1966-81 Chevy H/J Series

[C10 - C90 Bill]

I would say it is a matter of opinion, or just personal choice, but I never looked at it that way. Actually dealing with Chevy cars and GM trucks in the '60's and early 70's, there was a lot of "imitation woodgrain" out there. They used it more on the fancier models in their cars.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

I agree with Bill, just personal choice. I always liked the look. But, each to his own.

[greywuuf]

I did not mean to offend anyone, Like I said I have only seen really old rough examples and the peeling decal look is just bad, new might have been fine. Anyway Ihave seen one video with a Black dash... kinda interested now if that is just a spray can job.. orif there were various "trim" levels offered? I notice on My SPID ( yes it is called mine... have an agreement to meet with the guy and exchange money and titles on oct 1 ) that it lists a "drivers conv.pkg" push button radio and chrome assist handles are called out separately...not sure what is left ?

[Bob B.]

Originally Posted by greywuuf

I did not mean to offend anyone, Like I said I have only seen really old rough examples and the peeling decal look is just bad, new might have been fine. Anyway Ihave seen one video with a Black dash... kinda interested now if that is just a spray can job.. orif there were various "trim" levels offered? I notice on My SPID ( yes it is called mine... have an agreement to meet with the guy and exchange money and titles on oct 1 ) that it lists a "drivers conv.pkg" push button radio and chrome assist handles are called out separately...not sure what is left ?

Keep an eye out on Ebay for a 'GMC Sales Data Book' for your truck. They pop up from time to time and usually don't go for much. It will list all options and option packages, R.P.O. codes, and even prices. Interesting reading, you won't believe what GMC offered back in those days.

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

This is what my 1969 GMC 8500 would have looked like back in its prime. This truck pictured is a 1973 I believe and has a one piece windshield, my truck has a split windshield. I'm slowly rebuilding it into a fire truck again after the Fire Dept. I got it from stripped it down to a cab and chassis. They gave me the original tank and lots of other parts, but the running boards and fenders went to the scrapper a few years ago.

[greywuuf]

weirdness prevails, this is a picture of the interior of the "spare" parts truck that come with my 6x6 J70
[IMG]Weirdness interior of my "spare truck" by Greywuuf, on Flickr[/IMG]

weird thing it it is a straight standard ( non powered ) front axle .

[greywuuf]

and a picture of the exterior..... this one is a single rear axle, tilt hood 5 speed 6v-53....also a Chevy
[IMG]Exterior of my spare parts truck. by Greywuuf, on Flickr[/IMG]

[greywuuf]

BTW, that is a nice looking truck Robert, thanks for posting it.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Originally Posted by Robert1970C20rstbukt

This is what my 1969 GMC 8500 would have looked like back in its prime. This truck pictured is a 1973 I believe and has a one piece windshield, my truck has a split windshield.

I'm curious to know what Engine you have in your 8500?

[greywuuf]

The engine in the fire truck is listed in his signature

[C10 - C90 Bill]

I see it now, thanks.

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

greywuuf, you're welcome. I was looking for pictures of other trucks built by National Foam from Chester, PA and found several GMC 8500's they built from the late 60's to early '70's. The rear body/tank on my truck is identical to the truck in the picture, so at least I have a reference to how the truck was built.

Bill, it does have the factory 478 Magnum V6 under the hood. It has close to 14,000 miles and about 750 hours on it. Over the years someone replaced the original Stromberg WW carb with a Holley, and replaced the oil bath filter with an Edelbrock racing filter. It always fires right up and runs great, plenty of power to haul 1200 gallons of water around and the pump still works great on it.

Here are some more trucks I found. The first three 8500's were built by National Foam, the last one was a shop built truck and is a 7500. I believe all of them have the 478M V6. The first truck is a 1969, the second two from the Joliet Refinery are 1971's, and the last one is a 1973.

[greywuuf]

it will be a while yet, but there will be a short video of my spare parts truck running on you tube https://youtu.be/KarXbBa4aAk

[greywuuf]

Please disregard the previous post ( and maybe if you are an admin delete it ?) as i uploaded the semi processed file instead of the intended one and it did not take.... the correct link is https://youtu.be/IfpmiG_HeTo

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Sounds pretty healthy.

Will she rev?

[greywuuf]

She Wil rev, but the water pump is seized, the power steering pump is nearly empty, the bottom pivoted throttle is nearly solid and she could use some oil. Has not been run in years all the dash controls are VERY stiff (ie emergency shut off ) I made a list....and when I first started her I pulled the intake and had a piece of stiff rubber mud flap handy to cover the intake with......worried about the rack. Still am as I have not realy run her up beyond about 1500-2000 yet (tach is also sticky and sluggish) figured I would wake her up slow. Get some penetrating oil on things and limber her up ...probably monday we will get an "Angry" DD video up....same exhaust (and very nearly the same truck) as that yellow and black 70 series Chevy on YouTube that has been shared here before.

[greywuuf]

Also...unlike the 70 series Chevy on YouTube ....which has the only brake pedal footage I have seen. This truck does Not have a top pivoted brake pedal....this one looks like a wider version of the bottom pivoted throttle (and it is nearly seized as well....liberally doused with penetrating oil and on my list of things to correct. Is a bottom swing brake weird or pretty normal?

[C10 - C90 Bill]

It's good that you are taking your time and not rushing anything.

We all can wait to hear it run more at a later time.

There is nothing like doing things the right way. It sure can pay off.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

My '71 9500 had the bottom pivoted brake pedal.

I actually prefer them more.

[greywuuf]

Second day of working on the truck, Water pump and throttle pedal freed up minor rev and a new discovery! https://youtu.be/gefucqZIbsI

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Sounds good.

Pretty cool that it will Dump.

Keep keeping us posted on it.

[greywuuf]

making headway towards bringing the big 6x6 home.



until it was inside I did not realize how TALL this thing is.. I am leaning on the fender in this photo.

[greywuuf]

AGGGGGG! just lost a huge post about the differences of these old trucks, to summarize,

I have one with a manual engine shut down one with key operated ( key on also activates something AIR but I don't know what yet ) i have bottom pivoted air brake pedals but have seen top in video I have seen at least 3 dash/gauge configurations and also door panels and Not.... can any one talk about why there are so many differences and if they were options or packages or year/model specific... or even engine driveline driven ? just want to know more about these old monsters. Thanks

[C10 - C90 Bill]

For Gauges, some are Standard, others may be Standard for a particular application, others may have been Options. But that said, my '71 9500 with the 637 V-8 Gas was "loaded" with Gauges. Although there still may have been an empty space or two. I would say that my truck's Gauges were Standard as I can't picture the cheap company that I worked for paying any more than they had to, lol. That's the main reason we got the 637, as it was probably about $1000 or two cheaper than the Detroit.

The other changes may just have been a year newer change. If I remember correctly one of your trucks is a '74 and the other is a '75, but maybe Bob or Dan can add more info to it than I can.

I'll have to try to find my '67 7500 pictures someday. I took a bunch. Hopefully the Dash as well. I owned it from '86 to '90.

Bill

[junkmandan3]

My 1970 Chev MHH 90 has hydraulic clutch linkage. The MH 9500 GMC had mechanical linkage in 1973.

2 early types or styles of 2 3/8" guages , till last year or so of Brigadier production size., then they used universal 2 1/8th