First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Hi All, occasional lurker finally stepping up to the plate.

Some of you may have seen my truck on the cover of the March issue of Double Clutch magazine from the Antique Truck Club of America, or seen it at a variety of shows up and down the east coast.

My 61 GMC has just ticked over to 50k original miles. I bought it with 41,629 miles in 1999 from the original owner. I have every piece of documentation, from the original correspondence between the owner and the selling dealer. The gentleman bought the truck to put his camper in the bed, and had Morysville tool boxes hung on the sides in place of the fenders. GM and Firestone custom engineered a dual rear wheel set (has 19.5" wheels). The tool boxes were lined with a piece of vinyl and never saw anything other than clothes, food, household supplies, and some minimal road trip repair parts. You could literally eat out of the tool boxes! The previous owner provided me with a boatload of records-- I have every insurance card and registration from 1961, and every other piece of possible documentation, including correspondence and drawings from GMC and Firestone on the dual rear wheel setup.

The truck was garage kept and remains as such. It is nearly perfect, but certainly as perfect as any 56 year old truck could possibly be. I believe all of the paint to be original-- except the wheels, which I just repainted this winter to match as the rears were peeling.

The truck is incredibly reliable. Last September, I went to a truck show in North Carolina with the 61 on the back of the trailer along with a few other trucks. My haul truck, a 1965 White 4000 diesel tractor, blew a head gasket halfway from NJ to NC, so I unloaded the 61 GMC and drove her down the rest of the day, and all the way back home to NJ, a total of about 1100 miles, on some of the hottest days of the year.

Anyway, just happy to share these photos. I'll be bringing "Blueberry" around the show circuit this summer to celebrate the feature article in Double Clutch.

Here's a photo of the 61 outside a farm stand in North Carolina. Incidentally, I lost a hubcap recently so if anyone knows where I can find the larger 3/4 Ton hub caps for a '61, please let me know!

Ross

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psxsdq14vd.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psl32jci0l.jpg

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Welcome! And super nice truck you have there!

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Welcome Rg; such an awesome peice of history you have there! Congratulations and looking forward to more photos as well.

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Thanks!

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Thanks Funky... it's one of my favorites, especially because you don't see many '60-61s anymore. I like 'em rare!:thumbsup:

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

DARN, that's sweet.

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Nice to have another member of the "Bubble Hoodie Club".

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Great to see another one not going to the scrap yard, nice truck.

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Wow! That sure is shiny for 56 year old paint. I assume it's a 305 & 4-speed? Nice truck. Glad you are keeping it nice.

Dad had a '60 Chevy 3/4ton stepside when I turned 16 and legally started driving. 261-6 and SM-420 Trans. It had a Detroit Locker in the rear axle, had a data plate riveted on inside of back wall of cab. Ground the tread off tires quick but got stuck much less than the '56 F-350 pickup it replaced.

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

305, 4-speed. I don't know why they don't just call it a 3 speed with House Mover Mode. :lol:

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

That creeper low gear comes in handy when you use a truck for work. Makes a little engine do BIG things. And with a torque monster like that 305 you get a superiority complex.

Before Dad got the '60 Chevy he had a '56 F-350 pickup, 9 ft stepside box, 272 V-8 and a 4-speed, probably a Borg-Warner. Neighbor's would go to the feed mill and get 500 pounds of feed in their 6-cylinder Chevys. DAD would load 5000 pounds of ground feed in the auger wagon behind the F-350, then pull ahead and toss 500 pounds sacked feed in the truck, then head out of town and pass the neighbor's. Using the V-8 that hard normally sent the engine into vapor-lock. FORD ran a cross over exh. pipe from left side to right side exhaust manifold just a small fraction of an inch from the gas line, close to upper radiator hose, and maybe 2-3 inches from the carb. Today we would have put headers on that truck, kept the heat away from carb and gas line. But it was fun before the engine died and had to cool off.

Had the exact same problem with a 292 Y-block in a '58 or '59 F-750 a few years later. Same cross over pipe. Hot summer days and loading to 35,000-36,000# didn't mix. I used that low gear frequently.

That's one thing GMC did right that no other gas truck engine company did, they kept heat away from heat sensitive things like the distributor, carb, fuel lines, plug wires.

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Welcome, good to see another great piece out there.What kind of options is it equipped with. I am formally from NY & NJ before Las Vegas. I needed more good weather a lot more of the time, so I settled here. Should be finished with my 64 by the end of the summer. Will post photos. John

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Beautiful example of a nice '61.

Did you ever get your White 4000 back home?

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Yes, I did a couple of days later. Did an in-frame rebuild this winter. The break-in ride will be to the ATCA show in Macungie next weekend. The '61 GMC will be on the trailer along with probably a 50 chevy 5 window pickup...can't drive em all!

Photo of the 4000 (4464TDL) as we cleaned it up last weekend in prep for the show.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps9fsjahoy.jpg

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Looks great.

I'm going to guess that you have a 220 Cummins in there.

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

262 (220 with a blower).

Re: First post- 1961 Pickup
 

Very nice semi, I want to restore one at some point.