Viva La GMC!

Keep it clean, children may be present.

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tristessa
Trusted Air-Cooled Maniac
Location: Uwish Uknew, Oregon
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by tristessa » Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:08 pm

Well I don't know about Adam, but after today I'm pretty beat. Doghouse is cut out, couple of rust repair panels salvaged, odds & ends, and the whole front axle & with springs...

Still to come off: rear doors, rear axles.
Remember, only YOU can prevent narcissism!

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Xelmon
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Location: LA or Portland, OR
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:26 pm

Indeed, today has been a very productive day!

With burritos in our stomachs, Tris and I headed out to the place where the Chevy resides, to do our pre-programmed Chop day.
Of course, the first load of scrap metal was also taken with, which includes the horrid gas tank that came with the GMC.

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First up for the days program was cutting out the lower front lip of whitey. That particular area on the GMC has some large sized holes, some of them as big as 2 quarters. So may as well cut it up and save if for another day.

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Next up was extracting the fuel filler neck area, as the GMC has some serious / falling apart rust on the fuel neck filler area. At the moment it works, however, eventually it will have to be replaced.

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Tris at work, as we attacked the dog house.
The dog house is actually somewhat structural, as it has mount for the seat belts. It is actually tacked in about every 6 inches, and thus it is difficult to remove from the van.
There have been a good number of vans in the bargain (sub-$2000) category that have exactly that missing, and that is usually a deal breaker, as there are no replacements.

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And we dropped the axles, low rider style. So low that even southern brothers would go "Daaaammnnn"...

*Khmm* So yeah, after we cut out the filler neck, dog house, removed a bunch of other stuff - including the wiring harness - it was time to get the big thing. Front springs and axle.

It was surprisingly easy, especially given that I borrowed dad's impact wrench. Man that loosened bolts like butter.

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And, of course, the side shot at the end of the day. I still feel sad for whitey. T_T

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On another note, Friday's project was cleaning the foot plate of its incredible layers of rust. It goes around the steering column and the brake pedal, and it was extremely rusty, even deeply pitted!

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Some of the deep pitting is still visible.

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Ahhh, much better, although it's still obvious that the rust went deep.

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Xelmon
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Sat Sep 14, 2013 10:41 pm

And at last, I have finally gotten all the pieces - and time put aside - to accomplish a very much needed item on the list...
The Front Springs...

I reused the springs from the '68, as redoing them is $100 per corner, or new ones are $200 per corner... When I have a job, I'll have a full set made. Until then, it's the hard-way.

I managed to get about 1-1.5" lift back, to about 20 1/2" compared to the stock 22 1/4", and the previous 19" or so. All of these are the top edge of the bumper, as shown in the original spec sheet.

New bushings were a must, and with a bit of thought I also grabbed new shackles too. After all, the actual Chevy's driver side shackle was broken on one side, and bent on the other.
I also took the springs apart, cleaned + painted all parts including the new center and U-bolts that I grabbed... More on the U-bolts later.
Also got some new films that go between the leaves.
All in all the hardware came out to be ~$160 complete.

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The old bushing were really difficult to pull out, had to pry them on 3 sides to finally let go of the rust on the surfaces.

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The bolts were no better... All bolts had caked on rust and burnt rubber. The impact wrench dad picked up made quick work of the rusty bolts.

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The U-bolts on the other hand... They were stuck enough that even after a bit of PB, using a 2 foot breaker bar and my cheater bar, I bent the cheater bar. Yep, fused together... So with a bit of grinder acrobatics I cut the U-bolts, they were toast anyways.

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And there! After some 6 hours of work by this time, I finally got everything cut up and prepped to back together.

It took considerably longer as the shackle side bolts were unreachable with the impact wrench. Even if they were, I still had to take out some of the plastic tins to be able to pull said bolts out. Took an extra 2 or so hours because of that.

Tris also rolled by around 7 expecting nothing to happen, then I just heard him laugh as he rolled by. He came back and we shot the breeze. I torqued down all the bolts after it was back on the ground, the guys at Oregon Spring Co. were pretty adamant about that little detail.

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The night fell quickly, and I didn't have to completely button everything up. At least all the suspension bolts were all torqued down.




Also, OOGA-BOOGA!!

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Mike Boell
Old School!
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Mike Boell » Sun Sep 15, 2013 6:59 am

Must you scare us all?
Put some clothes on.
Mike Boell
1975 FI Westy
Oregon City

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN THEY'RE PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS.

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Xelmon
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Sun Sep 15, 2013 12:50 pm

Yes, it's a must since I was finally filthy enough again!

Also, minor update on how it's all looking buttoned up. Stark contrast between the redone and fiendishly rusty parts.

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Xelmon
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:09 pm

After many e-mails exchanged, I am happy to say that one of the clumsiest pieces to keep around from the Chevy has moved on to a better place.

Aka, the payment arrived for the dog house that we cut out, and it is on it's way to New Orleans!

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Managed to make $190 off of it. =)

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Xelmon
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:20 am

Whelp, today was the day that Mike and I finally took care of Whitey.

Yesterday was spent with toiling away and removing the rear axle. To my surprise it came off with relative ease, although there were some tight corners, it wasn't nearly as bad as the front off of the GMC.
Come to think of it, even the fronts on Whitey were extremely easy compared to the GMC.

I only had my cellphone on me in the heat of the moment. At least they work.

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Today... Well, it was a sad day.

The planets have seemed to have lined up as Mike was home and I had time to finally take care of it. The title on the other hand disappeared. After manic searching, I found that my dad had apparently stashed it away.

We got in just a short bit before the scale shut down for the day... And, well, pictures are worth a thousand words.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBp625PD0zg[/youtube]

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:crybaby:

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Amskeptic
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:58 am

Xelmon wrote:Whelp, today was the day that Mike and I finally took care of Whitey.
No way could I visit the car coroner with any of my cars.
So you finally "took care o' whitey", HAH?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Location: Portland, Ore.
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by hambone » Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:01 pm

You probably wouldn't drive off a cliff either.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Xelmon
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Location: LA or Portland, OR
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Sat Oct 26, 2013 12:03 am

Aye aye, I wish I could have put it better than "taking care of it"...

On a slightly brighter note, I was futzing around with my camera and discovered that I had some gems from working on the GMC in early June! Let's roll that bean footage!


First off we have axle inspection, 1st picture is the passenger side. If I recall correctly it had either the 13 or 15 roller bearings, which unlike the 19 roller bearings caused minimal wear on the axle. It should be noted that the really gnarly looking axle that I had was caused by a 19 roller over way too many years of abuse.

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Next up was the first shot of the transmission installed. Sooo pretty...

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Ah, the center link bar, that let's you adjust toe on the front... If you were the Hulk or Ben. I had to do a lot of grunting to actually turn it, and even then it was a war.

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The lady's new shoes, back in early June. It's about high time to rotate them.

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In progress to completion.

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When I tried to put everything together, one of the terminals got miiighty loose. After taking everything apart, it turned out that the terminals inside screw was loose. It also turned out that those alternators are infinitely easy to service, everything is riiiight there.

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Xelmon
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Location: LA or Portland, OR
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:57 am

Whelp, I haven't touched this project in over a year...

Barely over a year... Man, how time flies.
In the few visits to Oregon - where the van still resides - I've fixed only a few things. Namely my torque converter locks up and I replaced the window seals.

However from far away, I have been plotting... Finding... Acquiring...

One of the less recent acquisitions was me finally going ahead and getting new spring for all 4 corners.
With 2 shackles and all the U-bolts it came up to ~1250.
Yeah...
There's the reason why I didn't do it way back when!

Either way, I've had them made to the G20 specs, so it's got the most capacity that the van was originally meant for. This is also in preparation for the 6-lug setup...

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... Which I will have somewhat shortly.
One of the fellow on Vintage Vans spotted an ad saying ' 1967-70 Chevy/GMC Van (6 lug) "Front & Rear Axels" '

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I replied "Mine" right then and there, even if there was no picture that was far too precise to be a "random axle".
First it took a bit to break the ice. The guy who posted the ad was very reluctant to do business with me, me having an Oregon number and living in Cali. Then he finally sent a picture, and in the reply I included a nice picture of Whitey and the GMC. That definitely broke the ice.

Turns out that the fellow and his dad in law who has these axles pulled them from a G20, the version that is upgraded in capacity and increased length. He's doing an all-out 4x4 conversion with a massive 'Merican V8, gnarly tires that would eat Beetles for breakfast, and a 4 on the floor...

He's already "palleted" them up, and sooner than later, they shall be mine.

More as it comes!

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Amskeptic
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Nov 20, 2014 8:41 pm

Xelmon wrote:Whelp, I haven't touched this project in over a year...

Barely over a year... Man, how time flies.

More as it comes!
No kidding! And what a year it has been . . .

That G-20 is lucky to have you as an owner.

My bus? My bus is not so sure any more . . .
Colin
(it's a Volkswagen)

Image
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Xelmon
Sedna of VW lovers
Location: LA or Portland, OR
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Wed Dec 03, 2014 7:35 am

I've seen your work, she's lucky as well. I honestly cannot think of a lot of people who willingly redo the headliner in their cars.

In other news, freight order has been arranged, getting picked up tomorrow. Supposedly it's going to take 5 days for it to get here... We'll see if that holds true.

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Xelmon
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Location: LA or Portland, OR
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Xelmon » Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:10 am

And another update!

The Van has now been relocated to Smell-A!
* Readies his wallet *

You are one lucky punk! =D

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Amskeptic
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Re: Viva La GMC!

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Dec 18, 2014 10:02 am

Xelmon wrote:And another update!

The Van has now been relocated to Smell-A!
* Readies his wallet *

You are one lucky punk! =D
Los Angeles air demands that you wash it frequently.
Lot's of acid etching when you have a series of smoggy days followed by a dewy morning.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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