Prospective New Owner

[LongBox]

My name is Rick, live in Vancouver Canada, and right now, I'm looking at buying a 69 or 70 (not sure yet) GMC 910 long box wideside. It's all original, including paint, wheels, chrome dog dish hubcaps, and in remarkable shape, with no apparent rust, and only a few blemishes on the body. It is what would be called a "survivor".White roof, dark green body, wide chrome, possibly polished aluminum trim strips at the bottom of the body, plain jane vinyl interior bench seat, original AM radio, heater, and believe it or not, no power steering nor power brakes. It's a V8 with a 4 barrel on it, and an auto trans.

The original owner passed away, and his grandson is now selling "grampa's pride and joy". The original owner was a maintenance freak, and he's got all sorts of notes about oil/filters, etc. written on the firewall with felt pen. There is no battery in the truck, and I'm told it was put away properly when the old man died. No rust in the battery area, or anywhere else I've been able to look so far. Can't wait to lift up the carpet on the driver's side to see if there's any surprises there.

My issues with the truck are no AC, and no PS. Wonder if anybody has tried retrofitting either or both of those features. Another issue I have with it is that right now, there's a lightweight camper sitting in the bed, and my opinion is that with some exceptions, campers and half-tons don't play well together.

Will update this thread, hopefully later today, as the owner will be there this afternoon, to give me an opportunity to get a much better look, including a photo, I hope, of the SPID sheet on the glove box door.

I"m kinda excited about this, as back in the 70s, my daily driver was aa 71 GMC C-1500, but one a bit more dressed up than this one. Many happy memories of road trips in the old truck.

[truckster]

It's not that difficult to add PS and PB. For the AC you have the choice of going with an aftermarket unit (there are several available) or retrofitting a factory unit. Just be aware that the firewall will need to be modified if you're going for the factory unit. It's not impossible; if you do a search you'll find that some board members have done it and those threads have information on where to fill and where to cut to achieve the openings for factory AC.

Welcome, and I hope you enjoy making this truck your own.

[Warrens69GMC]

a buddy of mine and me added PS and PB in one day.

[LongBox]

Hey Warrens 69GMC. Is it just a matter of sourcing a PS pump and new steering box, then exchanging out the old box, fitting the new pump and belt, or do you have to do the column?

[Warrens69GMC]

What we did was find a 1973-1978 chevy truck in the salvage yard/ craigslist and robbed all of the brackets, accessories, power gearbox, etc off of that truck . If you are still running points you can grab the distributor as well.

Put in the gearbox, pitman arm in place and that phase is done-column swap not necessary- and then put all accessories in place. You will have to wire in the alternator, but there are many threads here to do that.

[LongBox]

Well...I bought the truck!! Gonna start a new thread on that! Thanks for the tips on the Power Steering. I go pick it up wednesday, and will see how it is to drive with Armstrong Steering!

[Warrens69GMC]

Originally Posted by LongBox

Well...I bought the truck!! Gonna start a new thread on that! Thanks for the tips on the Power Steering. I go pick it up wednesday, and will see how it is to drive with Armstrong Steering!

With non power steering, start to roll (forward or reverse) THEN turn - it will be much easier on you and your steering components...