Your Trucks Past History

[54blackhornet]

I was wondering if anyone was interested in posting their trucks early or past life experiences? I am sure a break from the day to day trials and tribulations of rebuilding or fixing them would be enjoyable.

I have a 71 Custom c20 that was ordered by the Union Pacific Railroad in Washington State. 305 -4spd -posi-power disc brakes -overload springs -bilstein HD shocks -dual chrome below eyeline mirrors- special order paint (ugly Green) Pick-Up was used in rail yard @ Spokane WA and has only 64k original miles. The older gentleman i got it from bought it at a UP auction in late 80's and stored it in a metal building where it sat untill 04 when i got it in a package of 8 other vehicles. I did not realize how nice it was untill i cleaned the over 20years of dust off of it. I told my wife that if i had found this truck first i would never have bought all the other pick ups i have owned in the past.The only problem it has is it is manual steering and it realy does steer like a "truck" ! Well that my story and i am sticking to it. I hope others will pass along some more interesting stories of their own? Because with all the bad things going on in the world now we will all need some good reading material

[big_al_71]

I know my truck came from Tennesse and I am the third owner, the second owner whom I bought it from only drove it maybe 100 miles in a year and a half he said the previous owner had it since new and it was repainted once and it sat in his garage for about seven years with the occational cruise here and there. Now it is going to renovation to my style and it will only be a weekend toy. I would tell you this truck has had a real easy life.

[hounddogs!]

Hauled a slide-in camper for a couple of years after purchase, then went to grandpa's farm. There, it spent 20+ years as your basic farm truck. For as long as I can remember, it had carpet strips around the tailgate seams and rags in the front drain holes. Couldn't let the wheat leak out during harvest, you know.

One year, with the 2x12 sideboards on and carrying 95 bushels of wheat (somewhere north of 4000#), I asked him why we were using the pickup instead of the big truck. This was a '62 1.5T Ford with a 427. "Oh, this one runs and pulls so much better." Well, OK. The Ford went for $900 at the farm sale and the Chebby is still in the family.

[ChevLoRay]

The P.O. of my truck used it to pull a 26-ft camper trailer. He'd owned it for about 8 years. I have owned it for 10 years, this Halloween. So, that only leaves 22 years in question. Privacy Laws won't let me do any investigative work on prior owners. But, a previous owner prior to the one I got it from had it repainted, reupholstered and rebuilt.

Now, it's blown apart. Think I'll start calling it "Napoleon Blownapart"....

[54blackhornet]

Keep the stories coming everyone and thanks for the ones up to this point. They are great.

[71 super]

Bought the 71 from the original owner. It came from coastal chevy in savannah ga. He saw it and had to have it. Brought home and used it and used it. Motor spun a rod bearing and was pulled to be fixed and never got done. It sat for several years motor in garage truck in the field waiting. I saw it and noticed the 400 emblems so I stopped. Got there and saw all the parts air tilt buckets shoulder belts pieces of cruise and nearly fell over. I talked to the old guy for a while, ended up getting the truck for $750 and the promise to return with it when finished, he died before I got done, but I think he would like it. The 72 was the cold weather truck of a guy I went to high school withs dad. the dad was a state trooper and really eased the truck around. It was painted several times from green to black. It disappeared for several years, until one day while delivering a tractor on my summer job, I looked off the hill below where we had just delivered the tractor and there it sat next to a 72 blazer. Knocked on the door and a old lady came to the door, I asked about the truck, which she told me her grandson owned. I got his number and went to see him at work. After talking for about 2 hours we struck a deal for $800 and it came home after 5 gallons of gas, a battery, tire and carb. It had sat for nearly 3 years. It ran like a top all the way home and then I pulled it apart. The frame comes home tomorrow and reassemble starts. It has the feel of one of those trucks you just like to drive. Anyone know what I mean?

[BigDaddyDave]

My uncle bought the truck from a guy, that said he needed to sale it in order to go on a mission trip with his church. My uncle looked at it after dark and bought it site unseen. He found out real quick that he had bought a truck in far less condition than the ground up restoration,than he was told about. I have spent the last year,working out all of the bugs.

[knsmodels]

Bought my truck in 1990 from the second owner........the original owner (a farmer) had the truck for less than a year and got tired of trying to tow things with the four-speed so he sold it for an automatic......the guy I bought it off of used it to travel back and forth to his place in the mountains (3hr trip) he said during the gas crunch era he used to use the manual throttle as his cruise control and set it at one position for his entire trip up the PA Turnpike.....he drove it for about 15yrs and racked up a whopping 72,000 miles and then parked it in his garage and loaded the back up like a shed. I bought the truck and used it as my daily driver until about 1999 (and another 70,000+ on the clock) when my mechanic said he could no longer pass it for PA inspection due to the body cancer...lol....it sat at my parents house for about 3yrs until I decided to restore it to its former glory and start daily driving it again....I put another 20,000+ since I restored it and it is still going strong....I now have a company vehicle so it does not get driven as much as it was but I still love driving it.......

[jeremy zander]

My 1972 chevy 3/4 4x4 was my dads original farm truck. He bought it new in Cokato,MN in 1973. It was used on the farm all its life. Now when I say used it was a plow truck, a disc truck for the fields, a rock picker upper,a hay hauler and of course a ditch runnin snow lovin machine..He drove it till the floors,rockers.cab corners and mounts were totally gone.. In 2001 my dad retired and decided to give the truck to me.. I took it totally down to the frame and started back over. All parts that were salvagable were kept otherwise everything was replaced..I have spent over $25,000 and I would never sell it..It has the original engine that has been stroked balanced and dynoed at 430hp and 465 torque.tach,tilt,tow hooks, hubcaps,and radio delete,also 4inch lift and 34.5 bfgs. It has been real fun. I have recently acquired two more 1972 chevy 3/4 4x4,one owner farm trucks and plan on doing full restos on them as well. I am definately hooked!!!!!

[WorkinLonghorn]

Got mine about 12 years ago when the original owner blew his brains out and the family parked it in the front yard "for sale". Had the original camper on it which I sold. Net cost of very nice nice low mileage truck; $300.
The sad part is that I wrecked my other '69 GMC and had to put this one to work,real hard work that is. And it seems to be a magnet for drunk or careless drivers and it is all messed up now.
My cats still like it though;

[Thunder Head]

Oh man....where to start. My truck is a 68 Chev shortbed stepside. My grandfather bought it almost new. He used it to haul firewood. I remember riding in it when my father would borrow it and he would complain about the manual steering. When the wood rotted my dad welded a steel plate in the back. At some point my grandfather loaned the truck out for another friend to see someone else s lady. Well the man of the house came home. That explains why there was a bullet hole beside the back window....6 inches to the right and it would have been bad. The truck was sold to two brothers. They had it repainted and the interior redone. They were hauling two motorcycles in the back and for some reason hit a telephone pole at an angle going backwards and damaged the drivers door and cab. They sold the truck as it sat, wrecked. About a year later the new owner had it for sale, I tried to buy it but I could not afford the price. He eventually sold the truck. Another year goes by and I see an add in the paper. Wrecked 68 Chev. I bought the truck (1988) and started to disassemble and weld replacement cab panels where it was wrecked. About a year into the build, divorce came to visit. The truck sat disassembled until this year (2008) I got tired of looking at the truck in the shape it was in and how much dust had settled on it. My goal this year was to see it assembled and painted. As of today, it has a new coat of paint, new oak flooring, new windshield and the interior/seat will be completed this week. Oh, as I tore the truck down, the lead from the bullet was in the bottom of the cab. I cant wait to drive it.

[steves1967]

My mom and dad bought my truck, new in 71. 3/4 ton cheyenne, long bed, hugger orange, Dana 60 and 4.10 gears, 350/th350 with A/C. It had a Pilgrim slide in camper in it/ on it. When I was little we took it cross country every summer for vacation. When my dad passed away the truck became mine. First thing I did was ditch the camper (it was falling apart). I've just been driving it and maintaining it ever since. I've even left some of the "hack" wiring that my dad added to it. I have all the original paperwork, and i just had the seat recovered and found the original build sheet on the underside of the seat. It's all original, sure I've added an intake and carb, better flowing heads, swapped cams- but I have all the originals pieces still.

[hotrod 80]

The 1949 5-window was bought by my grandfather used in 58' in Oklahoma . It was a daily driver and shop truck til about 65' . It was givin to my uncle and converted to a wrecker for his auto repair shop in north Arkansas till around 69' or 70' . It was taken to the ranch and used as a farm truck/ hay hauler/tractor . The farm hand had a hard time getting in and out , so the drivers door was taken off . I drove it around the farm around 80' and bugged my uncle from that point on . It came to Texas in 82' and has been an ongoing project every since . It will stay in the family .

The Luv was an Ebay find . Bought it from the original owners grand son . 42,000 original miles . It was also out of Oklahoma .

The 68' Camaro came out of Carthage , Tx . I am the 4 th owner . 1st owner was a lady who drove it till a newer car was a better option . She sold it to her mechanic who did the 1st restore . He sold it to the third owner , a non mechanic who drove it till it broke and parked it in a pole barn for 14 years . I bought it out of the thrifty nickel and am doing a total restore .

Bought the 67' from spraybomb's dad . Don't have much history on it as of now .

[GMCMAX]

I bought mine from a neighbor in 81 for $100 with a dead V6 and paint chalked out so bad the truck looked white. The seat was to the springs, and the door was held shut with a chain over the lock rod. It had been a farm truck for many years, I believe it came from the local farm implement dealer that sold GMC trucks and Cadillacs also. The old fella I bought it from may have been the original owner, he and his family farmed barley till he got too old and he moved into a one room shack. He went into town once a month; the starter was bad and we would sometimes give him a pull to start it, when he got to town he would park on a hill to roll start it to get back home.

[chevy29267truck]

my truck is a 1967 chevy 3/4 ton,c20 long wheel base truck has the small window in the back of the cab has no lights on the side of the front fenders it also says on the fenders custom camper and says on the doors cst i think the truck oringinal came from the factory with a chevy 327 engine but when i got the truck it had no engine in it and came with a 3 on the tree i put in a four speed four in the floor the truck has manualsteering over load springs manualthrottle A/c its missing the camper part that gos in the bed if i cant find a fleet side bed i will put a flat bed on maybe im not sure how many have owne the truck befor me i am still restoreding the truck i want all or most of the truck too be oringinal it will be my daily driver not a show truck dont know the history of my truck i will see about the rearend too see what the grearing is and see if its posi or notand if the grear not 373 i will add 373 and a guy in
tnn if i want will sell a 1967 factory posi rearend if i want it seeing that the truck has no bed on it the color was block than some eles painted the truck tan when im done with the truck will be 1967 GM 506 med blue inside and outside of the truck too under the hood will be black i think i got a chevy 350 engine intell i find a 1967 or 1968 chevy 292 inline six engine the four speed i got in the truck is a sm-420 or sm-465 or evening a m 20 somthing im not sure my truck came from the factory in Atlanta GA i hope too be driving the truck by next month and the truck will be painted next jan feb

[Chevyman680063]

My '68 was bought by my grandfather brand new from the local Chevy dealership in November '67. He died the year before I was born so when I was getting close to driving age I wanted the truck. I became the 3rd generation in my family to have it. I started driving it to school the last month of my 11th grade year.

I drove it as my daily driver until someone speeding around in one of those tuner cars ran into it and totaled the front end and bent the frame in the front on both sides. I had to get another frame for it unfortunately and it currently sits in the yard waiting until I can get the money to start rebuilding it.

[skchevota]

Well let me take a big breath... OK
My 1970 chevy C20 Custom camper Originaly was built in the Fremont CA> plant. It was bought by a gentalman who had a slide in camper installed at the time of sale. The truck had the 402/ th400 with a/c and rear leaf springs. my dad bought the Truck from a dealer in Sanjose ca. in 1972. The original owner traded it on a new one. My dad had a larger slide in camper installed at the time of purchase for the grand total truck and camper of about $6500.
I still have the purchase contract in the glove box. We esed the truck like that as a family for the next 17 years or so, we used to go on vacation with my parents, my sister and my self all sitting across that bench seat( who needs a crew cab). In 1989 my dad passed away and my mom was to scared to drive it. I was only 13 but i pulled off the camper and rebuilt the frontend so she would. After about a year the freeze plugs started to leak , so I pulled the engine and gave it a freshin up of rings bearings and a valve job( I was 14). i still remember asking my grand father to come over and take me for a test drive when i got it back together because I was to young to drive. Well when i turned 16 it became my truck, I drove it for a few years( about 30k) and then I decided to swap in a big cam and headers and make a drag truck... well after a few 7000rpm passes I spun a rod bearing.
I found a used 396 short block and built that with my ofiginal heads and then drove it for about 2 more years, in the mean time I scrapped the drag truck Idea, bought a tail gate( never had one) added a body lift, made a custom suspention lift( 2wd remember) and 36" swampers. Drove for a few more years.
Ten I deciced to go 4x4, I used a 3 link with air bags, and then leaf springs , and then longer leafs, in the rear I ditched the leafs and went coil, then air bag, then back to leaf.
I later built a small block for fuel milage, I hated it so I swapped in an LT1.
Then in 01 my son was born, so I got to drive him around in it, then in 02 there was my doughter , and a move to Colorado. Then in 04 I took out the
lt1 and swaped in a cummins/ nv45oo combo. then in o6 I decided a short bed would be better and cut it down.
Current ly I have it about 1/2 back together. I just dont have the same kind of time or money for my own stuff any more, but I will have it back on the road agin soon. and if tradition holds true, I will hand it down to my kids some day...
whew......that was a mouth full.

[powerline84]

my truck is a 1970 cst-10 factory 350/4speed. longbed(steel). I bought it from a kid in luisiana who was the second owner. The truck had been in california all its life. The kid got stations there and saw it for sale. Aparently an old lady was selling it because her usband the owner had just past away. She told him the truck had been used to pull a boat to there weekend cottage all itslife. ITs evident the truck was well taken care of. The only thing the second owner did to it was put a brothers stage 3 lowering kit on it and a spray in bedliner. I just bought 5000.00 in stuff to put under the hood. New centerline smoothies and tires. In november i plan on ordering a new cowl hood, rear sport bumper and new mirrors for it. I will have about 12000 into her including purchase price...then all she will need is a paint job and i will have an almost new 40 year old daily driver thats paid for. Pretty stoked. I love my truck

[Palf70Step]

I am the third owner of the 70. a friend (he's in his mid 70s) father originally bought the truck when he retired from being a mechanic and went tio just being an ole Mississippi Farm boy. His son aquired it after hid dad passed away (in the mid/late 80s) Enter 2002, I am finally at a place in my life where I wanted to have a "toy'project" vehicle again to occupy my time. I was looking at a 47-54 GM truck, when my firend mentioned the 70. Well 6 months later he decided he would let me have it, thus begins my saga....and someday she'll be on the road again.

Mine was a stripper truck. SWB step, side spare, 250 6, 3 on the tree. HD rear springs. The only other options were mud daubers, and 30 years of tobacco juice on the interrior driver's rear side of the cab.

There are times I wish I had stayed with the 6. It ran great (only 98,000 miles), but I got the itch to go with the 350 and an automatic. Hopefully I'll have it on the road again.

['68 C-20]

Cool Idea, God knows we love to talk about our Trucks! I am the third owner but only the second one to register it. '68 C20,. It is my third truck of this series, but by far the best.

Mine was the 3,072'nd unit to roll out of the Sleepy Hollow Assembly plant in Tarrytown NY. It was a basic truck It came with a 292L6, Wide Ratio Muncie 4 speed, 4:10 rear-end, RV Mirrors, and not much else. I have the original paperwork, and customer warranty plate.

It was shipped to a Chevrolet Dealer in Rochester NH where it was sold to a gentleman from Strafford NH who was retiring. He purchased it to haul his Slide in Camper to enjoy his retirement years. He enjoyed his truck for many years using it very little. From 1968 to 1998 it only traveled 50,000 miles. He kept it in a barn. As it (and he) aged he stopped camping and only used the truck for dump runs and hauling mulch etc. He made a plywood liner to protect the bed. He would pull it out once a year and sand off any rust that that had started and touch it up with a rattle can. Then rub it out. When the sun shines on it, it has an interesting blue patina that looks sort of like a blue camo from the years of touch up. He figured that it was cheaper to have it properly painted someday than to have rust fixed.

It was spotted for sale by the fellow whom I bought it from a few years ago. He purchased it to restore but had too many other projects to restore first. Finances forced his hand and the 3/4 ton went up for sale. Actually my wife spotted it and told me about it (see they can be trained! ). I went over to take a look at it and bought it that day.

Interestingly, It was 15 miles from the dealer to the first owner, I lived 15 miles from where the dealer was in another direction and only 10 miles from the original owner. So it has lived most of its life within a 20-mile radius.

It will stay mostly original. I plan to put an overdrive in it to bring down the highway rev’s, a triple carb intake and Fenton Headers/ dual exhaust. I will pull the rear bed wood, plane it and re-install it. Flap wheel and POR paint the frame etc. Paint it the original blue but will add some metallic. Current pictures in my album.

[special-K]

My`72 K2500 was originally owned by a man in Central California.He used it as a 5th wheel travel trailer hauler.He equipped it with things like coolers,trans temp gauge in blank hole,added a tach,auxilary tanks,hoist to mount platter,big horn,and a tune-up vacuum gauge with economy ranges in color code mounted in plain view.
I don`t know how his ownership ended,but it was in`98.
The second owner was a man in Modesto that had a trucking company and smoked Tiparillo-style cigars.It ended up at a used car lot in town and a friend told me about it.That`s all it took.Next thing ya know it`s shipped to Indianapolis because that was as far east it could go before considered an east coast shipment and prices jumped significantly.I bought a one way plane ticket for $150 and flew out on the thursday before Memorial Day weekend`01.Too bad I couldn`t see the Indy500.The city was hoppin,though.I hopped in it and drove it back on the original blue plates that were good through 10/01.I enjoyed running I-70 with all the groups of bikers headed to Rolling Thunder in Washington,DC and had some great conversation with many on stops.With the 3 tanks I didn`t stop as much as normal.I stopped near Zanesville,OH at a truck stop,ate,and pulled behind a row of semis behing a gaurdrail so they couldn`t back into me.I had brought a sleeping bag and layed across the seat to spend the 1st night with my truck in it.Rolled out for a walk across the lot for a great trucker breakfast.I pulled off the road near the Ohio/WVA line when I saw a sign for an old hubcap dealer.He went in the back and came back with a decent original cap saying they are hard to come by and needed $20.$20 less in my wallet and with a nicer rear cap popped on I crossed the Ohio into WVA and came on though the mountains,visited my folks,then on to my place.
Here`s a picture from a joint I stopped at on the way back:

[JayDubBlazer]

4th owner, It was owned by the Arizona parks department until about 1995 or so. The ranger that had used it bought it from the state when he retired. In 1997 98 a guy from Iowa was vacationing in Arizona and saw the truck and brought it back to the rust belt for about two year, he garaged it in the winter but road it pretty hard in the summers. I bought it in 2000, replaced the engine in 2001, I was finishing it up when 9-11 happened. and started a frame off this past feb. Hopefully will be on the road in a couple of days.

[steelhorse]

My wifes grandpa bought it new at the end of 66 and used it on the farm till 2007 when the front seal blew out and he parked it.We got it from him last nov and have been buying parts to start on it.

[elektrik]

Don't know much about mine

All I know about my 69 is the little info I got while talking to the guys selling it to me about 13 years ago. I know that it used to have utility sides and that those two guys got some step sides from the wrecking yard, and I also know from my own previous body work that there's a hole in the roof, so it was possibly some sort of School district or fire department truck, but that's about it....

Where's Carfax for Chevy when you need them? hehe

[54blackhornet]

Great job you guys! I spent the last hour reading all of your stories and feel like I know a little more about you all and your trucks! it is interesting to read about who bought the trucks new. I also have a 68 GMC 1500 that was given to a gentleman upon retirement from his company in Idaho. It has 56k original miles, 292, 3spd on tree and thats it. The guy would go to his old place of work everyday and just stare out the window abd watch what was going on. He would smoke cigs all day then go home. The drivers side door is rubbed down to primer where his arm rested while he sat and smoked all day. Poor guy must have loved his job!

Thanks for the memories