Chevy & GMC Vans

I think I my have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. It's a 1958 GMC bread truck. I've always had a soft spot for the old Divco trucks and Good Humor/Milk Trucks and Delivery vans and found this one in one of my customer's fields. After some talking, I found out that it used to be a Diesel that someone slapped a 350 into and we actually got it to start while I was there. It eve has headers! He had it registered and was driving it about 3 years ago but now his wife is on him to get rid of it. I told him I would get it out before the snow flies and I hope to swap everything from my 1993 V8 Astro into this thing. It's actually really solid for the most part and it's all there. :-) I'm going to go "rat rod" with it. Install my TBI 350 and 4L60e and see what happens. :-)
I'll post more when I get it to the house and start cleaning it up. :-)

I love it!

This will be a good reason for me to invite myself over to see it...Maybe I can help with the drivetrain swap, I'm getting half way good at it. The harness won't be bad if the van is getting scrapped.

Is it an auto or stick now?

The brakes will be a hassle, but that's prolly the worst of it.

What size are the wheels, and lug pattern? I've seen 20", 19.5", 17", 16.5" and 16" with 8 lug and a big 6 lug, (not like a 1/2 ton 4x4, much larger) and even a big 5 with 10 on the back.

Cool!

That would make a great dirtbike or quad hauling van. you could set up a small work bench and a fold down bed for camping.

Doesn't it need a 4x4 conversion?!

rlsllc wrote:I love it!

This will be a good reason for me to invite myself over to see it...Maybe I can help with the drivetrain swap, I'm getting half way good at it. The harness won't be bad if the van is getting scrapped.

Is it an auto or stick now?

The brakes will be a hassle, but that's prolly the worst of it.

What size are the wheels, and lug pattern? I've seen 20", 19.5", 17", 16.5" and 16" with 8 lug and a big 6 lug, (not like a 1/2 ton 4x4, much larger) and even a big 5 with 10 on the back.

Cool!

I'll aboslutly let you know when I get it here!! I hope to have it towed to my brother in laws in Utica since he has a decent garage I can use during the winter. The previous owner worked at UPS and stole a set of rims and tires from one of their old trucks. So they're just 8 lug somethings.... lol I'd love going with airbags and a set of chrome rims and leaving it at that but I probably won't. I want to focus on getting it running good first.
It's hilarious that you mentioned the brakes. I was up thinking about that last night. I'm pretty sure they're just manual drum brakes!
It's a 3 speed stick and there's no fuse box or anything. So swapping EVERYTHING from the stro is the plan. If I could swap the whole dash and make it look decent, I probably would. lol I even thought about welding the stro subframe under it and installing the stro rear. But it probably wouldn't be wide enough or heavy enough.

I'll keep you updated!

An AWD Astro sub frame and a ratio matching heavier rear would be a great idea...prolly would be at least close to wide enough. Since it has a clutch pedal, I'd consider using a stick of some kind, 4 or 5 speed, it would be great behind the 355. It would't be bad to do, compared to building a space shuttle.

I bet the manual drums is right, and yes,

You could do the subframe you have and keep the rear that is under it for now, and get some 8 lug adapters for the front, that would be unique, or just run two different wheels. I think you're on to something....

I wouldn't worry on the dash, all you need is a cable speed sensor adapter on the trans and you can run the original speedo, then just regular gauges and a tach, keep it simple!

oh Man! reminds me of my teenage years! Friend of mine's family had an old panel van bread delivery truck they used for camping. We shoved a 16 foot canoe into it, closed the back doors and headed to the lake for a weekend of camping. Can't wait for the follow up posts on this one...

Logan, you got about 1 1/2 million miles between all the vehicles in your sig; how the hell do you have time for any projects at all after all that driving?

rlsllc wrote:
I bet the manual drums is right, and yes,

You could do the subframe you have and keep the rear that is under it for now, and get some 8 lug adapters for the front, that would be unique, or just run two different wheels. I think you're on to something....

I wouldn't worry on the dash, all you need is a cable speed sensor adapter on the trans and you can run the original speedo, then just regular gauges and a tach, keep it simple!

I'm pretty cheap. I hope to sell off some "projects" to finance this a bit yet at the same time, use everything I can from my Astro.

I'll have to take a closer look at the brake set up, but I'm pretty sure there's NO WHERE to put a stock Astro booster/master cylinder if I would swap the subframes. Which means I'd probably have to go with one of those power steering assist/under the floor cylinders...... How about I just get it to my house and actually take a closer look first? lol

I owned a bread truck that I bought in the late 1970's with a 327 V8 that was cammed as a circle track engine.It's a pretty easy swap to take out the straight 6 and swap in a V8 because they have a shared same bolt pattern on the bellhousing.We used it to move sound and light band equipment.The thing is that it was geared with city rear end gears(4.56's or more) and to drive it at 55 mph had the 327 buzzed up pretty high.I ended up pulling the the heads off to redo the valves before I sold it off.I had to put in new valves,guides,and new valve springs to avoid coil bind because I didn't know it,but I was over reving it.Yeah,it was some of that"kids these days effect".No tach!!. ](*,) #-o It did run like a raped ape.

I don't remember what van used it, but there is a van with a 90 degree adapter that turns the booster sideways. That may help.

I agree on assessing it further, lol.