New Member, 1972 GMC 2500, Purchased New By My Grandparents

[harrydunn]

Hello Leon--

Key only turns clock-wise (unlock). Won't budge the other direction. Heading out to the garage now to take another crack at it...

--Mark

[harrydunn]

Originally Posted by kcsa75

Finally, I see you hail from Columbia, MO. To that, I have but one thing to say: Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Go KU!

My brother's and I all attended Mizzou and I now work at Mizzou in computers. Go Tigers!

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by harrydunn

Hello Leon--

Key only turns clock-wise (unlock). Won't budge the other direction. Heading out to the garage now to take another crack at it...

--Mark

That's odd, maybe the mechanism is just gummed up. I would try spraying a little PB Blaster on the parts you can see down inside the door along with the back of the lock cylinder. Then slide the key in and out a few times and wiggle it up and down, then try turning it again. If that doesn't do it you will have to take the lock cylinder out and try to turn it with the key. There is a clip that holds the lock cylinder in. It has a tab that sticks out so you can get a hold of it. It slides in between the lock cylinder body and the inside of the door and slides out toward the front of the truck.

Any more questions post up...

LockDoc

[harrydunn]

Leon--

You're my new best friend. It's amazing what some PB Silicone Lube will do when sprayed down the window gap. The locks turn smooth as silk after some exercising.

I was not looking forward to taking the door panel off in these temps.

Thanks,

Mark

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by harrydunn

Leon--

You're my new best friend. It's amazing what some PB Silicone Lube will do when sprayed down the window gap. The locks turn smooth as silk after some exercising.

I was not looking forward to taking the door panel off in these temps.

Thanks,

Mark

No problem "Friend"..... Glad you got it fixed... And welcome to the best board on the net.

LockDoc

[moovinmetal]

Congrats on your fine purchase. Very nice truck. I would have loved to have had it but, also im glad it stayed in the original family. I would love to have a few of my grandfathers or even my fathers old trucks back. This board is awesome welcome aboard and good to see another local.

[RED72blazer]

Great truck and story! I was given my Grandfathers original and purchased new 1979 Ford f250 Supercab in about the same shape as your truck.....It's a great connection to be able to drive his truck and I think about him everytime i do...

[RenoKeene]

Welcome...sorry for the loss of your grandparents and congrats for keeping the truck in your family. Some things are just ment to be.
I have a couple questions:
Has your seat been recovered? I posted a thread here a while back with my 72 "Camper Special Time Capsule" that may only have 36K miles on it and the seat looks just like yours, could yours be original?
Also you might want to swap out the chevy side marker lights for GMC.
Very, Very nice truck!

[harrydunn]

Not sure about the seat. I'll have to ask my mother, aunt and uncle. As far as the sidemarker lights go, I'm fairly certain those are original. I've seen many '72 3/4-tons online with these marker lights. Could be wrong I suppose.

[RenoKeene]

A lot of guys prefere the chevy to the GMC marker lights and swap them out, might have happened in 88?
Here's my "Time Capsule". My 70 GMC also has the same lights.

[harrydunn]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

A lot of guys prefere the chevy to the GMC marker lights and swap them out, might have happened in 88?

Highly doubtful. He was 77-years-old in 1988. Maybe somebody can chime in and clear this up.

[RenoKeene]

You mentioned it was partially restored in 1988......

[harrydunn]

It was, but at 77-years-old, I doubt he was too concerned about the side marker lights.

[RenoKeene]

Seems I may be wrong about the Chevy-GMC thing....Classicparts.com lists them as standard (yours) and deluxe (mine) available on both models.
I learn something every time I get on this site

[sjarrett71]

Nice truck and welcome to the board from Rolla!!

[factorystock]

Welcome, and thanks for sharing your beautifully preserved truck. The condition shows pride of ownership over the years. Your truck is an excellent representation of how great these trucks look stock from the factory "as is". Most seem to think they all need chrome wheels to look good, which your photos proves is not true. I would never sell it, it is family history. Remember if it ever gets sold, the new owner may very well slam it, convert to 1/2 ton, shorten the bed, and of course install mag wheels on wide tires.The 16" 2 piece rim you have never had a safety recall, it was the older 3 piece 15" (early 60's 3/4 ton) that had the problem. 2 piece wheels just need to be serviced at a competant truck tire dealer, not your typical car tire shop,also just make sure you always carry a good spare tire. Sure servicing truck rims can be dangerous if you don't know what your doing, just like trying to jump start a battery and attaching Pos (+) to Neg (-). If your uncomfortable with the 2 piece rims,you can upgrade to a similar stock looking 1 piece 16" rim from the early to mid 80's era, and you can keep your stock dog dish hubcaps.

[harrydunn]

Thanks for the nice comments. I feel better about the split rims too.

Thought I'd post a photo of the original '72 Missouri license plate. I was lucky enough to stumble upon roughly 40 license plates in my grandfather's garage about a week before the auction. I grabbed a set for the birthyear of myself and two brothers as well. '72, '75, '77.

[dougo]

Welcome to the board... congrats on the truck (Very Nice) - very cool that it stays in the family.

I think it looks great, I'd be comfortable with the wheels - although just my opinion. Looks great!

doug

[matthew20061]

That looks like a great original truck! Congrats on keeping it original and in your family!

[BearFlagRepublic]

That's great you were able to keep it in the family!! I've got a nephew who is already trying to figure out how he can get his hands on my truck when I die (he's 8 and I'm 24.) I told him by the time I die this truck will likely be close to 100 years old and he can have it!!!

[JohnC]

Glad to hear you got the door lock figured out. There is a wealth of knowledge on here. So many people make a lot of projects easier!

That license plate is in awesome condition too. Are you allowed to run the old plates in MO? I know some states you can as long as you have the new style up to date, and in the vehicle.

[harrydunn]

I called the DMV Monday and they were clueless. Not surprised. It says on their website that I can indeed run them but I think I would be limited to "antique status" and only allowed 1,000 miles per year plus trips to shows, etc. If anybody has info. on this for Missouri, please let me know. I'd love to run the original plate.

Thanks.

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by harrydunn

I called the DMV Monday and they were clueless. Not surprised. It says on their website that I can indeed run them but I think I would be limited to "antique status" and only allowed 1,000 miles per year plus trips to shows, etc. If anybody has info. on this for Missouri, please let me know. I'd love to run the original plate.

Thanks.

PM member 72BlckButy.
He has a "year specific" plate on his '69.

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Here's a couple pics of the steering wheel.
I appears to be worse than I remembered.
Also the color is off.

Original '69 thru '72 steering wheels are notorius for cracking and literally falling apart. Probably almost impossible to find an excellent beige wheel. Looks like the saddle color from photo. Unforfunately not all colors are reproduced at this time. Your truck really should have a color coordinated wheel. I would have some paint made to match the color of the column and paint over a new reproduced wheel. You can take the glove box door off ( I believe this is the same color) and use as a sample to the paint shop (easier than pulling off turn signal housing). After painting, it would probably need some type of hard clear coat to preserve the color?

[72BlckButy]

What another beautiful MO survivor, and welcome to the board from another Mid-MO board members.

I recall speaking with someone the weekend of the sale and they mentioned, "As soon as one person would place a bid, there was someone else counter-bidding right after that. They "wanted" that truck."

Now it makes sense...

Can't wait to get a closer look at the truck sometime this spring; it couldn't have gone to a better person. (I think your grandfather would agree)