Well, it has been so long since I have done a thread on anything, I figured I'd show you guys the '46 GMC pickup that is going together for one of my customers. First off, I am horrible about taking pictures as I go along, and I appolegize in advance for not having the earlier stages of this build and then there is still a lot left out. So here we go. This is one of many projects brought to me in the last year that has spent time at "reputable" body shops and then finally came to me do be done right. It originally came in for final prep and a pain job, but when I started blocking on it, things got a little funky. There was so many flat spots and waves in the cab that it was obvious it had to come down to bare metal and be redone from square one. After stripping the cab, sure as shit, the work was as sub par as it gets. Because it is an almost 70 year old truck, it has obviously seen it's share of use and abuse. Under the primer and filler was the half ass pounded out remains of a caved in roof. The previous shop didn't even try to reshape the metal. Thankfully it wasn't all that fatigued and didn't take too long to have it bumped around, shrunk and smoothed to the correct shape. The firewall also took some reshaping and shrinking as it was all warped up from welding in a bunch of new metal and making modifications. The rest of the cab was dents and dings coverd with filler, but they smoothed right out with the appropriate hammer and dolly work. I also did a ton of other little crap that I won't bore you with. The firs pic is after getting the cave out of the top and then bumping, hammering and dollying for a while. and the second is after more massaging. I didn't get any pics of what I started with or how the metal looked before primer. I also didn't get pics of any of the other work on the cab before primer. I get to absorbed in working and by the time I remember the camera, it's too late!!
Next up is the bed, and I didn't take shit for pictures of this..... It is a stubby little guy at 42" long, and it actually looks pretty good. The stake pockets are still '46 pieces and only took minor massaging to get them straightened out. Just some dents around the bottoms to about halfway up, but they fixed easily. The sides are 16 ga. CRS with a 60* brake over the tops, which is then welded to .065" wall DOM for the rolled edges. The cross sills are 2X3" rectangle with some nice little frame mounts and the tailgate is the narrowed stocker. Nothing fancy at all, but it does the trick and looks good.
This is where I am now. Getting the bodywork finished on this nose. The grille bars are repop '39 Chevy pieces, the top is '46 GMC hood pieces, and the rest is 18ga. CRS. There's a top and bottom deflector to guide air into the radiator and the headlights mount to the sides. The hood is only there for looks and covers just the upper air deflector but it still opens in the original clamshell fashion just for kicks. The latch is made of stainless and actuates by a pull handle under the chin pan. all the linkage hides behind the center grille bar.
That's it for now but I will try my best to keep updated. Oh yeah, the truck is fenderless on an underslung frame but not horrendously low. There's a Isky solid cammed, 11:1 tri-carbed 348 and 4-speed for motivation and the paint is going to be Chromapremier in a basic green on the body with the interior, wheels, grille and beltline being a minty green. The chassis is dark gray hammertone powdercoat. Rubber consists of the new Coker bias look radial blackwalls.
I care. Looks like you're off to a good start. It should get up and go with that 348 in there. Keep the updates coming.
Sorry, IK! Don't know how I missed this yesterday! I'm a uber-nut for the 39-46 GM trucks! I'm watching!!!!
Managed to get somewhere on this thing. I am still learning to make picture taking habitual.... But here's some interior pieces fresh outta paint. Have yet to cut and buff them, but they don't need much!! Too bad my cell phone pics suck. Oh well, here ya go...
Remembering to document is one of the harder parts about all of this. Looks good. Keep up the good work.
It's a custom mixed DuPont SS urethane. The interior will be this color and the exterior is going A regular green SS urethane with the light green for accents and the wheels.. Both are from the ChromaPremier line and cost almost $1000 a gallon!!!!! Here's a picture of some asshole....
These pictures are of some off topic rides, but I just want to show some of the paint work that I do around here. First is a '71 Superbee in Plum Crazy Purple. DuPont ChromaBase and Transtar Qwik-Gloss clear. It works well and I love using it.
Next is a Kawasaki ZX14 that I did last week. I forget the paint manufacturer... something7000 deep black with once again, Transtar Qwick-Gloss. This stuff is impossible to sag or run and hardens very quick. But you better know how to spray for a mirror finish because it doesn't flow AT ALL! The firs picture is after color sand and buff. The rest are right after the last coat of clear was shot.
Anyway, that's enough of the off topic stuff before I get burned. Just wanted to show off a bit I guess. After this GMC I have a few more on topic cars coming in, such as a '62 Impala SS, a '35 Dodge, and a '63 Chevy II SS among a plethora of others!!!
It's all in the details. Even the small parts and inside the glove box get the glassy smooth treatment!
Here are some sneak peeks of the finished paint!!!! Remember, this is only single stage paint! It is DuPont ChromaPremier SS. Both colors. The owner of the truck is very anti-clearcoat. Sorry for the grainy cell phone pics. I took some better ones with my camera, but forgot it...
Showoff. That being said I now need to go back to the shop and get back to work on my 41. Looks great. I'm painting mine in the Brewster Green and the belt line color will be the Sour Apple Green or black. Thats still up in the air. Please post pics of the assembled cab if your doing that part of the job. Keith
FINALLY!!!! A couple pictures of the finished truck. Still need to find some interior shots though. That's the owner with my fiancee's daughter.
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