INTO THE BLUE
Michael's 1968 GMC C2500 Resto-Mod
Blue was a born and bread Utah truck. 100% and original and untouched. Factory 396ci Big Block Chev with TH400 trans.
With blue still being a daily driver, the standard signs of wear an tear were there aswell as your typical rust spots you would expect from the salted snowy roads. We gutted the cab, all rockers, cab corners, foot wells and cab mounting structure suffered the damage so we fitted a full brand new floor and all the necessary parts to ensure the complete bottom of the truck is rust free and structurally back to where it was in 1968. The bed itself had also showed signs of rust so being a steel bed, we hand made all patches necessary to bring it all back to where it needed to be.
Body work was fairly straight forward with blue as it was a very clean and fairly straight body. It had a great patina but the truck was too good not to paint so we stripped back the factory paint and got busy with a bare-metal respray with our very own twist on the factory color. New body trim was ordered along with all new rubbers throughout.
While the bed was off the chassis we took the time to chuck in one of our prototype C-notches to give the diff some more clearance once lowered. With the 2500 being an 8 Lug rear end through a Dana 60 diff, we swapped the diff out for a 6 lug 12 Bolt GM diff with a brand new Trutrac LSD center, new 3.73:1 gear set and bearings to make sure this thing drove perfect.
The front end was completely refurbished and upgraded with new ball joints, drop spindles, disk brake upgrade and all new tie rod ends with billet adjusters. Aftermarket lowered springs were sourced and the factory steering box was also replaced with a brand new one from CPP.
Engine wise, the 396 was in very good condition but we wanted to go one step further so we removed the engine, gave it a top end rebuild as well as installing a CompCams Muther-Thumpa camshaft and valve train to suit. To compliment the cam we then replaced the factory Rochester carb with a Brawler 750dp, added some after market headers and included a 3krpm stall converter.
Our version of a “Resto-mod” where we are able to maintain the era correct fundamentals with some subtle aftermarket goodies to make sure the truck appeals to all generations and fanbases. The goal was to make sure your grandfather could appreciate it aswell as the younger generation admiring it!
