1968 GMC pickup, have some questions

silentjuggalo · March 29, 2006

Hi, I just bought a 1968 GMC pickup today with an inline 6 and a '3 on a tree'. There are some things that I want for it but I don't know if they exist for it, or where to look. First off, I'd like to find some disc brakes, right now its 4 wheel drum, and though its not really that hard to bring the truck to a stop, disc brakes are always nice. Another thing is some kind of kit to make the blinkers blink on their own, either I'm doing something wrong or its such an old truck that I have to manually move the lever up and down. Something else is the fuel guage doesn't work some information on how to fix that would be great. I've only had this truck for about 8 hours now, so I'm sure as I get more use out of it I'll find more things I want to do to it. Thanks for any help in advance, I'm new to all this old truck stuff.

bowtiex2 · March 31, 2006

Hi, I just bought a 1968 GMC pickup today with an inline 6 and a '3 on a tree'. There are some things that I want for it but I don't know if they exist for it, or where to look. First off, I'd like to find some disc brakes, right now its 4 wheel drum, and though its not really that hard to bring the truck to a stop, disc brakes are always nice. Another thing is some kind of kit to make the blinkers blink on their own, either I'm doing something wrong or its such an old truck that I have to manually move the lever up and down. Something else is the fuel guage doesn't work some information on how to fix that would be great. I've only had this truck for about 8 hours now, so I'm sure as I get more use out of it I'll find more things I want to do to it. Thanks for any help in advance, I'm new to all this old truck stuff.

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Welcome to the wonderful world of restoring Old Chevy's!! I'm deep into a 69 myself!www.chevyduty.com has pages upon pages of parts!! I believe they have Drum to Disc conversions. No you shoouldn't have to move the turn-signal lever up & down to get them to work...sounds like the switch inside the column is no longer making connection. Fuel Gauge could be electrical, i.e. the gauge itself, or the float mechanism inside the tank is broke... As with anything...it's a process of elimination!! Best of luck!!

Shawn T · April 3, 2006

Hi, I just bought a 1968 GMC pickup today with an inline 6 and a '3 on a tree'. There are some things that I want for it but I don't know if they exist for it, or where to look. First off, I'd like to find some disc brakes, right now its 4 wheel drum, and though its not really that hard to bring the truck to a stop, disc brakes are always nice. Another thing is some kind of kit to make the blinkers blink on their own, either I'm doing something wrong or its such an old truck that I have to manually move the lever up and down. Something else is the fuel guage doesn't work some information on how to fix that would be great. I've only had this truck for about 8 hours now, so I'm sure as I get more use out of it I'll find more things I want to do to it. Thanks for any help in advance, I'm new to all this old truck stuff.

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I used to own a 72 Chev SB 1/2 ton 4 X 4. Brother owns it now. I still cringe everytime I see it, because he won't sell it back. Blinkers would do the same thing from time to time. This is the conclusion that I came up with. The blinker relay module is tied to the light socket and does not have a common ground. It must have to complete its own circuit to open and close the relay inside the module itself. Every now and then the socket would fill with corrosion and debree. The bulb would ground itself out to the frame. When I hit the blinker switch it would stay on continuously. I would have to clean the bulb and socket and make sure the contacts were exactly making contact with the socket contacts. It was always real touchy, even fiddling with the bulb would correct it sometimes. Also the blinker module itself may be bad. It is located on the fuse panel under the steering column. This truck was all stock and sometimes electrical problems were still harder to diagnose than they should have been. As far as brake conversions go. Front discs were an option in 71 4wd's and standard in 72. I am not sure about 2wd's though. If yours is 4wd I am sure there are quite a few junk yards with extra parts. LMC truck sells hundreds of aftermarket parts for 67-72 Chev-GMC.

silentjuggalo · April 4, 2006

Thanks for the info I'll check all that out, the blinkers really make me nervous because I don't want to get pulled over or in an accident because I can't use my turn signal. I'll look at the sites that were recommended. Here is a picture of my rig if anyone is interested.

The front bumper is laying in the truck bed I need to bolt it on still, heh.

MemphisDoug · May 5, 2006

Do you have front turn signals in the truck? Looking at the pictures, I don't see them. Without front bulbs, there probably isn't enough electrical current going through your turn signal flasher to make it cycle. That is why you are having to do it manually.

Razormann · May 6, 2006

I would check your front blinkers, make sure thay are there and the sockets and wires are in good shape. If that's the case you will probably want to change the flasher located in your fuse block, I had a 68 that did that to me once and it was just the flasher, it's like a $2 fix.

As far as brakes go it depends on how involved you want to get, There are plenty of kits available but you'll notice they come with a pretty big price tag. If you just was discs in the front I understand the the front disc brakes from a 73 chevy should pretty much bolt up. I haven't done it myself but I hear that it should work. So with some elbow grease and a good deal from a junkyard or someone getting rid of one cheap you can have disc brakes for a lot lower price and cheaper replacement parts when you need to service your brakes.

Now i would double check the compatibilty before you go and buy a front clip, but from what I hear it can be done with little to no modification.

duanew1 · May 19, 2006

Did I see your truck on E-Bay? ha ha

snoman · May 28, 2006

Hi, I just bought a 1968 GMC pickup today with an inline 6 and a '3 on a tree'. There are some things that I want for it but I don't know if they exist for it, or where to look. First off, I'd like to find some disc brakes, right now its 4 wheel drum, and though its not really that hard to bring the truck to a stop, disc brakes are always nice. Another thing is some kind of kit to make the blinkers blink on their own, either I'm doing something wrong or its such an old truck that I have to manually move the lever up and down. Something else is the fuel guage doesn't work some information on how to fix that would be great. I've only had this truck for about 8 hours now, so I'm sure as I get more use out of it I'll find more things I want to do to it. Thanks for any help in advance, I'm new to all this old truck stuff.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I used to own a 72 Chev SB 1/2 ton 4 X 4. Brother owns it now. I still cringe everytime I see it, because he won't sell it back. Blinkers would do the same thing from time to time. This is the conclusion that I came up with. The blinker relay module is tied to the light socket and does not have a common ground. It must have to complete its own circuit to open and close the relay inside the module itself. Every now and then the socket would fill with corrosion and debree. The bulb would ground itself out to the frame. When I hit the blinker switch it would stay on continuously. I would have to clean the bulb and socket and make sure the contacts were exactly making contact with the socket contacts. It was always real touchy, even fiddling with the bulb would correct it sometimes. Also the blinker module itself may be bad. It is located on the fuse panel under the steering column. This truck was all stock and sometimes electrical problems were still harder to diagnose than they should have been. As far as brake conversions go. Front discs were an option in 71 4wd's and standard in 72. I am not sure about 2wd's though. If yours is 4wd I am sure there are quite a few junk yards with extra parts. LMC truck sells hundreds of aftermarket parts for 67-72 Chev-GMC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

About 20 years ago I had a 71 C1500 2wd with disc brakes so they had them then. would not be hard to adapt disc brakes for a 78 or earlier truck as they all had same front axle on 4x4 models. You will need a new master cylinder and brake booster compatable with disc brakes and if you do not have power brakes now, upgrading to a power brake system will help it a lot. I had a 1970 4x4 1500 burb about 30 years ago with drum brakes with power assit and they were not that bad with stock tires and had a light pedal too. They were a little weak though on hard stops above 65 or so.