Intro from an old Assembly Plant guy

[Scootin 81 C20]

Wow is all I can say to what I've learned in these 4 pages. It makes me wonder what my truck has been though.

Keith, did/do you know anybody that worked in the Janesville, WI plant between '80 and '82? Another question, is there any way I can find out who ordered my truck, what they ordered on it, and where it was delivered to?

Thanks
Benjamin.

[WarBeard]

Hey Keith,Did you ever meet Dwayne Woodard at the desert proving grounds?

He is a good friend of mine and i always envied his job down there.I believe he was a test driver, he always said "You dont want my job unless to like driving in a big circle at 45MPH for hours on end"

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by motomech

Hey Keith,Did you ever meet Dwayne Woodard at the desert proving grounds?

He is a good friend of mine and i always envied his job down there.I believe he was a test driver, he always said "You dont want my job unless to like driving in a big circle at 45MPH for hours on end"

Yes - I know who he is (it was a pretty tight knit group out there).

I may have mentioned we used to do a "technology exchange" with the Air Force base across the road ("Williams Field"). We would allow their chief commander to come over to the Proving Ground and spend the day; similarly our PG director would go over to the Air Force base and get the grand tour.

Apparently our opinion of each other was pretty much the same. We'd think "...look at those clowns. All they do is fly around all day..." and they'd think "...look at those clowns. All they do is drive around all day...".

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Scootin 81 C20

Wow is all I can say to what I've learned in these 4 pages. It makes me wonder what my truck has been though.

Keith, did/do you know anybody that worked in the Janesville, WI plant between '80 and '82? Another question, is there any way I can find out who ordered my truck, what they ordered on it, and where it was delivered to?

Thanks
Benjamin.

Yes - I know a bunch of folks from Janesville, some of whom I am still in touch with.

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any build records for Chevrolet/GMC (other than GM of Canada, which can provide build documentation for vehicles either built or sold in Canada. I was able to get information on my Chevelle, which was built in Oshawa and sold here in the US).

K

[Motor City GMC]

Welcome to the board from Flint, Michigan, I drive by the truck plant every day.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Motor City GMC

Welcome to the board from Flint, Michigan, I drive by the truck plant every day.

Thank you.

I can "smell" the Truck plant. I used to drive by there on the weekend and it would make me depressed.

I noticed when I was cutting out the cab corners that they had that distinct smell (...certain sealers and primers that have a particular odor).

[smashingchuck]

Looks nice Keith. Are you going to put the trim back on or leave it off?

[bumslie75]

i like it i wish my 87 looked like yours want to trade lol.

[MrBeast]

You sir, I have a question for you, I have an 85 Crew Cab Dually I am in the process of shoe horning a Cummins into. The truck is a fully loaded camper special with the front and rear sway bars, I am going to plate the frame with 3/16" steel from behind the front cab mounts all the way to the back of the frame so I can install a sneaker hidden wheel lift.


I also have a line on a set of 10 lug running gear out of a 95 3500 HD, I checked the part numbers through O'rileys, and they appear to be the same for the wheel bearings, thus my question to you is do you know if it is possible for me to pull the ends and the disc brakes off the 10 lug 3500 HD rear, and put em on my full width 85 DRW rear end?

And by the way, that is one heck of a career to have.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by MrBeast

You sir, I have a question for you, I have an 85 Crew Cab Dually I am in the process of shoe horning a Cummins into...

I also have a line on a set of 10 lug running gear out of a 95 3500 HD, I checked the part numbers through O'rileys, and they appear to be the same for the wheel bearings, thus my question to you is do you know if it is possible for me to pull the ends and the disc brakes off the 10 lug 3500 HD rear, and put em on my full width 85 DRW rear end?

And by the way, that is one heck of a career to have.

Thank you. It was not entirely unintentional...

Cummins into a GM? That's very cool...I'm a huge diesel fan, especially for those that run 'em on "waste vegetable oil".

I really have no idea on changing those hubs/axles over. I do know that the calipers themselves are giant in comparison to what would be used on a regular one ton but I can't say if they'll just bolt on. In view of that I'll answer like I often do: anything is possible, it just depends on how much money/effort/fabrication/inventiveness you want to put into it.

Good luck -

K

[JohnC]

Looks great Keith! Can't wait to see you start reassembly!

[3r!c84]

how much did you pay for that nice paint job?

[MrBeast]

man the paint came out nice too...

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

Man that's an awesome truck! Great story too!

[Keith Seymore]

Thanks, guys.

Yes - I'm going to put the trim back on. The intent is that the exterior will look just like it did when new (...maybe better - lol) except I will not be reinstalling the fender nameplates.

It was $1100 for what you see here and will be another $1100 for the box. I did all the bodywork ahead of time (dents, dings and cab corners) so they just had to prime it and shoot color. I took it to a little "mom & pop" shop within walking distance from my house. I chose them primarily because they finish things when they say they will (...especially important in this case!).

K

[Keith Seymore]

Painted black up inside the front wheelhouses:

[Keith Seymore]

Lastly - I think you guys know that as the trucks were built they were assigned a sequential build number. These numbers will often appear in crayon on the firewall, on the rear axle cover, on the tires, etc - anyplace where it was helpful for the assembly plant to keep the components or subassemblies in the right order.

Even though I followed this truck down the assembly line I didn't remember this but - in a kind of a cool coincidence - apparently my truck was "number 87".

[JohnC]

Cool! Nice little bit of history you found there! It's looking good man. I've used the satin, and the semi-flat too, and really like the results.

[3r!c84]

mine says it too right there but 84

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by 3r!c84

mine says it too right there but 84

Hmm....where was your truck built?

(If you aren't sure, just post the alpha portion of your VIN. You don't have to publish the numerical portion if you don't care to).

K

[Skirkpat]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Lastly - I think you guys know that as the trucks were built they were assigned a sequential build number. These numbers will often appear in crayon on the firewall, on the rear axle cover, on the tires, etc - anyplace where it was helpful for the assembly plant to keep the components or subassemblies in the right order.

Even though I followed this truck down the assembly line I didn't remember this but - in a kind of a cool coincidence - apparently my truck was "number 87".

I bet you remember a few times of people putting on # 97's part on # 98, and #98's on # 99 and then....ooooohh no, get the repairman!!! LOL

Lookin great, keep up the good work.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Skirkpat

I bet you remember a few times of people putting on # 97's part on # 98, and #98's on # 99 and then....ooooohh no, get the repairman!!! LOL

Lookin great, keep up the good work.

Yep.

The main offenders in that regard were the axle line, which was where the axle assemblies were "trimmed out" (that is, brake lines, ebrake cables, shocks, etc were installed), tires and wheels, hood & fenders, anywhere where the assemblies were built up in a remote area of the plant and then conveyed to the main line. If you got out of sequence there then you had a whole series of vehicles that were messed up.

The VIN stamp was another one. There were several workstations between the VIN stamp and the inspection station, so if you had a bad stamp (or got out of sequence) you had five or six trucks to repair.

Incidently, we actually had a bank of "wrong" tire/wheel assemblies set aside for use. If you built a truck with a wrong axle (ie, six lug instead of five lug, or vice versa) then you could simply install the corresponding "wrong" tire/wheel assembly. That way you could continue to build the truck without stopping the line and the truck would be repaired later (in a "Heavy Repair" stall out back, in the case of an axle replacement).

K

[Keith Seymore]

Here's my victim for this weekend. Installed the patch panel on the pickup box behind the left rear wheel....



Here's the panel after it's cut out, and with the patch panel from LMC:







This little bracket doesn't offer much structure! Like a dummy I forgot to paint it after I cleaned the rust off of it and before I installed the patch. After I was done I tried jamming Rustoleum red metal primer up there with a brush. That will have to do, I guess.



This is after it is "flanged"



...and screwed and bonded in place. Sort of a "Frankentruck" appearance!





Incidently, I made those cuts so that they will be covered by the wheel opening molding and body side trim (across the top) and somewhat obscured by the bumper (along the back).

[OLDIRON69]

Subscribed!!

[bumslie75]

Looking Good Hey when your done with that truck you want to get started with mine. lol