Project '53 Truck

[Ged]

If you enjoy making the videos then never worry about “having the personality” for it. It doesn’t matter who makes the videos, you’ll find as many folk “hate” a persons videos as people who love them.

Personally I like watching your videos. I think they’re well edited and are down to earth, not flashy or trying to be “down with the yoof”, just good honest straight laced videos.

Keep at it Ged!

Cheers, the only thing I tend to get told is either that im a header or that im not wise... maybe thats enough lol.

Yep, just do what you enjoy, about things you love, and like-minded people will follow. **** the rest

As long as you enjoy making the videos then that is the only thing that matters. If you don't, then don't feel like you have to either. Whatever floats your boat.

They are a nice complement to pictures and text every now and then.

Thats a very good way of looking at it. Well im going to keep going for now anyways. Its bound to get a little easier when I work out what im actually doing lol.

But yea building things is one thing, being entertaining is quite another lol

Heres my latest effort on the 4bt anyways.



Sure let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Ged

 

[Ged]

Question for the hive mind, Who would have a dyno big enough to take the GMC and the dodge on in the north?

Ideally something suited to diesels with an eddy brake style motor and 8ft wide rollers. Id like to take them both up for a days hire and do some mapping on both of them in a somewhat safe enviroment. Also would have to be ok with the stacks on the GMC pointing straight up at thier ceiling .

Cheers,
Ged

 

[svensktoppen]

I imagine torque might be an issue too?

Worst case there has to be somewhere in England if you fancy a road trip?

Different prices for everything over there though!

 

[Ged]

I imagine torque might be an issue too?

Worst case there has to be somewhere in England if you fancy a road trip?

Different prices for everything over there though!

Probably, seem to be coming up with blanks.

Ive been using her with the 3.5T inertia braked dyno and my assesment is its got enough poke anyways.

Anyone want to play guess the TARE weight of the truck and trailer empty?

Been chipping away at small jobs fixed a few air leaks repainted some things, polished the wheels again and tidyed up some wiring that was causing a battery drain.

Next jobs are going to be a proper trailer control valve for coupled brakes to allow me to tow upto 8T a 50mm drawbar coupling and the rear winch mount and cab protection plate.

 

[Ged]

Wish I had something intresting to post here, Its just working well unfortunatly, lol been out running about the country in her, The only failure so far has been a temp switch that runs the cooling fan, I may have just stabbed a peice of wire across the relay terminals in the mean time while I wait for the new part.

Still have plans for a rear winch been chatting with Lift and shift outside of moria about supplying one. I need a 24V winch for her which are a little harder to come by.

Its great seeing the looks of people in it as they struggle to understand what it is usually followed with a smile and the phone coming out.

Also passed the VOSA/TRU guys last night on my travels I think they apreciated my efforts lol.

Cheers,
Ged

 

[svensktoppen]

Don't you just hate it when it's all done and just works

What to do with all that spare time

 

[Gibbo]

Great job Ged, havent been on here in a while so got a good look through there, truck is class.

Hope all is well with you.

 

[Apis]

Anyone want to play guess the TARE weight of the truck and trailer empty?

Uneducated guesstimate, 3700kg.
Or in American, 8157lbs.

 

[Ged]

Don't you just hate it when it's all done and just works

What to do with all that spare time

Lol im already neck deep in the shed projects, few wee niggles to sort, temp switch for the rad fan has quit so need to get another one, relay has been bypassed at the minute

Great job Ged, havent been on here in a while so got a good look through there, truck is class.

Hope all is well with you.

Well sir!!! Cheers, long time no chat, ill have to get a catch up with you at some stage!

Uneducated guesstimate, 3700kg.
Or in American, 8157lbs.

Not far away 4070kg with me in it and a 1/4 tank of derv and all the tools.

Well I was out for a trip on Sunday I went to the letstance coffee meet in lisburn truck preformed flawlessly there and back. However my gingerness didnt, In all the heat and sunshine I forgot to take any pics of the truck when it was at the show so ive stolen @R36_ picture from the other thread hope you dont mind lol

Other news ive had someone out to do a valuation and ive taken the truck to a commecial mechanic for a full inspection and 12 week check as well as a brake test.

Results are a few small things he had suggested fixing, the brakes well yea as ud expect they are immense. 65% overall efficiency at 4169kg 26.6KN of stopping force.

With some more weight they could have probably done a bit more as she was climbing out of the rollers. But its more than enough to pass any modern day brake requirements.

Glad they balanced up ok

So still looking for a winch for the bed and the rear cab guard to get that all sorted, I want more castor on the front end she still struggles to self center, I know its a truck axle and trying to get it to drive like a modern car is a big ask but I dont like compromising when it comes to drivability so I might start planning to rip the axle out and reengineer the front geometry this winter but it will be on the long finger.

Cheers,
Ged

 

[R36_]

“Car” of the show for me @Ged. I couldn’t stop looking at this thing. Serious amount of work in it and I was glad to finally see it in person after reading your thread on here. Hopefully put a face to the name/truck if I see you again!

 

[Ged]

“Car” of the show for me @Ged. I couldn’t stop looking at this thing. Serious amount of work in it and I was glad to finally see it in person after reading your thread on here. Hopefully put a face to the name/truck if I see you again!

Cheers! Was good too see everyone having a look at it, Cant wait to get it to an actual show or 2. If you see a crazy ginger wandering around next time thats me

Had a mate up last week and took a few videos from a drone, was pretty intresting, heres a few snipits from the footage, should be able to use it for an intro or something.

Must get to somewhere with some logging going on to get a few decent shots of the truck. with the lumber on the side of the door I think its only fair lol

Cheers,
Ged

 

[Craggus]

Looks absolutely class in those shots. Just love this truck!

 

[svensktoppen]

Did you ever get back to the original lumber company to show them what's become of the old truck? I think they'd love to see it.

 

[Blackie]

Those pics are EPIC!

 

[Apis]

Love the rear view with the dust cloud.

 

[Ged]

Did you ever get back to the original lumber company to show them what's become of the old truck? I think they'd love to see it.

This was the reply I got initially from them, I havent chased but ill keep serching im sure someone will have some old pics

Hi
Really don’t have any info on the truck. My family bought one of the Piedmont lumber yards in 2010 and don’t really know the history on this GMC.
will try to forward your note to someone who might.
No promises
Thanks for the restoration
John Bacon
President

Anyways its been a mental few weeks but I got out to a couple of shows with the GMC and the Ram with Davey this week.

Also did our fair share of rescuing and repairing a few machines when there.

The GMC apperently makes for a decent makeshift mobile stage too, Was nice to get back out and into the car community again. mades some new friends and caught up with some old ones as always.

After all that I spent Sat evening in the shed fixing the saxo, new fuel pump installed and well I just had to see what it looks like after 2 years of picturing it on there.

Think it fits pretty nicely on there. Going to engineer some way to tie down the rear as getting straps into the arches will be a pain so some new soloutions required.

Cheers,
Ged

 

[Ged]

Another week another update

Been working though some of the niggles on the truck im now on my 3rd fan temp switch cant seem to get a decent quality one so instead of worring all the time ive installed a override so i can just flick it on when I know im going to be sitting in traffic etc. Simple thing but it helps keep me in control of things.

Also finally got my ashtray infill off andy in an chance encounter at a petrol station needs some finishing work but alot better than staring at a big hole in the dash

Added a pair of tie downs to the rear bumper to allow rear wheel straps to be used

Got the saxo going again and decided to load her up on sunday and head for a spin, thats where I bumped into Andy lol

Very random but the new strapping system worked perfectly under heavy braking and acceleration the car didnt move at all which is really what I wanted, nothing worse than wondering if its going to move around while driving down the road. Also the first time the saxos been out on the road since 2016....

Cheers,
Ged

 

[svensktoppen]

California plates? Just for pictures?

Look great

 

[Ben]

How do you load the Saxo?

 

[svensktoppen]

Fork lift

There are extendable ramps under the deck if memory serves.

 

[Mr.Mint]

Think I met your Land Rover near Tamnamore the other evening.

 

[Ged]

How do you load the Saxo?

As Sven mentioned, Ive a pair of 3.5m ramps that hide in a storage rail under the bed.

Think I met your Land Rover near Tamnamore the other evening.

You probably did, I started a new job a few months ago and im travelling that way now!

Nothing very exciting to report fixing niggles and adding a few new bits like new front rims etc. been to pleanty of shows and won best american at Autofest.

Random video of me leaving turkingtons last week.




Few plans in mind for the autum and Ill keep you all posted.

Cheers,
Ged

 

[Ged]

Well its been a while.. life has a strange way of making you reevaluate things. So after 6 months and very little done ive finally managed to get into the shed and work on the GMC

Myself and the truck havent moved much but a friend of mine got his tipper stuck to the axles in a field the other week and I started with the landy then the Dodge but it needed more pulling, the 4T winch on the front of the gmc combined with a mini digger managed to get him out but the bumper was under alot of stress and I wasnt happy. So I reinforced the bumper and fixed it a bit.

But idle hands and a friend removing a 6T winch from a truck got me motivated to do something.

I cleaned the truck and done some tidying up replaced some rusty hardware.

The winch its about twice the size of the 4T rated at close to 6T on an EN rating so it apperently pulls hard. id imagine it will work well.

Im not a fan of the "new" modern look of the winch so ive designed an over engineered bracket to hide it and get bolts directly onto the chassis. All in 10mm plate so I hope I cant bend this...

Also done a little cab guard which ill get lasered in stainless to go around it which will be nice I think.

Ill update you all when I get the parts back and start hacking up the floor to make room.

Cheers,
Ged

 

[EF Ian]

Great to see an update. This thing is so cool.

 

[svensktoppen]

Still keeping the smaller winch at the front?