81 rebuild

I have been tinkering with trucks for about 5 years now, and about a year ago I bought what I thought was an 82 GMC. I was planing on rebuilding him, but soon found myself pulling wood screws out! The person I bought him from used wood screws to hold parts on!!(Along with other assorted items) I mean come on! Anyway- My question is-- where should I begin? Some are telling me the interior, others are saying the engine (but amazingly enough that seems to be the only thing that was done right). What do yall suggest??? I'm open to everything at this point.

 

Hello Chevy Girl, welcome to the discussion forums!

I run a restoration business, and I have always started from the inside out. It's MUCH easier to do the interior first, then if you want to match the exterior, it's easier. That sucks about the previous owner - I've never heard of such a thing x( but if you need anything, I own a restoration business, and can supply you with lots and lots of parts at wholesale prices. I'm actually currently restoring a 81 Chevy myself as well. Please email or call, thanks!

Stephen Hardy
Owner
Hardy Chevrolet & GMC Restoration
HardyAutoParts@hotmail.com
817-228-8824

 

You can start whereever you want, but if the engine/driveline is all good then the interior would be a good place to start. Just make sure that the last thing you do is paint so it doesn't get messed up.

About the wood screws, some people just shouldn't be allowed to work on cars. My brother just bought a '73 Blazer that had wood screws and zip ties holding parts on, the engine compartment and floors were painted with a paint brush, and it has spliced wires everywhere. Its annoying to have to go back and fix the things where others cut corners, but you'll get that much more satisfaction when you're done restoring it. ;-)

 

Thanks-- The interior does seem as though it would be easier to restore.

I'm really excited and ready to get started on him ASAP. I know he will be one 'hot truck' when I finish. :7

 

I have found some similar things on the '77 I'm restoring. Everything from really bad welding and patch jobs underneath the body and just some really wierd body work. Someone in the past actually welded on the drivers side front fender. So that should be fun to fix once it comes to body work On my restoration I actually started with the drivetrain because the truck mandated it as I want to be able to drive it while I restore it. The old 305 was just not capable anymore so I put in a new 350 crate motor in it from GM. After that was put it the tranny started to go so we redid that along with the rear end. But the interior should be done first which is what I'm working on now with a set of seats out of an '02 Silverado. Anyway, good luck on your build up and have a good time doing it. I've had so much fun doing it and look forward to getting it "finished"

Good luck, Chevy Girl.

 

Hi CG,

If you will be driving your baby while in the process of restoration, I'd recommend the following;
Start with the things that make it SAFE to drive. Brakes, Steering & suspension. Lighting should be there too.
Drive train. But it sounds like you have a good one there.
Finally, Appearance. Bodywork & paint.

Each of these phases needs to have a budget. Start the planning with how much it will cost to do what you want, and you will have a better chance of success.

Best of Luck, have fun and keep us posted.

DValentine

 

Amazingly enough- his underbody and engine are in good shape. One less thing for me to worry about fixing now.

I think I lucked out when I bought him-- I ended up only paying around #3,000. He has a new motor/tranny under him. I'm also looking for a Chevy 400 small block to drop into him after his "rebirth." :7

Thanks yall-- no worries-- I'll try to keep yall posted on mine and his progress!!

 

That sounds cool, Chevy Girl. I paid $1000 for mine but I had to put a new engine in it and I felt that I got a pretty good deal on mine, also, as the body was pretty solid. I've had a lot of fun so far on my build up and it also helps that my dad can come over to my house and help also. Build good memories and also is a ton of fun. So have a lot of fun with your GMC build up and keep us posted

 

I feel your pain. The truck that I bought and am currently restoring had some of these faults. I found wood screws holding the interior trim, headlight trim, exterior moulding and wheel arches. Some ppl just do not know any better.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-05 AT 05:58 PM (CST)]Latest update- It seems my rebuild is begining sooner than expected.
A few weeks ago, I got my 81 back (I was in Florida and a friend was watching him) and the passenger window wouldn't roll down! When I left Boomer (my 81) was in perfect working order- or as perfect as a 20+ year old truck can run. While in the auto shop, I found out that not only was the restrictor broken, (I have the scissor type) but the window button on the driver's door was backward and shorting out the passenger button. Long story short-- almost $200 later both my windows roll down, and I have one less machanic I will be going to.

One more question for yall-
Is it normal for oil pressure to drop almost 50% while idiling? It only drops like that if I'm in drive. I have an up and comming mechanic friend who says it is normal, but I have never noticed it before. Plus, I just would like a second (or third) opinion.
Thanks!!

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-05 AT 06:24 PM (CST)]Here's a couple of pictures of my project. I'm guessing he is an 81 or 82. I apologize for the "fuzzy" pictures.
Attachments:
https://talk.classicparts.com/images/attachments/41eb054b05386713.htmlhttps://talk.classicparts.com/images/attachments/41eb055d0548665f.html

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON Jan-16-05 AT 10:38 PM (CST)]>>One more question for yall-
>Is it normal for oil pressure to drop almost 50% while
>idiling? It only drops like that if I'm in drive. I have an
>up and comming mechanic friend who says it is normal, but I
>have never noticed it before. Plus, I just would like a
>second (or third) opinion.
>Thanks!!

Is it the stock guage? If it is its probably just a bad oil pressure sender/switch. My oil pressure guage used to show 0 to 15 psi most of the time. I replaced the switch because it was leaking and now my oil pressure never drops below 40. Or you can replace the gauge with an aftermarket mechanical oil pressure guage, they are more accurate than electric gauges and wont suffer from this problem.

 

This weeks' newest addition-- tinted windows.

I'm not sure how dark I want them. I want to be able to see out, but for it to be hard for outsiders to see in... I'm open to suggestions.

(His pictures are in the above post):7

 

The oil pressure guage on neither my 78 or 89 work right, the needle flops all over everywhere, and on the 78 sometimes i have to tap on the face to get it to work at all. Seems to be a common thing on these trucks. The gas guage flops all over hell too, hard to tell for sure how much gas is really in it unless its been sitting still for a while on level ground. My 77 is that way too, the other guages are ok on it tho since it has a 2001 Pickup 4.3 V6 in it, all new senders and stuff.




Proud owner of a 78 1/2 Ton 2wd Suburban with a 454 and an 89 1/2 Ton 4wd Suburban with a 350

 

Not a bad looking truck at all, looks better than most do for its age. A nice wash and wax and that truck would shine up like a new penny. New paint would make it even better. if it were me, id be careful about doing much before doing the paint job, and im sure your going to paint it, right? Becuase if you REALLY get into it, you'll be pulling doors and door panels and kick panels and all kinds of other stuff to paint behind them or around them so that none of the old pain can be seen, i know thats what id do. Then after the paint is complete then you can put on new interior parts and save yourself alot of work and not have to worry about ever seeing old paint again. Just my two cents tho.

James




Proud owner of a 78 1/2 Ton 2wd Suburban with a 454 and an 89 1/2 Ton 4wd Suburban with a 350

 

Also, check under the hood on the core support (in front of the radiator) for the emissions sticker, or it may be on the air cleaner. It will tell you what year your truck is because it has to meet laws applicable for that model year truck, whatever it might be. my 78's Manufacture date is 11/77, but it is a 78 model year, and the emissions sticker (and title) state that it is indeed a 78. On mine, it states that it meets the emissions requirments in place for 1978 model year heavy duty vehicles (that sentence is what yer lookin for) Says the same on my 89 and 77 except light duty instead.


Proud owner of a 78 1/2 Ton 2wd Suburban with a 454 and an 89 1/2 Ton 4wd Suburban with a 350. Also, 1977 Chevy Pickup, 2wd 1/2 ton with a 4.3 Vortec V6.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the emissions sticker!

I think his carb is getting dirty or something is stuck inside. When I'm in drive and idling it feels like he's surging. He actually died on me, but before I could do anything about it, he restarted. I was accelerating at the time. It was the weirdest feeling. The only other time he's died on me, in the year and a half that I've had him, was when a distributor wire fell out.

That's the good side of his body. Not that the other is wrecked, but it has a rust bubble on the rear fender, under the wheel well. You can't see it until you get really close- but its still there, eating away at his body. I've still got lots of interior/exterior work to do, but I want the engine to run first! :7

Thanks yall!!
OH!--- I have 2 tanks under him. One gauge works fine, but the other lays WAY past the "F." It won't move either. I've tried leaving him idle on level ground, but it hasn't helped. Any sugestions? Could it be somthing in the tank?? (so many questions, so little time);-)

 

About the surging forward, it sounds like your carb needs a good cleaning and probably a rebuild as it sounds like it's getting stuck so there for as if you're always pressing on the gas. I've never heard of a vehicle just dying and kicking itself back on again, though. Sounds like somehow air was not getting into the engine for a little bit then kick itself back on somehow.

Also, with one of your tanks not registering the right amount of gas in the the tank you might try replacing the sending unit. There is a wire that attaches to the sending unit that sends a signal back to your gauge saying how much is left in your tank and you probably need to replace that whole unit. I would probably go ahead and replace the one of the other side too, or at least buy the replacement for it, because if it is the same age it'll probably go out soon, also. Just speaking from experience.

Hope this helps a little bit.

 

I guess I should have clarified it when I said he died on me. He never completely shut off. Its hard to explain exactly what it was that he did. I replaced the lines and PCV valves the other morning, but haven't had the chance to run him to see if it helped or hindered.

 

This may sound like a dumb question but when was the last time you replaced the air filter and the breather filter? A lot of times if either one is dirty, it'll cause a starvation of air into the engine and therefore causing it to stall. If these filters are fine, how about your fuel filter or fuel pump? Either one or both of these might need to be replaced. None of this stuff is too $$$ so they are good places to start.

Anyway, just my suggestions of trying to help you out. My truck is a '77 so it's very similar to yours and I've experienced some of this stuff in the past when it still had it's 305 in it. I finally got that out and replaced it with a new 350 crate motor. It's like it's 20 years younger now