1965 Canadian-built GMC C-10

Owned by Ted and Deb Blosmanis Victoria, British Columbia Canada

Our '65 -- It took 11 years...

From Ted :

Hi! Great site and very helpful!

Here is our 1965 Canadian-built GMC C-10, with a 292, 3 on the tree. It is an original Vancouver Island farm truck.

My wife and I, since dating 11 years ago, have always wanted / talked about getting “an ol' truck” but life happened and it stayed as only a dream.

On November 29, 2008, we agreed that I needed another cargo van for work so I started searching the 'Net in my area for a $3k beater. On the first page, I found the ad for the 1965 GMC C-10 but I kept looking for a van. After a half an hour or so of looking at junk, my wife asked how my search was doing. I said bad but mentioned “How about a cool looking ol' truck?” So we forgot the van!

I spoke to the owner and find out he lives about five minutes from us! Yet in all the years, we have never seen this truck. Nice guy on the phone who said right off some things needed to be fixed but the truck is driving and not junk.

I took my plates, stopped at the bank for cash, grabbed insurance transfer papers, and went to see it. My wife and I both knew some how that we would be taking her home before we got there. So, for $2500, we drove her home … after a long nice drive first.

The '65 had a 10 year old body restoration done by another owner. The inside cab was painted also and is real nice [ pix ]. The floors, cab mounts, etc. were done and the underside of truck shows it.

The last owner put the mags on [ pix ], new heater with new dash switches, and had the 292 rebuilt and upgraded the ignition / distributor and alternator.

The transmission was rebuilt and a new clutch installed but never had been adjusted properly. All the driving / running lights did not work correctly. Every thing mentioned I fixed and then drove our truck to work the following Wednesday morning. The truck drives the highway smooth and straight, brakes the same.

Being an older resto some bubbling is starting to happen in the normal spots of the outer cab. All the steel is solid. You can’t see in the pictures but the lower part of the front fenders have an ugly bubble, the drivers side has a 2" x 3" hole. All the cab area is solid. The box, steel-wise, is great with no bubbles at all. The wood deck needs to be replaced.

Cool things….

The "ol' girl” came with the original ignition key and GMC AM Radio that was left in the dash. It still works but the speaker has seen better days. The original oil bath air cleaner is still on the carb. The air cleaner has surprised a lot of the younger generation at work and on my street. Nobody has ever heard of one and I have to take it off to show them exactly what it is. The three on the tree has boggled some younger minds also.

We have a road-safe driving truck that will be a daily driver and used as a truck. We plan on bringing it back to a close to original state but every thing will be done in a way so the truck will not be off the road for more than a few days / weekends at a time.

Stock rims with GMC-era correct hub caps and All Terrain BF’s will probably be the first thing. Come spring a new wood deck, front fenders, and from the fenders down it will be painted white along with the roof. In time, the upper green will be done in era-correct green.

Nothing needs to be done to the inside of the cab detail wise but for comfort sake, I will be putting bucket seats in.

We are happy with our new toy!

Great site you have. The information has been great.

Ted and Deb Blosmanis

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