Started in on my 78'

[AP Guy]

Well after owning my 78' since I was about 16 and I'm now 30 I decided now is as good as time as ever to start in on doing things I've been wanting to do to this truck for many years...starting with the interior. Plan for now is since the poor thing has been sitting on and off ever since I graduated HS, I want to make it a driver again until I get further along and have a more concrete game plan as to how I want to move forward with the truck.

This is as far apart that I've had this truck since I've owned it other than refreshing the 350 a bit when I first got it. Plan as of now, that seems to change on the daily, is a cleanup of the floorpan, add soundproofer, insulation and new carpet. Later to move up to gauges and bezel, dash, door panels & headliner. Eventually I want to change the color but not entirely sure on the final color as of yet. Probably black or charcoal grey but we'll see what I decide to do down the road. Floorpan is in decent shape, only a few surface rust areas with 2 spots that are a bit deeper than I'd like to see but I think it's saveable.

Going to be a slow process but stay tuned! I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions along the way.

Here's some teaser pics:

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Mice had their hayday under the carpet...

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[SDJunkMan]

welcome from South Dakota!

Looks pretty solid, shouldn't be too hard to clean up. That's a really clean dash pad, not all split like most of them.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Yeah, I was about to comment on the dash pad. If that's the original one, I'd get it out of the sun pronto. It's a very nice truck, and people are jealous of you when you have such a good starting point. I know I am.

 

[78C10BigTen]

Your 78 is alot nicer under the carpet then my 78! Yours dont have holes lol im liking yours!

 

[AP Guy]

Thanks all. Somebody at some point re did this truck before I bought it. I grabbed it from a small local dealer up here but I believe it was originally an Arkansas truck. There's some cab corner rust on the drivers side and a couple spots in the bed but overall it cleans up nice. Frame is in great shape. Still with undercoating in spots. To my knowledge that's an original dash pad but it could have been replaced years ago.

So first question...i think I'm going to go with ACC molded carpet with mass backing. Do I still need to install a foil type insulation down to reject exhaust heat or does the mass backing take care of all that?

 

[Charlie]

If we all had interiors that looked like that when disassembled, we would spend less work, time, money for a faster refresh. Then have some beer to celebrate!!!...lol

 

[AP Guy]

This is definitely a budget "build" if you can call it that. My problem is I have a hard time with "where do I draw the line" scenarios...lol.

 

[SDJunkMan]

This is definitely a budget "build" if you can call it that. My problem is I have a hard time with "where do I draw the line" scenarios...lol.

I think most of us have that problem.

 

[bluex]

That interior looked really nice already to me. New carpet and a new seat cover maybe an you'll be set!

 

[AP Guy]

That interior looked really nice already to me. New carpet and a new seat cover maybe an you'll be set!

Thanks. Yeah that's the plan for now until I gather enough parts to freshen up the bezel. Whoever had it before me threw in a cheapo radio so that's got to go too. There's only a Wal-Mart speaker box shoved behind the seat so that's going too. I'll need to plan out where to put my new speakers but thinking about in the kick panels and install a new one back in the dash.

I think most of us have that problem.

It's easy to do. I need to tell myself to pump the brakes otherwise my entire truck could be in pieces and my frame out to the powdercoaters already haha. Which is what I want to do eventually. Just gotta go in stages when time & money allows it.

 

[AP Guy]

Alright so quick update & questions

As off right now I'm hoping to get the floor prepped this week and be able to get down a coat of some sort of rust inhibitor (leaning towards chassis saver) After that I'll put in a sound deadener followed by new carpet. Then a new seat cover.

After all that it's radio & speaker time. Where does everyone place there speakers at? I'm not looking for a sound system, just something better than a speaker box that was muffled by projecting right into the back of my seat.

Do most run speakers in the kick panels? Just in the dash? I saw a rear corner kit on lmc truck too that looked kind of appealing.

Radios: who makes a nice digital radio that still looks like it's close to oem? Do they make any that allow an iPod or phone to be plugged in? Usb or Bluetooth? Electronics are not my strong suit so I'll be leaning on you pro's for advice...

 

[SDJunkMan]

RetroSound makes radios for older vehicles, I don't have any experience with them, but the seem popular. I plan to add a aux input to my factory am/fm radio. Doesn't look too hard, details here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=447435

Here is a source for cab corner speaker brackets.
http://www.73-87.com/Parts/7387SpeakerBrackets/73-87 Cab Corner Speaker Brackets.htm

 

[Obwonkonobe]

I did something similar to my square, which was in similar condition. I wire wheeled the floor until the surface rust was all gone, wiped it all clean with rubbing alcohol, and used POR 15 to paint it with a brush, 2 coats made it solid. Then I used spray adhesive and cut out bonded logic material (its made from jeans but trust me it keeps super cool and quiet). That material went all over the floor, up the firewall, and with whatever scraps I had went in the doors. Then i used reflective tape for the seams. ITS SO QUIET. Then I bought a molded carpet from I want to say clasic industries but don't quote me. And just held that down with the trim and seat. Its super quiet and nice. I will say that the carpet did have its own additional matting, but it was just theI'd base model, nothing special

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[rt66paul]

Painting the truck to same base color and adding a second color is a great idea. That way your areas that are hard to paint without complete tear down don't stick out. Color patterns(like stock or even a side stripe) or white on a solid color really make to truck pop and it doesn't end up looking like an obvious repaint.

 

[AP Guy]

RetroSound makes radios for older vehicles, I don't have any experience with them, but the seem popular. I plan to add a aux input to my factory am/fm radio. Doesn't look too hard, details here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=447435

Here is a source for cab corner speaker brackets.
http://www.73-87.com/Parts/7387SpeakerBrackets/73-87 Cab Corner Speaker Brackets.htm

Wow those brackets look pretty slick! Might go with those

I did something similar to my square, which was in similar condition. I wire wheeled the floor until the surface rust was all gone, wiped it all clean with rubbing alcohol, and used POR 15 to paint it with a brush, 2 coats made it solid. Then I used spray adhesive and cut out bonded logic material (its made from jeans but trust me it keeps super cool and quiet). That material went all over the floor, up the firewall, and with whatever scraps I had went in the doors. Then i used reflective tape for the seams. ITS SO QUIET. Then I bought a molded carpet from I want to say clasic industries but don't quote me. And just held that down with the trim and seat. Its super quiet and nice. I will say that the carpet did have its own additional matting, but it was just theI'd base model, nothing special

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Awesome info! Thank you! About exactly what I have planned for the floor