The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1954 1955 1st rear view mirror (power ???)

Question: I have a 54 55 1st GMC deluxe cab long bed.(dead ringer for the truck pictured
in the 1950's print ad "5 years ahead" in front of the brick Pearse Floral
building)My late father bought the truck new from a local dealer and I have recently
rescued it from where it was parked outside for appx. 30 years. The truck is basically
complete. My question is in regards to the rear view mirror which is missing. There is a
power wire and a ground wire protruding from the mirror mounting hole.I have not traced
the power wire and do not find it on any wiring diagrams. Does any body have an idea what this
is for ?

Welcome to Stovebolt.com, GarthMC,

The Z-series GMC truck (54/55) had a completely different dash and radio than in a 1954-1955-1st Chevrolet truck.

Do you still have the headliner?
Do you have a radio?
If yes, do you still have the speaker above the mirror location, in the headliner?

That lead might be a speaker lead. Can you find the other end of the lead, under the dash?

You might want to also join oldGMCtrucks.com for excellent advice on GMC trucks.

check for the other end of that lead coming out of the window post by the light switch...

maybe it had a lighted compass
http://image.lowridermagazine.com/f...t_3100_pickup_truck+rear_view_mirror.jpg

I swear I read somewhere that they came from the factory with speaker wire already run.

??

That would be interesting to read.

My 54/55 GMC COE, that had only worked in an orchard all its life, had no radio speaker wiring. Almost everything in the interior (except for switch for the 2-speed rear) was original. No radio.

I now have an original 6v and a 12v GMC radio, one of which might end up in it (unless I use a modern clone radio).

Mystery solved !
Thanks for the input.
I traced the wire which runs under the w/s rubber thru the bottom of the window post and to where the radio used to be (now in storage). I also noticed that there is no place in the dash for a speaker and the front half of the headliner is gone.
I read owners manual under the truck radio section that states "The full size Alnico permanent magnet speaker is mounted in the roof of the cab for increased sound performance required in truck operation"
Maybe not the reason, maybe the design engineers just overlooked needing a speaker location so this was the fix.I do know that the radio, heater,and clock were dealer installed options so w/ the wire stuffed behind the w/s rubber I doubt it they came from the factory prewired.
If anyone has pix of the headliner mounted speaker please let me know.

Thanks again.

Radio Trivia from Jim Carter

"The dash on the 1954-1959 GMC and 1955-59 Chevrolet has no place for a speaker opening. Thus, the factory speaker is placed between the sunvisors above the windshield"

I have not seen the speaker in the mounting location. I cannot find any photos. I have the speaker frame (Jim Carter used to sell it).

Here is what the speaker looks like. Ignore the lower picture of the 54 speaker - that is only in a special cab.

http://www.oldgmctrucks.com/page0027.html

Thanks for the link to the speaker pix.
Look what I found: http://www.photobucket.com/54gmc100
Looks to be the original speaker and grille (I found it stored outside in an old file cabinet tat I almost threw in the dumpster while cleaning up Dad,s property a couple of months ago) The other pix are of the truck new in 1954 and the project that it has become !!!

That's certainly the original grille, and it's only the second one I've ever seen. Most got chucked out the window when they fell out of the headliner. Never did figure out why GMC didn't just spot-weld a couple of tabs to the roof.

Do you have the hood ornament, or did it get thrown out after years of being mis-used as a hood handle? There is a decent repop available now.

Tim,Jim Carter part number RAS120 is the 1954-1955 GMC speaker cover.There isn't a picture on his site of it yet,but it is in the paper catalog.

Tim

GarthMC,

Nice looking truck. It looks like the two-tone interior (blue/blue) was matched up with the two-tone exterior (blue/white).

Regular Production Option two-tone interior/exterior options were available on GM pickups and panels in 1954/55 (GMC and Chevrolet).

Thanks,

As I understand it, at least on GMCs in '54, the two-tone exterior and interior were standard with the DeLuxe package.

That picture of it new is worth 1000 answers. You should also join oldGMCtrucks and share this with those GMC nuts. There's a link in GMCpanel's post.

It answered some questions I had about the wheel appearance. It appears there was no pinstripe or beauty ring.

Is the top light blue or white?

Still have the hood ornament. Took it off a while before I towed it (seemed like something that could be easily stolen) I was a bit surprised that it hadn't been taken the two phillips screws removed live they were new.I remember lots of ride (and sitting on my dad's lap steering while driving down the road.It was a 2 tone blue interior and just an old (12-15 year old truck) at the time but now seems pretty cool. My son is 13 and we are going to put it back together mostly stock. probably radial tires on stock or stock looking tubeless rims a rebuilt stock appearing seat(bettter padding and material in the stock color scheme. We will paint it as original (no fancy show quality stuff) and we will retain the dealer installed barden bumper. Might not be perfect but they weren't perfect when new and it's a truck.

top is white
no pin stripe option on the wheels

Thanks

If you want a very good idea of what your truck looked like new, in color, find someone selling the 1954 GMC 2-page magazine ad on eBay. It featured a truck identical to yours.

Thanks,
I purchased that 2 page ad from ebay titled "5 years ahead" from a 1954 Saturday Evening Post before I decided to rescue the truck. Probably inspired me. They look the same except for the one pictured has the hydromatic and no Barden bumper. Very Cool