Intro from an old Assembly Plant guy

[Keith Seymore]

In spite of considering myself to be an "old school" mechanic, I couldn't find the bottle opener that I thought was in my tool box.





Fortunately, it's times like this when it pays to be "mechanically inclined"...

[Keith Seymore]

Today is a special day; it's my "Seniority date".

It was 31 years ago today that I started at Chevrolet Flint Assembly!

K

[3r!c84]

How did you do that!?!!?!

[85chevylwb]

welcome keith, glad to have you aboard, guys if you will notice the link that bigblock posted on page 1, keith narrated the photos. def an assest to us all!!

[WigglesTheHoly]

happy birthday? ForumDay? any congrats btw Truck looks really good.

[CaliDude76]

Wow Mr. Seymore.. thats cool that you have soo much knowledge on these chevy's... Do you think that these year trucks.. 73-87.. are arguably the best years for fit and finish that GM ever made?? Also... Didnt GM figure the cabs were a bit tight.. behind te driver's side.. for big guys?.. LOL Im 6 foot 230. luv my truck.. thank God I have tilt!

[BGRAFX]

Congrats Keith! You've been an inspiration to us all!

[tucsonjwt]

Congratulations. Is that a 31 year old bottle of Coke? Here in the southwest, the Mexican supermarkets sell Coke in an old style bottle like that - imported from Mexico made with real cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. They cost about $1 per bottle.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by tucsonjwt

Congratulations. Is that a 31 year old bottle of Coke?

Yes - I was saving it for my daughter's wedding....






...I'm kidding, of course. I got that at Costco, and it is as you say - bottled in Mexico with real cane sugar. In spite of my highly specialized Coke tastebuds, I haven't been able to tell much of a difference so far (other than the bottles are so danged cute).

K

[USSkoval]

The Mexican Cokes have been sold around here for a while now too. I can tell a difference and it makes for a nice change of pace every now and again.

And like you said, it's cool to drink it from a bottle

[turbo350]

Dig the tow bar pics. Cold beverages taste much better out of glass than plastic or aluminum imo

[glimmertwin01]

Hi Keith
Great post... i was reading it at work yesterday but it blocked pics so i sent it to my laptop
you are a resource for info! im restoring an old 74 K5 ... NY has taken its toll on an old GA truck but its worth saving IMO.
hey BTW you can open those cokes with a Bic Lighter ( I know from my old days drinking Bud Longnecks and Blues....LOL ill show ya sometime..
nice to meet a real GM guy...

[Keith Seymore]

A couple notable updates:

a) I forgot to mention, but back more towards the first part of the month I participated in a car show with the truck.

It was hosted by a friend of mine, and he was always supportive of me when I was doing a local church sponsored show, so I wanted to be there and show him support for his show. The weather was really awful, so rather than taking one of the Pontiacs I decided to take the truck. Drove it over there (in the rain) and didn't even wipe it off during the judging.

You probably have already guessed where this is heading:

I won "Best Truck"...





b) Also - I'm now a "double member" of the board. I bought a '97 Suburban earlier this week. We have enough drivers at home that we needed one more vehicle, and decided this one needed to have passenger carrying capability. Bought it from the original owner, super well maintained - and - it didn't hurt that it was "black"!



Should have no problem hauling kids or (...hidden agenda...) pulling the trailer.

K

[BGRAFX]

Keith- I have a couple of questions for you about my newly purchased suburban...How can I get the paint codes from the custom paint job that was done I assume by a dealership as a conversion package? And Do All trucks have the VIN# etched into every window. This is the first time I've actually noticed the etching in the lower corner of all 8windows. (Barn doors)

[Keith Seymore]

Regarding paint codes: you'll have to get those through the dealer (or whomever did the "conversion", like Starcraft). Those paint stripes happened some time after final assembly.

Similarly, the VIN etching is not something that was required at the time nor was it done at the assembly plant. Probably something the dealership did as well.

K

PS - I was just thinking about those power mirrors the other day. In hindsight, I can't believe we actually did that (lol).

[BGRAFX]

The previous owner said he took the ground effects step piece off the spanned from the from wheel well to wheel well. There are no stickers that indicate where the conversion was done. I'm in the process of changing to white painted bumpers and white grill. I think will give it a nice clean appearance. As always thanks for your insight.

[1987GmcSierra]

Wow What a resume Keith U rock sir u will defintely be an asset Welcome to the Site i know my self i have built 3 of these trucks my favorite year is the 87 i love the tbi i have an 87 GMC and a custom deluxe I love my Chevy IM A BOWTIE DRIVER AND LOVER FOR LIFE GM ROCKS nothin runs like a Chevy


IM makin a truck even GM would envy lol 87 GMC sierra Swb 2wd TBI 7.4 454 all my favorite numbers in the same sentence Donor 1987 Gmc 3/4 ton Suburban freshin the motor up new gaskets and intake and headers i can so taste it lol

[D13]

Which ones are you bringing to the car show on the 28th? I know the truck will be there LOL! I thought about bringing mine (hoping to get ugliest truck) but right now the trans is down and the diesel has a serious miss (I'm hoping injector...)

[Keith Seymore]

I was thinking about bringing the Grand Prix/GTO combination, but didn't get a response from car show organizers about special parking.

As such, I signed up yesterday to bring the truck...

K

[PRUNEDA]

Hello Keith, I have a question. Do you know if GM ever produced a truck like ours with fog lights in the air dam? I have a friend that says that he has seen some and was once asked if his truck had fog lights when buying an air dam replacement at the dealer. Let me know what you think. Thanks

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by PRUNEDA

Hello Keith, I have a question. Do you know if GM ever produced a truck like ours with fog lights in the air dam? I have a friend that says that he has seen some and was once asked if his truck had fog lights when buying an air dam replacement at the dealer. Let me know what you think. Thanks

No; fog lights in the air dam would not be a production option.

Must have been an aftermarket part.

K

[tucsonjwt]

Keith - are you back in Flint building pickups again?

http://www.wnem.com/news/24325833/detail.html

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by tucsonjwt

Keith - are you back in Flint building pickups again?

http://www.wnem.com/news/24325833/detail.html

Yay! Assemble on, my Flint Assembly brothers!



Actually, I'm building Volts in Hamtramck and Opels at the PreProduction site in Warren.

But - as the saying goes - "once a trucker, always a trucker".

[junkyardjohn]

WOW!! FLINT ASSY. IS UP & RUNNING AGAIN. IT'S BEEN ABOUT 20 YEARS SINCE I'VE EVEN BEEN BY THERE, & I THOUGHT THE OLD BUILDING HAD BEEN TORN DOWN. THATS GREAT NEWS. THERE WAS AN AWFUL LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE THERE. IT'S TOO BAD WE DIDN'T KNOW EACH OTHER BACK IN THE EIGHTIES WHEN WE WERE BOTH THERE. I BET WE WOULD HAVE BEEN FRIENDS. I BOUGHT A NEW 86 SUBURBAN BACK THEN (KINDA FELT LIKE IT WAS MY DUTY) & HAVE NOTHING BUT CHEVY TRUCKS. (A 69,71,72,80,82 & A 84 CUCV BLAZER THAT I JUST FINALLY BOUGHT) GENEROUS MOTORS WAS VERY GOOD TO ME & I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE BAD THING TO SAY ABOUT THEM. P.M. ME (IF YOU WANT) WITH YOUR PHO.# & I'LL CALL YOU (I HAVE AN UNLIMITED CALLING PLAN) & WE CAN REMININCE ABOUT THE OLD DAYS. YOU SURE TRIGGERED ALOT OF OLD MEMORIES. JOHN RILEY (2nd Shift Layout Insp. Line 1)

[PRUNEDA]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

No; fog lights in the air dam would not be a production option.

Must have been an aftermarket part.

K

Thanks for confirming, your truck looks absolutely awesome in those pictures.