1973 - 1974 GMC tailgate question & what's it worth?

[rainamy]

Whelp, somewhat of a repost - my membership had expired by about a week and rather than reminding me (because I’m too stupid to remember it myself), someone took it upon himself to be a jerk and never did what he said he would - namely being restore the questions in my thread that had nothing to do with a casual mention I might not keep it.

Because of that, if anyone had posted tips or answers about the gate, please repost. I cannot see any of it.

So... Anyone know for sure how those letters are attached on the tailgate - adhesive? Studs w/ nuts? Something else?

Does it make more sense to break it up in pieces or is any particular part more/less desirable than the others?

New questions:

Whats this thing worth these days? Either whole, or in 3 parts - gmc letters, blank trim band, and gate itself. Really don't know much about them.

As for condition, it's nice, but not perfect.

Emblems: nice color on striping, but have a couple tiny marks

Trim band: needs to be polished, and has one tiny ding under the handle that is only visible at the right angle

Gate: has a couple spots where there was a ding in the metal from inside the bed; the lower trim strip was off when I got it, but, can be included. Gate appears to have had a 3" "protector" strip over the upper edge like what would come with a bedliner. Paint has scratches and patina in spots, especially from that protector.

See pics:

[TKCR]

I have never seen a band without the emblems on it. But I will ask you this, if your interested in just selling the band, well as long as the price isn't too outrageous. I am only looking for a nice decent band to polish up and have my Dad sign the back. Then it will be displayed in the garage.
My Dad worked at GM for 35 yrs. And after he saw my truck, is when he actually told me about some of the parts he personally made for GM. And the band was was one the parts, he mostly produced at the time these trucks were being built.

I have run across a few in my adventures, they are either too dinged up or they want way too much. And a few that people want, way too much for junk.

[cadillac_al]

I would sell it complete. I paid $400 for my 76 tailgate. I was amazed how hard it was to find one.

[jkk]

Originally Posted by cadillac_al

I would sell it complete. I paid $400 for my 76 tailgate. I was amazed how hard it was to find one.

pm sent

[rainamy]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I have never seen a band without the emblems on it. But I will ask you this, if your interested in just selling the band, well as long as the price isn't too outrageous. I am only looking for a nice decent band to polish up and have my Dad sign the back. Then it will be displayed in the garage.
My Dad worked at GM for 35 yrs. And after he saw my truck, is when he actually told me about some of the parts he personally made for GM. And the band was was one the parts, he mostly produced at the time these trucks were being built.

I have run across a few in my adventures, they are either too dinged up or they want way too much. And a few that people want, way too much for junk.

If all you want is a good straight clean band, I'd have others besides the one on this gate that arent as rare. The problem would be shipping. I don't have access to commercial discounted rates, and the length on these things probably makes things absurd.

[1774btcrew]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I have never seen a band without the emblems on it. But I will ask you this, if your interested in just selling the band, well as long as the price isn't too outrageous. I am only looking for a nice decent band to polish up and have my Dad sign the back. Then it will be displayed in the garage.
My Dad worked at GM for 35 yrs. And after he saw my truck, is when he actually told me about some of the parts he personally made for GM. And the band was was one the parts, he mostly produced at the time these trucks were being built.

I have run across a few in my adventures, they are either too dinged up or they want way too much. And a few that people want, way too much for junk.

All 73-74 GMCs that were equipped with bands didn't have the letters. The top of the tailgate has a raised area stamped with GMC. All of the early NOS tailgate bands I have seen have had no holes. I assume this is so they could be used for either Chevy or GMC and drilled for the emblem on either side if so equipped

[1774btcrew]

Originally Posted by rainamy

Whelp, somewhat of a repost - my membership had expired by about a week and rather than reminding me, someone took it upon himself to be a jerk and never did what he said he would - namely being restore the questions in my thread that had nothing to do with a casual mention I might not keep it.

Because of that, if anyone had posted tips or answers about the gate, please repost. I cannot see any of it.

So... Anyone know for sure how those letters are attached on the tailgate - adhesive? Studs w/ nuts? Something else?

Does it make more sense to break it up in pieces or is any particular part more/less desirable than the others?

New questions:

Whats this thing worth these days? Either whole, or in 3 parts - gmc letters, blank trim band, and gate itself. Really don't know much about them.

As for condition, it's nice, but not perfect.

Emblems: nice color on striping, but have a couple tiny marks

Trim band: needs to be polished, and has one tiny ding under the handle that is only visible at the right angle

Gate: has a couple spots where there was a ding in the metal from inside the bed; the lower trim strip was off when I got it, but, can be included. Gate appears to have had a 3" "protector" strip over the upper edge like what would come with a bedliner. Paint has scratches and patina in spots, especially from that protector.

See pics:

I would leave this tailgate complete. Anyone specifically looking for a 73-74 GMC tailgate would in most cases need everything and not want to have to hunt up the other parts as they can be hard to find separately. The GMC letters are held in with barrel clips due to not being able to get to the backside for a nut. Ford was better known for using these but GM did use them in a few situations. These are a good choice if you are painting a truck and don't want to remove the fenders to reinstall the emblems to put nuts on

[special-K]

Keep it together for sure. I had a plain 73/74 GMC gate with no rust. Not original paint, though. It had ugly blue & silver 2-tone I considered stripping to help sell it. It took a while to sell. Most people didn't appreciate what it was, or there aren't that many with those trucks around here. I didn't get any extra for rarity. Just went with going rate of a good rust free tailgate. With yours, though, the letters are super rare and if you have the time, you should put a decent price on it.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by rainamy

If all you want is a good straight clean band, I'd have others besides the one on this gate that arent as rare. The problem would be shipping. I don't have access to commercial discounted rates, and the length on these things probably makes things absurd.

I agree with the others, it sounds pretty rare, so keep the tailgate complete.

[brakenit]

Looks familar.

[rainamy]

Originally Posted by 1774btcrew

I would leave this tailgate complete. Anyone specifically looking for a 73-74 GMC tailgate would in most cases need everything and not want to have to hunt up the other parts as they can be hard to find separately. The GMC letters are held in with barrel clips due to not being able to get to the backside for a nut. Ford was better known for using these but GM did use them in a few situations. These are a good choice if you are painting a truck and don't want to remove the fenders to reinstall the emblems to put nuts on

Sounds like a tough time stripping it down safely at any rate. That combined with all the rest makes me think kwe ping it together is the way to go.

Originally Posted by special-K

Keep it together for sure. I had a plain 73/74 GMC gate with no rust. Not original paint, though. It had ugly blue & silver 2-tone I considered stripping to help sell it. It took a while to sell. Most people didn't appreciate what it was, or there aren't that many with those trucks around here. I didn't get any extra for rarity. Just went with going rate of a good rust free tailgate. With yours, though, the letters are super rare and if you have the time, you should put a decent price on it.

Any thoughts on what they are worth or would go for?

Originally Posted by brakenit

Looks familar.

Looks pretty darn close, wiildnt surprise me if the two trucks rolled off the line at a similar time... did you sell the band off yours? If you did sell anything, what kind of price did you get?

[brakenit]

Originally Posted by rainamy

Looks pretty darn close, wiildnt surprise me if the two trucks rolled off the line at a similar time... did you sell the band off yours? If you did sell anything, what kind of price did you get?

No, the guy I bought it off of bought it and kept the band. I was a little annoyed that he split it up. I bought a used band that had one small ding in it for I think $75 shipped, but I personally feel I got it for quite a bit cheaper than it was worth since the one's without holes are so hard to come by.

[justin_jj_Taylor]

If/when you come up with a price for the gate, I'd be interested!

[1774btcrew]

To get the money it is really worth, it needs to go on eBay. By comparison, there is a nice 73-74 Chevy tailgate for sale for $800 and it is NOWHERE as hard to come by as a GMC.

[1774btcrew]

There are also less people that actually know about the 73-74 GMC gates and think they are the same as the other years. It may take a while to get what it is worth but they rarely show up for sale.