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Conundrum · 10-23-2010, 08:16 PM

Figured I would start a build thread, and maybe just maybe it would help to motivate me to get out to the garage and get busy more often. Kind of bad timing I know with winter coming soon but it's worth a shot anyway.

So i'm starting with a 74 GMC long bed that had a bump setup on the bed when I got it

My dad and I removed it

And it sat for awhile and I started to gather some more parts. I picked up a short bed from a guy in texas, and some steel 20" dodge spare wheels (that I was going to have changed to from the dodge 5X5.5" bolt pattern to the GM 5X5") but I traded those to a friend of mine for a set of the same wheels that had been powder coated a medium metallic gray, redrilled rotors for the front and adapters for the rear.

I was originally going for an old school kind of look but slightly modern, was even going to run the GMC hubcaps when I found 2 more. I was going to drop it real low or bag it, but my ideas have changed "slightly" but i'll get to that. I had a 350/700R4 out of an 86 suburban that I had picked up for parts off another friend. I actually traded that engine and trans to a guy for the pontiac engine and trans that I am now going to use. I picked up some drop spindles for a good price a few months back, but no real work had gotten done til about a month ago when I started cutting up a stock front crossmember for 1.5" of drop.

I am working on it during my breaks and lunches at work so my progress isn't quite as fast as I would like, but I have access to all the tools needed there.

My change of plans actually came from the ideas I had put together for my 74 Chevy project, which due to this truck those have also changed a little but that's another story.

I am wanting to build a truck that I think may have been, had people been into trucks in the same way back in the early 70s (which was a few years before I was born) that some of us are now. I want to do what I think GM or a dealership/tuner may have done, much like the Silverado SS or a Joe Gibbs chevy truck, Dodge Ram SRT10, Ford Lightning or what everelse may come to mind. I know that dodge had the little red express in the late 70s, but that was a dodge. My thing is what if GMC and Pontiac had teamed up and built a truck, or a couple guys at a dealership had the crazy idea to team a Pontiac engine with a GMC pickup. I came to this in part because my first car was a 78 Firebird with the 400/350 combo, and I loved that car even with it's rust holes and few small missing parts. I have regretted selling it since the day I sold it.

I figure that either scenario that may have possibly built this truck, they would have borrowed quite a few parts from the Pontiac bin. Being my first car was a Firebird, I will be borrowing mostly from Firebird/Trans Ams.

This will be a very slow moving thread, but I hope to stick with it.

Conundrum · 10-28-2010, 06:45 PM

Got the crossmember welded up and have started cleaning it up to be powder coated black. I don't neccessarily think that this would have been a mod that would have been done in the early/mid 70s, I think the truck would have stayed at stock level but i'm throwing in a little bit of my own style at it much like people do to there rides.

This will make the front 1.5" lower.

I don't plan to build this on 70s tech, there will be some new tricks to it but i'm planning for most of them to be tastefully hidden. Some may jump out like a slap in the face, like the much lower ride height.

Conundrum · 11-06-2010, 08:35 PM

Got my crossmember powder coated yesterday, thought I would share.

3 Chiefs · 11-07-2010, 06:41 PM

This is something I have thought about doing myself. I'm not sure which years they had them, but you could get a Pontiac engine in a GMC truck. I think it woud be cool to draw up a few different versions of a Pontiac split grill in place of the GMC grill. Maybe someone can Photoshop a few pictures. I actually wanted to remove all the GMC badging and replace it with the Pontiac name. Wouldn't a big white PONTIAC decal across the tailgate look cool? I'll be watching this thread.

Paul

Ollie · 11-07-2010, 08:33 PM

The Pontiac engine was installed in GMC trucks from 1955 to 1959

Conundrum · 11-07-2010, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3 Chiefs

This is something I have thought about doing myself. I'm not sure which years they had them, but you could get a Pontiac engine in a GMC truck. I think it woud be cool to draw up a few different versions of a Pontiac split grill in place of the GMC grill. Maybe someone can Photoshop a few pictures. I actually wanted to remove all the GMC badging and replace it with the Pontiac name. Wouldn't a big white PONTIAC decal across the tailgate look cool? I'll be watching this thread.

Paul

I had thought about doing something like that for the grille also, I found a couple grilles on ebay for I think a 73 bird that were going cheap and had thought about picking them up to get the look right. Now that it's starting to get cooler here in KS I may get around to sketching my vision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ollie

The Pontiac engine was installed in GMC trucks from 1955 to 1959

I was thinking it was the 50s

CINNAMON111 · 12-14-2011, 05:12 PM

ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO I DROPPED A 400 PONTIAC INTO MY FULL SIZED '73 CHEV, CREW CAB. BUT, OF COURSE, I DID MINE DIFFERENT THAN IS SHOWN IN THIS SERIES OF PIX. NO, I'M NOT SAYING MY ROUGHT WAS BETER - JUST DIFFERENT.
I STARTED WITH THE 400-PONTIAC ENGINE AND T-400 TRANSMISSION BOLTED TOGETHER AND BOLTED SOLID AT THE EXISTING TRANSMISSION CROSS MEMBER. THE COMPLETE ASSEMBLY WAS STILL HANGING (AT THE FRONT) FROM THE CHERRY PICKER. I WAS THEN ABLE TO ADJUST THE ENGINE SLIGHTLY IF NEED BE. I THEN DRILLED A 3/8 THICK PIECE OF PLATE STEEL TO MATCH THE 3 CHEVY-FRAME BOLT HOLES, BOLTED THE PLATE TO THE FRAME. I LOWERED THE ENGINE AND MARKED / DRILLED THE RUBBER PONTIAC ENGINE MOUNT HOLES. SINCH THE PONTIAC ENGINE MOUNTS / HOLES WERE LOCATED AFT OF THE CHEV FRAME CROSS MEMBER, EVERY THING CLEARED INCLUDING THE GTO HEADERS.

Conundrum · 12-14-2011, 06:46 PM

That's cool. I originally started looking for a Pontiac engine for a crew cab dually I had but decided to put it in this truck instead.

Here are some more pics.....

And the bumper I got for $10.....

Why it was so cheap.....

That's one of 3 places of about the same size rust on it but I have some plans for it, so it won't matter in the end.

CINNAMON111 · 12-14-2011, 06:53 PM

YEA, THE RUST AIN'T PURDDY. BUT, KEEP AFTER THE TRANSPLANT. IT WILL WORK.
R.J. ALDRIDGE

Conundrum · 12-14-2011, 11:33 PM

For sure man

My biggest problem with the transplant right now is deciding on what trans to go with, originally I was going to use a 2004R i've had for a while but I would really like to do a manual (6spd!!!).

6 Grrrs · 12-15-2011, 08:24 PM

I like that truck alot. The stance is perfect. A little paint and cleanup and it'll be sweet.

Donovan · 12-15-2011, 10:28 PM

Great ideas. I love the way it is shaping up

Conundrum · 12-17-2011, 12:24 AM

Thanks guys.

Not sure if i'll have any more updates after this weekend til spring, going to try and do a little to the bumper tomorrow and sunday. Then I may just do some more planning and parts collecting for the next 2-3 months.

I think for paint, I want to go with a color real close to brewster green but maybe a bit more metallic.

Conundrum · 01-29-2012, 06:21 PM

I modified some motor stands so I could move the engine back towards the firewall......

I moved it rearward 1.5"

Still have enough room to remove the drivers valve cover if needed, and I have enough room to get 2 fingers inbetween the distributor and the firewall......

And I have removed my coil springs so I can clean them and paint or powdercoat them......

Also test fit the drivers header, didn't have enough room to get the passenger side in with the oil filter installed......

It's pretty tight right now, I may modify my firewall a little to be able to push the engine back another 1-1.5". Only problem with that is I am planning on running a hydroboost setup, and if I move the engine back that much more the front of the engine will be close to even with the front of the master cylinder.

That's all I got for now.

Conundrum · 08-09-2013, 11:19 PM

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since I had been on here.

Well since I have been on here last, there really hasn't been much progress other than I sold the crossmember that was on it and then the one after that. I decided to channel my crossmember the 1.5" and then box the frame and weld the crossmember in place, so once it's done it'll somewhat resemble an f-body subframe when you look under the hood. That will allow me to mount the motor mounts to the crossmember and keep the engine low in the chassis.

I have also sold the dodge ram spares, except for one that I am currently modifying into a mock up wheel to test for proper backspacing for the wheels I want especially in the rear since space is a little more tight back there.

I'll have to see if i've got any pics that I haven't posted up on here just yet.

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