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Old September 20th, 2019, 06:19 AM
LordNatedawg LordNatedawg is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Sparks, Nevada
Truck: 1966 GMC 1500 Custom
Age: 24
Posts: 67
Rep Power: 62
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Default "Papa Smurf" - 1966 GMC 1500 Custom

19 years old, new to the forums, new to restoring classic vehicles. We'll see how this goes. Let's start with how I obtained this truck and what it all has.

While looking for a used pickup on Facebook Marketplace, I stumbled across an old 1966 GMC 1500 Custom; Fleetside Longbed. Ignoring the advice from my parents to buy "a useful truck", I decided to jump on the offer. I love my dads 74 GMC K2500, so this was my chance to get a truck like his.

The gentleman I bought this truck from had been using it as a work truck for several years (can't blame him...it's a GMC). It has a cargo rack, 8 lug wheels, painted bumper with ball hitch, 3 gas tanks (two in the bed, one in the cab), it has power assist brakes, it has A/C (John E. Mitchell underdash), ram-style power steering, NP435 manual transmission, bigger mirrors, Dana 60 rear diff, it's a 2WD, and the 351e V6 was swapped for a 350 V8. Basically, this truck was the "heavy duty" model of the 1500.

It was running and driving until I touched it. Engine sounds great. Couldn't get a feel for how it drives because I only drove it on and off a trailer.

The body is in decent shape. The rust isn't too bad. Two rust-holes in the front fender. The driver's side rear fender is in rough shape though. It looks to me like it was in an accident. The inner fender in the bed is dented inward, and the outer fender has a solid inch-thick layer of Bondo on it. Besides that, good condition. Only one piece of chrome is missing; one of the "Custom" badges is gone.

An oddity about the truck: the engine crossmember was swapped out at some point. To my knowledge, the 66 should use tubular control arms. Underneath my truck was the straight bolt-up arms. That and the fact that my upper control arm bracket wasn't even bolted to the frame leads me to believe that the crossmember was swapped at some point.

I bought this truck in May. It is now September at the time of writing this post. I've done some work to it...only some. Stay tuned for updates.
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