Tom and Christina McCreary's 1964 GMC Wideside

From Tom:

     Well, it's been a year so how about an update on the old Bolt. I have been waiting for a snowfall to get a picture in front of an old gas station we have here in Mclean, Virginia, but I missed the first chance this year. And now .. no snow!

     As far as doing anything with the truck in the past year? Well let's see. I polished it. Put the original hubcaps on. I gave the T-ball team a ride after practice. I guess the most adventurous thing I did was take the 10 year old over to the high school and try to teach him to drive it!!

     Question: What do you get when you put a 10 year old boy behind the wheel of a 40 year old pickup with three pedals and two shifters on the floor?

     Answer: Big smiles on father and son.

Tom and Christina McCreary
"colliedog"
Bolter # 4178
Mclean VA [an error occurred while processing this directive]

11January 2005
# 986

From Tom:

     Here is my 1964 GMC Wideside ("Fleetside" is the Chevy moniker). I had been looking for an old 4x4 to knock around in on the weekends when I came across this truck. It appeared to be in beautiful condition, with a reasonable price, and an interesting story. But the truck was 400 miles away.

     I have bought and sold a lot of old cars and boats, but never a truck and never a 4x4. We are a busy family with three small children and two jobs. The truck was more than funds allocated for the beater, about two times more, and the truck was much older than I had been looking for.

     My beautiful wife was the one that encouraged me to go look at it. She reasoned she would rather spend a little more on something that was in good shape and reliable than have the entire garage and basement full of truck parts for the next two years (she is very optimistic).

     I prefer vehicles that have quirks and personalities that would drive most people nuts. Things like, you must have the shift indicator in the neutral position to actually have it in drive. Or you always leave the vent window unlocked so you can reach in to open the door because the door latch mechanism fell inside the door (and I bought it that way).

     When I looked at this truck, it had no such quirks. What it had was character. Not the customized character of a resto rod or rock crawler. Bone stock character. And low budget commercial grade character at that!

     The odometer was showing 12,300 and the seller said they were original. Yeah right. Was is 112,300 or 212,300?

     The body panels were straight and uncut. The dash had no holes where a previous owner installed a set of extra gauges. No after market stereo speakers or radio. In fact no radio at all and the hole in the dash had the coverplate on it just like it would have come from the factory if a radio was not ordered!!

     Engine was still the 305ci v-6 which is particular to the GMC's, complete with the canister oil filter. It was a 4 wheel drive 4 speed without locking hubs. Axle gear is 4:56 and 1st is a granny gear and the truck is has a GVW of 8100-lbs. The only non-OEM part on the entire truck was the wheels and radial tires. But the originals were lying in the corner of the garage with the dog dish hubcaps. I was sold.

     The story is that the truck was owned by a volunteer fire department in Indiana until 1990. A title search showed a succession of Ohio owners going back to 1990 when the mileage on the truck was about 9,000. Indiana does not keep vehicle records after 10 years.

     I can attest to the original color. It was red. All the wheel lugs, lug nuts and the wheels themselves were red. There is some red paint showing behind the grill and on the fuel tank filler neck.

     We enjoy using the truck on short rides around the neighborhood. Sometimes the children are in the bed. Other times, they take turns sitting on my lap steering. It is a wonderful noisy, bumpy, bouncy, jerky ride.

     Thanks for the interest in our truck.

Tom and Christina McCreary
"colliedog"
Bolter # 4178
Mclean VA