6066 (1960-1966) GMC Truck Club - 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

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Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

Holy cow Hawkz! That 61 burb you have looks amazing - hope mine comes out half that nice after it goes to the shop in a week or two.

Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

Thanks.

Some of the parts were easy to find, but I'm still looking for a few. Good luck and let me know if you are having trouble locating any parts.

Nick

Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkz (Post 69117)

Thanks.

Some of the parts were easy to find, but I'm still looking for a few. Good luck and let me know if you are having trouble locating any parts.

Nick

Thanks - I'll know in a few days what has to be found and acquired to get her back going again. What parts are you still looking for?

Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

I need the arms for the rear lift gate. And a new steering gearbox would be nice.

It runs and drives just fine as is. These projects are never really 100%, or least mine never seem to get past 98% because of hard to find parts...

Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkz (Post 69129)

liftgate supports are exceedingly hard to get and expensive - last set I sold was 400 bucks. Rebuit steering boxes are available for half tons on Ebay, but I doubt for 4x4's....

Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

Yeah, 2wd steering gears are everywhere. Best I've found for my 4x4 is to get mine rebuilt. It isn't cheap tho, and mine isn't completely worn out, so I'm still driving it...

Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Snyder (Post 69096)

The question of how many K models were produced comes up on our forum every few years. Although K model production figures for Chevy are readily available (roughly 1000 K model Suburbans every year from '60 to '66), the corresponding numbers for GMC are not available. Production records were either lost in a fire or are buried in one of thousands of unmarked boxes in GM archives, depending on which story you want to believe. In any case, since Chevy outsold GMC about 4 or 5 to 1 back in those days, a rough estimate for GMC production of K model Suburbans would be about 200 per year, half with barn doors and half with liftgate/tailgate.

Clyde in SC is on our forum and has a '61 K Suburban.

Hey Ed - Jon Krogh and I were talking yesterday on this GMC K model Suburban production figure debate, and I was wondering if you have a document source for any 60-63 Chevy K model production figures? If not, I guess if they only made 1000 +/- in 64, 65 & 66 then it stands to reason Chevy obviously didn't make MORE than those figures in the 60-63 earlier years, but I wanted to ask because Jon only has 64 65 & 66 K model Chevy production figures but some early ones were said to have been printed many years ago so wondering what you might have document-wise to share on that?

Re: 61 K1000 - Got a new toy and now I got some questions

Nice project Steve. The Forest Service tie in would explain the green variation from standard vinyl choices. One line to research would be the states and USFS archives from this era. There are archives in each state and regional US Archives (southeast archives are in Morrow, Atlanta). You can search online and visit them to research GMC and vehicle records. Plenty of untapped pictures and info exists, just in need of finding. Any production numbers info you can find may or may not include fleet vehicles such as this cool truck. If you can find out the USFS vehicle numbers, you will have some idea of the overall number built for the year. I would imagine that USFS and power companies attest for a big swath of these particular vehicles. Good luck with the project, GM