Me & Gramps' '51 GMC 5 Window Project

Got the exhaust bent, welded together, and hung in the frame. We put a little extension tip off the back side of the muffler with a cut to deflect the exhaust downward. We'll still put some sort of heat shield under the bed wood, but hopefully it won't be an issue. We ran a piece of angle iron just forward of the muffler to hang the exhaust on, and we are happy with how it turned out.

 

Found a cool tech writeup on how to use the in dash choke cable for an ignition switch. You can check it out here. We are going to use the same setup and got that put together this weekend too.

C10 Brake Light Switch








And all put together:

 

When I got down to Gramps' he had taken the G and C off of the tailgate and put them on our welding helmets. Cubby and Gramps:

 

Kickin that things ass man. The last pic is great!

 

Thanks man, trying to get as much done as we can before all the cold weather gets here!

 

That is the best part of our hobby, sharing it with family. I can't wait to get to build one with my grandkids...............................

 

Yes it is! Progress has slowed a bit, my schedule's been crazy! Gramps has done some more work on the cab and I'll be down there soon to do some more work as well. Hope to have some more pictures soon.

 

I don't know how it could get any better.... Building a neat truck with your Gramps.... your gonna keep this one forever along with the wonderful memories you two are sharing.

These are great trucks. They look great and they're easy to work on due to a very basic, simple design. I'm driving my 7th in a line stretching back to 1968. The currant one is a '51 5 window and its my daily transportation.

Thanks for sharing your story....

 

Made some more progress of the past couple weeks. Got the gas pedal and emergency brake cable mounted in the cab. Both of these came out of the 89 Chevy that we pulled the engine out of.

 

Dash is all cleaned up and in primer. The indention below the gauges that the column shift linkage passed through is all filled in. Also had to fill in the grooves on the lower center of the dash because the PO had drilled holes through a couple of them.

 

Firewall is pretty well cleaned up and the cab corners are all cleaned up as well. Realizing now that we're gonna need a few of those holes we filled in the firewall, but no biggie, we'll drill them out where we need them.

 

Doors are hung and you can see in the above picture the cab has an indention behind the passenger side door that will need some work. The doors seem to fit nice, but after testing with the striker plates they're gonna need some work like they all seem to. Gonna wait till the cab is solid on the frame before we start making any adjustments.

 

***LINK UPDATED***

Modified the seat to fit in the cab, and I did a little "tech how to" on the modifications needed for the 88-98 seat. Feel free to check it out.



Really happy with how well this seat is gonna work out in the truck, and would recommend it to anyone building one of these.

 

Oh, and we did put the gas tank in as well, in case anyone has concerns with whether or not the stock tank works with the 88-98 bench seat.

 

Wow, all looks good. I need to fill the shift hump in the dash too, looks good.

 

Been a few since an update, but here goes:

Got the exterior body work all shored up on the cab.










And the firewall is painted....




Needless to say, as you all know, it was a lot of sanding...

 

Lookin good!

 

Moved the cab back over onto body...wasn't really that bad, just used the cherry picker and a couple of us stabilized it till it was in place.










I'm always learning something new about these trucks, and along the way I had the privilege of learning that my '51 cab has two frame mounting points via shackle style mounts. Well, my frame is apparently 47-49 and those cabs mounted in the center. I was able to get a pair of mounts from 54Earl and some measurements from Shadams. Now the mounts are hanging "loose" until we get more of the body put together and we can ensure the spacing/height on the cab is right.

 

Picked up a Harrison heater and got it all torn apart, blasted, primed and painted.







Gotta order a 12V motor, gasket set, and new front emblem and it'll be good to go.

 

I got a few rolls of U.Seal (aka QuikRoof, or Peel 'n Seal) at Home Depot to use in place of Dynamat. I know this gets mixed reviews, but I have talked to people who I know that swear by it, and since it's a FRACTION of the price I went this route. It lays down nice, doesn't stink, and man does it grab hold!









With it getting colder out and body work becoming less possible, we decided to paint the interior of the cab so that we could start wiring the gauges in, putting the dash together, etc. Well, that meant I had to decide for sure on a color. Went with a color that I had been thinking about since I saw it on Jim Putter's GMC on Classic Trucks' website. It's a really light green and I think it's gonna set this truck off just right! It's hard to make out the color in these photos, but you'll get the idea. Or you can check out Larry Putter's truck here.

 

Gramps made a little bracket for the e-brake handle and got the cable ran back.





Got a new electric wiper setup and it's all in and hooked to the linkage.



And finally, we busted out the Rebel wiring and started getting it ran...man, even with a nice Rebel setup it is still daunting to me.

 

Cubby, looking good. That color is killer, but you know Larry's mix is top secret ; ) I was up in Ottawa, KS cruising the grounds with him recently and a woman literally ran him down to ask for the color...to which he replied "red" LOL. I got another story about that color from Jerry Curry (awesome 36 Ford) if you want to hear it sometime.

 

Thanks buddy! How funny that you know him! I asked far and wide until I finally PM'd with a guy who knew him. I got in touch with him and he gave me the color code. Heck of a guy, wouldn't have blamed him if he told me to bug off. Probably need to keep the truck outta Kansas! I'd love to hear the story, we need to kick back a cold one soon!

 

Cubby, The truck is looking great! You and Gramps are doing a great job. Keep up the good work!

 

You must have asked nicely! Larry is a heck of a guy and that color is subtly killer. I'm going to stop by and see it very soon, PM sent! Here is the '36 built by Jerry Curry, from Billings, MO. The pics don't do the color justice.

 

That's a great looking '36! I'm sure it's even better looking in person! I'll be over your way soon to check out your collection!

 

Here's where I mounted my fuse block. I had originally planned to put it on the driver's kick panel, but with our parking brake setup it wasn't an option.





Gonna use a floor mounted headlight switch and it's in place.



The brake pedal didn't return far enough up for the switch so we put a block between it and the firewall. That still didn't quite do it, so I made a tab and mounted it with the transmission dust cover. Then we ran a return spring between the tab and pedal. Should work great.

 

Great job, and so fantastic that you get to work with your GrandDad on it. You are a lucky guy to have him by your side.

 

Very cool project. I had a '51 3 window that i loved.

 

looking great man also nice to see another gmc build. cheers