Everbody is doing it... '49 GMC 100 Build

[Pile of parts]

Well, this has been a long time coming. I finally pulled it out of my in-law's barn and brought it down to my garage today. It's probably been there for 25 years. The bed and fenders are in the barn at my mom's house. I've had this WAY longer than I've been into Jeeps. I tore it down to this stage and it's been on the back burner ever since.
I'll try to document the build and give a little info, build ideas and back story.
For starters, it's a 1949 GMC 100 (Half ton)
I'm excited to get started!

 

[Hickey]

Well, this has been a long time coming. I finally pulled it out of my in-law's barn and brought it down to my garage today. It's probably been there for 25 years. The bed and fenders are in the barn at my mom's house. I've had this WAY longer than I've been into Jeeps. I tore it down to this stage and it's been on the back burner ever since.
I'll try to document the build and give a little info, build ideas and back story.
For starters, it's a 1949 GMC 100 (Half ton)
I'm excited to get started!

View attachment 149846

It's the fastest color. 😎

 

[Greg]

I've always loved that body style truck! When I grew up in Orem a neighbor had one sitting behind his house for years... I coveted that truck, dreamed about restoring and hot rodding it. It sat there for a good 15+ years and never moved. 😭

Can't wait to see what you do with it, Jason!

 

[Houndoc]

Excited to watch the build. Often want the '48 Chevy I drove in high school back.

 

[Pile of parts]

Excited to watch the build. Often want the '48 Chevy I drove in high school back.

I've always enjoyed hearing you mention it on here. I'll get some pictures and information on a build thread. This will be a long process but it will be fun.

 

[JeeperG]

About time, willing to trade for a boat?

 

[Pile of parts]

About time, willing to trade for a boat?

🤣 Got rid of a boat to make space for it...
I should have done a build thread on it. I gutted it down to a fiberglass shell and rebuilt everything. Way more work than it was worth but satisfying to see how it turned out.

 

[rholbrook]

Wow, nice work. That was a huge project.

 

[Houndoc]

I've always enjoyed hearing you mention it on here. I'll get some pictures and information on a build thread. This will be a long process but it will be fun.

I need to dig up a photo of it.

 

[Pile of parts]

Well, I might as well get back to this...
I'm not great at build threads but I'm making sure I take pictures as I work on this project. It will be a long process, and it's been a long time coming.

A little back story. I've had this truck way longer than I've been into Jeeps. My dad picked this truck up in the mid to late 70's.He used it as his little run around truck and had intentions to fix it up. In 1981, at the age of 39, he passed away and the truck sat in the driveway. I was 11 and not long after, I asked my mom what we were going to do with the truck. She had no idea so I said if none of my brothers wanted it, I did. Basically, from that day, it was mine. She turned many people away that stopped by to ask about the truck by saying, it's not for sale, it's my son's. Shortly after, the truck was moved to the backyard by the barn, behind the house.
These first pictures are from about 1987. I did not know much about cars but a friend and I decided to see if we could get it running after it had sat for 6 years or so. With a new battery and a little gas in the carb, it fired right up. We bled the brakes and went for a drive. Mom made me promise to not drive it around which resulted in me quickly getting a ticket for expired registration... since she worked and I had time in the afternoons after school. That was about as far as the truck went. I had to save money for college, went to school, got married, bought a house, worked on getting established, got my first jeep, said goodbye to all my time and money, moved to a different house, built my second jeep with remnants of my first, built a shop behind the house and finally brought the old truck home. I started working on it just before I got married, which got it to its disassembled stage and put in the barn at my in-law's and the barn at my mom's.

 

[Pile of parts]

First pictures of it in my shop.

 

[Pile of parts]

So, the original truck is a long bed and since my plans are to resto-mod it, I decided I like short beds better. I searched for a short bed frame and brought one home. More than likely, I have to replace the bed anyway so I might as well build it that way.

 

[Pile of parts]

Upon further inspection of the frame I purchased, I determined mine was in better shape. This lead to my delimma... I decided I would cut out the 9.25" difference in frame length and use my original frame. Unfortunately, due to the "A" shape of the frame it is a little more difficult that a frame with straight rails. Normally, I would have done a "Z" splice but it was not possible with my frame. There was a 9.25" straight section under the back of the cab. I measured, measured and measured some more and made my cut. I had to cut straight and will fishplate the back side and box the frame. I'll probably add some cross bracing before it's all done.

 

[Pile of parts]

This bring me to where I am now, prepping the frame for the new suspension, which will consist of a Mustang II IFS and 4 bar rear. This will be on coilovers. It was an internal debate of coilovers or air bags but I decided on coilovers for simplicity.

 

[Pile of parts]

Yesterday's progress. Fit, welded and ground the boxing plates for the front crossmember.


Tacked in the crossmember and Tacked the spring towers on. This will all stay Tacked until I set the cab back on with the fenders. Although it's a kit specifically designed for this truck, I want to make sure I'm happy with the location before it's permanent. This front kit is based on a Mustang II. It will ride on adjustable coilovers and 2" drop spindles. It will have a power rack and pinion and 11" rotors. The company I went with is out of @Greg neighborhood - Full Tilt Street Rods in Grand Junction. The quality seems very nice and the owner is great to deal with. I met with him a few times on various trips to Grand Junction and he is always available by phone to answer any questions.

 

[Pile of parts]

It's been a while and not much progress. I did have a load of parts show up from Speedway and had @I Lean cut a few pieces for me.

Fish plates for inside the frame rails where I did the splice.

 

[Pile of parts]

I also had him cut this piece.
Which turned into this piece.

 

[Pile of parts]

The original rear cab mounts on these old trucks were a shackle type mount while The front cab mount was similar to what I made for the rear. The old frames were open "c" channel and had a lot if flex. The shackle type mount let the cab move with the frame. With the added power and modern suspension that will be on the truck now, I'll be boxing and enforcing the frame. So, there shouldn't be much flex. The new rear cab mount will have a urethane bushing, similar to a jeep body mount.

Here's a picture of the old style.

 

[Pile of parts]

The issue I'm facing now is whether I should weld nuts inside the frame (for running board mounts, suspension mounts, etc.) or do speed holes in the boxing plates that will give me access to bolt things on later???

 

[bryson]

You'll want holes in the frame regardless to let water drain and dirt/mud out, so maybe just place those strategically so you can access a nut/bolt.