The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre '52 GMC in Northern California

I've lurked this site for years soaking up information. I'm in the process of getting a 1952 GMC 3/4 ton truck so finally decided I should become a member and participate instead of just reading over everybody's shoulder.


The truck has a bit of history with my family. My brother bought it in the late 80s because he found a good deal and it was a neat truck. Old pickup, 3 on the tree and low geared rear end wasn't as cool for an 18 year old kid as he thought it would be so he bought another car and gave the truck to my dad. My dad has had it since then and he drove it for a time to do truck stuff with.

He lives in a city, where you take the freeway to get anywhere. Old truck that screams at 50mph not so great in that setting, so it got used less and less. It has a bad crankshaft and my uncle gave my dad an old Chevy Luv to take care of his truck needs. He parked the GMC in the back yard at his house at least 10 years ago and it has sat there ever since. He did at least have the consideration of covering it with a tarp to provide some protection from the weather.


I bought an old house a few years ago. My wife and I do a lot of DIY work on the house and yard. I don't have a truck at the moment thanks to an inattentive driver and that is a real pain when you are buying lumber, and taking stuff to the dump as often as we do.

I started looking for an older (cheap) truck and my dad says, why don't you guys take my old truck and fix it up, and get it out of my yard. So that is where we are at.
Much slower pace around here, and lots of low speed back roads to explore so the low gears are no problem. We are thinking the money going into buying even a dirt cheap used truck will go much farther on the GMC and when we are done we will have something more interesting to toodle around town with than a 90s beater truck.

To the best of our knowledge the truck is all original, body is straight although does show normal wear for a 66 year old truck. Main issue is the bottom end of the engine. It was running when he parked it but it wouldn't start after it had been running a while. A mechanic friend of his thought the crankshaft or bearings were bad. It will need tires and a good general going over, but should it should be a fun project.


I've owned a 1969 Toyota Landcruiser since the 90s, so I've got experience driving a column shift (I refer to it as an anti-theft transmission because most people don't even know what that is anymore). Toyota borrowed heavily from the stovebolt design for their inline 6. I've been told the motor in my Landcruiser is basically a hybrid combining features from the GMC bottom end with the Chevrolet top end, converted to metric. Looking under the hood of this truck I can see some definite similarities, so I expect I will quickly get comfortable with the GMC 6.

Welcome Aaron, nice of your dad to give you that old truck. All the knowledge you need is here, just be sure to ask in the proper forums. If you think the column shift is anti-theft, wait until a thief tries to start it.
Just make a plan and do one thing at a time. Good brakes should be high on your priority list. Get an owner's manual for it, even better get a factory assembly manual (might be on-line)
Lots of parts available on the site here as well, just visit the swap meet.
Good luck with it.

Leo

Aaron, welcome to the Stovebolt and congrats on your new ride. yes, putting some $$$ in the GMC is good for the long run. Not sure about in CA but here antiques tags that do not expire, cheap antique insurance with the right company, low, if any, taxes, and a classic ride ALL the time. Simply cannot go wrong. Be a little patient and as Leo suggested, post questions in the garage forums and let us help you. Our motto is "Knowledge is the Best Resource" so don't be bashful....and be sure to thank your dad every time you see him!

Being an old truck I knew it won't need smog and registration would be cheap but I didn't even think about the antique vehicle options.

I think all will be happy with this situation, he gets a big piece of his yard back, we get a truck, and he can come up and drive it in a place where it won't get honked off the road (along with the expected inappropriate gestures).

That reminds me I do need to track down a manual for it.

Aaron, this may help until you can get a paper copy. many of us here on the bolt have used it many times.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/

The Old Car Manual Project (OLD ONLINE CHEVY MANUALS) does not have any/many GMC manuals.
No Shop/Maintenance/User manuals.

This about as close to a 1952 GMC Maintenance Manual as I have seen/found.
Here is a reproduction 1952 GMC Operator's Manual.

GMC engines are different from Chevrolet engines - enough that these manuals would be valuable.
Except for front grill and associated front body parts, the other parts on GM trucks were the same, or similar.

- wheels might be different
- positive ground GMC vs negative ground Chevrolet

great story, sounds like you got a sweet old truck to get some work done with and enjoy together with your wife! Welcome to the site!

Thanks for the link to the manuals. I know I will need them, but just one more example of something I had overlooked. It is probably not quite as easy as finding a manual for a 1998 Toyota Tacoma.


I'm not a professional, but I've done the majority of the work on my own cars. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to look into paying to have a roll back wrecker haul it up here. There is going to be a lot of work I could do myself, that I will end up paying someone to do just due to distance and a lack of a good spot to work on it where it sits.

Congrat's on the truck from your Dad and welcome to the "Bolt".

John