The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Need help with a vin tag

Bought this truck thinking it was a 54 gmc. Tried to decode the vin but not having much luck. Title shows truck built 3/54 but saying its a 55 gmc 3/4 ton. Can anyone tell me what it really is? I took it down to have it inspected at the DMV here in az, and lets just say idiots. here is a link to the pic of vin tag. Thanks for the help. New to this

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i401/fnlkal76/?action=view&current=GavinsTruck012.jpg


http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i401/fnlkal76/GavinsTruck013.jpg

According to what I've found on OldGMCTrucks.com, you have a long wheelbase '54 1/2 ton.

1954/55 Z-series 1/2 ton longbed pickup

Thanks bill

Did you get it registered ?

no its not registered, i figured not to since its getting broken down anyway. I got the title transfered to my name and evidently didnt pay close enough attention to the title. The previous owner had the orginal title from 1954. So i wanted to research it and make sure i knew exactly what i had. I have another post i just put out with pics of the truck. The original owner had the dealer install extra set of leaf springs on it and a heavy duty bumper.

It has the:
- five window cab
- bedside spare tire carrier option (obviously)
- de luxe chrome/bright-metal equipment (chrome bumper, Chrome grill and surround, stainless windshield surround, and stainlesss side window exterior moldings)
- four speed transmission
- de luxe air flow (fresh air) heater
- a nice looking non-GMC rear bumper
- a hood ornament that looks like a GMC ornament



Does it have two tone interior paint and two tone upholstery?

no it is that dark green color on the inside. and its a manual. is that a 4 speed? i just picked it up and put it on a trailer and hauled it to my cabin. This is a whole know adventure for us

Nice truck,

To avoid further DMV problems you may want to consider title/registration as-is. I mean I would not walk in there and say hey this title says 3/4 ton and it’s a 1/2 ton.

I would also suggest registering it before you invest a penny.
Just my opinion.

I had DMV problems just because of the way the Tag was attached to the truck.

Good Luck

the previous had A title from 54, obviously not the one for that truck

Bill

1) Titles that old are routinely screwed up.
2) Most states have methods to fix these problems, usually requiring inspection by a law enforcement officer or DMV employee to verify the problem.
3) There were no 55.1 GMCs, despite sharing the slight model changes with Chevy. All Z series trucks were considered 54s by GMC, leading to a rather insane 18 month-ish model year.

Judging by the shades of green on the dash and steering column, it's definitely a two-tone green interior. With the exterior trim bits, it's certainly a DeLuxe. Does it have a passenger-side inside sunvisor and evidence of a driver-side armrest? (they all got the plastic nuts, but yours should have evidence of screws having been installed)

The rear bumper looks like something from Barden.

I agree with Gus, first thing I would do before I even turned a screw on any old vehicle is
get the title in my name and get it registered. That way you know you’re not in for any
surprises when you finally get all the work done and get it on the road. If it has to be
inspected for some reason it would be a lot easier to convince them that it was all correct
and original in the condition it is now rather than after its been all stripped down and
reworked.
I had clear title to my ‘50 when I bought it, got it registered and was driving it. But I
noticed the second year that the VIN was one number off. Somewhere very early on one
number on the title had been incorrectly recorded. It had been registered for 50 years one
number off. I filled out the form I got from the DMV and had a state police officer come
out to check out the vehicle. Luckily since I had gotten it from the original purchaser I
still had many of the registration stubs going all the way back to when it was bought new.
The officer said it all looked original and unmolested and it was obvious that it was a
clerical error and signed off the corrected title form. Now the VIN number on the truck,
title and registration all match.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks for all the info. Thankfully i took the truck on a trailer to dmv. I got the title put into my name as is. Then i had it inspected the guy was such an idiot he filled out the the change of title to read what i wanted. So now it shows 1/2 ton with the correct vin number off the vin tag and a 1954 gmc. So i think i have it the way i want it with no issues. Thanks again guys