The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Completed Journals 1951 GMC 100 Project Updates...

I purchased a '51 GMC 100 a couple years ago and I'm finally getting around to working on it.

I'm getting some great help from this forum so I thought I'd start a project thread showing updates. I originally thought that I'd keep the truck for the occasional cruise around town or to the hardware store but I've managed to get my project list too large and will probably sell this truck when I'm "done". The reason I'm mentioning this is because it helps me decide how much to do to the truck... get it roadworthy so the next owner can get a better idea of what they're buying (risk) and helps me put a little more in my pocket (I hope).

Here's a few pics from when I bought it...

Renovated an old garage on my property to use for a work space and a paint area. The GMC is the first one!

Wow. That’s a clean ole truck! Enjoy

Thanks, I'm starting to get a little more time available for it lately. I'm going through the fuel system right now, replacing the hose under the tank and cleaning out the old fuel. It started on the fuel that's in the tank but it's old so I cleaned it out. Just got the hose over the weekend so I'll install it tonight. It ran long enough that I was able to engage the clutch a couple times. Looks like that's in good shape too!

Well today was productive! I went to the DMV and registered the truck and then at lunch I put fresh gas in the tank, started it up and drove it around the property. The clutch and brakes work great and the engine started running better as it warmed up. It runs rough, but I want to run it enough to know how it really runs before I start going through my "tune up" check list. More photos coming soon...

Cool truck. Love the work space!

Creating a "patina" with the paint. Always wanted to try it and the paint on the truck is pretty lousy. I'm taking the paint off with acetone and a scrub pad and I like the effect. I plan on clear coating it when I'm done to be a little different, we'll see if anyone else likes it when I go to sell the truck. LOL

More photos... I've done more work on it since I took these photos so I'll try to take some more soon...

A little more time spent on the faux-patina. I soften up the paint and scrub it off with a scratch pad then sand it lightly with 180g to take the edges off without making sanding marks. I'll wet sand it with 400g before putting on the clear and see what happens. I started painting the wheels also. I decided to use rattle can paint on the wheels so they can be touched up easier in the future. Went for the brighter red thinking that it will tone down a little bit once it gets a little use but they look pretty dang bright. With the hubcap on it's looking pretty good so I guess we'll see.

One thing I forgot to add was a photo of the bead surface on the wheel(s). I'm sure this has been discussed here in the past but thought I'd include it since it's part of my project. Some old steel wheels will be pitted on the bead surface and tube-less tires have a hard time sealing. These wheels are in pretty decent shape in that regard but I've dealt with others in the past that needed help and I've had really good success running a thin layer of JB Weld along that surface and sanding it down smooth. One car is going on 7-8 years with no issues.

I've just been working on the Faux-patina lately, it's pretty slow going but I'm starting to sand everything to prep for clear coat. Getting closer. I did manage to score a good set of used 215/85/16 tires today and picked up my valve stems! That's a big thing checked off my list. Now I have the wheels painted, valve stems and tires so I should be able to put them together this weekend. I'll wait to put them on the truck until after I'm done painting though.

EDIT: Photos added. One thing I did notice while putting the tires on was since my wheels are older style they don't have a safety bead. When I aired up the tires they just filled up with no "pop" that comes when the bead blows past the safety bead. The first one was strange until I figured out what it was doing.

Made more progress over the weekend. I made a big decision to NOT clear coat the faux-patina like I was originally planning on doing and just do a cut and polish. The biggest reason was because I'm not completely sold on the idea of clear coat and I think it might reduce the number of interested buyers, and, the truck is so solid and straight that if the next owner wants to clean up the body a bit and paint it they don't have to sand off hard clear coat to do it.

This is one pass with cutting compound. It will need two or three cuts and a couple passes with polish. Also, I sanded the paint off of the front emblem then blocked the face with 150g sand paper. I think it turned out good.

Another weekend of progress... Tubeless tires are holding air so far and I like the size of the 215/85/16's. These photos are with the front half cut a couple times and back half sanded ready to be cut. I like both ways so if the next owner likes the dull look they can just let it fade.

Used Rustoleum Enamel for the first time over the weekend. Sprayed in 50deg weather with a 50/50 Acetone mix. I like the results and it looks like it would be durable.

My experience with Rustoleum which I mostly use, is it fades if in the sun, haven't tried waxing it to bring back the shine, yet.

Ed

Makes sense, most single-stage paints I've used fade without maintenance. I'm going to use it on the running boards mostly because it would be easier to touch up as they get scuffed, versus a two-stage with a hard clear coat. Hard to say which would be better.

My 2-part urethane paint jobs have not faded (PPG Omni and, I think, DCC).
However, they are only around 15-20 years old.

Running boards done. Three coats of Rustoleum put on fairly thick. Painted it when it was pretty cold and didn't have any issues with sags or runs on the vertical surfaces. 50/50 paint and Acetone.

That looks pretty sharp!

I love your build. If you're worried about how bright the rims are, I find whitewalls or beauty/trim rings on the rims help cut down the brightness of the paint.

A little more work done. Cleaning up the engine compartment. I'm repainting the air cleaner housing, it didn't turn out like I'd hoped. Wiring is next...

Looking good e9coupe! The faux patina work looks awesome. Are you going to "rust" the bare metal spots with muriatic acid?

I did, but it didn't etch into the metal enough to stay when I took the edges off of the paint and then cut it with rubbing compound. It's been in my garage the whole time so it's not "weathering" at all right now. Instead of chasing it I'll just let the next owner decide what direction to go.

Here's a photo showing a little etching. This is when I was cleaning up the edges so you can see the "clean" areas on the metal.

Wiring almost done. Taillights added, headlight rings going on...

Nice truck and good work. U should be proud.

Done with the engine compartment. Couple more things on my list and the rest is for the next guy...

Done. I just came back from the gas station and had about five or six people walk up and check it out. Got good reviews. 😁

Ahhhh! More pictures please!

Very cool truck! It is a rewarding feeling taking them out. It's sometimes hard to stop anywhere though...😁👍🏻🕘🕘🕘🕘🕘😎

That has two meanings. Mine gets stuck in third so you have to remember to shift out of third before you stop. It's not as big a deal as I thought it would be but still reminds you that you're in a 70 year old truck. More and better photos coming this week. My son is going to take some in high def and my daughter is going to print a few posters for my shop.

Weird. My truck is doing the same thing. I haven’t dug much deeper but it is a ‘62 sm420. I aslo have to shift out of 3 before stopping. It’s a PITA. I want my wife to be able to drive it and until I get that straightened out, she can’t. I switched out the 62 top hat on the transmission so I could use the hand brake pivot from the ‘50’s top hat. I read somewhere that this frequently can cause the tranny to stick in 3rd. What transmission are you using? I suspect you likely haven’t done the exact same thing as me, so I look forward to seeing what issues you may be investigating. Thanks coupe.
Fox J

Out taking some photos.

Nice truck! Yours is in better condition than the one we picked up.
Like what you're doing with the paint.