Murrays 54 GMC Teardown – JVG Websites

In the Shop !!! Let the adventure begin !!

Day 1 – 5 hrs.

Great day in the shop today. Surprisingly a lot done in the time I spent at it. Started off with removing the Glass (Especially the corner cab windows). The weatherstrips were hard as a rock so the decision was cut them as they will need to be replaced. Typical for a 71 year old vehicle. After the Glass was done, out came the bench seat and floor mats. A little vacuuming up and then started to tear the doors apart. I was amazed at the way most of the screws and bolts came out. Only one is giving me issues but so far that is the only one. After the glass was out of both doors, I took the doors completely off. Lots of room to get inside now !!!

Now I decided to remove the hood. After a little investigation, it came off relatively easy. Had to use my brain to figure out how to hold the front of the hood up while I removed the bolts for the latch. I found a couple of Zip Poles that worked like a charm. They held the front of the hood up and I removed the bolts from the hinges and the back dropped. I was then able to remove the zip poles and slide the hood off. Success !!! Drained the antifreeze which surprisingly looked brand new. After it was drained, I removed the bolts and pulled the Rad.

As I preceded along, everything was itemized and bags tagged with the bolts and screws for everything I did. I looked at the headlights and quickly removed them as well. Now that I had all of these parts laying around, I knew I needed to get them out of the area I was working in. All the parts went out to my back shed. I had a few shelves there and started placing items in groups to keep them organized. Doors and Hood was placed carefully. Let’s see what I can get into next.

During disassembly, I found the Original color of the truck when it left the factory. See Last picture. This was behind the hood latch. Very nice color. Looks like Jungle Green from two sources.

: This is the Original Color of the Truck

Day 2 – 3 hrs.

Short day as I had some errands to run. I removed the tires to gain access in the wheel well areas and got a lot of the bulky sheet metal off. Now I am running into a lot of rusty bolts. For the age of the vehicle it is not uncommon to be breaking bolts or having to cut things apart. Discovered a big Wasp nest under the left fender. Good thing it was not active. Before leaving today, I applied penetrating fluid on a lot of bolts. Hopefully tomorrow will go as well as today.

Day 3 – 3 hrs.

Another short day. Got the Fenders off. Thank God I sprayed all the bolts with penetrating fluid. Just had to fight a little bit. Next the Bumper came off easily. My next tasked which actually turned out to be more difficult then I thought. Steering Column. You think should be easy. However the steering shaft is solid from the steering box to the Steering wheel. A lot of Googling and Videos BUT all are for the standard column. NOTHING for an Automatic Column. It has the extra rod with shifter arm that will not fit through the Firewall opening. After a lot of debate, I took the Pitman arm off the steering box and removed all the bolts for the steering box. This allowed me to look if there was something I could take apart to separate the box from the column. I finally took the 4 bolts for the upper steering box. This allowed me to pull the box and shaft out of the column. As a last resort as I know this column would not be used again, I cut the column just above the steering box. Put the upper part back on the steering box. Pulled the column out and placed it over shaft. If need be, it can be welded back together. After this I removed the heater housing. Put everything in stored and called it a day.

Day 4 – 4 hrs.

Productive day !! Well it looks like that at least. Started removing everything from the Dash. Headlight Switch, Push Start Button, Ignition Switch. Looked at the gauges and there is a tube for the Oil pressure as well as one for Coolant Temperature. I carefully removed the gauge and lines to preserve them just in case someone needs them. Removed the defrost vents, Dome light and finally the Wiper system. This left the inside of the cab bare.

Now the last few items under the cab. Emergency Rod and Cab Mounts. Luck I sprayed everything with penetrating fluid while I was doing the inside of the cab. All went well. Moved a few things around, attached Block and Tackle to the Roof and Strapped up the cab. Pulled on the chain of the Block and Tackle and away the cab went. Up, Up and Away !!

Did an inspection of the exposed frame and so far it looks really good. Tackled loosening all the Motor and Transmission mounts. These went easy as they were coated in oil. Removed the bolts holding the swivel for the torque tube to the rear differential. Just a Note: This truck has a 4 Speed Hydromatic Transmission. Looked on line and this was an upgrade for the truck model and it was the first automatic transmission in a truck. Applied lots of penetrating fluid to all the bolts for the running boards so hopefully this will be easier for when I go to remove them. Stored the extra parts in the back shed. The motor and Transmission are chained up and ready to be removed. Just need to figure out where they are going.

Day 5 – 1.5 hrs.

Decided to list some of the good items for sale on Market Place. Looks like I found someone to take the Engine and Transmission. Also Radiator went to another home as did the Gauges. The guy taking the motor and trans dropped by and I had it pulled out of the frame when he got there. Wheeled it out and loaded it into his truck. Quick and easy day. I was at the back of the truck and leaned on the box and with out the engine, it started to lift. Threw a tire on the front to counter balance it !!

Day 6 – 5 Hrs. (Exchange for items sold from truck)

Had a little drive to Water Valley to pick up all of the TCI Suspension parts. Met with Ron at his place and loaded everything up. All brand new and very nice !!

Day 6 – 4 hrs.

Got to the shop and brought all the suspension parts and checked them over. Very nice parts and all brand new.

After that I looked at what I had to do to get the running boards and Box off. All of these bolts were rusted. I worked on the right running board first and found the center support was bent. I decided to remove that bracket from the frame. I got it off with a little struggle but got it off. Left side was more difficult so I left it on until I got the box off.

To remove the box which is held on by 6 Bolts, I decide to cut the heads off which turned out to be way easier as the Carriage bolts had nothing to grab onto. Ground the heads off the bolts and just like that the box was free. Added some straps across the box and attached it to my engine hoist. Jacked it up and found out I missed two support bars at the back of the fender. Took them off and away the box went !!! UP, UP and AWAY !!!. Set the box down slightly and installed the wheels and skates to move the frame out of the way of I could find a spot to put the box. Ended up standing the box on the tailgate to get to all the bolts for the wooden bed. I was able to capture a few time lapse videos. Actually that is the speed I work at !!! LOL !!! NOTE: Full screen the video to see the whole picture.

Day 7 – 2.5 hrs.

Quick day as I had to just remove the left running board and drop the cab back onto the frame. Left running board bolts under the running board stripped and could not be removed. Solution was to remove the supports from the frame. I then grabbed the frame and aligned it under the cab. Lowered the cab and installed the two front cab bolts to hold it to the frame so it can be taken for Blasting.

I thought I would take a look at the TCI Suspension kit and trying to figure out what goes where and lined up a few things. I had a few concerns, so pictures were taken and sent to Tech support at TCI.

Day 8 – 3 hrs.

Still waiting to confirm a few items with TCI but thought I could start cleaning up the frame. Removing items not needed anymore like Shock Mounts, Cross-member and brake lines. Typically to remove items like shock mounts are pain as they are riveted on at the factory. This means cutting the heads off if accessible or drilling then off. All part of the fun. However one of the shock mounts was welded on (Not Factory) two sides. Required some additional Grinding but I got it. One of the pictures shows the tools required to remove the rivets. While looking for parts (Engine, Trans and Rear end, etc.) I found a replacement panel for the damaged panel on the right side of the cab.