The Gallery
 

A 'virtual garage' of antique Chevy & GMC trucks from around the World


[an error occurred while processing this directive]

[an error occurred while processing this directive]


[an error occurred while processing this directive]
 

1967 GMC 1/2-Ton Fleetside

Owned by

Richard Pruett
Troutville, Virginia

 

10 October 2002 UPDATE

From Rich :

          I say I'm almost finished with this truck because I know I'll be messing around with it for the rest of my/its life and will never really be done.

          Word to the wise -- be double damn sure who you are trusting your vehicle with. I got a new job in another state and had to move about 5.5 hours driving time away. The man who was going to do my body work for me -- well, in plain words, didn't live up to his word. When I finally got a chance to go pick up my truck, the windows were half way down and a family of cats had taken up residence under the seat and floorboard along with a couple of wasps nests. Also, the battery was missing and someone had tried to steal my wheels. Luckily, that's all I had to deal with!

          The truck is all original except for the mirrors, the wheels and the step bumper. This truck came from the factory with painted Jr. West coast mirrors but I could not find replacements. I decided to go with the Stainless Steel ones you see here. The wheels -- well, nobody wants to muck around with split-rims anymore, so I went with junk yard aluminum wheels off a '78 Jeep Wagoneer. Since all 6-bolt patterns are the same, they fit well and are stout enough to handle anything I might want to -- and, I think they look good!

          The truck originally had a painted bumper on the back and when we bought it. Dad asked the dealer to install a step bumper. I took the old bumper off and had a new one made to look almost the same. I plan on installing (see almost finished) auxiliary lights in the bumper with a dash mounted toggle switch so I can see what I'm doing at night.

          I love the big block V-6. It has never let me down and although I don't go anywhere fast, I can haul / pull anything I want to, and then some! The 305-E has 165 hp @ 3800 rpm and 280 ft lbs of torque @ 1600 rpm; fairly decent for a mid-60's truck engine. She only has 130,000 miles so I didn't do a rebuild -- didn't need too! Just cleaned her up real good and painted Chevy orange. The original color is really a darker orange, closer to red, and when I rebuild, that's what I'll use.

          When my Father sold me this truck, he told me I would have to fix all the stuff I did to it when I was a teenager. What with dents and scratches, it had my name written all over it! Dad now says it looks better than when it came off the showroom floor. I couldn't be prouder. The work on this truck is dedicated to the man who owned it for the first 30 years of it's life -- Lyde S. Pruett, my Father.

Honor Thy Father ...


01 September 1997

From Rich :

          Sorry this took so long. I really like your web page and check it out at least once every two weeks or so. Here's my picture and description. I plan to have the body work done this winter and will send along another couple of pictures as soon as I am able.

          This is the truck I learned to drive on -- it has my teenage years written all over it!

          My Father bought this truck in October of 1966 for $1795.63 as a second "car" and a tow vehicle for our travel trailer. This was a bare bones truck: no cigarette lighter or carpet. It's all truck. The AM radio still works!

          It came with a heavy duty clutch, rear heavy-duty springs, junior west coast mirrors and split-rims and 8-ply tires. The engine is a V-6 305E with 3 on the tree and a 3.54 rear end behind it.

          This truck doesn't know when to quit! I've had over a ton of material loaded on it and it just levels out and floats down the road. All is original except for the rifle-rack. I intend to keep it that way. I am a confirmed truck-aholic and you can tell by the smile on my face when I'm driving down the road.

-30-

[an error occurred while processing this directive]