Happy Belated 40 Year Birthday!

[SacramentoJoe]

Well, its been a while since I’ve been on this forum. Too many other hobbies I guess.

Anyway, my truck turned forty-years-old last December. I couldn’t celebrate it without taking a picture of my dad and his old truck. He is over 80-years-old now, but I still love him and he still loves my (his) truck. Here are some pictures to celebrate the anniversary.

My son is only 2 years away from driving, some of his other grandsons are in college now. Here, it is parked where it used to be parked for many, many years.

GMC

[tcb-1]

very good pics, indeed. looks like your pop has a lot to be proud of!

[tekno62]

Grats on turning 40

[SactoJim]

Hard to believe these trucks are that old......I remember when I graduated HS and a 55 chevy was what I thought "old"......hell it was less than 30 years old!

Great pics!

Hey Joe......you coming at the end of April.....right in your neighborhood!

See link in my sig if you're unaware.

[72BlckButy]

Glad to see that the truck was able to stay in the family, happy belated 40th!

[ChevLoRay]

[QUOTE=SactoJim;3213232]Hard to believe these trucks are that old......I remember when I graduated HS and a 55 chevy was what I thought "old"......hell it was less than 30 years old!QUOTE]

No.1. Take every minute of time you have with your Dad and treasure it. I think it is great that you can still do that. Many of us can't.

No.2. (For SactoJim)......When I graduated, a '55 Chevy was only 10 years old. When I think of how many cars I have had and are who knows where, I cringe.

[SacramentoJoe]

SactoJim, I really want to attend the get together. Thanks for the info.

I drive my kids over to my dad’s house every weekend in the truck, and we mow his lawn. My old childhood friend stopped by last weekend after seeing the truck parked there. It was good to see him again.

The truck has a lot of good memories for the whole family. Maybe I’ll post some of them here.

[big_al_71]

That is great!!!!
Three generations and the truck still there...

[68gmsee]

Congratulations on the anniversary and keeping the truck in the family. Tell your dad he was a smart man holding on to it. I'm sure he got some flack for not wanting to get rid of it. Like some of us do...

[70cst]

Great thread deserving a "Reputation."!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Originally Posted by 70cst

Great thread deserving a "Reputation."!

Very cool and i agree

[RCbowtie69]

cool, keep in the famliy

[67ChevyRedneck]

Very cool. These trucks are getting pretty old. Mine's 42 this year.

Great looking truck! I REALLY like that shade of blue... any details on it?

[68_Bowtie]

Awesome !!!! God Bless America !!!

[SacramentoJoe]

Thanks for the love, guys! I don't have a build thread, and I am rarely fast enough to answer anybody's question on this forum with so many passionate experts, so I gotta talk about my truck somehow.

My dad never really had a choice about getting rid of it. It must have been around 1974 when my brother started driving and would take my sisters and me to school in the pickup. All of us kids learned how to use the clutch and the three-on-the-tree, and remember, no power steering or power brakes. Both of my older sisters drove the GMC through their high school days, and I started driving it in March 1981. (Got my license on my 16th birthday!) I’m sure the other kids could add pages of events that happened in this truck.

As for the paint, I really wanted to go with the original color but I couldn't find anything but a single stage and with all that metalic flake, I didn't want it to fade in a year. I chose "Light Quasar Blue" from 1994 GMCs. Code #WA9790 It looked kinda weird at first, but that was only because it was faded for soooooo long. The truck sits outside everyday, but the Standox is holding up pretty good.

I really think I lost some character of the old truck when I painted it, but since I did my own body work, it's still there!

GMC

[SacramentoJoe]

Maybe I should that in my signature

"I don't like my bodywork to hide the character of my truck."

[72 Super]

Great story and I am glad you got to keep your dads truck and I am sure he is too. I like the color, it looks great!


Ray

[SacramentoJoe]

I also recall many rides during the 3 or 4 summers when my dad (with the help of his buddies) built his cabin near Donner Summit. The GMC would be loaded with lumber and construction supplies and would strain up those long grades on Interstate 80. We also pulled a trailer up and down from there those years.

I found this old picture, which was really to document the cabin foundation. For many, many, years the truck never had any hubcaps. I would have been twelve years old and usually rode in the back with all the lumber.

GMC

[70LonghornCST]

Happy belated BD, Truck! Nice truck, and I love hearing the (familiy) history behind it, and anticipate the history to be made.

[SacramentoJoe]

Yeah, I am trying to dig up some pictures since they certainly make the stories more interesting. I have a whole bunch of old stories, but not a lot of old pictures.

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by SacramentoJoe

Yeah, I am trying to dig up some pictures since they certainly make the stories more interesting. I have a whole bunch of old stories, but not a lot of old pictures.

Great story and good looking truck..nice looking family you got ..

I like stories ,,so if you can't dig up pictures of the happenings of the story ,then post that picture of you and your dad and then tell the story ..that works for me.. papa Larry

[SacramentoJoe]

I worked at the local service station from when I turned 16 all the way through college. I got to tinker on my truck all of the time. I always had the cleanest windows and my tires were always balanced.

Being able to wrench on it (with really nice tools) had a lot to do with me getting so many miles on the odometer. I wasn't always the smartest mechanic back then, though. When I was around 17, the nylon timing gear crumbled and the chain was so loose it was swinging out and wore a hole in the timing cover tin. After getting tired of continually replacing the electrical tape that I stuck over the hole, and putting quarts of oil in it, I replaced the gear and chain. Some time after that, I replaced the oil pump that had sucked up all those nylon chips. Running the motor with a loose chain (and low oil pressure) took its tole on the back cylinder. But just like any kid would do, I continued to drive the hell out it until I started working full time and could afford to get the motor rebuilt.

Here are some images of another familiar friend. My dad was great at adding his own notes which often helped me out.

Now I am freakin' out because I can't find the owners manual. I put it somewhere safe, but I can't remember where....

GMC

[factorystock]

This is the main reason I refuse to alter an original 1 owner vehicle that has been owned since new. My family would be able to recognize it after a 4" drop, custom wheels and a color change . The vehicle to me would no longer represent the same memories.

[eightbanger]

Your Truck really is part of your family and it's past, here's to it being part of your familys future too.

[SacramentoJoe]

The truck was purchased new for $2,700 by my dad in December 1968. This truck came with absolutely no options. It did have a heater. No radio, or cigarette lighter. Nothing automatic. Even the choke is manual. My dad carpooled to his work with it, 20 miles away.

My mom has a fond memory of being pulled over by the CHP while they were driving the pickup to Reno for a weekend get-away. She kinda likes to brag that they didn’t get a ticket after my dad pleaded ignorance to the fact that the larger, load-rated tires on the rear would make the speedometer indicate lower (good one, dad). It still reads 10% slower (and that also means I have 10% more miles on it!)

Some of my memories as a kid include shoveling loads of sand and aggregate out of the long fleetside bed and into an electric concrete mixer when we were pouring our back patio.

I remember riding back in the bed with a load of grapes from my uncle’s vineyard in Antioch. It was fun “splatting” the grapes on the road signs at 55 mph as we drove back home along the Sacramento River. Now I am the one yelling at my kids to behave in the car.

I found this picture from his cabin album. This must have been the first snow of the year at Donner Summit. I notice the hubcap, the original mirror, and the tie-downs that were bolted to the bed. It looks like I have trim around the tail-lights, but its just the snow.