[pilotguy1050]

hello all.

This may very well be my first post on this forum... if not, the others were inconsequential. I am in need of infinite Wisdom (as if we all weren't). But, lacking an infinite supply, I'd be happy with a rather finite sample. Perhaps you all can share some of yours with me?

I recently received my first vintage GMC pickup. It was my Fathers, bought in the Winter of 1970, when I was 10; it was a mostly-rust-bucket powerhouse/treeclimber with a snowplow attached. I think he paid $900 for it. I remember driving it home *(yes, I was 10). Remember, we lived in rural Iowa, and my Dad wasn't too afraid of being caught breaking the law. I didnt get caught, and I was full of adrenaline driving that truck home that day. And, by "received it", I mean, my brother says it is now mine. But it is in Arkansas, and I live in Iowa. And, i'm now in the Middle East. Now, I own it. it is a '63 3/4 ton, 305e V6 and 4 speed.

It was part of his estate. He died two years ago, and it was only recently that my brother expressed a desire for me to have it; but, my Brother only said something about giving it to me when I first expressed an interest in acquiring an old, vintage truck of some sort to make into a daily driver. He had a couple of possibilities between he and his Father-in-Law, and, frankly, this one vehicle scared me. After being used for nearly 30 years by my Father on our small Iowa farm. The reason I was scared of it? It was rusty when Dad bought it as a 7 year old workhorse; the only thing holding the cab together on it now is faded paint. It would require a HUGE amount of bodywork to really become usable as a daily-driver. Thankfullly, my brother has a replacement cab and step box already, and is willing to help me with the swaps. That makes me happy to no end.

Now for my question: During Dad's ownership, he used that thing to plow snow from our 1/4 mile driveway. I remember that thing would start like it was born in Siberia. Put a good battery in it and hit the key and it would run. It was more dependable than a Mother's love. He was not one to take good care of anything cosmetically, but he kept the oil changed and made sure the fluids were where they should be. He didnt even care if gaugues worked; "If the radiator has a problem, the steam will tell me." Anyway, at some point in his tenure, he replaced the lockout hubs on it with solid-lock caps... That is, he set it up to never come out of 4WD from an axle/spindle point of view.

I do NOT know what it had for lockouts, or what might be available out there to replace these solid caps with. So I am searching for some. To further complicate my search, as stated previously, I am currenly deployed to the Desert in the middle East... you may have heard "The war is over", but do not be fooled; not everyone has gone home to their own warm bed. On top of that, my brother lives in Arkansas and I will have to travel to his home when I return to the States to help with getting it rehab'd... if we are able to take pics of the process, I hope to try and make a 'rehab posting' (not a restoration; not going to go overboard and redo everything... just going to do some major cab/box swaps, fix the brakes and get it running... ) On top of that, when I do go back to help my brother, I'll only have about a week to do the work.... so, I'm trying to line up parts for the project in-advance so we're ready for the basic expected repairs.

To that end, I would love to find a set of lockout hubs for this truck. I do not even know what axles it has under it, but I have every reason to believe they are stock original. If I have a VIN, is there a way to decipher what options/axles/anything intelligent from the VIN? Otherwise, anyone know where to find lockouts for such a beast? I don't even know the spline counts on the front axles.

Gonna be a million more questions for the group as time goes by, but that is the starter question.

Can anyone help me out? I sure hope so. I want to put this truck into traffic again (although not interstate, of course)... I just want it to be my new daily driver, to/from work, errands, etc. Something that people point at and talk about when I fill it up with gas.

I appreciate any info. I will have to figure out how to post pics; I don't have ready access to any "media" sites from my deployed location, so it may be hard to post pics.

Thanks to all...

Wayne
1963 GMC 3/4 4x4 305e Treeclimber