3W&1B - 74 Sierra Grande

Well guys... not sure if this is in the right area... but I'd hate not to share another build...

I scored this 74 GMC SWB for a good deal and figured I'd share the journey... I've always wanted one of these. After getting it I haven't been dissapointed. I really like the ride. The old truck isn't bad, lots of sand which has cause some body rust, just wasn't cleaned by the previous owner. Also had a dog, so a new interior will be in the works... as well as a suspension drop since its a two wheel drive and probably big wheels... why not?

So it's time to break out the welder and wrenches [

A Few Surprises..

I was surprised to see the late model engine under the hood. I'll have to run the numbers on it at sometime to see what exactly it came out of.

Also had a nice aftermarket steering wheel, that's always cool.

Scored some shiney wheels cheap, these are going to get painted/powder coated.... Silver with a high gloss finish...

I will definately drop the ride height and get her to the top of the tires... and a slightly larger tire is in order....

Off to find some dash parts, another seat, and HVAC box, the current control knob from hot/cold is broken.

Looks like a good start. Those trucks were bad at rusting out in the fender areas. I had a 74 Chevy Cheyenne Super lwb years ago, 454 with full power options. Ran like a scalded dog and would haul anything you put in the bed. Got rid of it, couldn't stand the 8 mpg, even back then with gas about $1 a gallon!

Looks like a fun project [

I hope you have better luck with the engine than i did

soltz said:

Looks like a fun project [

I hope you have better luck with the engine than i did

Click to expand...

Thanks! What happened to your powerplant?

Dropping the Dime...

Project Sandbox got a mild leap forward over the weekend...

Sandbox - for all the sand that is still coming out of the truck, I'm guessing somewhere around 70 pounds of it at this point.... It's better than mud I guess... [S

Anyway, the weekdn blitz was 3.5" Drop in the front and a 3" drop in the rear, just enough to close up the wheel gap... A slghtly larger tire is in order to complete the look.

Also made the modifications to the sliders to mount the 'new' bench seat in the cab, much improved over the one in the cab. Did a mock up of the 'new' dash pad with the interior gray color I'm thinking of rolling with. I was not too sure about these colors at first and was thining I was going to have to go with black on the dash, but I thinkg the mixtures of grey with black accents will work just fine...

The ride height is much more approriate for the truck and using spings and shackles didn't sacrafice any of the ride quality.

The 1st picturess show the insterioe clean out and mock up then the front drop then the latter show with the rear dropped as well...

Drop in Perspective...

The following 3 photos show the drop in perspective or progression....

I mirrored the last image so all the shots look similar... the truck is not right hand drive LOL [cl

Past E Fuel Gauge

Well... What I thought was a grounding issue.. has turned out to be a sending unit failure...

Pulled the tank and found that the sweeper was not in contact with the resistor... I bent it back in place put it back together and it worked, but still had some dead spots, so a new sender is in order before this tank goes back in....

On a good note, it is one of the cleanest tanks inside I've ever seen! it loks brand new, not any dirt or trash, no rust, just nice and shiney![cl

I'm going to paint the outside before I put it back in though, just to clean it up a bit.

I'm not a fan of big wheels like that, but the lowering job looks great and makes them tolerable. I agree, a taller sidewall tire would do wonders for the looks. Run what you got! Or can get! [P[cl

Did you ever figure out what the engine came out of?

I've always loved this trucks and have lowered a few of them. That was before cell phones so no pics of any of them.

Love the truck.[dr
I also love the big wheels.[dr
Have been searching for some used 24s for a while.
My daily driver is 1982 long bed with 250 6cyl auto.
Bought it in 1994 and still drive it everywhere.

christcrusader13 said:

Thanks! What happened to your powerplant?

Click to expand...

It had a slight miss when I bought it, ignition looked very old, I optimistically thought a tune is all it needs

Cracked cylinder head [ddd waiting for parts

I spent the down time polishing and waxing, turned out pretty good but I like yours more [dr The wheels and lowering look great, and yes a little more tire would be good.
I did lower mine as well, dropped axles and springs in front and flipped the rear.

I'll get some pix when I get it outdoors. This one was after lowering but before rubbing and waxing

Bamamav said:

I'm not a fan of big wheels like that, but the lowering job looks great and makes them tolerable. I agree, a taller sidewall tire would do wonders for the looks. Run what you got! Or can get! [P[cl

Click to expand...

Thanks! The lowering job makes all the difference when you run a big wheel.. unless you are lifeted and have big tires.

bruno said:

Did you ever figure out what the engine came out of?

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I have not verified where the powerplant came from yet... I still have to clean the back of the motor off so I can read the #... it amazes me that somone can let a valve cover leak and never check it, the bolts were almost finger loose, tightend it up and the problem went away... fortunately he kept the fluids up on it. Once I swapped the plugs and set the timing... this little truck will scoot!

21willys said:

I've always loved this trucks and have lowered a few of them. That was before cell phones so no pics of any of them.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I have some toys that I have some old photos of, otherwise they would be lost forever too

rex1927 said:

Love the truck.[dr
I also love the big wheels.[dr
Have been searching for some used 24s for a while.
My daily driver is 1982 long bed with 250 6cyl auto.
Bought it in 1994 and still drive it everywhere.

Click to expand...

Thanks, those 82's have a sweet front end! Keep on CL I'm sure you will come across someone trying to get a set of bigger wheels or make it to the next payday and you can score them cheap! That's how I found these and the last set I got...

soltz said:

It had a slight miss when I bought it, ignition looked very old, I optimistically thought a tune is all it needs

Cracked cylinder head [ddd waiting for parts

I spent the down time polishing and waxing, turned out pretty good but I like yours more [dr The wheels and lowering look great, and yes a little more tire would be good.
I did lower mine as well, dropped axles and springs in front and flipped the rear.

I'll get some pix when I get it outdoors. This one was after lowering but before rubbing and waxing

Click to expand...

not a cracked head! That reminds me of teh caprice I picked up that is under the 1950 Style-line... cranked right up ran great... started sputtering, looked in radiator, hmmm it was empty... filled it up... water proceeded to run out of the block from 2 huge cracks...

Thanks for the comment... your oval looks good I've not seen many of those dropped at all I must say I do like it!

Sender in...

New sending unit showed up in the mail yesterday...





also installed new lines and filler hose while I had it out...

The gauge seems to be reading okay so far....

Rolling

Got the Sand-Box up and rolling again!

NEW Steering components will hopefully be going on this weekend!

Then it's to the tin bay for some new tin...

Then off to the paint bay!

Photos didn't come out all that great, but figured I would still share

Are you really sure you want to paint it [S [dr

soltz said:

Are you really sure you want to paint it [S [dr

Click to expand...

Yeah.... it's going to get painted... not old enough to patina IMO ... not a shiney candy coated job... soemthing between the two... it will look good when it's done... I'm not spilling anyother beans about the paint yet... I really nailed the 64 I did, at least I think it looks SWEEEEET... and I think I'm on track with this one.... if it doesn't work I'll strip it and let it weather itself...

Weekend Warrior

Hooked up with a buddy of mine and went riding to check out some parts in the Sandbox....

Found out the fuel gague still isn't working properly... ran out of gas with 1/2 tank on the dial

but the weather was nice and I enjoyed the drive, scored a GREAT deal on some parts... headers, a 1407 edlbrock carb, and two PS pumps under a ben franklin... none of the parts were for the sand box, but it's always fun finding a deal... oh... yeah and it was raininy between the nice weather... Still thinking about dropping the back of the Box... the pictured are with some more weight in the rear.. I kinda dig a little less rake...

Progress....

Progress has been made on the Sand-Box....

A 'new' hood to replace the dented up one....

A 'new' fuel gague that actually works....

Got teh patch panels in from RBA.... I am happy with their product and pricing was very competitive.

And about 400 miles of road testing thus far without a hitch...