Intro from an old Assembly Plant guy

[83GMCK2500]

Keith, what a great thread you have here. Thank you for sharing your life and history with GM with us. I am a pretty new guy here but not to forums on the internet and it is nice when you can find this degree of closeness. I too have a truck with a lot of family history that will be my project in the future. As it is, it's still very much driveable and enjoyable. One of my goals is to add factory options to it as they would have been available in 1983. I've sourced doors with PW & PDL to gut, I also have the interior harness and relay for the cab, I have the cargo light kit, I have a set of cab clearance lights, I have a cruise control kit and a few other things.

I assume this is the thread for questions about your truck. My question to you concerns your tach, did you add it or was it some ungodly rare option? It was my understanding that the tach was no longer an option after 1981.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by 83GMCK2500

I assume this is the thread for questions about your truck. My question to you concerns your tach, did you add it or was it some ungodly rare option? It was my understanding that the tach was no longer an option after 1981.

Thanks for the comments.

The tach was available (in general); however I added mine after the fact.

It was available on everything prior to the Stop Order, but when the SO was lifted Engineering Specifications re-released the tach for the M62/M64 column shifted three speeds but *forgot* the MY6 trans. As a result, it was not available through the dealership ordering process even though I knew the parts would fit and function. I tried my best to get them to fix the engineering release but was not successful.

I grabbed one after the truck had about 1500 miles on it and it has been going strong ever since.

K

[old Rusty C10]

LOL Keith do you know the guy who decided to put those lousy torx bolts to hold seatbelts in every GM vehicle??? Id really like to beat him with my3/4 drive breaker bar!!!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by old Rusty C10

LOL Keith do you know the guy who decided to put those lousy torx bolts to hold seatbelts in every GM vehicle??? Id really like to beat him with my3/4 drive breaker bar!!!

No - I can't think of who it would be, but I want second crack at him!!

Seriously, that's why my truck still has the original belts in it. I started to pull them out, beginning on the passenger side, but twisted the head off every bolt. Since I could repair them from the bottom (by cutting the square weld nut off and replacing with a loose nut and bolt) I figured I'd better quit before I got to the driver's side - which would be blocked from underneath by the fuel tank!

I figure if I ever have the tank out for some reason I'll twist that one off and repair it while I am at it.

K

[old Rusty C10]

I was working on my other truck today... the Chevy S 10 and i thought i had it made... three of the four mounting bolts wewre the nuts with the attached washer on them ... the fourth connector has the seat belts attached and had the torx head bolts... I finally got the right decent torx socket and they promptly stripped out... what we did was to take an 11/16 bolt and hold it upside down and sketch out the head of the bolt, cut it out with the makita 3 1/5 inch grinder and jam a socket on it then ratchet it out that way..then off to lowes to find the correct replacement bolt and washers
turned an hour job into a three and half hour adventure..

[83GMCK2500]

Shoot guys...(knock on wood) I have NEVER had a problem with those torx bolts on the interior. NOW those friggen philips-head that hold the tailgate handle on can die in a friggen fire. I want a piece of the guy that spec'd those bolts.

[Keith Seymore]

Well guys - I was doing a "mid winter" assessment of how lil Red is holding up under his first snow season and.... everything is looking pretty good. The cheap "driver quality" trim rings are not going to make it, and the outside mirrors are getting a little pockmarked but everything else (especially anything painted "red") is holding up ok.

At any rate, I noticed a little trick that I hadn't shared with you all yet:

I was looking at my tires. They are just a cheap P235/75R15 of some type, but they are whitewalls. Naturally, for the ones on the ground I just had them mounted with the whitewall "in", but I didn't want to see the w/w from underneath the truck.

So - I just painted over them, allowing the black Krylon from painting the backside of the rally wheel to go over the tire sidewall.

That's probably not a big deal but then I realized that the spare tire up in the bed of the truck was going to be visible from both sides - and - that the white wall would also be visible and not match. So I did the same thing: just put a nice coat of Krylon on the back sidewall of the tire.

I know it sounds hokey. It cracked a little bit where the tire pulled into the bed rail upon installation but, other than that, so far so good...

[JohnC]

Great tid bit on the tires Keith. Also glad to hear the update on how the truck is holding up after the refreshment.

[truckfan]

too bad the poor thing had to be out in the cold all winter......

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by truckfan

too bad the poor thing had to be out in the cold all winter......

Yah. I agree.



It's never even been inside my garage.

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Well guys - I was doing a "mid winter" assessment of how lil Red is holding up under his first snow season and.... everything is looking pretty good. The cheap "driver quality" trim rings are not going to make it, and the outside mirrors are getting a little pockmarked but everything else (especially anything painted "red") is holding up ok.

I haven't forgotten about you all; I have been just waiting for winter to be over so I can see how everything held up. This was 'lil red's first Michigan winter in many, many years (21 years, to be exact). It was 75 degrees a couple days this week so I'm sayin' were DONE! (...I hope...).

As it turns out, things look pretty good.

The cheap trim rings were the first casualty. They started with some surface rust right after their first exposure to snow/salt:



I've replaced them with some Wheel Vintique stainless parts which I got through the Summit catalog. These actually saw a little snow and look no worse for wear. I think they are going to hold up ok:



The outside rearview mirrors were the only other problem. They corroded and got pock marked. I tried cleaning them up but to no avail; ended up just purchasing another set of mirrors and replacing them outright. I also snapped off the retaining screw removing the driver's side, so I liberally applied some "never sieze" when I went back together.





I might save those old ones and paint them silver for winter use - or - I might just put new mirrors on the truck every spring, since they are not really that expensive in the grand scheme of things.



Here's why I love the vinyl flooring in my trucks :





...and here it is, looking pretty much like when I took a simliar photo back in September of last year.

[tucsonjwt]

Keith - way off subject, but since I am a former Michigander, I have been following this story about the only true "wolverine" ever seen in Michigan which was just found dead in the Thumb area. I don't know if you have seen this also, but being a UM grad, I have an affinity for wolverines. The second story shows actual live pics and video of this magnificent animal.

http://www.mlive.com/environment/ind..._michigan.html

http://www.mlive.com/environment/ind...ine_has_a.html

[djinva]

I'm new here and this is an awesome read. I've probably had 20 Chevy pick ups over the years and just bought a 71. My first vehicle was a 71 stepside with a 307 and a 4 speed with a vertical gate shifter(of course this wasn't original), I really abused that truck. I probably be a little easier on this one.

[menace121978]

wow... its amazing what the salt does to stuff. i never thought just 1 winter would eat up the the trim rings and mirrors like that! crazy...

looks awesome all cleaned up again... looks just like it rolled off the factory assembly line

[Keith Seymore]

I was right! Spring has officially sprung in Michigan!

Stopped by the Autozone bookstore cruise this morning. We've been meeting off and on all winter long but today was definitely the first "big" gathering.

The truck was clean and available, so I ended up just driving that. Those of you that have "cool" daily drivers can appreciate how nice it is to just hop in your daily and participate in a cruise or a show...







"One of these things is not like the others..." Can you spot the daily driven Chevy pickup amongst the Corvettes and Ferarris?



It wasn't a bad (or particularly long) winter; just didn't do a lot of automotive stuff; but it's good for the nice weather to be back!

K

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by menace121978

wow... its amazing what the salt does to stuff. i never thought just 1 winter would eat up the the trim rings and mirrors like that! crazy...

looks awesome all cleaned up again... looks just like it rolled off the factory assembly line

I think the quality of the repop chrome is just not that great (or due to "modern" government regulations regarding hazardous materials).

Compare those to the original door handles and/or bumpers - which still look very presentable...

Thanks, btw -

K

[Keith Seymore]

Thanks, Longhair!

(lol) -

[Keith Seymore]

It's on a different thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=388141

[scruffre]

Hey Keith, just wondering whats involved in removing the shifter? I'm putting the same trans in my Blazer 4X4. Thanks

[Keith Seymore]

Cool set up!

The shift lever is designed with some little spring clips to retain it into the shifter base - so going together is easy, because you just push it in and seat it.

Coming out is a little tougher, because you have to get down in there and "trip" those retaining tabs.

I used a couple of small pieces of thin aluminum, but you could use anything thin and fairly strong, like a steel six inch scale. Stick it down beside the shift lever and the base, one on each side, and give the shifter a good pull.

If everything works right it should come right out!

Let me know how you do.

K

[USSkoval]

Originally Posted by scruffre

Hey Keith, just wondering whats involved in removing the shifter? I'm putting the same trans in my Blazer 4X4. Thanks

That's something I don't remember seeing before. What tranny model would that be?

[D13]

I love what you've done to the truck. To avoid thread clutter I sent you a PM about a couple of items.

My favorite trucks have all been 6 banger manual heater only rubber floors.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by D13

I love what you've done to the truck. To avoid thread clutter I sent you a PM about a couple of items.

My favorite trucks have all been 6 banger manual heater only rubber floors.

Thanks, I saw that. I'll reply in a minute -

K

[scruffre]

Hey Keith
Your instructions for taking the shifter out worked perfectly. I got everything changed over rather painlessly
Here's a link to the progress http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=1#post3962721

[Keith Seymore]

This is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time now; ever since I found the old tow bar hanging on the wall at Mom & Dad's house.

I put a hitch on the Grand Prix over the winter and finally got to try it out today -









That's how we used to roll, back in the day!