91 RCLB Z71

[Zseventy-one]

Hey fellow GMT folks. I'm a newbie to the forum but wanted to show off our old GMC. She's a 91 reg cab long bed my father purchased new in 91. About 10 years ago the motor let go with around 300k miles on it. (Sorry Dad...) We dropped another used 350 and she's still running to this day!

She's seen better days, but it's time to start slowly restoring it. Here are some photos.

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[frito-bandito]

Welcome!! Looks like a fun project. Can’t wait to watch what you do with it!

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Welcome to the forum! Good to keep these old trucks in the family and keep them going. Like the license plate!

 

[Zseventy-one]

Thanks!

Last weekend I managed to get it running. (Squirrel chewed up the starter wires) Drove it around for a couple hours and it ran ok. Noticed an odd clunking noise at idle which can't be good but seems to be coming from one of the pullies. Interior smells like mold, seat felt damp so need to source where the water or moisture is coming in and address that. Body needs some love, but was surprised the frame looked as good as it did. Has some surface rust but nothing a good POR-15 coating could handle.

Ordered new tailgate hinges last night, not really exciting but desperately need to stop the whole tailgate from popping out!

Pulled the free VIN decoder which I thought was pretty cool:
http://www.free-vin-decoder.com/vin/1GTDK14K2ME520254

Already memorized the LMC Truck parts catalogue! Caught my wife trying to throw it away! Not safe in the bathroom anymore, have to find a better hiding spot haha!

 

[Zseventy-one]

Welcome to the forum! Good to keep these old trucks in the family and keep them going. Like the license plate!

Thank you! Ironically that plate number was randomly assigned to us. Crazy it says Z71 haha...Just wish that it said 350 instead of 301 but no biggie!

 

[BonestockK1500]

RCLB 2-tone 4-dig, my weakness

 

[DerekTheGreat]

...Interior smells like mold, seat felt damp so need to source where the water or moisture is coming in and address that. Body needs some love, but was surprised the frame looked as good as it did. Has some surface rust but nothing a good POR-15 coating could handle...

The seal between the firewall and cab needs to be redone. Every night after it rained I'd always see that my rubber floors were damp. Just used to think it was condensation until I went to install rear defrost in my truck. I pulled up the floor to run the wires and was treated to rusty floor pan surprise. All the of the insulation between the floor pan and rubber floor was water logged. The pans themselves are still solid so it looks like I caught it in time.

I had conflicting thoughts of how to reseal it but I ended up using lots of brake clean to get the seam clean and then some exterior caulk from Home Depot, whatever was labeled as the most UV stable and all that. You can only get so far on the passenger side so I created a bit of a dam to ensure water goes over to the driver's side. So far, so dry. While you're there, clear out the drains on each side of the cowl too. My driver's side was clogged with leaves and crap. Two 7mm bolts hold them on and they're kind of a pain to get to. Passenger side is behind the coolant overflow tank.

 

[Cheap Heap]

Thank you! Ironically that plate number was randomly assigned to us. Crazy it says Z71 haha...Just wish that it said 350 instead of 301 but no biggie!

301 is an MD area code though!

 

[Zseventy-one]

Thanks Derek!
Awesome advise about the firewall seal. Did you trash the carpet after pulling it up or was it salvageable?
The weather stripping on both doors looks bad too.
God i hope the floor pan is ok, floor was wet too.
Wasn't ready to gut the interior yet but looks like the sooner the better!

 

[Zseventy-one]

301 is an MD area code though!

Right you are!