My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Hey guys - seems I've been too busy with work and some late 1950's GMC projects to post many replies to your posts or write anything interesting about 6066 GMC's lately after selling my prized 64 Wideside last year, and then selling off my 60 Suburban in favor of a 1960 short wideside I am still piddling with to get back on the road by Summer. But I have a new barn find one owner 1966 GMC Suburban to tell you about that really excites me to get to post about today.
So about a year ago, this Suburban came up on Ebay and I saw it and wanted it, but was incidentally broke that week and simply could not afford to buy it. Made me sick when I saw the auction end for a measly 2300 dollars too. But as fate would have it, the very next morning after the auction ended a guy I know in Cullman AL near me called sounding very excited saying he was shocked when his low-ball 2300 dollar bid had won this cool 1 owner GMC suburban off Ebay the night before. (can you imagine how sick I was when he said that?) so we laughed about how I wanted it and was too broke to bid on it, and I jokingly said I hated his guts for getting it instead of me. So he went the next day to Missouri and brought it home and I went to see it - that's when I seriously got sick at my stomach. I could not believe my eyes at how untouched the drivetrain was and how many rare accessory options in was loaded with. He worked on the ignition enough to crank and make it run, and I was shocked to see it run perfectly with no smoke. He drove it some in the first few days of having it, but it needed a new gas tank, brake work etc like most suburbans tend to, so he parked it and eventually bought a new tank and sender unit but never installed them. Being a young guy in his 20's he naturally wanted to pull the original V6 drive train and hot rod it with a Chevy smallblock, but I educated him on how rare and historically significant this particular suburban was and I pleaded with him to not ruin it, and instead sell or trade it to me. He was bent on keeping it for this whole agonizing 12-14 months or so he's had it, but I continued to work on him until he finally agreed this past weekend that it truly belongs in the hands of someone who obsesses over rarely equipped or highly optioned GMC's and their historic preservation, who could appreciate it and not modify it from original (thank the Lord! another GMC saved from the clutches of our "hot-rod TV" watching youth). So as soon as he said "when do you want to come get it" I jumped in my truck and sped 90 miles an hour to go get it from him before he changed his mind. It is a one owner truck never registered in anyone's name but the man who bought it new in January of 1967. The surviving family pulled it from the dry barn he always kept it in and stuck it on Ebay. It was ordered with every factory option you could get on a Suburban in 1966 except for a factory tach and clock, so it has (get this) its #'s matching 351 Magnum V6 engine, Powerflow Automatic Transmission, Factory Power Brakes & Power Steering, assembly-line installed (not dealer add-on) Factory Air Conditioning (100% complete and working), Deluxe heat, Tailgate & Liftgate option, all 4 sliding rear windows, Custom cab appearance package, bumper guards, front sway bar, all 3 rows of deluxe cloth covered seats, hazard switch, optional Ammeter and oil guages, and two speed wiper motor w/ window washers. It came two-tone Light Tan w/ White accents but at some point he had it scuffed down and repainted a copperish-brown metallic color. The surviving family drove the suburban into something when removing it from the barn it was stored in, and warped up the drivers front fender, so they bought a reproduction front fender and put it on before selling it. Floorboards and inner rockers, door bottoms, above windshield inside and out and drip rail are all super solid and nice. Tailgate is also amazingly rust free. Whole cargo floor is covered in its factory ribbed vinyl and unlike 99% of these suburbans, this floor covering is amazingly well preserved and not cracked or damaged anywhere (only one I've personally ever seen that wasn't) so this floor being in this super condition is the highlight of the whole truck to me. Still has all 4 original wheels and all 4 hubcaps although the caps are in dented semi-rough shape. Keep your eyes peeled for any 64-66 chrome NOS or real nice GMC hubcaps if you guys see any anywhere - I want to find a nicer set to put on it for driving it around to the shows and cruise-ins this Summer.

I can't believe I finally own this thing - see what you think. Will get pictures of the inside of it and post later - this is all the pics I have at the moment

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Now I'M sick to my stomach. LOL! More from jealousy. Boy you sure scored on that one! Super nice find. Also glad you found it before a stinkin small block was put in it. I'm one of those youth who happen to like these V6's better than a common sbc. :thumbsup:

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

A little jealousy over here to Steve ! LOL . Rare truck indeed .Like to see more detail shots of all the AC stuff on the truck. Very nice find !!

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Thanks guys - I am very excited.

Jon I am going back over there shortly to get some interior pictures and detail on the A/C stuff because I have personally never been able to find a 64-66 GMC with true assembly-line type AC on it that was ever truly complete with all the special brackets and clamps etc still in place - 99% of the time when you do see a truck equipped with AC these small seemingly insignificant items have been removed at some point. I will be cataloging all this small unique AC specific stuff and adding it to this thread since this is a rare opportunity to study a complete system.

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Congrats and glad your perseverance paid off! Subscribed for all the info to come on that AC set up.

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Looks great Steve.

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Daylight was waning by the time I got to the shop to snap a few more pics of her, but I managed to get a few decent shots of the AC specific parts and some of the interior. Here goes

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

So in the above shots you see the special AC-only radiator overflow tank - this came as part of assembly-line installed AC on all 64-66 GMC's. Very often missing when you do find an AC truck.
Here's some more pics:

one shows the cool firewall markings so took a shot of that, and one shows a special AC-only radiator hose retaining clamp which is ALWAYS missing on AC trucks. This is the only GMC I have so far seen in real life that still has this clamp. Two pics show the suction hose routing across the heater box and firewall, and you can see the special clamps holding the hose to the heater box and firewall. Last pic is of the special L bracket used on top of the AC-only shroud to hold the return hose in place. These little L brackets are usually gone as well, and especially the loop holding the hose to the bracket.

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Great find. Are the belts off for piture clarify

Re: My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery
 

Boy there sure is a lot of bracketry in this factory set up. I can see how easy it would be to start discarding pieces here and there over the years.

So is the bottom or lowest pulley on the crank a three groove or does it have an add-on extra pulley?