55.2-59 Rarest Task Force Truck option EVER???

[daveshilling]

I think this may be the rarest part you can get.

A radio for a GMC Fleet Option truck. These trucks came with no radio so this special request must have been super rare.

There is no reason to make an aftermarket faceplate that says GMC for a Chevy dash opening, and the GMC is placed exactly where the Chevy logo usually is in the radio.

I've never seen another example of one of these, even in photos! Anyone ever seen one of these??

[mongocanfly]

never seen one....but its cool.!!!!!!!

[mr48chev]

Honestly I don't remember being inside any GMC TF fleet truck in all my years of working on cars from 1962 up into the 90's.

There are a lot of 54 and earlier GMC trucks in this area because we had a local dealer in town selling them then. They were the International Harvester dealer for farm equipment and trucks and the Buick, Pontiac and GMC dealer in town. They closed out in the late 50's and the Chevy dealer took over the Buicks and Pontiacs.

The main fleets for 1 ton or 1=1/2 ton here have been hop trucks that haul the hops from the field to the kiln. Up until the mid 70's most of those trucks were AD Chev 1-1/2 tons. Now they are using newer but not new trucks with shortened chassis that look like light weight versions of the Shack shakers that drag mobile homes. They pull special made trailers from the yard to the field and back to the kiln and then drop the trailer and pick up another one and go again.

I'm going to say that fleet operators in that time frame were pretty much like most farmers in that time frame, frugal when it came to spending money on trucks as far as things that weren't doing a needed task for the job they had to do. The truck with the radio may have been the operator's personal truck or in a truck owned by an operator who decided that having a radio in the truck might keep his driver happy.

[JDarby]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

I think this may be the rarest part you can get.

A radio for a GMC Fleet Option truck. These trucks came with no radio so this special request must have been super rare.

There is no reason to make an aftermarket faceplate that says GMC for a Chevy dash opening, and the GMC is placed exactly where the Chevy logo usually is in the radio.

I've never seen another example of one of these, even in photos! Anyone ever seen one of these??

That makes you the luckiest dog ever!
Very cool, make it work and it's twice as cool!

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by JDarby

That makes you the luckiest dog ever!
Very cool, make it work and it's twice as cool!

That would be so awesome! They require some TLC to get going again and I may not be capable of that.

Either way I think its pretty rad!

[_Ogre]

Idk, rare maybe, but as useful as split rims on a drag car ��

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

Idk, rare maybe, but as useful as split rims on a drag car ��

Well if it works, its gonna fit a chevy, so it has a function! Just swap the faceplate out. But if you were a guy with a mint GMC Fleet Option and you wanted to really go nuts and make it unique/impress other truck nerd-historians, this would be the choice.

[JDarby]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

That would be so awesome! They require some TLC to get going again and I may not be capable of that.

Either way I think its pretty rad!

Is it a tube unit or solid state? I ask because I am a tube and or solid state guy.
I have swaged solder for over forty + years and do it now for kicks.

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by JDarby

Is it a tube unit or solid state? I ask because I am a tube and or solid state guy.
I have swaged solder for over forty + years and do it now for kicks.

Here is a link to the manual, you may find it interesting: http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com...9srsmindex.htm

[57tailgater]

Very cool find. Looks like if you really wanted to, one could make a repro faceplate.

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by 57tailgater

Very cool find. Looks like if you really wanted to, one could make a repro faceplate.

I suppose that's always going to be true.. there's just something about the original though. Some supervisor was able to get this radio in his Fleet and listen to baseball games while his guys were working in silence.

[57tailgater]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

I suppose that's always going to be true.. there's just something about the original though. Some supervisor was able to get this radio in his Fleet and listen to baseball games while his guys were working in silence.

Yeah, nothing like finding a rare original piece. I have bits and pieces of an original Chevy radio for my ‘57 Chevy that I intend on putting a bkuetooth inside but with stock appearance outside. Also trying to figure out how to maybe make the knobs work something as well. Enjoy!!

[G&R's57GMC]

Hay Dave hang on to that radio !
If , err , when I get done with my engine placement in my chassis I’ll give you my GMC fleet cab so you can install your radio in it , make it play and your boy can then pretend he’s driving and be cool listening to the radio .

[57tailgater]

This is a very cool piece for sure. I think you could find someone somewhere that could get the old tubes and chassis back going, or go bluetooth. Or maybe just for looks? Then you have the above the windshield speaker too. You can find originals every so often to match the look. Someone on YouTube has a video with an original install and operation. I have a front half of one of these (Chevy tho) I am going to use for an original look and bluetooth. Going to try to use the original switch to power it on and off. Hopefully some original looking lighting as well. Fun fun fun! Enjoy!

[dennislbrooks]

As far as radio repair, I trust ----- but again you end up with just AM.

Countryside Radio and Electronics
866-965-4795
Vermillion, Ohio 44089

Glen Thome

up by Lake Erie.

I have a 59 GMC Fleet with radio delete. What is the difference in the radio hole on a 59 chevy 3100 and a regular 59 GMC 100? I could not find the difference but there must be besides the GMC logo on the glass. And is the faceplate on yours upside down on the body?

I replaced my glove box inside and at first ordered the chevy box, it was wrong and I reordered a GMC which was correct.

Again, not arguing, I just don't know. thanks

[G&R's57GMC]

This is a GMC fleet dash it is the same as the Chevy dash without radio or heater . If it had a heater there would be a knob like the others and it would just control the fan .

This is the GMC dash note it is completely different then the Fleet and Chevy dash . The radio delete plate is on the lower curve of the dash . The low cost heater would have the same control as the above .
If the Deluxe heater was installed it would have slide levers , but because the dash is different then the Chevy the controls would would be unique to the GMC .

[G&R's57GMC]

Here is the GMC Fleet and Chevy dash with radio and recirculating heater control .

This is the GMC Fleet and Chevy dash with radio and deluxe heater control . Although I'm not sure if the Deluxe heater was an option on the Fleet models .

And this is the GMC Dash with radio and Deluxe heater .

[G&R's57GMC]

Check out http://www.RetroRadio.biz

[dennislbrooks]

Does a GMC radio fit in a Chevy or a chevy in a GMC - for same year. Is the face plate the only difference?

G&R, will your radio fit in a GMC Fleet?


Here is my dash.

[G&R's57GMC]

To answer Dennis L Brooks : That's not my Radio , it's Dave Shilling's radio the Original Poster of this thread . His Radio fits both the GMC Fleet and the Chevy dash .

OK again the GMC Fleet and the Chevy dash are the same , see pictures above . The Chevy and GMC Fleet radios will interchange .

However The GMC dash (not the Fleet) is completely different then the Chevy dash and the GMC uses a completely different radio , Heater controls , gauges , ash tray then the Chevy . (see Pictures above)

[dennislbrooks]

OK, then I wonder if someone just placed a GMC radio in the Fleet? I am sure dealers would do what ever you wanted. My 59 Fleet does not have a SPID on dash door. Did any 59"s?

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

Hay Dave hang on to that radio !
If , err , when I get done with my engine placement in my chassis I’ll give you my GMC fleet cab so you can install your radio in it , make it play and your boy can then pretend he’s driving and be cool listening to the radio .

Will do, Glen! Athough by the time you do that, my boy might be a man (= Couple more years and he'll be driving a truck of his own.

I have plenty of things to do at the moment that don't involve radio rehab... this little beauty will stay in inventory for now unless someone tracks me down and has to have it.

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by G&R's57GMC

Here is the GMC Fleet and Chevy dash with radio and recirculating heater control .

This is the GMC Fleet and Chevy dash with radio and deluxe heater control . Although I'm not sure if the Deluxe heater was an option on the Fleet models .

And this is the GMC Dash with radio and Deluxe heater .

Leave to you Glen to actually find a photo of the GMC Fleet radio out there somewhere! I spent a couple hours but ultimately gave up.

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by dennislbrooks

OK, then I wonder if someone just placed a GMC radio in the Fleet? I am sure dealers would do what ever you wanted. My 59 Fleet does not have a SPID on dash door. Did any 59"s?

No, the regular GMC dash radio will not fit a Chevy/GMC Fleet dash, so it had to be a special order part specifically for the GMC Fleet trucks.

At the end of the day, it's just a Chevy radio with a special faceplace that says GMC instead... this is just the same as the gauges in the GMC Fleet Optioned trucks, which were Chevy Gauges with a GMC branded plexiglass cover installed instead.