"GMC" "pickup" weekend beater rust-bucket

sc0tt

Member
Sep 10, 2015
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Gmc grill on basically a suzuki sidekick. SUV converted to pickup. So the title is somewhat correct.

Anyways i bought this little beast pretty cheap knowing that it needs work. 4x4 1.6L 4 cyl 5 speed. Should make a decent bush beater camping rig.

Want to put it on 31s with a small lift, bumpers front and rear, possibly weld the rear diff and then fix up whatever other little things it needs
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First thing I did was yank out the steel box from the "bed". Going to find a factory tailgate to throw on there.

Brake lights didn't work at all and no lights on the right taillight worked. Finally figured out a few wires got chewed by mice in behind the plywood bedside.

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Decided the rear portion of the frame should be dealt with asap since the gas tank crossmember was pretty much being held in by rust.

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sc0tt

Member
Sep 10, 2015
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Chopped a bunch of metal out and cleaned up what was left. Boxed around the body mount and stuck a new tube in for the fuel tank mounts to hang off of.
Keep in mind this is being done with a 110v Flux core welder and in a snowy driveway so don't expect any Barrett Jackson quality here

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Outsides of the frame rails will get a fishplate when I have more daylight, and I'd like to reinforce a bit better inside the frame rails if I ever drop the gas tank

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dszx13

Well-Known Member
May 28, 2014
5,500
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minden, la
Friend picked on up as well. Has a 3.0 v6 to swap in. Put a lift on and 34" terms. Dfw one to play around in


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sc0tt

Member
Sep 10, 2015
97
9
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BC
Friend picked on up as well. Has a 3.0 v6 to swap in. Put a lift on and 34" terms. Dfw one to play around in


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Toyota 3L? And that'll be interesting to see how it holds up with 34s lol
 

sc0tt

Member
Sep 10, 2015
97
9
8
BC
Couple updates on the rusty turd

Bought a tailgate and a set of 31 dick-cepek ATs although I now realize I don't have any photos of the tires on it.

Patched up the floors quick and greasy with some aluminum and rivets.

This is how bad it was
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPI2BawjhDS/

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Also stuck a new front gas tank crossmember in just as hacked as the rear crossmember

Then made up some 1/4" plates to rebuild the outside of the frame in the rear. Just tacking everything in place with my bird shit welder and I'll do the final welding with a proper 240v machine.
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Also after knocking all the loose shit off this is how non-existent the frame was back here
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And tonight I got a good start on building a bumper. Only using a angle grinder, bench grinder and cordless drill so it's pretty time consuming
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Ends of the angled tubes will be cut square to the body and plated together. Also planning a tie back to the frame for the sides.

Mightve gone overkill with this size shackle
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sc0tt

Member
Sep 10, 2015
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Got the bumper and frame mounts done and fully zapped up.
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Threw a healthy coating of stone shield on the frame plates and some grey rattle can on the bumper
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Also I patched up some rust on the body under the tailgate
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marc

WhiteSilvy
May 16, 2013
5,303
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canada
you see that round bar that was almost falling out from the rust.

i tried pulling my buddy out on my old sidekick/tracker with that and the whole gas tank was on the road lol.

my old one


paid $350 for mine as it sat.

want another one bad.
 
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sc0tt

Member
Sep 10, 2015
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They're blast to drive and awesome on fuel lol super easy to work on too.

I paid about 3x what you did then. Hard to find them cheap now

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sc0tt

Member
Sep 10, 2015
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BC
Well been a while since I've updated anything here... Tracker got some parts thrown at it

Solid axle and rear suspension to match height, 33s, front bumper, a real hardtop and got rid of the plywood shit. Countless hours of rust repair and much more that I'm forgetting. I built everything on the truck myself and have lots of pictures if there's any interest
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