1960 with a 348?

[amueller454]

hey guys this past weekend i purchased two more trucks... a 1960 and a 1966.
they are both 1/2 ton longbed pickups and the 60 has the big back window, cloth seat instead of vinyl, deluxe heater controls, custom cab trim, side trim, factory chrome grill, bumper, and nostrils, and it has a 348 which looks like it came factory! but i have never heard of a 348 in a 60 so i figured i would use all the knowledge on here. Oh and on the front of the hood instead of just having the bowtie it has the V underneath it stating it was a factory V8 truck. thanks in advance for all the help

[amueller454]

and here is the 66 that came with it. it has no motor or transmission and the interior is pretty much stripped. But for $600 for the pair i couldnt go wrong

[LILRED66]

Nice score. The brightwork on the '60 are worth more than what you paid for both trucks. Thanks for sharing.

The 348 was available in the medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks of the same years, but not factory in the light-duty trucks. If you find a reference, stating the availability of a 348 V8 in a light-duty truck, I am interested in knowing about it.

[Captainfab]

X2 you made out real good on that deal. I would recommend being ever so careful with the CC trim on the '60, particularily the side trim.....very hard to come by in any condition.

Originally Posted by LILRED66

Nice score. The brightwork on the '60 are worth more than what you paid for both trucks. Thanks for sharing.

The 348 was available in the medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks of the same years, but not factory in the light-duty trucks. If you find a reference, stating the availability of a 348 V8 in a light-duty truck, I am interested in knowing about it.

[NF65Fleetside]

you sure thats not a v6? if it is a 348, yank it...clean it up and make some $$$ off a period correct guy!

[amueller454]

ya im positive its a 348. and i even got it turned over by hand!
The whole reason i bought the trucks were for the chrome grill, bumper, and nostrils. But what i think is odd is that if this truck didnt have a 348 stock then it had to have the 283 because of the hood emblem right?

hey LIlRed do you know if there is a way to track it off of a casting number on the engine itself?

[collins10672]

yes your truck would have come with the 283 v8.the v emblem is a dead giveaway.unfortunately the 348 was not available on the 1/2 ton.1968 was the first year for the big block 1/2 ton trucks with the introduction of the 396 in them.the 348 is worth more than what you give for both trucks.also as lilred said the 60-61 side trim is super rare nowaday's.it is worth its weight in gold.because no one reproduce's it and it is stainless steel unlike the 62-66 side trim which is anodized aluminum.this truck was a great find.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Those 348's and 409's are getting really hard to come by. I'd say it's worth a few bucks too. They're popular for fenderless Rat Rods just because of their different look.

[lakeroadster]

I dig 348' and 409's, you made a helluva score here.

Always the possibility that the 348 was a dealer installation. Back then if you had the money, they had the time.

[amueller454]

thanks guys i'll dig a little bit more. i was really hoping there was a chance it was a factory motor but either way i got a good deal on the pickups. i figured the motor was worth 600 atleast

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by amueller454

thanks guys i'll dig a little bit more. i was really hoping there was a chance it was a factory motor but either way i got a good deal on the pickups. i figured the motor was worth 600 atleast

Nice find! The original '60 is a rarer find than the much more common '66, and much more interesting to look at. I bet your truck is probably a COPO order, Central Office Production Order. It was special ordered by the original owner. It looks like it was used to pull a travel trailer or camper, note large mirrors and wide base rear probably 16.5" wheels. If someone requested this non standard engine option, the dealer would have the factory install a 348 engine. The 327 was also a special order engine starting in '62 till it became a regular option. It wasn't just camaro's that were ordered thru COPO, trucks were ordered thru COPO also.

[DPowers]

If only they could talk...
Great find(s)

[jonzcustomshop]

what a deal!
it looks like the vent knobs under the dash have a crome ring on them , but the pic is blury there , do they?
would love to see a few more pics of how that 348 fits/sits in there, I would love to put a 348 in one of mine someday.
I agree it probably came with a 283, or maybe the 348 was dealer installed. I had heard that they didnt fit ery good around the firewall, you could look there for some "hammer work" to make it fit, and look at the frame rail near the exhaust manifolds, were they trimmed to make it fit?

[jchav62]

The 348 was available for passenger cars and big trucks. Possible special order?? Awesome find!!!

[amueller454]

jonzcustomshop- ya they have the chrome rings and i also noticed that the window frames around the side glass and vent window is all chrome too. And check out the factory radio!
i'll have to take a look at the firewall and frame. it just looks so stock in there and doesnt look like it fits too bad in there

[Rogue]

I'd dig a little deeper, that one may be one to restore.

Imagine a all original, fully accessorized '60 with a dealer installed 348.
all it would need is a tripower.

I also want more pics of the W-block install, since that has been a dream for mine for 35 years.

[markeb01]

I've read on this forum where those hoods have sold for more than what both trucks cost. And a big back window. I'm kind of surprised it doesn't have the stainless trim around the windshield. What an incredible find. If that 60 was mine I'd restore it, complete with the 348 - and tripower of course!

[NF65Fleetside]

yah did a lil research....keep the 348...clean it up and rip the wheels off! might be a rare gem off the factory line. great score on both trucks, your stoked!

[amueller454]

ya thats what i am trying to figure out before i do anything else to it.
i only wish it had the three deuce set up. but its still a 4 barrel. and the guy said it ran when he parked it there and it was last licensed in 2001. I'm not sure if the seller is the original owner but he says it is a factory motor but i'm still not sure.

i was thinking about just doing a restoration on it since the body isnt in terrible shape and it seems to have all the factory options you could get

[amueller454]

also another thing i noticed was the seat isnt vinyl. its a cloth material. I havent seen anything but vinyl but aerotruk63 put a thread about the luggage rack and a seat cover option. is this an option like that?

[Captainfab]

I agree that this truck is too nice and has too many options to be parted out. I hope you decide to fix it if not completely restore it. That would be way cool.

Originally Posted by amueller454

ya thats what i am trying to figure out before i do anything else to it.
i only wish it had the three deuce set up. but its still a 4 barrel. and the guy said it ran when he parked it there and it was last licensed in 2001. I'm not sure if the seller is the original owner but he says it is a factory motor but i'm still not sure.

i was thinking about just doing a restoration on it since the body isnt in terrible shape and it seems to have all the factory options you could get

[markeb01]

Whoever bought this truck new must have been very proud of it. There are exceptions (this being one) but fully optioned personalized trucks just didn't really take off until many years later. Makes you wonder if the original owner might have worked at a GM dealership. Perhaps this was dealer modified for display as a showroom draw.

[K-TEN]

[IMG][/IMG]
There's no hackery involved in getting a W motor to fit. A little trimming of the frame rails is all that's necessary for the block huggers to fit. There was no hammering necessary for the distributor either. That's a dual quad 409 in my '60 GMC, and that has been a dream of mine as well. It finally got on the road 2 weeks ago.
I the think the chrome window trim is more rare than even the SS side moldings. A small red triangular decal goes at the end of those mouldings at the back of the truck. It's still available. If those moldings need to go onto a shortbed truck, a good old school Tig welder can perform the surgery as was done on my moldings.
A close look at the frame rails and the motor mounts should give some hints. RF frame rail should have the ID number on top. I can't believe that it is Factory. But as was stated earlier, at that time anything goes when the cash is on the barrelhead. MAYBE it's Canadian!?! Maybe it it's US Factory , but whatever it is, it's quite a nice score. Congrats.

[Captainfab]

Hey K-TEN, I like your truck, very clean looking install. Do you have any more pics of your truck?

Probably 20 years ago I had the chance to pickup a 425hp dual quad 409 for $500.00. I really thought about it, but I really didn't have an extra $500 so i passed on it. Ever since I've been kicking myself.......

Originally Posted by K-TEN

[IMG][/IMG]
There's no hackery involved in getting a W motor to fit. A little trimming of the frame rails is all that's necessary for the block huggers to fit. There was no hammering necessary for the distributor either. That's a dual quad 409 in my '60 GMC, and that has been a dream of mine as well. It finally got on the road 2 weeks ago.
I the think the chrome window trim is more rare than even the SS side moldings. A small red triangular decal goes at the end of those mouldings at the back of the truck. It's still available. If those moldings need to go onto a shortbed truck, a good old school Tig welder can perform the surgery as was done on my moldings.
A close look at the frame rails and the motor mounts should give some hints. RF frame rail should have the ID number on top. I can't believe that it is Factory. But as was stated earlier, at that time anything goes when the cash is on the barrelhead. MAYBE it's Canadian!?! Maybe it it's US Factory , but whatever it is, it's quite a nice score. Congrats.

[Jonboy]

Originally Posted by K-TEN

[IMG][/IMG]
There's no hackery involved in getting a W motor to fit. A little trimming of the frame rails is all that's necessary for the block huggers to fit. There was no hammering necessary for the distributor either. That's a dual quad 409 in my '60 GMC, and that has been a dream of mine as well. It finally got on the road 2 weeks ago.
I the think the chrome window trim is more rare than even the SS side moldings. A small red triangular decal goes at the end of those mouldings at the back of the truck. It's still available. If those moldings need to go onto a shortbed truck, a good old school Tig welder can perform the surgery as was done on my moldings.
A close look at the frame rails and the motor mounts should give some hints. RF frame rail should have the ID number on top. I can't believe that it is Factory. But as was stated earlier, at that time anything goes when the cash is on the barrelhead. MAYBE it's Canadian!?! Maybe it it's US Factory , but whatever it is, it's quite a nice score. Congrats.

That is almost the exact truck I want to build "someday". Dual quad 409, big back window, 60-63. Both are nice trucks. Can you maybe start a thread with a lot of pics. Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.