55.2-59 58 GMC Suburban NAPCO and Chevrolet 3166

[1project2many]

Wow, that sounds amazing. How do you have a clock and a tach at the same time??

That's a fair question. I remembered it as having a factory clock in the RH side of the dash but that's clearly not the case looking at photos. My mistake. It definitely had a clock though because I gave that to a GMC guy I met several years later along with a pile of other GMC parts I'd saved.

This truck sounds like somebody got an inheritance and went crazy. I can't imagine the guy who wants a Fiberglass cameo bed ALSO needs a 3/4 ton around the farm... I suppose if he had a really nice boat, but even the adverts show a man loading some super light peat moss into the bed at his suburban tract home.

Farm? No... Fairly nice section of town. Older homes, many of them owned by guys who retired from utility or city jobs. This guy's house was a bit bigger than the others but it wasn't being maintained. It was on a large lot with a pretty garage in the back. There was a small sized tree growing up between the frame rails behind the cab so maybe 15 years had passed since the truck was parked.

The truck was nice enough that folks who had been in town for a few years knew about it and remembered seeing it on the road when new. They could even tell me what long-gone dealership it had been ordered from. I don't remember the names of the old dealers there anymore. I was constantly looking for parts rigs while I built mine and several people told me I should check this one out. Owner said the rear axle was blown. It might have been but the drums were solidly rusted to the shoes and I didn't have the experience to get past that. The wheels wouldn't fit on my six lug truck though because I checked. I liked the old, knobby tires and had kid dreams of using them. I installed the power steering on my Chevy but because of the frame differences and my lack of experience I didn't do the job well. I used a newer pump without realizing there was a pressure difference and it kept blowing seals. Plus I had no way to duplicate the frame at the top of the box and my hacked attempt left the box installed slightly crooked. I did my best to duplicate the notch but I couldn't overcome the difference in the height of the frame rail. Never even notice that until I was trying to bolt up the box.

Your reply sounds sarcastic but generally you're helpful to folks. I have an honest question about a truck I owned for a short time 35 years ago. The configuration disagrees with published facts but as I double check what I remember there are things such as not being able to use the wheels, the truck having cab marker lights, my clear memory of "things sticking out through the wheels" (first time seeing a full floating rear) and even notes on the 3/4 ton version of the trans in the GMC having different gear ratios than the Hydramatic in one of my 1/2 ton Chevy trucks. Without actually seeing the bed there's no way to confirm it had the fiberglass version. So could a determined person have special ordered a truck built with the same options on a 3/4 ton chassis? What if they had a friend at the dealership??