Project rework

[jeffspower]

It's time to get started on the '68 GMC short fleet 4x4. I'll start with a little history. It was the summer of 1983, I was 15 and with my parents on the way to stop at the grocery store where my dad worked. Across the street was a car lot, with this blue '68 GMC. We all took notice of it. Who wouldn't, it was the only old truck on the lot, sticking out like a sore thumb with its "custom" accessories. Somebody really had some strange ideas, that's for sure. I commented that I thought it would be cool with some un- modding. So dad pulled in so we could look at it. that surprised me- dad never took interest in vehicles- never cared what he drove as long as it got him from A to B. The lot owner was our neighbor. He said they had just got it on trade & that the brakes were screwed up. I popped the hood to find a set of finned Vette valve covers just sitting on the motor. Apparently someone was pulling a late night freebie the night before & changed their mind. The T handles were laying on the air cleaner, so we buttoned it back up & took it for a spin. Which is actually what you would do when you hit the brakes- just touch the brake pedal & it would yank the wheel hard & send you towards the ditch. On the way back, the electric fuel pump went to hammering crazy loud. Man, this was going to be a project. And it would be up to me to pay someone to fix stuff (which I did some of the bigger stuff early on), or figure out how to fix everything as nobody in our family knew squat about vehicles. So, with the dealer wanting it off his lot, $500 I had saved, $500 I knew I could get out of my 3- wheeler, and $500 my parents chipped in, I limped it home.

Here's the only pics I have found of the beast from way back, in the winter of '83. I still have the dealer key tag