67-72 chevy U.S Forest service trucks ?

[66skylarkpost]

i have had my 72 short box stepside for about 3 years where i ve known the guy that owned it for 10 years before me . i was told it was used for a state parks near chadron nebraska . now i came across a similar truck on ebay from wyoming . what got my attention is the primered top and the screw holes on the door . ive written the seller and discussed it all with them and its been very interesting . both this truck and mine both have shoulder harnesses also . i've added a guage cluster ,changed springs , steering wheel ,the door panels , added the chrome bumpers ,added the deluxe marker lenses, and power steering . im sure i am forgeting something ,and oh yeah of course a buick 455 , but its pretty much the way i got it . i am waitng on apic of thier glovebox label to comepare it to mine . does anyone here have knowledge of how and where this trucks were ordered , and if anyone has seen any ? and how rare is the shoulder harnesses . i thought mine was aftermarket , but its the same as this truck , im assuming the goverment wanted them . here the link and a pic of mine . http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevr...QQcmdZViewItem

[Bob Moore]

The E-bay truck shoulder belts do not look factory to me. Look like add-ons. I have found Gov. speced trucks with the belts that were identical to those in the Factory Assembly Manual. Not saying they are not genuine just not "factory".

[66skylarkpost]

ive heard real harnesses are rare , mine look just like the ones on the truck on ebay , the latch looks generic . maybe a dealer or government add on ?

[PanelDeland]

I would guess these trucks were from the same good form that got us YENKO'S,Baldwin Motion and other good stuff all those many wonderful years ago.They were probably COPO or Central Office Production Order.That was a program where you could get a big block in a Camaro.The COPO program was originally intended to allow for ordering trucks such as these and specially equipted vehicles for various purposes.Some other COPO options that I have seen were extra heavy overload springs on a one ton-used as a bucket truck by an eletric company.
A hugger Orange paint with oxblood(maroon) interior(I presume this was to make it so ugly no one would steal it)
Of course there were the Camaros,Nova's and Dickey(now of Scoggin-Dickey) heavy Chevy Chevelles.
Maybe we should make a list of COPO options somewhere.
Camaro had some unusual options available such as a traction system which was mounted in the trunk and sprayed traction compound on the right rear(maybe both)tires.Of course there were kleenex holders and other such items.Many of these were COPO available or dealer ad-on depending.
Back in the day you could order a vehicle the way you wanted it.For instance the option of power windows was a single option not restricted to the cars with the "Conveinience package"Some of the mixes of options were rare and strange,like a bare bones 4X4 with Granny 4 speed and tilt wheel so a plus size(is that the proper politically correct term)farmer could fit more easily in his truck.
Anyway for some of the less "mainstream options" I would assume the factory bought from aftermarket vendors or used non-standard parts from existing suppliers.This may be the case with those shoulder belts.

[s95930]

My truck has factory Shoulder belts.It is on the glove box sticker. They are seperate from the lapbelt. You have to buckle the lap belt and then buckle the shoulder belt. I normally just use the lapbelt.

I am going to update it one of these days.

[skchevota]

I had( I will get it back one day) a 68 rs camero with factory sholder belts, they looked like a long lap belt and yes you had to bucle it seperate as well.

[66skylarkpost]

as for the belts i have nothing on my glove box door . they have the name 'lester' on the inside .they too are separate from the lap belts. as for the special order , it has the option codes 050AA2 SPEC PROCESSING 2 , 4001FG SPECIAL PAINT 2 , G80 POSITRACTION , LS9 350 CU IN V-8 ENGINE , M20 4-SPEED TRANSMISSION ,J80 HYDRAULIC BRK BOOSTER ,and then alot of heavy duty including T60 HEAVY DUTY BATTERY , G50 HEAVY REAR SPRING ,V01 H D RADIATOR ,8B2AA2 PERM ANTIFREEZE 3 , 6K2AA2 SPARE TIRE LOCK , V38 PAINTED REAR BUMPER , F51 FRT & RR SHOCK ABSORB ,626 PARCHMENT TRIM , AND LAST U37 CIGARETTE LIGHTER . whats is a cigarette lighter doing in a forest service truck ?

[66skylarkpost]

here's the option list that the seller of the truck on ebay emailed me . the options are numbered/lettered different than mine . being this one is a '69 and mine is a '72 , did chevy change option codes

[66skylarkpost]

i got a ? , my '72 has the deluxe mirrors ?there nothing on the options list , were they original ? were the standard in '72 ? there are no other holes on the doors where other mirrors could of been .

[jimmydean]

I got a question. Who is going to pay $5000 (and the reserve isn't met) for a rust bucket with a frozen motor?

Am I missing something?

[409biscayne]

Hey skylark
Did you ever check for a build list jammed up under the seat , in the springs . My last 2 trucks still had there's . Just a thought . That will also shed some light on how equipped , when built , etc.

[66skylarkpost]

hello ,my first name's Steve . im sure that someday i will get the seat out , i will have to look. mice may have gotten to it , it sat for a number of years before i got it . ive been gathering parts over the last few years , so far i have a sweet a/c cab with a rust free front clip and another box .with fenders hanging here in my office . where someday... .

[wolfthing2000]

A trip down memory lane for me for sure. I worked for the Forest service and we had some 67s back in the day that look similar to the one on e-bay shown here. They were set up as a 10,000 lb. GVW wih extra low gears, inline 6, and 4 speed trannys. Top speed about 55. Would haul or tow about anything. Spent lots of days in em, other makes also. The number mentioned on the roof of the truck on e-bay was it's radio call number. In a fire situation a spotter plane from the air could "direct traffic" so to speak by seeing these numbers.
5,000 is a ridiculous price for this truck.
The grey color on the roof is not primer, just a color scheme that they all had, be it Dodge, international, Ford or what have you. The USFS current day has dropped the green and gone with a fleet white color ( to save money so they claim, however they paint a green stripe scheme along the side, so what is the diff?? Spend the extra 10 bucks on the pigment for the green or stripe the side????

Some of the older Forest Service trucks have a lighter tint than the newer almost grass green color of more recent trucks.

[s95930]

here is my sticker. It is for a GMC so codes may be different.

[wolfthing2000]

One particular IH Class 1 tanker that I was a crew member on ( they call them engines current day) was staged on a road we were trying to hold a particularly hot and nasty fire from crossing, when winds came up and things got particularly nasty. What I recal happening in the blink of an eye was a gail of hot wind, sparks first face on until we turned our backs and dove behind and under that IH . The fire was now on both sides of the road and within about a half of a minute we were straifed heavily with a load of borate (retardant) from a fire plane. I owe my life to both truck and plane, but in my mind it was mostly the shield from that old 59 IH that kept off the searing heat and sparks and allowed us breathing air under it's chassis for just long enough to live!!!
We headed home that late afternoon after fire was controlled with the most ungodly pinkish red truck you have ever seen!! Some of that retardant was evident in that ruck and our clothes for some time to come.

Fond memory!!

[wolfthing2000]

Forgot to mention, later as we washed the truck, there was a very evident wrinkling indicating some melting on a tail light lense that was on the side of the IH on the leading edge side of the fire!!! Every time I rubbed her down with Turtle Wax, ( the govmnt had it by case loads, same color as trucks ) I felt a little different about the care of that old girl , kinda like she was one of my own!!

[basketcase]

My '69 short sepside was supposed to be some sort of park service or forest service truck in Idaho according to the previous owner. The guy he bought it from bought it out there. It's yellow with a tan interior and originally a 307, turbo 400. 3.73 rear, p/s, p/b and several other options but no shoulder belts. It had a big 3 bolt base antenna on the right side behind the door, probably a whip type and another antenna of some sort on the left front of the roof over the driver. All that is left is the holes. Also there was a mic bracket on the dash and a few other holes for some type of radio equipment.

It also has a ball in the bed for a goose neck trailer which seems rather odd for a 1/2 ton. I wonder how many of us have old government trucks. There used to be a bunch of old gas company '72 short steps around here in light blue with sixes. Most of them were pretty rusty when they were done with them though.

Tom

[nu2-72]

My guess on the belts is a factory option at maybe $14.00 but our government went aftermarket for $1400.00. LOL Tax money well spent.
With $300.00 hammers out there, maybe 5k is what Uncle Sam would pay for this truck in the current condition.
But in all fairness, the owner has every right to ask his price.

[Longhorn Man]

Back to the COPO responce, if it was COPO, it would say it ont he SPID label. There's a member or two here who have it.

[bagged91]

[QUOTE=PanelDeland;2002895]
Camaro had some unusual options available such as a traction system which was mounted in the trunk and sprayed traction compound on the right rear(maybe both)tires.Of course there were kleenex holders and other such items.QUOTE]

This was called "Liquid Tire Traction" & was also available on Firebirds. My 69' Bird 400 coupe has the liquid tire traction option(sprays on both tires), along with power trunk release, fold down rear seat, comfortweave(deluxe) upholstery with a bench seat & folddown armrest, column shift & tilt wheel... A few wierd options on it... Little off topic but since it was brought up, figured I would chime in...

[66skylarkpost]

i bought me a new camera .woohoo ! took a nice picture of my SPID label

[Maruska]

Didn't want to bring this thread back from the dead BUT....

Picked this old girl up in April. State Park truck from Aberdeen, SD. The best part is the US Property nomenclature tag screwed to the dash. Has 287,000 miles on it. Wasn't originally ordered as a service truck though based on the info given to me. Pretty cool old pick up.