The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts gmc tractor

found a big task force gmc tractor truck..its a heavy duty truck with 4 duelly wheel setup in the rear,darn rare truck these days-next time i head through that are ill try to get some info if its for sale if anyone is interested. i would love to have it but my wife would kill me as i already have a mid size bolt in pieces in the garage

http://s1121.photobucket.com/profile/davepenajr/index
thats link to photobucket

I'm assuming you are referring to the Chev cab and chassis. Chevs don't particularly excite me. However in the first picture of the salvage yard there is a GMC that looks really interesting. Its about the center of the photo.

that is the one im refering too,,,the tractor with the chrome grill insert red in color,,it excites me as well

It looks to be a 59 to 59 450 to 600 series. I already have several of them, but I don't think another one could hurt anything. If it were to be a 57 to 59 model with a 370 V8 in it I would be really excited about it.

ill drop in and ask about it in a couple of weeks when i roll back through there,,i just moved to arizona 3 months ago and find stuff all the time out here..sure miss Texas though

Is it a gasser or Detroit?

Anyone ever see one of those monster V12s that GMC used for a short time? I saw one and thats all.

A lot of them were used as stationary engines to run pumps, etc. in the oilfields. Somebody had several for sale recently. They're basically two 351's on a common crankcase and crankshaft- - - -4 cylinder heads, two distributors, two carbs & intakes, etc.
Jerry

I think there are some pictures of the V12 Jimmies over at
www. OldGMCtrucks.com.

I recall seeing some YouTube videos of them running too, Might try searching thst area as well.

Hy guys, the GMC V12s only had one distributor, with two distributor caps, just to clarify.

One distributor yes (with 2 caps) but to adjust timing you set it for one bank and then the other. An interesting and somewhat weird setup that's for sure.

Here are pictures of one I had but never had running.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/560407755NLypFl

Grigg

So, not to hijack, but why did they build these? Is it 'cause they had a wider power band than a diesel? (I know nothing about this big stuff, so don't be afraid to dumb it down!)

There were many reasons for big gas burners in the mid 60's. Initial cost was probably the biggest reason. Repairs were much cheaper on gas burners than Diesels and there were many more mechanics qualified to repair gas burners than Diesel. The power band on a gas burner was 5 to 600 rpm while Diesels on those days were 300 rpm which required more speeds. The V12 had more power than the largest Detroit offered in GMC in those days and went as far if not farther than a Detroit between overhauls. The down side was that they got 2 miles a compared to 4 with a Detroit. But with 20¢ gas and 20¢ Diesel, carriers sacrificed fuel economy for initial cost and maintenance. Carriers who required more power paid much more money for something like a Pete or KW which offered Cummins up to about 380 HP. But the entire truck had to be engineered to handle this kind of power. Hauling bulk commodities between central Texas and the midwest, I didn't see the need for a Diesel until the late 60's. The V12 never saw much popularity because the 409 Chevrolet would almost put out as much HP at 4,000 RPM as the V12 at 2400 and could be bought at a fraction of the cost of a V12.

Thanks for the information, that makes sense. Pretty neat engine.