Build thread for the 72 GMC, finally. Thanks John!

$265 so far. Wow, I'm impressed.

Thank you to all of you!

I just sent a bit as well. Tuna's got a lot of project ahead of him! Thank you for giving us such a great story about a great machine.

Wow. I don't know what to say. Sounds like 11 people, in 24 hours, pitched in to buy me $500 leaf springs, just because I was going to have to save for them and delay the build for a bit. Nowhere on the internet is there another place like this. Thank you, seriously, all of you.

It made the day turn around. I woke up a little mad at the truck, although I was taking solace that I now knew what was causing my weirdo suspension issues, and knowing that I may have saved a pretty bad crash had they failed while driving. You guys brightened it up considerably, and it just got better from there.

I had to pick up Tunakids #1&#2 from school early so Tunawife could get to a doctors appointment, which meant I left work early on a super busy day and attempted to go to the grocery store where both Tunakids grabbed a kiddo cart and grabbed some items for themselves (apples and a pineapple) while I grabbed some stuff for a new-Mom at Church that I'm bringing a meal to tomorrow.

I got home on time, and let the two big kids go outside to play by themselves. My work consisted of a ton of phone calls. I was on the phone with a guy who assured me he was OK with kids in the background. Turns out he has seven at home now, and had a total of 12, over 23 years. WOW. He wins.

While on the phone with this guy, Tunakid #1 was flying a kite in the front yard with Tunakid #2 in tow. The string breaks. The kite goes flying across the road. Tunakids sprint towards the street and stop, dead in their tracks, one of them bawling, as cars drive past. I was so proud of them for stopping that I went across the street to go get it while still on my call.

They then made me prouder by actually cleaning up after themselves in the yard. It was great.

I got home from Church at around 8:15, and the kids were finally in bed at 9:00. It was about this time I noticed that my Blazer straps were sitting on the porch. I hope to get them in tomorrow. .
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Just kidding. You guys know better.

Here are the straps. Notice that they are way too long, but have the super-handy flat-riveted-on-threaded sections.

Remember that via Tunawife, I am trying to make this thing look like GM could have made it this way. Modifying only in tasteful and period ways. I decided to modify the existing crossmember to have tabs like so:

At this point, I drilled the front crossmember (which was, if you remember, a crossmember a few feet away prior to me starting the gas tank installation) for the front mounts. Then I cut the straps in half, slid the two pieces over one another, clamped them together and bolted it up for fitment thusly.

Simple, right? Then I cut off the excess, butt welded the seam, and re-installed the new straps.

Perfect.

I couldn't very well not make a good update for you guys tonight, now could I? I hope this one works. It's cool that the tank is ready. All I need now is to chassis saver it all and install some rubber on the inside of the frame and straps and we're good to go. Tomorrow I'll play with the sender and fill tube a bit more.

Thanks again, folks.

tuna55 wrote: Wow. I don't know what to say. Sounds like 11 people, in 24 hours, pitched in to buy me $500 leaf springs, just because I was going to have to save for them and delay the build for a bit. Nowhere on the internet is there another place like this. Thank you, seriously, all of you. It made the day turn around.

12 people so far. Anyone else want to kick in for Tunasprings? ;-)

volvoclearinghouse wrote:

tuna55 wrote: Wow. I don't know what to say. Sounds like 11 people, in 24 hours, pitched in to buy me $500 leaf springs, just because I was going to have to save for them and delay the build for a bit. Nowhere on the internet is there another place like this. Thank you, seriously, all of you. It made the day turn around.

12 people so far. Anyone else want to kick in for Tunasprings? ;-)

Tunasprings? Is that the town in the upcoming Cars knockoff "Boats"

nice progress on the tank, looks like it belongs there

JThw8 wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: 12 people so far. Anyone else want to kick in for Tunasprings? ;-)

Tunasprings? Is that the town in the upcoming Cars knockoff "Boats"

Groan That joke is almost bad enough to be one of Mater's lines.

solfly wrote: nice progress on the tank, looks like it belongs there

Agreed, it's as though Tuna were an engineer of some sort for GM back in the 1970's..

solfly wrote: http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f213/no-more-wheel-hop-home-made-caltracs-434698/

in case this got lost in the commotion

solfly wrote:

solfly wrote: http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f213/no-more-wheel-hop-home-made-caltracs-434698/

in case this got lost in the commotion

Nope, I saw it and read it. I have tossed the idea around before internally, but I am hoping to not need them. I can always go back if needbe. My initial hope was that splaying the dampers, stiffening them, mounting them more upright, along with new spring bushings would curb the wheelhop issues. Now that I've seen the spring pack with basically only the main leaf doing anything, I get the distinct feeling that those cracks were the main cause of the wheelhop.

Let me recap, just to be clear. The wheelhop was bad. Really really bad. The engine is stock, so no big power. The tires are normal tires, no drag radials or anything. At anything above half throttle from a dead stop with anything close to a clutch drop, the axle would wheelhop so badly that the truck literally would not travel forwards. The back end would shake so hard that the carrier bearing bracket would bend and I'd have to stop and bend it back. It eventually ruined the bearing. I had never experienced anything like it, and just drove around it thinking the bushings, dampers and whatnot were causing it.

Again, though, if I slap everything back together and still see wheelhop (especially with a touch more power that I plan on adding), the next step is definitely a set of home-made Cal-trac bars.

volvoclearinghouse wrote:

solfly wrote: nice progress on the tank, looks like it belongs there

Agreed, it's as though Tuna were an engineer of some sort for GM back in the 1970's..

Thanks guys!

Not to toot my own horn, but I am trying for that exact look. The word "restomod" is one I try hard to avoid because it's now meaningless, but the essence of this build is something nice and new, with subtle modifications where needed/desired. Sure, I could have grabbed the angle iron and made a cage for a fuel cell and thrown it under there for around the same cost, but it would not look right. Likewise, the stance isn't too low, the axle is still mounted to the leaf pack the same way (not flipped), the body modifications are subtle.

Essentially this: If you never saw a 1972 GMC before, and I showed you this truck, would you believe that it could be stock? I am aiming for 'yes'. A little lower, a little better handling, a little cleaner (no trim, shaved drip rail, no external gas cap), a little safer (three point belts, no gas tank in the cab).

Plus, I am not Chip Foose and I know it, so limiting myself is probably helpful for skill limitations as well.

In reply to tuna55:

BTW, Chip Foose had to start some where, he's blessed with some great opportunities and an excellent teacher, but mostly he just practiced and practiced to get where his visions are being produced.

Pretty damned classy guys. Thanks for helping. We sure do have a great community!

Tim Suddard wrote: Pretty damned classy guys. Thanks for helping. We sure do have a great community!

Tim- I just read your column last night in the April issue. I think you summed up the situation quite well. I think Brian's in that situation and a lot of us find ourselves in there with him. We may not be torn between a half-dozen car shows in one weekend but we're all ambitious people and there's so much to see and do in this hobby that 10 people couldn't do it all in 20 lifetimes each.

15 people, many of whom have never met each other, have donated a total (so far) of $300 towards something important. Not just a set of leaf springs, but a story. A story we all follow and feel like a part of, because, well, we are.

Tim Suddard wrote: Pretty damned classy guys. Thanks for helping. We sure do have a great community!

You're not kidding. You guys have created a great forum for this stuff, and the mass-action here to avoid stalling progress on the Tunatruck is evidence that this isn't your average internet. Folks in my daily routine are amazed that all of these guys would pitch in actual money to help build a truck most of them have only seen in pictures.

Thanks, all.

Now if anyone would like to come to my house and do tensioners and guides on a 4.6 ford I'll even buy the parts and beer ;)

Dough sent.

Tuna you've been a great source of motivation again by encouraging me to abandon my E30 for greener pastures. Whilst starting my gas tank work over the weekend it occurred to me that my rusty bag of poo wasn't the right starting point. Thanks man.

Thanks again guys.

I tried to play with the sender tonight, but it's not good. I had hoped that the Jeep tank would more or less accept the GM sender, but it does not. The GM sender has a flange that is a bit too big to fit in the hole, along with a bit of the plumbing attached to the bottom. I now am at a crossroads. The Jeep tank was chosen for external dimensions, but I know the Jeep sending unit is incompatible with the GM resistance ranges. GM wants 0-90 whereas the Ma Mopar wants something like 80-9, yes, the direction is opposite, and the CJ. Happily, the YJ has 0-90, but unhappily, the YJ also has an in tank fuel pump that I don't want or need.

I have a few choices here. Buy the Jeep unit and use my (nonexistent) electrical engineering knowledge to re-engineer the CJ sender to send me 0-90. Decide that the stock CJ unit is A-ok and buy a new fuel gauge that deals with the wackiest ma-mopar could come up with (well, maybe other than the left handed lugs) and have it be weird, or come up with some way to modify the tank to accept the GM sender (not a fan) or visa versa.

What say ye?

Sounds like it's time for an arduino.

For reference, here is the Blazer sender

And here is the CJ sender

Retrofit the blazer sender on to the jeep pickup tube?

JThw8 wrote: Retrofit the blazer sender on to the jeep pickup tube?

Sorry, I forgot about that option. Yes. I will have to check, but if the pickup tube is of similar diameter between the two, then the Blazer sender, which appears to be clamped somehow onto the tube, could conceivably clamp onto the Jeep tube instead. Then I could cut off the old Jeep float and rod and use the Blazer setup. I'd ignore or cut off the Jeep sender pickup and run the GM wire through the lid of the Jeep sender. An expensive option (I would have to cut up two new senders), but it just may be the ticket.

While the technically-minded among you try to figure out other potential solutions to the fuel sender issue, perhaps the more silly folks can come up with an excellent souvenir to send the folks who pitched in on the springs. Do you guys want pieces of the busted up spring? Hunks of old Bondo and rust? I don't have any spare locks of hair, but I could spare a few inches of MIG wire.