04/19/2021
This is my Brother-in-law’s 1971 GMC 2500 Custom Camper. It has been in his family for four generations! When he received it, it was getting 7 miles per gallon, leaked fluids from every thing that held fluid, had the original shocks and had no rear brakes. It was not fun to drive because it needed a fuel system overhaul as well. Over the years, we talked about his goals for the truck and came up with a plan. He shipped it here from Montana last Summer and we started stacking parts.
The shocks were replaced, brakes rebuilt and worn out bushings were replaced. We took out the leaky 350 engine and trans and swapped in a 5.3 set back 3” with a small cam and an overdrive trans with a small stall converter and a few other mild modifications. A new driveshaft was made for the longer transmission with a new carrier bearing. We installed stainless headers and dual exhaust. The engine and trans are controlled with a Holley Terminator XMAX stand alone engine management. It has modern GMC aluminum wheels. The entire interior was stripped, dynamatted and a new floor laid down.
Finally, a multistage paint correction was performed inside and out and a professional grade 3-5 year ceramic coating was applied to both.
He will be flying out soon to drive it back to Montana. The horsepower and miles per gallon will be roughly double what he had while having the reliability of electronic fuel injection. The truck is 240lbs lighter than we he dropped it off and has a much better front rear weight bias. It was an absolute pleasure to bring this truck into the modern age and my family will love watching him and his family enjoy it for generations to come!
