear tires had a little issue. haha Was driving one day and the truck started bouncing....Really bouncing at 30 MPH. Got home and sure enough, rear tire casing was separated. Since these were 16.5's and the only tires I could find somewhat decent were 30 inch firestones, I headed to the wrecking yard for a set of 16's. Found a nice set from a 68 f%%D f250 that were in great shape. Scored all 4 for $40 and headed to work to look for tires. We are an American Tire dealer so we can get a discount. Ordered up a set of Nexen 32 inch tires. 10 ply load rang E. Then suckers can take 85 PSI of air. haha And plenty of tread.

 

Soon after the tires, I got tired of the twist in the front bumper. And since Crustine was going to some more shows I figured it'd be a nice dress up piece for her, so the "new" bumper on.

 

A member from one of the forums I am on had this clock for sale. Always wanted one in at least One of my trucks so I got it. Not an OEM, but one that would have been available aftermarket in those years. Still to this day haven't hooked power to it. lol

 

Crustine at our local show. It was around 100 degrees that day, better than the 115 degree day of the previous year. Many more people showed up and I had competition for my 2nd year of Under Construction award. Which Crustine won again. haha The one on the left is a 48 Stude and the one on the right is a 53(?) Dodge. Talked with both owners and had a blast, staying in contact with the owner of the stude so we can caravan to other shows in the future.

 

And this was a short lasting project I did for fun. I had noticed MSD came out with an ignition control box known as the 6AL. Multiple spark discharge between idle and 3000 rpm. I thought, heck! That's the RPM range of this motor! Why not! So, bought that with a set of MSD spiral core wires and installed it. Really didn't make a huge difference in power, but I am sure my mileage went up.

 

Well the suspense on this will not be a quarter of what it was on my other builds. haha After I had done the box, the following weekend was a car show about 40 miles from me. Plan was to meet with John(the owner of the 48 stude) and caravan over. Saturday comes and bright and early at 6 AM I am off to Grants Pass where the Back to the 50's show was being held. Met up with John around halfway and then met with Ed(owner of a 66 GMC suburban) and all 3 of us headed out to the show. Parked and sat and chatted from 7 AM until around 3 PM. It was awesome, lot's of people...lot's of cars, but stinkin hot. Least 105 that day at the end of July. Ed stayed for the Cruise in and John and I left at around 3.
Just over halfway home there is a steep grade called Haze Hill, I was moving right along at 53 MPH and started pulling the hill, pulling along strong and BOOOOG....engine lost power like I slammed the brakes up. Crap! I said out loud. haha Looking through both the rear view mirrors for any smoke indicating something went south...no smoke. I figured that the MSD box fried the pertronix I had installed. Pulled over, popped the hood....engine idling just fine and surprisingly cool for being so hot a day. No higher than 180 I can say that. Grabbed a hold of the fuel filter and I could feel the fuel pulsing. Not good. Thinking it was vapor lock I poured cold water on the metal filter and wrapped a cold rag around it. Made it home without further issues. Well....until I pulled in the driveway....shut the truck down...unloaded and noticed water pouring out the back of the block. By this time I was mad. After looking hard I found it was a casting plug at the rear passenger side head. Great! Means I have to pull the top end. So I figured...Hell! Why not! And ended up yarding the hold dern motor out. haha

 

Quickly started taking things apart.....notice the clutch and pressure place. lol

 

And so the light rebuild began. After disassembly I started cleaning and painting parts. Was also waiting for new parts to show up.

Figured I'd throw in some "Bragging" rights photos......We're talking Size wise. lol Biggest rods and mains and crank I've seen yet.



The bearings weren't to bad, least the mains weren't. But I had found both sets and got them because I had the motor so far apart may as well do it now.

 

Went fairly fast painting parts. Many 11 PM nights working on this thing. haha Colors were Dupli color primer, Alpine green, and Clear. Kyrlon Rust tough gloss black, and chrome paint.

 

And the weekend finally came....which lead to long days of hard work and good progress.

 

Also got the heads painted up and the crank cleaned. Took awhile doing that bell housing.

 

And once my parts came in the reassembly began. Lotta fun and it was a good feeling seeing this thing look like a motor again. New timing chain and gears and a new melling oil pump.

 

More photos of getting the block together.
Also more of the chrome paint and VHT manifold paint I used for the exhaust manifolds. They came out great and Hardly any paint has burned off.

 

She's alive!!! 1964 GMC "Crustine"- She's Alive!!!!!!!!

 

And after 4 long weeks of hard work, 2 of which made me sick. This was the final product.

 

Besides some fuel pump problems which were resolved with a new pump and fuel system flush with new filters....that is it folks! The MSD box is off as I daily drive this truck so I want it simpler for more reliability. Feel free to ask any questions!

 

I bought a 4bbl spacer for my 650cm to add onto my 64 c10 gmc 351c v6 ( not a type O ) took me forever to find the right starter for it this is how I know. My is all original less then 60k miles 4spd granny gear putting her up for sale at the car show this weekend