Let me introduce my truck.

[MagmaJct]

Hello All,

I would like to introduce myself to the forum, and my truck. I am the owner of a 1971 Chevy C10 Deluxe. This truck used to belong to my grandfather who lived in northern California. I remember the truck as far back as the 80s when I was a child. I grew up in San Diego, and twice a year we'd visit my grandparents in northern California.

My grandfather was ex-Marine, and was mostly blind, so he didn't drive anymore. My grandmother never had a driver's license in her life, and never drove. So, for the most part, the truck sat unused. Whenever we'd visit however, my mom would drive the truck as one should do from time to time with any vehicle that sits.

I remember it had bias ply tires, I remember climbing into the passenger side. The interior seemed so huge to me with the dash to far away, and the bend seat seemed to stretch on seemingly forever. I remember the sound of the gas sloshing around in the tank. I wanted that truck. It was a beautiful truck.

My grandfather passed away in the early 90s. My uncle moved in to help grandma out. He drove the truck most of the time while living there. It had only about 50,000 miles at the time.

A neighbor across the street from my grandmother had a similar truck that never seemed to run. One morning my grandmother and uncle where heading out when they noticed the hood barely open. Upon further inspection, they found the air cleaner on the ground. Someone had stolen the carburetor. Interestingly enough, a few days later the truck across the street was running. Hmmm...

Around 2000 my grandmother passed away. My mom tried to convince my uncle to give me the truck, but he kept it. He moved to 29 Palms, essentially a desert. December of 2007 my uncle passed away. My mom gave me the truck. It was bitter sweet. I didn't have a close relationship with my uncle, so I hadn't seen him, or the truck for several years. I was happy to have the truck, but saddened that it was because of his death.

Except for a few items, including the Carter AFB carb, the truck is original and in amazing condition. It has about 120,000 miles on it (to lazy to check for the purpose of this message. I'm also to lazy to hook up my scanner to upload some pics.)

I found the original owner's manual. It had a California registration receipt from 1973. One of my grandparents signed their last name on the receipt. It was for $3.

When people ask if I'm willing to sell it, and they ask for how much, I tell them I cannot put a price on it. This truck is worth more to me than all the money in the world.

Thanks for reading my introduction. I'll be sure to post pics to this tread within the next few days.

--Mike

P.S. I'm pretty busy in life, so I'll probably be more of a lurker.

[72 Super]

Mike, Welcome from Maryland. Great story and glad you finally got your Grandfather's truck.

Ray

[red71c10]

Great story! Welcome aboard and please get some pix as soon as you can because I'm sure we'd all love to see it! Sux about the carb! Had a neighbor steal the tags off my '54 Mercury and stick 'em on his Camaro. Like I was too stupid to check the number on my registration against the tags. Cops had a little chat with him, but it really wasn't a big enough offense for them to bother with. Nothing worse than a neighbor you can't trust. Anyway.....glad you have the truck after all these years. Enjoy!

[Skirkpat]

Congrats, and Welcome .............. PICS PLEASE?

[70cst]

To the family....Great story. Ok...now we are ready for pics.

[roughedup72]

Yep, Gotta have pics. Great story aand welcome to the board from South Carolina.

[dan42]

Welcome! the trucks with a story behind them are always the best. Download pictures when you get a chance!

[landsurvey1]

Welcome from Phoenix AZ.

[sjarrett71]

Welcome to the board from Mid-Missouri.

I've only got one problem with your story...There are no ex-Marines, only FORMER Marines!

Just foolin with you! Now get some pics posted.

[Chevyman680063]

Welcome to the board and great story.

[Lugnut64052]

Welcome to the best board on the 'net.

C'mon man! Get that scanner fired up!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Welcome from southern oregon...

[OARNGESI]

Wow sounds like a great truck with a great story

[special-K]

Welcome to the board from over here in Maryland!
That`s a great tale,especially the in the family part.Just an FYI for ya...your truck is a Custom Deluxe/10 model.Alot of people don`t get that right because the "Deluxe" emblem is an add-on for 71/72.The same for Cheyenne Supers.We see Super Cheyenne,Cheyenne 10 Super,Custom 10 Deluxe.On behalf of Chevrolet,sorry for the confusion.I just figured you`d want to get it right.

[MagmaJct]

What's the Deluxe all about anyway?

[rodstored-72]

welcome from another "zonie" you can look in the regions section & under the southwest section there is a arizona thread. look there & you will see alot of people from here as well. that is a neat story & glad to see you found us!!.....

[MagmaJct]

Okay, since I'm new here, I'm going to try and attach a pick of my truck. It's an old undated picture I found in my uncle's house after his passing.

I have newer pictures somewhere. But I'm a computer geek with pictures all over my network, on a DVD, on my server, on my Linux drive, on my Windows drive, etc... Basically what I am saying is I lack organization, and I have no clue where these new pictures are. Sorry.

I some day want to get this truck back to its former glory, with your help of course! :-)

[MagmaJct]

If anyone can find a near identical camper shell, please contact me! Heck, I wish I had that trailer too! ;-)

[highperf4x4]

Great story Mag. Mine is similar with a slightly different twist. My uncle finally gave me the truck! :-) It's a 1972 GMC SierraGrande with the 402BB and TH400 trans. Green and White two tone. It also belonged to my late grandfather and like you, I remember it well from my childhood. While visiting on a family reunion one night, my brother and I snuck out of my grandparents house, pushed the truck out of the driveway and took off!! lol WE CRUISED ALL NIGHT NOT EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE! (my grandpa always left the keys in the ignition! simpler times back then)

My uncle had purchased the truck from him before he passed away. I've been wanting the truck for 20 years now. He took good enough care of it that it's still driveable and in fairly decent condition for being almost completely original. He finally called me about 2 weeks ago and told me to come and get it. I WAS THERE BY FRIDAY WITH A TRAILER! lol

My father went with me, just the 2 of us and we talked about the truck, family and old times all the way from Rogers Arkansas back to Oklahoma City. ..........................Good stuff.

We took my 4x4 and a heavy trailer custom built by my father in law to pull it back. We weighed out at 11,300 pounds. :-)) At first it looked like it might be a rough pull but we actually cruised about 70 most of the way with the A/C on! lol We stopped a couple of times to let the small block take a breath!!!

Anyway, I'm gonna dress this one up a little bit and not just an original restoration for a couple of reasons. 1. I know grandpa would want me to do it the way I'd enjoy it the most and 2. my first vehicle was a 1972 Chevy Cheyenee Super that wasn't stock/original and I'm going to do this one similar to that one just for old times sake. :-)

Like you, I need to get some before/after pics up too. Might start my own personal resto-mod thread!

Best of luck to you on your project and take the time to enjoy the memories that will show up while you work on it bro!

[SacramentoJoe]

Welcome! the trucks with a story behind them are always the best. Download pictures when you get a chance!

Welcome, and thanks for a good read. I am just getting around to digging up some picures and telling some stories myself.

[MagmaJct]

When my uncle died, my wife and I pulled a trailer to his house. We loaded it and the truck with all his tools in tool chests, spare parts, an engine cherry lift, floor jacks, etc...

I didn't know if the truck would make it not knowing the condition it was in. I'm slowly bringing it back into spec as best I can with my limited financial resources.

[Richard8971]

Welcome to the board!

D

[tim21391]

WELCOME from salina, ks

[special-K]

Originally Posted by MagmaJct

What's the Deluxe all about anyway?

in`71 Customs became the base level.It was the first year for Custom Deluxe,which would be the first level upgrade,then Cheyenne,and finally Cheyenne Super.They went from 3 to 4 levels.The Custom and Super badges were added taking place of the engine badge.By`73 there was a single Custom Deluxe badge and a single Cheyenne Super badge.But,the Custom Deluxe became the base and Custom was dropped.

That shell looks like a Gem Top.