things i found out about my truck

[60ratrod]

ok so during my week long head gasket fiasco that i encountered i found out some rather nifty things about my truck. from what a few people that i talked to about my 72 gmc, they were telling me that my truck was a special factory order. this was because it had a factory 350 4bbl, with ac, coil rear suspension, and factory power steering. also at one point my truck was the factory sky blue as well. but the thing that perplexed me about all of this is the fact that it doesn't have the factory power breaks. just weird if you ask me.

[special-K]

That`s just four fairly common options.All options are factory ordered.Most are ordered by dealerships and there were always those that an undividual spec`d out for his liking.One can guess by the unlikely combination of options and guess that it was ordered by an individual.The only thing that stands out is that GMCs came with leaf spring as standard rear suspension and your`s was ordered with coils.A guy may have wanted that softer ride but in a GMC.Some dealers may have felt keeping a couple coil-sprung GMCs on the lot would help sales against Chevys.
With option groups being first concieved on trucks in late-72,you`ll find any combo a guy wanted and nothing he didn`t.With discount option groupings trucks became alot more homogenized like cars.

[ChevLoRay]

Power steering became standard, later in the model run, I believe. Funny that power brakes didn't but I guess the change to disc brakes made it seemingly un-needed. Power disc brakes are the shiznit, I suppose. Mine has P/S and P/B. Until I had the front brake swapped to discs, they seemed touchy. With the discs, they're smooth.

Like was said, the options you have are standard fare. The 350 was still fairly new, and I'm guessing the intro of the 350 with the '67 Camaro made it pretty popular. Heck, we all wanted more power (insert Tim Taylor grunt). But 255 SAE horsepower wasn't enough, was it?

[60ratrod]

yeah, like i said, i found it odd that it doesn't have power breaks although it has all of the other options. oh well. guess i will just have to install oner ton hyd breaks in my truck. (sighs) oh darn

[Longhorn Man]

Some people never cared for power brakes back then. I know my grandfather refused to buy a truck with power steering or power brakes. Complained that it was just more crap to go wrong.
What makes you say your truck was special ordered? With the exception of the A/C and the 350, my old 69 GMC was optioned close to that;
C/1500 short/fleet
305 V6
TH400
chrome hub caps
upper chrome trim
custom comf
Custom trim
power steering
optional tires (can't remember the sizes off the top of my head)
coils in back (not an option in that model and year, base equipment)
4 row rad
Black cloth int
maroon paint ('69 only paint)

[60ratrod]

it was just something that i was told by some people that i know that know more about these trucks than i do

[special-K]

They probably were touched off by the coil rear suspension on a GMC.Most people took them how they came as far as coil or leaf goes.

[Palf70Step]

One thing about vehicles then and now, it was not uncommon for folks to go to the dealer and order the vehicle exactly like the want it. Today, we go and take whatever is on the lot. I would imagine most dealers would look at you like you are a nut case if you came in and tried to order a unique build one. Back then, I sometimes think they expected you to tell them how you wanted it, they order it, then you pick it up. So the words "custom ordered" really means you have more words for your E-Bay ad, rather than something as special as many folks today try to make it.

[Sweet72]

With regards to the GMC rear coil setup, my '72 was originally a fleet truck ordered by City of Greenville NC. and has coils. Makes no sense for a Municipality to request a non-standard coil spring fleet vehicle for work.???

[ChevLoRay]

My brother has a saying, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BS".

I have met people whom I thought were very knowledgeable about a subject in which I was interested, only to find out they didn't know "sic'em from c'mere". It doesn't mean that we have wrongly trusted them as a valuable resource, but it does mean that they don't know as much as we thought they did. It's hard to take when a valued friend dispenses some information about something that we know isn't right, yet we just let them talk because we value the friend, more than we want to set them straight at that moment. I have a friend like that, and I value him as an older brother I never had. He was our best man, and I just let him talk. There'll come a day when he is no longer here to talk to, and since he is 16 years older than my 60 years, we have no guarantee of how long that will be.

Descretion is the better part of valor, as they say.