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With the engine off at the machine shop I have started working on some projects to get the body ready for final paint and clear. I had prepped it and painted the single stage yellow on there last year and am mostly happy with it but I’ve found that I think it needs further protection with some clear coat. There are a few spots that I wasn’t happy with how my body work turned out so I’ll tackle those this winter and throw a couple of coats of color and then clear in the spring.
First project on the list is the running boards. I’m moving the panel that lines up with the bed to match my wider 70’s bed and working on some damage that still doesn’t look right.
I drilled out the spot welds and prepped the running board for welding. Lined up and tacked in. Final result. Lines up much better with bed and fender now. I have a gap that I’ll use black rubber like the cab skirt to clean up. The outer edge of the running board had a 24” section that was damaged and I had tried to repair it with a hammer and filler. Turned out bad. Between these two old boards I had one straight 24” section and the rest was trash. Old part cut out and new one ready to be fitted. Tacked it in slowly to avoid any warping and made good use of my straight edge for panel alignment. Mostly welded and ground down. Finished with the metal work and will use a little rust inhibitor before filler and primer.
Time flies, I didn’t realize it’d been so long since my last post.
truck is running good and is almost done. I’m just prepping for final coats of color and a few coats of clear.
Updates in pics below including my next project that arrived last week.
Running boards finished with 3 coats color and 3 coats clear. This is how the rest of the truck will look when done. Sanding in prep to spray in the next week or two. New chrome bumpers and I also picked up a chrome grille. 302 is in and running well. My friend caught the old truck bug while helping me with mine and picked up this really clean 65 GMC. And here is my next project. Will have to track it on another forum!
The ‘57 has a solid frame but a lot of body rust. It’s out of the south so fortunately it’s not a salt car. So I’m going to take care of all of the metal work and refresh the suspension and add disc brakes. It’s getting a cranberry red body with a grey top and some salt flat wheels. Interior will probably be black reupholstery of the original seats. I’ve got a TPI corvette motor for it with 700r4 overdrive trans. Just trying to make a fun driver, not a big horsepower machine. Air conditioning will be added too.
What tranny and rear gear are you running on the truck and what kinda gas mileage are you getting? I'm running the same engine set up as you, but with a C6 and 3.00 gear out back, debating on making the switch to an overdrive tranny with 3.50 or 3.73 gear. Truck is looking sweet! Can't wait to follow progress on the 57!
What tranny and rear gear are you running on the truck and what kinda gas mileage are you getting? I'm running the same engine set up as you, but with a C6 and 3.00 gear out back, debating on making the switch to an overdrive tranny with 3.50 or 3.73 gear. Truck is looking sweet! Can't wait to follow progress on the 57!
I haven’t driven it enough yet to know the mileage. The last one I had was 302 with a c4 and 2.73 gears (I think). It did about 18mpg.
this one has an AOD with a ford 8.8 with stock 3.27 gears. I would have done 3.5’s or 3.7’s if I was replacing them.
Others can chime in but I believe the c6 eats more power and gets worse mileage than a c4. Could be wrong on that but it’s what I remember when I was doing my research to plan the build.
Others can chime in but I believe the c6 eats more power and gets worse mileage than a c4. Could be wrong on that but it’s what I remember when I was doing my research to plan the build.
The C6 is one of the most power hungry auto trans made. A chart published many years ago in Hot Rod magazine which listed all of the major auto trannies and their power loss, showed the C6 was one of the worst. It reported a 60hp power loss through it. The C4 only lost 24. A 302 doesn't have 60 horses to give away and there's no reason to ever use a C6 behind a 302, imho.
Well, I’m just about to wrap up this thread. Truck is running great and I just finished the final paint work. I’ll take some pics all around in the sun in a couple weeks after I finish wet sand and polish.
Here are a few paint pics:
70 degrees, no wind, and no pollen. I shoved it out into the driveway and gave it three coats. Got really lucky with limited dust and bugs. Finally have color matched tailgate. Had to throw on the new grille and bumper to see how it will look. Fender after wet sand with 1000, 1500, 3000 grit Shiny single stage after cut and buff. I’m hoping I can get the rest of it to come out like this. I’ll be satisfied with it as a driver quality paint job.
08-11-2021, 05:53 PM
