Talk about Retro

[LongBox]

Went for a drive in my 69 GMC 910, the one I just bought, that has no power steering, and no power brakes. Driving it is interesting to say the least.

Plan your stops and turns well ahead of time... The engine and trans perform well, and I guess, for what they are, the four-wheel drums do the job. The steering is crazy slow, with probably about 6 turns of the steering wheel lock-to-lock.

Afer maybe 35 years of driving cars and trucks with all the modern conveniences, I must be spoiled. The steering is not all that heavy, just very slow to respond, and a lot of cranking the wheel to do basic cornering and parking.

On the other hand, I haven't seen an engine this easy to work on in a helluva long time. You can literally see all the plugs to do a plug change, and there's lots of room to climb right into the engine compartment to work on the distributor.

I was thinking of converting the truck to power steering and power disk brakes, but now i'm gonna think about it before I jump in.

And, yes, I love this old truck. Just needs a decal on one door of maybe a moose, and maybe a trout decal on the other door.

[dmjlambert]

You may find you like the feel of manual drum brakes and manual steering and the interesting old steering gear ratio after using it a while. I kind of like it.

[poway]

I’m in the same boat. Bought my 68 GMC last year and it had no power brakes or steering. Put in power steering. About 4 turns lock to lock. I’m happy with it. I had to buy a 13/16 rag joint from Rock Auto to fit the new power steering box. The most expensive part was the power steering pump bracket as it has a 250 six. I was able to find one on ebay for $250.00. I bought everything else locally. Getting ready to put in power brakes with front disc as soon as the weather cools down. Keep us posted on your progress!

[LongBox]

I found out more about this truck today when I went to get the legal work done (estate sale). I noticed the tags showed the truck was last insured in 2002. This was kinda scary, as most machinery does not do well if left idle that long. The daughter of the owner told me that he garaged it in 2002, but continued to maintain it, and started it from time to time. She did not know if he warmed it up thoroughly when he did so. She said he changed out the gasoline a couple of times, but it surely does stink like old gas. Frankly, I'm surprised it runs as well as it does.

Going on a longer drive this weekend, partly to see what needs to be done, but mostly to burn up some of that old gas, so that I can get some new stuff in the tank. The tank, by the way, was pretty well full up, which is a good sign.There are three gas filters in the system, an inline filter near the tank, a glass sediment bowl style filter in the engine compartment, and the usual filter at the carb inlet, which I cleaned.

I plan to do some cleanup tomorrow, then take a few photos for insurance purposes. Where I live, the truck should qualify for "collector's insurance", which means much cheaper annual premiums. Going to get my application in ASAP, and that means quite a few photos.

Also plan to pull the brake drums off, to inspect, although they seem ok. At that time, will do a chassis grease, and an engine oil change. The trans oil looks and smells good, but i plan to change it out anyway.

This forum will be really helpful as I enjoy this truck, and get some minor changes made, such as adding a stock cigar lighter, so I can plug in my GPS. Can't believe they did not put one in at the factory.

[Already Gone]

Sounds to me like you are on the right track with your truck. Get to know it and its idiosyncrasies as you would any with any new lady in your life.. Sounds like you ahve very,very good base to start with. Do you have possession yet and if you do have you posted pictures of the truck? .

[TwoFiftyShifter]

I thought these all came with cig lighters?

[davepl]

Originally Posted by TwoFiftyShifter

I thought these all came with cig lighters?

Nope, I had one with a plastic plug in its place.

[CastIron]

I had pretty much the same experience when I bought my 69 C1500 about 15 years ago. It had no power steering or power brakes. I did add a lighter socket and power steering pretty quickly, and a few other things over the years.

[LongBox]

I will post some pictures soon. I think I have already posted some on a couple of other threads I started. Still dealing with all sorts of little cleanups, lubrication tasks, etc.

Really enjoying this thing, and am so impressed that it has the original paint all panels. The cheapy bench seat is nothing to write home about, but at least the covering is in like new condition. Perhaps I can get an upholstery guy to re-pad the seat for more support.

It's a totally different driving experience from my 98 Silverado. Trucks have come a long way over the years.

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by davepl

Nope, I had one with a plastic plug in its place.

Wow, a cigarette lighter delete plug. I would imagine that is worth big bucks, since it is probably more rare than a radio delete plate.

[LongBox]

Whoa! Did I hear someone say those cigarette lighter delete plugs are worth big bucks! guess I'll start planning my next high-end cruise vacation. ;=)

Still working my way through this new toy. The old guy that owned it, being a mechanic for the phone company, took special pains to make sure everything, and I mean everything, was well lubed. There is congealed grease or oil in places that no longer make sense. Case in point: the shifter. It's supposed to drop down so that you have to lift it to shift into park, or low, or reverse. This one is really sluggish, and I've been busy with stuff like WD 40 Silicone spray to loosen it up.

I also found a box with a new fuel pump, some new points, new rotor, and zillions of bulbs and fuses. He even left the very nifty tool that you need to adjust the dwell angle, a long driver with a swivel hex head, and a spring shaft at the end to allow it to bend into place.

In addition, there was a box full of containers of liquids. Many were not labeled, so toxic or not, off to the landfill. However, he used 10W-40 Valvoline oil, and left me two cans, along with a quart of DExron II, and a can of Chryco brake fluid. Going to the dump.

Can't wait to get rid of the gas that's in it now, as it's old and stale, and it stinks. Once that's gone, I'm going to fill it with fresh, then do a tune up. New plugs (came in the box) new points, set the dwell and the timing.

I used to think I hated this kind of work (I'm 72), but I'm kinda enjoying it, at least for a while.

[Already Gone]

Originally Posted by LongBox

Whoa! Did I hear someone say those cigarette lighter delete plugs are worth big bucks! guess I'll start planning my next high-end cruise vacation. ;=)

Still working my way through this new toy. The old guy that owned it, being a mechanic for the phone company, took special pains to make sure everything, and I mean everything, was well lubed. There is congealed grease or oil in places that no longer make sense. Case in point: the shifter. It's supposed to drop down so that you have to lift it to shift into park, or low, or reverse. This one is really sluggish, and I've been busy with stuff like WD 40 Silicone spray to loosen it up.

I also found a box with a new fuel pump, some new points, new rotor, and zillions of bulbs and fuses. He even left the very nifty tool that you need to adjust the dwell angle, a long driver with a swivel hex head, and a spring shaft at the end to allow it to bend into place.

In addition, there was a box full of containers of liquids. Many were not labeled, so toxic or not, off to the landfill. However, he used 10W-40 Valvoline oil, and left me two cans, along with a quart of DExron II, and a can of Chryco brake fluid. Going to the dump.

Can't wait to get rid of the gas that's in it now, as it's old and stale, and it stinks. Once that's gone, I'm going to fill it with fresh, then do a tune up. New plugs (came in the box) new points, set the dwell and the timing.

I used to think I hated this kind of work (I'm 72), but I'm kinda enjoying it, at least for a while.

There are lots of us older folks on this site.

[TwoFiftyShifter]

My 71 is without PS and PB. It seems to stop great for its age, but I do fight that steering in parking lots. I'm OK with it for now. It fits in with that column shifter 3 speed.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by LongBox

Whoa! Did I hear someone say those cigarette lighter delete plugs are worth big bucks! guess I'll start planning my next high-end cruise vacation. ;=)

Still working my way through this new toy. The old guy that owned it, being a mechanic for the phone company, took special pains to make sure everything, and I mean everything, was well lubed. There is congealed grease or oil in places that no longer make sense. Case in point: the shifter. It's supposed to drop down so that you have to lift it to shift into park, or low, or reverse. This one is really sluggish, and I've been busy with stuff like WD 40 Silicone spray to loosen it up.

I also found a box with a new fuel pump, some new points, new rotor, and zillions of bulbs and fuses. He even left the very nifty tool that you need to adjust the dwell angle, a long driver with a swivel hex head, and a spring shaft at the end to allow it to bend into place.

In addition, there was a box full of containers of liquids. Many were not labeled, so toxic or not, off to the landfill. However, he used 10W-40 Valvoline oil, and left me two cans, along with a quart of DExron II, and a can of Chryco brake fluid. Going to the dump.

Can't wait to get rid of the gas that's in it now, as it's old and stale, and it stinks. Once that's gone, I'm going to fill it with fresh, then do a tune up. New plugs (came in the box) new points, set the dwell and the timing.

I used to think I hated this kind of work (I'm 72), but I'm kinda enjoying it, at least for a while.

Keep the old oil. It does not go bad in an unopened can. Also any oil earlier than Service SM has more ZDDP, a necessary additive for non-roller lifters to avoid wiping out cam lobes. They have steadily decreased the ZDDP in current motor oils because the zinc was bad for catalytic converters. Trucks of this vintage have no catalytic converters.
[Or you could sell the vintage oilcans on eBay to auto nostalgia collectors.]

[Overdriven]

Originally Posted by LongBox

In addition, there was a box full of containers of liquids. Many were not labeled, so toxic or not, off to the landfill. However, he used 10W-40 Valvoline oil, and left me two cans, along with a quart of DExron II, and a can of Chryco brake fluid. Going to the dump.

Don't mean to be a green freak but there's really no excuse for dumping these fluids anymore. Most municipalities have a recycling center that will take them, my local dump has receptacles for motor oil and I believe antifreeze too. Just dump them all together. Too much of a pain? Go to any auto parts store, they have them too. Drop the box on the side of the building if you don't want to go in and they'll eventually dump them in their used oil containers to be recycled.

[LongBox]

I will definitely recycle the stuff that is labelled. Couldn't tell what the other stuff was, sniffed it, shook it, no clue. Could be household stuff, could be snake oil that will knock out Blackie Carbon, Dissolve Gummy Rings, and fix Sticky Valves. Who knows?

[Myoldtruck]

I added power brake booster to my 4 wheel drums, nite and day difference. I greased the front end and as long as the truck is moving some its like power steering, I am considering power steering in the future. As long as i dont jump back and forth from the mini cooper to the truck im ok with the steering turn ratio.