Historical/This I know/60-66 Model Changes

[LILRED66]

They are commonly referred to as:

"Cat's Eye" pods (Chevrolet Pickup Color History, by Tom Brownell and Mike Mueller, page 67)
"Double Bubble" (Encyclopedia of CHEVROLET Trucks, Don Bunn, page 101)
"Aviation Inspired" (Chevrolet Pickup Color History, by Ton Brownell and Mike Mueller, page 67)
"Ovoid Pods" (Chevy Pickup Trucks, by Steve Strathan, page 60)
"Jet Pod" air inlets (Standard Catalog of Chevrolet Trucks, by John Gunnell, page 98)
"Flat, Scoop-Like, Jet Pod" (Chevrolet Pickups 1946-1972, by John Gunnell, page 56)

[bushytlb]

Lilred66; Thanks for the information and references. Are these hoods rare or sought after. Will they fit any c10 60-66? bushy

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Strodder

...It must be weird to shift a 3 speed on the column with your left hand.

Not if you're left handed.

If you are...driving every car is weird.

[padresag]

depends whether or not it is right hand or left hand drive
ron

[jbgroby]

Bushy,

Yes the hoods are considered rare and if in good condition, can cost you a bit. One of the areas that rot out is the underlip of the hood where it meets the top of the fenders. This area holds water.

On the chevy trucks there are two different styles of the "pod" hoods.

On the 1960 model year the pods had a horizontal bar going across the opening.

On the 1961 model year the pods had a verticle bars in the pod.

For the GMC 1960-61 model years, both were the same with a flat vented area and the lens inserted into this area. Tye asrea was made of punched metal with small square holes. At the time many though they were ugly, but now they are sought after.

One thing was great for both trucks was the fact that you got better cooling across the top of the engine with these vented opening.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by LILRED66

They are commonly referred to as:

"Cat's Eye" pods (Chevrolet Pickup Color History, by Tom Brownell and Mike Mueller, page 67)
"Double Bubble" (Encyclopedia of CHEVROLET Trucks, Don Bunn, page 101)
"Aviation Inspired" (Chevrolet Pickup Color History, by Ton Brownell and Mike Mueller, page 67)
"Ovoid Pods" (Chevy Pickup Trucks, by Steve Strathan, page 60)
"Jet Pod" air inlets (Standard Catalog of Chevrolet Trucks, by John Gunnell, page 98)
"Flat, Scoop-Like, Jet Pod" (Chevrolet Pickups 1946-1972, by John Gunnell, page 56)

Thanks Tony, I'm sure it took some time to research and post all this.

An interesting observation - one downside of the 60-61 GMC hood in particular is with such a large "screened" area open in the front, a ton of road spray and crud is injested especially in the winter. This makes it much more difficult to keep the engine compartment clean, and will clog up an open element paper filter with regularity. Of course if you're lucky enough to have one you may not care about this problem.

[K-TEN]

"On the 1960 model year the pods had a horizontal bar going across the opening.

On the 1961 model year the pods had a verticle bars in the pod."

I'm sure you meant to reverse the years Jake. The 60 had the vertical only bars. The 61 had the large horizontal bar. Kind of like a 2 bladed propeller.

[jbgroby]

yep,

sorry I had it backward ;(

[bushytlb]

jbgroby, and K-TEN; Thanks for the information. The tip to look for rust out under the lip if useful. bushy

[Hilandr451]

1960 Chevy as it came from the factory.



1960 or 1961 GMC (both had the same hoods)



1961 Chevy hood on a GMC (or a GMC grill on a 1961 Chevy hard to tell from this angle)

[Delmo]

What were the most popular color combos? I see tons of the light blue and white.

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

Originally Posted by Delmo

What were the most popular color combos? I see tons of the light blue and white.

Have not found out all the paint color options yet.
Ask LILRED66.....

Chevrolet Pickup Color History
http://www.google.com/products/catal...332&sa=image#p

Paint Decoder
http://www.americanclassic.com/paint_test.asp

[collins10672]

on the color combinations you guessed it,at least in my area of the country,the blue and white is most often seen.blue and white,red and white,light green and white,turquoise and white are or were the most popular color schemes.mostly the two tone trucks were custom cabs.most standard trucks were solid colors.even more rare to see a factory two toned stepside.my favorite colors are all the above,and the rarely seen 1966 dark aqua metallic and white.i do have the 1966 factory paint codes in the gm spec. book if anybody needs some help on their factory colors.

[aerotruk63]

1961-1968 Colors Chevrolet

[jbgroby]

The special screws that you need to fasten the metal window frames to the lower glass channel for the 1960-1963 style doors are located here at Classic Trucks

http://www.classicparts.com/1955-63-...ctinfo/70-813/

[old cruiser]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Not if you're left handed.

If you are...driving every car is weird.

Where I,m from left hand shifting is the norm, when I got my 64 left hand drive shifting with my right hand didn,t seem any different . Left or right? as long as your driving

[McC_65_91]

502tripower, you said 65 GMC hood is different? are you referring to the park lights, because i have a 65 GMC, thats the only difference i can see

[Franks Fab Shop]

Originally Posted by McC_65_91

502tripower, you said 65 GMC hood is different? are you referring to the park lights, because i have a 65 GMC, thats the only difference i can see

what about the different nostrils on the '62 on up hoods? some are more like an intake duct (like the blue hood) others are just kinda flat with openings.

[jonzcustomshop]

are you guys talking the difference between the 62-66 gmc hood, and the 62-66 chevy hood?
here is a chev and a gmc.
the main hood is exactly the same. only the front panel is different, chev vs gmc.
both chev and gmc had clear park lights in 62, and amber 63-66
(photos courtesy http://www.6066gmcguy.org/ )

[jonzcustomshop]

Originally Posted by 502tripower

Red/White 60' GMC. GMC hood is different then Chevrolet. Black 60' notice grills in hood are vertical. Auqua 61' Notice the grills in the hood are horizontal. 1962-1966 all used the same hood. Orange 1963. Notice the grill. 65 Green GMC notice the GMC hood is different. This is the same hood used on all GMC's from 62-66. Red 64'-66' All of these trucks look alike with the exception of fender badges.

Originally Posted by McC_65_91

502tripower, you said 65 GMC hood is different? are you referring to the park lights, because i have a 65 GMC, thats the only difference i can see

I think the problem is, is that the pic of the green 65 gmc is missing from his post..it was after the 63 chev pic, and he means that it is different than the chevy hood.

[Vernski]

Ok guys here is the full poop on GMC - Chev hoods so check this web site out it should clear up any questions about what's what....Vernski

http://www.6066gmcguy.org/Hood.htm

[McC_65_91]

besides the clear/amber parklights, the parklights on GMC were slanted on the side of the light, chevys were rectangular... see the picture above of them

[jbgroby]

This morning while parusing through some eBays ads, I came across an auction for the 1958 Operating Manual for a GMC truck. The truck shown on the cover and the information states it is for the 1958 model year. It is a Cartoon styled booklet and on the rare side.

Whats important is that inside they show an options page, on that page they show that you can order the Hood Ornament. What is special about that is that there were only 2 different jet design hood ornaments as we all mostly understand.

A pointed nose design, listed earlier in this same post and the blunt nosed version. BUT they show the blunt nose version in the 1958 manual, so something ain't correct with the information we've been lead to believe. I was under the immpession that the pointy nose versin was from 1955-1959, and th eblunt nose version was from 1960-1961.

I think it's time to get Sherlock out of retirement and do some snooping.

[markeb01]

Bumper Guard Installation

Although a lot of people simply remove the original bumper bolts and install the bumper guards over the factory holes, the template produced by GM specifies they were meant to be installed outboard of the bumper bolts. Although the dimension is not printed on the template (I added the 3" markings shown), the distance measures out 3 inches on center from the existing holes to those newly drilled.

The template shown was included in the box with the new old stock original bumper guards purchased about 20 years ago.

I prefer the template location, particularly with the GMC grille since it places the guards outboard of the GMC letters. Here are scans of the original templates:





EDIT - I have subsequently been provided with another line drawing from the 1960 Chevy Accessory Installation Manual, showing the guards bolted on over the factory holes in the bumper, replacing the original bumper bolts. So take your pick as to which you prefer:

[markeb01]

Not sure if this will ever help anyone, but should you be restoring a 1960 GMC, this is what a piece of undamaged original vinyl upholstery fabric looks like. For reference to scale, the piece scanned is roughly 8” wide by 11” tall.