'70 GMC

Elephantine–Minus the Wrinkles

By Wendy Frazier

photographer: Wendy Frazier

If you have an older truck, start looking for clean sheetmetal right now. Mike says that was one of the harder parts to get for a 30-year old truck. It’s easy to find aftermarket products like the American Racing 16.5x16 wheels and Super Swamper 44x18.50x16.5 tires. He has also upgraded to all-around disc brakes and braided stainless Teflon lines with Earl fittings to halt the massive meats in their tracks.

The PPG Aqua/Silver pickup boasts a Superlift 8-inch suspension lift plus a custom 304 stainless steel 4-inch body lift. Bumps, whoops, and jumps are sucked up by four corners of Trail Master shocks. And what more do you need to get you there? Fuel. Lots of it. Mike’s truck has a custom 38-gallon gas tank.

The cut and rotated front Dana 44 and rear Corporate 14-bolt both house 4.11 gears and limited slips. You can barely see the trick Supertrapp 2 1/2-inch stainless rear exiting exhaust. You can adjust the Supertrapp exhaust flow for sound and power.

Under the hood is a ’74 GM 454 with TRW connecting rods, Federal Mogul rings and pistons, a Crane 284H camshaft, and Harland Sharp roller rocker set, all fired by an H.E.I ignition. Attached to the engine you’ll find an Edelbrock intake and a Holley 850-cfm carb. The V-8 is bolted to a ’74 GM Turbo 350, which shifts with help from a B&M kit and cools with help from a custom 8-quart tranny cooler that is mounted between the grille and radiator. We won’t forget about the most important piece of old iron—the NP205 transfer case.

Mike’s not only gotten himself into some sticky situations on the highway, but he’s also traveled to 4x4 events across the Midwest, including those in Indianapolis, Kalamazoo, Lima, and Michigan. He’s learned a couple of things through extensive time in the driver’s/ wrencher’s seat. First, there are no shortcuts in building the right rig for you, and second, you have to do the job right.

First off, let’s get this straight: the elephant reference relates to the truck’s size not the jungle animal’s skin, sloth, or stench. Perhaps the comment is based on the 44-inch massive meats and the 12 inches of lift that it takes to fit them on a ’70 GMC. And maybe there is some merit in comparing the truck to the trunk because the truck likes to throw mud all over itself too.

Aside from mud slinging, Mike Platz built the GMC as a form of “stress management.” That’s a lot of stress considering that he bought the truck as his first form of transportation over 22 years ago—when he was 15, but that’s one for his shrink. Over the years, Mike has built the truck up several times, including the most recent version, which took about 11 months, $5,000, and “approximately 3,380.8 beers.” Mostly, he notes, all of the benefits come from having a carnal knowledge of the workings of his truck and that the truck knows about working in the field, in the mud, or in the gravel pit.

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