Exciting News!! Blast From The Past!!!

[slow-1]

Awsome!

[STOCKISH]

KEEP US POSTED, I CANT WAIT TO SEE THIS TURN OUT FOR YOU!
Oops, sorry about the caps lock! lol

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Here is a "chart" to help with the confusing configurations in this post!

Aunt's house and truck Seller's house are in Capitol City
My house is on the Coast
Country estate and mechanic's shop are in my old home town

Wednesday I left my home on the coast and drove 150 miles to my family estate out in the country to prepare for the big day to get back my heirloom 1968 C10. This was necessary since the country estate's town is closer to where the truck was at the time (45 miles) and my mechanic lives in that town as well. I spent the night there, and Thursday morning I drove from the country estate to the capitol city and met my aunt (the same one who presented me the box that started this).

She drove me to pick up the truck and close this deal since it is not far from HER house. I left my 1981 C10 at aunt's house in anticipation of driving the 1968 C10 back the country estate (and later to the mechanic's house) after we closed the deal. We arrived and paid for the truck, then I set to the task of seeing if it would run. Turns out that the truck had not been started in several years, and the carb looked terrible. I put in the battery I brought with me, changed the oil, and put Sea Foam in the gas tank. The truck turned over, and fired right up when we poured gas in the carb. It ran for a minute, then would not run anymore unless gas was poured in the carb.

I had to leave and go back to the country estate in my 1981 C10 without the truck, so I had time to formulate a plan. I subscribe to AAA, and they only have two rules before they will tow a subscriber's vehicle. 1.) The vehicle must have valid state license plate on it and 2.) The subscriber must be with the vehicle. So Friday I called my insurance company, added the 1968 C10, took the signed title to the local DMV, and got a license plate for it. I then made arrangements to meet the seller back at his house.

I drove my motorcycle 45 miles to his house, (stopping to call AAA on the way), placed the tag on the truck, and waited for the tow truck to arrive. The tow truck arrived, loaded up the newly-registered truck, and I accompanied it to my mechanic's shop not far from the country estate. By this time it was night. What a day that was! I have no pictures to show yet, but the truck is now finally MINE!!! The mechanic is going to let me know what it needs to run properly, so I will keep everyone posted!!

[WIDESIDE72]

In the least it will need he fuel tank flushed. The worst case scenario is a new tank
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[jjzepplin]

Oh what a relief! Congratulations! I was on pins and needles LOL. Now to get that beast running. 45 miles on a bike? Whoo! At least it seems you have just a simple fuel issue. Clean the tank and a fuel pump, and carb rebuild.

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Here is another update. The gas tank is indeed encrusted with rust on the inside just like the sending unit was. I have ordered a new LMC sending unit, but I may not need it after all since my mechanic found an OEM tank with the original sending unit. More on that later. The carb has been rebuilt and the truck runs, but it stumbles due to the bad sending unit and rust in the tank. And I was very annoyed to find out that the engine was making a "tapping" noise. The mechanic adjusted the vaves and this quieted down most of the noise, but there is still some in the lower engine area. I guess I will drive this until this old 6 Cyl dies and then put a 350 in there. It was not to be a daily driver anyway. Back in 1985 several boys I went to school wrecked and totaled a 1968 Chevelle with a 350, and I just found out that that car still exists in the old home town junk yard with engine undamaged. I was considering buying it for the truck, but I have my reservations. More to come...

[MARKDTN]

Originally Posted by HIGHWAY BY THE SEA

... Back in 1985 several boys I went to school wrecked and totaled a 1968 Chevelle with a 350, and I just found out that that car still exists in the old home town junk yard with engine undamaged. I was considering buying it for the truck, but I have my reservations. More to come...

No way I would put an engine that has been sitting for 30 years in without at least taking it completely apart. Just too many unknowns. If you want a 350, buy a crate motor and be done with it. Better yet, do an LS conversion and have a nice driver. My .02.

Neat story. Glad you got your truck back.

[wgr2112]

Congratulations!

My dad had a 68 GMC when I was growing up. Base model as I remember.

I doubt I would ever find it as it was a total rust bucket back in 78!

It's probably been crushed and turned into a Honda by now.

[swamp rat]

Cool story!

[patdaly]

Dumb question, but if you aren't going to be hot-rodding it, ( and why would you ) then why not do a rebuild on the original 6? If you just want something cool sounding with a little more pep, Clifford Research still sells 4 barrel stuff and you can put duals with either headers or you can split the original manifold for a very unique, cool cruiser. Save all the original stuff and you can put it back to as rolled off the showroom anytime you like.

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Originally Posted by patdaly

Dumb question, but if you aren't going to be hot-rodding it, ( and why would you ) then why not do a rebuild on the original 6? If you just want something cool sounding with a little more pep, Clifford Research still sells 4 barrel stuff and you can put duals with either headers or you can split the original manifold for a very unique, cool cruiser. Save all the original stuff and you can put it back to as rolled off the showroom anytime you like.

I dislike the 6 cyls! I always have. My 1981 FRANKENTRUCK never performed so well with the 6 cyl as it has with the 350.

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

OK, the truck now has an almost-new gas tank installed (that I bought for $100) along with the new LMC sender (I am saving the OEM one while I test the LMC one). The carb had to be rebuilt again because one of the rebuild kit parts was bad. So the last thing (that I know of) to get it completely road worthy is the front right suspension that needs a new "shaft". I sure hate that the engine is making that "tapping" noise. It is not loud, but I figured that a rebuilt inline 6 cyl would have lasted better than this!

[TheSeeker]

I have a 250 in mine and it has always made a tapping noise, like a loud sewing machine. It took me forever trying to track down an exhaust leak before my grandfather (whose truck it was) told me that its just the noise from the lifters and has always done that haha. I do not know if its true, or there is a problem somewhere but it always just ticks right along, even after an oil change/valve adjustment.

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Originally Posted by TheSeeker

I have a 250 in mine and it has always made a tapping noise, like a loud sewing machine. It took me forever trying to track down an exhaust leak before my grandfather (whose truck it was) told me that its just the noise from the lifters and has always done that haha. I do not know if its true, or there is a problem somewhere but it always just ticks right along, even after an oil change/valve adjustment.

My old inline 6 in my 1981 C10 never did that, and my mechanic thought it was not normal in the 1968 C10 too....? HMMMM......? My long term goal is to lose the inline 6 and 3 speed transmission (undriveable in these days of cities of crowded and jammed roads) and put in a crate 350 and 700R4.

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

I forgot to mention in a previous post some more exciting news. I did some detective work to attempt to locate the man who did the frame-off restoration on this truck for my father 20 years ago. He was a GREAT body man despite the fact that he was confined to a wheelchair due to a car wreck. He did the best work of anyone I knew back home and I was SURE he would have been deceased like my father. Well, I found him, and not only is he still alive, but he STILL does this type work!! I need him for my cab corners that have done the "GM full-size truck thing" and rusted through, and a few other small rust spots. He has agreed to do the work, and he REMEMBERED working on this truck 20 years after the fact! This is relief to me because he "knows" the truck and I prefer mechanics/body workers who are familiar with my vehicles.

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

The truck no longer has its origanal horn button . There is only a deteriorated black rubber glob inside the steering wheel that will honk the horn if you press on it . I went to a junk yard and yanked a horn button off of another truck, now I need to buy the new rubber gasket from LMC. I seem to remember forum members saying they had problems installing them . I wanted to get opinions as to how easy and reliable these are before I buy one .

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

When my grandfather bought this truck all those years ago he bought it with NO options whatsoever (He was a notorious cheapskate). When my father restored this truck he put in a radio (in place of the delete plate) and a lighter plug, then changed the color with new paint. There is still no AC (yet) and there are no gauges other than gas and speedometer. But just like my father did when HE became the owner I am going to put my own spin on this truck. The gauge pod is going to be replaced with an oil pressure gauge, a temp gauge, an amp gauge, and maybe a tachometer. The motor will certainly be replaced eventually, and say good riddance to the straight-drive transmission since these are UN-USEABLE PAINS IN THE BUTT in crowded cities like where I live. I also am going to locate a front disk brake set up from a 1972 GM truck in a junk yard to make it safer. Yes sir, the fun has BEGUN!!!

[SCHRUMGMC]

Wonderful stories man, I hope I find my pawpaws truck some day, if this is possible so is my pawpaws truck

Brought a big smile to my face

Keep us posted

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Originally Posted by SCHRUMGMC

Wonderful stories man, I hope I find my pawpaws truck some day, if this is possible so is my pawpaws truck

Brought a big smile to my face

Keep us posted

NEVER give up on your pawpaw's truck! I certainly never did. As mentioned in a previous post I had an old truck registration of my father's with the VIN on it that I was going to try to use to track this truck down through the DMV. But due to those new privacy laws this was somewhat of a problem. And it would not have led me "exactly straight to" the last owner anyway because he had not retitled it when I was put into contact with him. It was still registered in the now-deceased buyer's name! I got lucky!
But if you look around in his old papers you may find something with a VIN on it to begin your quest for pawpaw's truck! When and where was it sold? Contact your probate court (if the truck was still his when he died) and maybe they can help. If the truck was in his will, he likely listed the VIN in it, and this will give you something to start with.

[SCHRUMGMC]

I found the VIN Number after months upon months of searching, and then finally had some help and tracked down the new owner, well he had sold it months before to a guy and forgot is name etc...Sold it for $1,800.....Well I've been trying for almost a year now to find it and own it again but no luck, who ever the new owner is hasn't put it in his name yet...Which really upsets me because I am so desperate to find it

[slikside]

What a great story. Thanks for sharing/posting. Hope you are able to make all those uprgrades you mention.

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

More updates:
I finally got the old I6 engine out of my heirloom Grandtruck! It had thrown the harmonic balancer wheel while driving down the interstate.


I just had a 1972 350 Blazer engine (fully rebuilt) installed, and a 1986 Corvette 700R4 transmission (fully rebuilt) with Lokar shift linkage.



The old manual steering column has been replaced with a tilt/automatic one rebuilt with NOS parts. Good thing I decided to do this. The old manual one FELL APART in the mechanics hands upon removal.



Here is the drive shaft which I had specially custom-built for this truck. The old one would not have fit, and had worn out parts.


A much better replacement rear bumper than the old junky one! Wish me luck figuring out where the license plate will go now!


More updates to come!

[Ken B]

Keep the updates coming and how about some pics of the truck itself...

['70_402]

Originally Posted by HIGHWAY BY THE SEA

More updates:
I finally got the old I6 engine out of my heirloom Grandtruck! It had thrown the harmonic balancer wheel while driving down the interstate.
http://imageshack.com/a/img923/1829/Eo33tm.jpg

I just had a 1972 350 Blazer engine (fully rebuilt) installed, and a 1986 Corvette 700R4 transmission (fully rebuilt) with Lokar shift linkage.
http://imageshack.com/a/img922/217/5Ljt9J.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img923/3789/7QKvFv.jpg

The old manual steering column has been replaced with a tilt/automatic one rebuilt with NOS parts.
http://imageshack.com/a/img923/5861/Wk5qNo.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img924/8686/ewbdBx.jpg

Here is the drive shaft which I had specially custom-built for this truck.
http://imageshack.com/a/img924/1699/CPkJBW.jpg

A much better replacement rear bumper than the old junky one!
http://imageshack.com/a/img924/1135/8vVd2W.jpg

More updates to come!

Since all your original pics were lost in the "Photobucket Crisis of 2017"..... can you repost them???

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Originally Posted by '70_402

Since all your original pics were lost in the "Photobucket Crisis of 2017"..... can you repost them???

Yes, I can. I have already rescued them from PhotoChuckIt and have them in a paid Image Shack account. I wish I could edit those old posts and replace the pictures..Admins....????
Also, for some reason my pictures show up as links on here, not actual pictures. Am I doing something wrong in posting them?