CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
The GAC Truck
- Thread starter Chevy305
- Start date
So I bought this truck off of @Richcz28 for short money as let's be honest, it's a total beater. Someone in it's past life put some time and money into it replacing the floors, rockers, cab corners, and bed sides. The springs and shocks were upgraded with heavier duty stuff and was fitted with a Fisher Speed Cast Plow. Unfortunately the shoddy backyard body work and years of plowing have taken it's toll. I basically saved the truck from the scrap yard however, I'm still realistic and the truck isn't worth a ton of time and money so any repairs are purely to keep it functional as a plow/yard truck. It's intended purpose is to plow the driveway but I've been putting it to use hauling wood and lumber plus the occasional dump run.
When I first bought it it barely ran, the brakes were super sketchy, the flywheel had some missing teeth, and the plow hydraulics didn't really work. After I dug into it, honestly I'm surprised it even made it onto the trailer to bring home. The funny thing is that we had to push it off the trailer.
Here's some first day pics:
So upon some troubleshooting, I got super lucky and the flywheel teeth were fine. It turned out the starter was bad. Luckily I had one kicking around to toss in. Gotta love free fixes!
Next was getting it running. I found that it wasn't getting gas and that the new fuel filter Rich put on was clogged. I dropped a line in a can and it fired right up. I knew the gas tank must have some nasty crud in it so I dropped the tank to clean it out and this is what I found:
That hole was right at the back of the cab where any water going between the bed and the cab would fall right into the tank. There was about 5 gallons of water in there. No wonder it wouldn't run right! The hole was caused by the body mounts having collapsed through the fame so the cab was rubbing the tank. I thought about fixing the body mounts at this time but it would be waaaaaay more work than it's worth so I just glued some rubber to the top of the tank and called it good for now...
Next step was to get the heat working. I could hear the blower motor spinning but no air flow out of the vents. So judging by the amount of mouse crap I found in the truck and the smell I figured there must be a nest inside the heater core. Little did I know it wasn't just a nest, it was a damn Taj Mahal!
I've never seen a nest so packed in there. It about filled my shop vac and that still wasn't all of it. That was just what I could get by taking the blower motor off. I had to pull the whole heater core in order to completely rid it of mouse nest. It totally stunk too. Years of caked up mouse pee and poop. The truck still smells like mouse shit but least the heat/defrost works!
When I first bought it it barely ran, the brakes were super sketchy, the flywheel had some missing teeth, and the plow hydraulics didn't really work. After I dug into it, honestly I'm surprised it even made it onto the trailer to bring home. The funny thing is that we had to push it off the trailer.
Here's some first day pics:
So upon some troubleshooting, I got super lucky and the flywheel teeth were fine. It turned out the starter was bad. Luckily I had one kicking around to toss in. Gotta love free fixes!
Next was getting it running. I found that it wasn't getting gas and that the new fuel filter Rich put on was clogged. I dropped a line in a can and it fired right up. I knew the gas tank must have some nasty crud in it so I dropped the tank to clean it out and this is what I found:
That hole was right at the back of the cab where any water going between the bed and the cab would fall right into the tank. There was about 5 gallons of water in there. No wonder it wouldn't run right! The hole was caused by the body mounts having collapsed through the fame so the cab was rubbing the tank. I thought about fixing the body mounts at this time but it would be waaaaaay more work than it's worth so I just glued some rubber to the top of the tank and called it good for now...
Next step was to get the heat working. I could hear the blower motor spinning but no air flow out of the vents. So judging by the amount of mouse crap I found in the truck and the smell I figured there must be a nest inside the heater core. Little did I know it wasn't just a nest, it was a damn Taj Mahal!
I've never seen a nest so packed in there. It about filled my shop vac and that still wasn't all of it. That was just what I could get by taking the blower motor off. I had to pull the whole heater core in order to completely rid it of mouse nest. It totally stunk too. Years of caked up mouse pee and poop. The truck still smells like mouse shit but least the heat/defrost works!
Last edited:
So now the truck would move and would plow and it was already proving it's worth during our first snow storm last year.
So over the course of the winter I put some more cheap labor into it by getting all the lights to work, replacing the plow hydraulic lines, and a few more odds and ends.
At this point the truck pretty much paid for itself in what I'd spend to hire someone to plow the driveway. So I thought I'd give it some fresh fluids as they all desperately needed to be changed. The oil out of the transfer case looked like metallic black rustolium. The axles weren't much better. The rear end had ice chunks plopping out of it!
It was also at this time that I found out that this truck had 2.73 gears! I thought it must have some tall gears in but damn! I've thought about changing ratios and honestly it's not worth it. I plow in 4Lo and it's a perfect speed for maneuvering around the driveway.
I started to get more confident in it and even left the driveway for a trip to Lowes:
Last edited:
So once spring came around I dropped the plow and started using it around the yard:
I stumbled across a good original dash pad for real cheap so I scooped it up along with an old autometer tach and a much better set of gauge lenses.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Cool truck
At some point this summer one of the tires developed a bulge in the tread. Given heavy dry rot and that the date on the tires said January '87, I figured it was time to look for a new set. For shits I threw the 35's off of my stepside on it to see what it'd look like with stock suspension.
With the weight of the plow I'm pretty sure the tires would hit the fenders just sitting there... lol
I would have just swapped these on permanently but the worn mud tires are not good on snow and ice.
I found a set of 33/10.5R15 BFG ATs on FB marketplace for cheap:
With the weight of the plow I'm pretty sure the tires would hit the fenders just sitting there... lol
I would have just swapped these on permanently but the worn mud tires are not good on snow and ice.
I found a set of 33/10.5R15 BFG ATs on FB marketplace for cheap:
So this last post brings us up to today.
The brakes have been horrible since day one, as in barely working with a leaky wheel cylinder. So i pulled the drums and this is what I found:
It turns out the axle seal was leaking and not the wheel cylinder. Either way it made a huge mess and turned the brake shoes into goo.
Presto chango:
Now I have functioning rear brakes and a parking brake!
The "Might as Well" hit me when I came across a cheap limited slip on ebay ($200 is hard to say no!) As in while I have the drums off, I "Might as Well" upgrade the open rear to a limited slip... in a high mileage 10 bolt with 2.73 gears that has had horrible watery fluid in it for probably many years. Yup makes perfect sense!
My pinion gear is bigger than your pinion gear!
The brakes have been horrible since day one, as in barely working with a leaky wheel cylinder. So i pulled the drums and this is what I found:
It turns out the axle seal was leaking and not the wheel cylinder. Either way it made a huge mess and turned the brake shoes into goo.
Presto chango:
Now I have functioning rear brakes and a parking brake!
The "Might as Well" hit me when I came across a cheap limited slip on ebay ($200 is hard to say no!) As in while I have the drums off, I "Might as Well" upgrade the open rear to a limited slip... in a high mileage 10 bolt with 2.73 gears that has had horrible watery fluid in it for probably many years. Yup makes perfect sense!
My pinion gear is bigger than your pinion gear!
Looks like the perfect rig for your intended purpose.
The limited slip is a good buy for a plow rig.
The limited slip is a good buy for a plow rig.
I have the same suspicion about the rear brakes on my K30. Both tires were wet from sitting. Sweet truck though! Haunta virus n all!So this last post brings us up to today.
The brakes have been horrible since day one, as in barely working with a leaky wheel cylinder. So i pulled the drums and this is what I found:
View attachment 282323
It turns out the axle seal was leaking and not the wheel cylinder. Either way it made a huge mess and turned the brake shoes into goo.
Presto chango:
Now I have functioning rear brakes and a parking brake!
View attachment 282324
The "Might as Well" hit me when I came across a cheap limited slip on ebay ($200 is hard to say no!) As in while I have the drums off, I "Might as Well" upgrade the open rear to a limited slip... in a high mileage 10 bolt with 2.73 gears that has had horrible watery fluid in it for probably many years. Yup makes perfect sense!
View attachment 282325
My pinion gear is bigger than your pinion gear!
View attachment 282326
Looks like a perfect working truck!
Your new plow rig reminds me of the '77 GMC K2500 I had before I got the diesel '82 K2500...
Rear brakes in my '82 were equally soaked with gear oil when I got it in 2003,I just sprayed 3 cans of brake cleaner on the shoes and planned to replace the axle seals and shoes,but after I started driving it,the leak stopped,I think someone over-filled the diff...same shoes are still in it!..had to replace the e-brake cables,no joy in that job..
I would try to get some Lysol,bleach,or other disenfectant in the heater box and ducts,that mouse virus is deadly and can make you extremely if if it doesn't kill you..a guy who ran a local mower repair shop I dealt with often died after so much exposure to mouse nests in the small engines he repaired,and he was only 39 years old !..
What gears does the new limited slip have ?...
I have found higher gears actually seem better in snow and for plowing,it makes the tires harder to spin,at least in high range..
Rear brakes in my '82 were equally soaked with gear oil when I got it in 2003,I just sprayed 3 cans of brake cleaner on the shoes and planned to replace the axle seals and shoes,but after I started driving it,the leak stopped,I think someone over-filled the diff...same shoes are still in it!..had to replace the e-brake cables,no joy in that job..
I would try to get some Lysol,bleach,or other disenfectant in the heater box and ducts,that mouse virus is deadly and can make you extremely if if it doesn't kill you..a guy who ran a local mower repair shop I dealt with often died after so much exposure to mouse nests in the small engines he repaired,and he was only 39 years old !..
What gears does the new limited slip have ?...
I have found higher gears actually seem better in snow and for plowing,it makes the tires harder to spin,at least in high range..
It's the same gears, I just took the picture after I had swapped the ring gear onto the limited slip.
4Hi and granny gear is a good combo for plowing but the unsyncroed gear is annoying to have to double clutch all the time. So 4Lo and 2nd (1st) is roughly the same so it works out well.
Cool truck!
Doing some tree work
You gotta do something about those cab mounts! Holy saggy cab! Wow!
Yeah...
The cab is literally sitting on the frame. Body mounts are crumbled, the frame holes are rusted out, and the cab structure is rusted out. That's a can of worms I do not want to open...
I had a square like that once where the bed crossmembers rotted out at the back. I cut two holes outside the frame then stuck a 4x4 across the frame under the bed floor and ran a ratchet straps around the whole thing. The joys of rusty crap!
Awesome, looks like you already put it to work. Snow will be here soon so make sure its ready.
Well got the truck ready for snow:
Then the secondaries started dripping fuel causing the engine to flood out. I ordered a carb rebuild kit to swap out the needle seats. I figured I'd swap both primary and secondary for good measure. But after the swap I had fuel pouring out of the air vent on the primary side. I tried adjusting it 100 times but it wouldn't respond. At this point I had fuel all over the top of the carb so while cranking the engine it back fired and the whole top of the carb caught on fire!!! I was freaking out! I had a jug of water in the garage i dumped out on top of it but the fire just laughed at that. I ran and grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out.
That was definitely a close one! Luckily it didn't burn the truck down. In fact only the air filter spacer was melted, no other wires or hoses.
I pulled the carb off to inspect it:
I think it might need a full rebuild...
Since we're expecting snow tonight i swapped on the Qjet the truck came with. It's unfortunately one of the electric qjet models but none of the electronics are in place so it runs but not smooth. I plowed all last year with it so I know it'll do the job. I've ordered a reman Holley 4160 and sending the powder cake carb as my core.
Then the secondaries started dripping fuel causing the engine to flood out. I ordered a carb rebuild kit to swap out the needle seats. I figured I'd swap both primary and secondary for good measure. But after the swap I had fuel pouring out of the air vent on the primary side. I tried adjusting it 100 times but it wouldn't respond. At this point I had fuel all over the top of the carb so while cranking the engine it back fired and the whole top of the carb caught on fire!!! I was freaking out! I had a jug of water in the garage i dumped out on top of it but the fire just laughed at that. I ran and grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out.
That was definitely a close one! Luckily it didn't burn the truck down. In fact only the air filter spacer was melted, no other wires or hoses.
I pulled the carb off to inspect it:
I think it might need a full rebuild...
Since we're expecting snow tonight i swapped on the Qjet the truck came with. It's unfortunately one of the electric qjet models but none of the electronics are in place so it runs but not smooth. I plowed all last year with it so I know it'll do the job. I've ordered a reman Holley 4160 and sending the powder cake carb as my core.
