79' GMC C15 - Spruce Caboose

[max 02]

I found the pieces from Goodmark. Part numbers are RRP080 / RRP081.




yea.. I can hear @tRustyK5 's voice in my head, so that should help haha. I think i remember him telling me a good way to go is about an inch down from the factory body line, as its rigid up there and less likely to warp.. but still very easy to im sure . I mainly wanted to open it up and see what all had to be done. Its definitely time to do some homework. Itll be a couple weeks atleast until i can purchase the replacement panels anyway.

Ill try and dig up his old k5 thread as i knew it had wicked pictures of the same process, but i think the era of photobucket attachments may be over..?

which truck taught you that lesson?

Ratbag. And I cut just below the body line as well.

 

[bix]

ebay had the panels for about 100 CAD each with shipping, summit had them for 30 cad each but not in stock until may 5.. not acceptable haha. Found them on amazon... 45 bucks with shipping seems to good to be true. As long as they dont show up for a die cast model i think ill be alright.

 

[bix]

The only way to end up with straight panels is to hammer and dolly the welds after it's ground and cooled. You could also try some wood standoffs on the inside right at the body line. Cut em so the standoff just slightly push the quarter out, then weld it like you normally would, slowly and moving around a lot. By preventing the panel from sucking in as the tacks cool you should be able to limit shrinkage quite a bit.

Remember, I'm gonna be there in 6 weeks or so if you want to wait for me to help you with it?

Ah that makes sense. Ill definitely invest in a couple dollys, not sure how accessible that area will be after its welded, but maybe weld the dolly to a piece of rod to slide it up there haha, or take the tubs out and get in from the inside?

The wood idea is a good one for sure. By the looks of the photos the patch panels seem to bolt in, so maybe i could fit it all up. Tack in the wheel arch and then take out that inner area for dolly access as well.





I didnt think youd have time to come over to the island from our last convo, unless thats changed... Which would be awesome. Beers on ice!

 

[bix]

@max 02 Oh ill have to go back into the thread, thank god for mud?

 

[tRustyK5]

I'm trying to think of the best time to come out and see your place and stuff. I want to bring some stuff you left here, as well as the grill, headlight surrounds and some other stuff you might like. A 14 bolt from Buck's.

I will give you a call this weekend and we'll see what we can figure out. Deb and I haven't been to the island in quite a long time, so I'm kinda thinking we could start there, then head to Abbotsford after your place. It knda sucks we chose the very same week you start school...

 

[bix]

I'm trying to think of the best time to come out and see your place and stuff. I want to bring some stuff you left here, as well as the grill, headlight surrounds and some other stuff you might like. A 14 bolt from Buck's.

I will give you a call this weekend and we'll see what we can figure out. Deb and I haven't been to the island in quite a long time, so I'm kinda thinking we could start there, then head to Abbotsford after your place. It knda sucks we chose the very same week you start school...

Lets definitely chat this weekend and throw some ideas around. Id do whatever i could to help the trip over. It does really suck i start school on the monday, If you did come down a bit earlier and spent some time out this way that would be unreal, but i understand its easier said than done.

As for the stuff bring it on down haha. If you want to haul a 14 bolt with ya the whole way ill take it, and maybe an couple LS engines from bucks if they are still 500$ haha.

LMC also sells the 73-74 grill mounts so id absolutely love to put that grille on with the matching surrounds.

 

[bix]

The carpet showed up today and It seems molded well and decently fabricated for the cheapest one on rock auto. Came with some of the insulation looking sound deadner on the bottom , and fit good. Not sure how well it's going to work with the sil plate trim. Might have to cut the carpet back a bit further, but I'll wait til the time comes to do so. I think it'll look nice with the black and grey bench seat and black dash.



My buddy who used my shop for awhile left me his dual exhaust set up. I gave half of it to a buddy of mine and kept the driver side portion. He had a x member set up so what I got is incomplete, but I'm gonna Coble it together. I picked up a y pipe and I have to make from the y pipe to the collectors. The Hedman headers I got are not doing me any favours at mid length, and the cross member on the pass side interferes with natural position of the pipe off the collector.
I may try and extend the collector or do a double bend, and that will get me under the cross member. I'd like to prepare as best as possible for dropping the transmission, as it's a total gamble. Luckily I have the section that goes over the rear axle. It's not the nicest thing but it
Works and it's on the floor.. I'm also hoping to borrow a buddies tube bender. I can't find anywhere that sells tube in less than 10 ft chunks. Might just go back to the store and cut the pipe in half in the parking lot so I can stuff it in the daily driver.

Tried to knock the shift linkage off the list. The plastic cup thats in the retainer attached to the frame is a bit further back than the gear selector on the trans, and it doesn't want to shift past neutral as the rod binds up rotating. I am hoping to just remove the bracket over a bit so it lines up better.

 

[bix]

The new calipers showed up today so hopefully I'll get around to rebuilding the rear calipers.

Was happy to see I have no more clearance issues with these wheels. They sell beauty rings for them and they will be good to mount the stock caps on them. I'm bummed the rallies didn't work out but id rather not hack my control arms to make them work.

I ordered up a hvlp gun. Thinking I'll spray these wheels white to match the bumper and mirrors. I wasn't planning on painting these but the white wheels in a 17x9 were backordered until May.

 

[mrk5]

What wheels are those?

 

[bix]

What wheels are those?

Pardon Our Interruption

www.summitracing.com

 

[max 02]

Those wheels should look tits!

I don’t have any pics of the rust repair on Ratbag in the thread, I did it before I joined Ck5.

Rene’s 74 grill looked great as a wall hanger in my garage for a few years. Will be cool to see it on your truck!

 

[bix]

Those wheels should look tits!

I don’t have any pics of the rust repair on Ratbag in the thread, I did it before I joined Ck5.

Rene’s 74 grill looked great as a wall hanger in my garage for a few years. Will be cool to see it on your truck!

Yea I think it'll be a stock ish look with the OE centre cap and a beauty ring. Yea those recessed GMC and chev grilles are my favourite for sure. I think the lmc bracket is kinda spendy for a piece of stamped steel... classic LMC, but it is what it is. Well worth it to have the grill on there.
'
It'll a nice reminder on where it came from everytime I look at the truck. Wasn't for him there's a good chance this truck wouldn't exist.

 

[bix]

Got the rear axle mounted up for now until the brake brackets arrive in a couple weeks. I purchased a cheap hvlp gun and sprayed the wheels with some laquer primer. Hoping to graduate from rattle cans in terms of painting. I want these things to last longer and spraying proper paint should help.

The gun I bought obviously isn't gonna be the best for 80 bucks, but it's nice to learn on and seems decent enough.

 

[mrk5]

I really want to get wheels like those for my C10. Just like the look of those solid, white wheels.

 

[bix]

They were super cheap. 100 canuckians each, shipped to the door. I'm also a fan of the solid wheels, without going into 22 inch transit wheel territory. Im stoked to buy some beauty rings for them when the times comes. Almost as expensive as the wheel haha.

 

[bix]

As I look for cooling fans I'm wondering if it would be best to buy the harness attachment and run the fans I buy from the Holley or if I should install a stand alone controller. I kinda like the idea of it being stand alone. Just less tuning and what not I'll need to do, which I'm sure be over my head with as it is. If a controller is the way to go, would anyone know if the stock controller be fine to operate or if it relies on the OE pcm to control it.

Amazon has some fan and relay kits for 150 bucks so I may go that route. I am also going to be sending my headers back to summit I believe. They are awful and I can't stand how the drivers side just bombs right into the bellhousing and shift linkage. I expected better from Hedman but it is what it is. I found a nice set of hooker long tube headers I'm going to use instead

 

[mrk5]

I debated about using the aftermarket EFI to control the fans in my C10. I decided like you did it's kinda nice to have it on a stand alone system although partly because I already had a controller.

I used a PWM controller made be Derale. The first unit I got was bad out of the box, but the replacement works fine. PWM stands for pulse wave modulation. It sends pulses of power to the fan at varying intervals to increase and decrease fan speed. It's really nice when it turns on it doesn't take a full electric load to start it. I don't know when it comes on unlike my other fan controllers that you can tell when the sudden electrical load hits. My only complaint is it makes some weird squealing noise at the low speeds which is a side affect of the PWM controller. It doesn't turn off with the ignition so you can really hear when the truck isn't running. As it winds down and is nearly shut off, it sounds like a Star Trek phaser is about the self destruct. I've had at least one person knock on my door thinking something was wrong with the truck.

I keep thinking one of these days I'll rig up the power on a relay that turns off with the ignition. However I do kinda like that it cools the engine bay down in the summer, so I haven't gotten in a hurry to do it.

 

[Chevy305]

I honestly think you're silly for considering a separate controller for your fans. That's just 1 more part to fail on you when you could have the ECM control them with perfect accuracy all in the same package you already have. All you need is a relay for the Holley to trigger and you're in business. Also the fan controllers that use a probe that you shove into your radiator fins aren't exactly the most accurate or reliable. If you're dead set on a separate controller then get one that screws into a coolant port on the engine.

 

[bix]

I debated about using the aftermarket EFI to control the fans in my C10. I decided like you did it's kinda nice to have it on a stand alone system although partly because I already had a controller.

I used a PWM controller made be Derale. The first unit I got was bad out of the box, but the replacement works fine. PWM stands for pulse wave modulation. It sends pulses of power to the fan at varying intervals to increase and decrease fan speed. It's really nice when it turns on it doesn't take a full electric load to start it. I don't know when it comes on unlike my other fan controllers that you can tell when the sudden electrical load hits. My only complaint is it makes some weird squealing noise at the low speeds which is a side affect of the PWM controller. It doesn't turn off with the ignition so you can really hear when the truck isn't running. As it winds down and is nearly shut off, it sounds like a Star Trek phaser is about the self destruct. I've had at least one person knock on my door thinking something was wrong with the truck.

I keep thinking one of these days I'll rig up the power on a relay that turns off with the ignition. However I do kinda like that it cools the engine bay down in the summer, so I haven't gotten in a hurry to do it.

I honestly think you're silly for considering a separate controller for your fans. That's just 1 more part to fail on you when you could have the ECM control them with perfect accuracy all in the same package you already have. All you need is a relay for the Holley to trigger and you're in business. Also the fan controllers that use a probe that you shove into your radiator fins aren't exactly the most accurate or reliable. If you're dead set on a separate controller then get one that screws into a coolant port on the engine.

Thanks for the info. I was hoping this thing would still be running a clutch fan.. seems much easier haha. Interesting it's the PWM that makes the pew'ing noise.


I wasn't sure if it was as easy as wiring in a relay to one of the input / outputs on the Holley system, or if it involved buying additional harnesses.. which aren't cheap. Thought the controller might be cheaper as well. Seems to make sense not to over complicate things. Less wires is best for a guy like me..


I gave the wheels a scuff with 600 grit, wiped them down and sprayed on the white. Did two coats. Sprayed much nicer through the gun. My compressor keeps up with about 25-30 psi. Which is a bit low . It might take me a couple 12 packs to paint the truck waiting for it to catch up...

 

[mrk5]

You're giving me wheel envy!

On the fan controller, I'm only running mine because I already have it. I've debated about taking it out but then I figure why bother if it's working fine. Plus as I mentioned it has the soft start feature that I really like.

If the wiring for your Holley system is like mine, the fan triggers are ground wires. You just wire them to the ground side of a relay. Heck, to simplify wiring, you could wire the relay 12V+ trigger wire to the battery feed wire on the relay since it will only come on when the Holley system is powered up.