My uber rare 1966 GMC Suburban Discovery

[BobBray]

Wow, a 351E with a 'Glide in a Suburban!!!

[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by wsignman

Great find. Are the belts off for piture clarify

Good question - i just got the truck Monday night and took it straight to the shop to have the brake lines inspected and replaced after we discovered one rear brake line was broke off at the left rear wheel cyl. When I went to take these pics I noticed the belts being off, so not sure if Nathan did that or if it came straight from Missouri with them off. The mechanics will be changing the fluids and checking timing, etc so I will tell them to add the belts and see if there is any reason why they are off. AC and PS is supposed to work according to the family who sold it to Nathan the guy I got it from so we will find out shortly

[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by Funky61

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?

I will have to go check and get us a picture of the crank pully, but from memory I think its a two groove mated to a single if I remember right. Will post pics soon

[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by BobBray

Wow, a 351E with a 'Glide in a Suburban!!!

I know right? pretty unusual to see V6's w/ automatics but this is the first 351E I have seen that had assembly-line installed AC - all other AC trucks I have seen (about 3 or 4 ever) were all 305E setups. bracketry and special AC only items seem to be identical between 305E and 351E setups as far as I can tell.

[GMCNUT]

I never got around to posting the interior pics so here we go

The fiberboard ceiling tiles are in near perfect shape front to back so I love that.
The tailgate is rust free
The cluster has an optional correct dealer installed accessory oil guage
optional correct dealer installed Ammeter in the dash sheetmetal as usually done.
Great looking low-use power brake pedal pad

[GMCNUT]

Here is a few shots of the seats and AC controls etc.

So 1961 was an odd year for Chevrolet cars in that the Cool Pack under-dash unit was not the only AC option - in 61 you could get something that while still technically under-dash in basic design, Chevrolet would call it "in-dash" AC, and this 1961 odd-ball AC design for the Chevy Impala utilized a single, bolt-on Drivers side AC vent outlet made of fiberglass and adorned with a beautiful chrome plated air diffuser to match the evap case mounted passenger side diffuser.

GMC was already separated from Pontiac and re-aligned with Chevrolet by the time 1964 rolled around, so GMC borrowed the 61 Impala drivers side AC vent as a simple low cost method of overcoming the dash design difference between GMC and Chevrolet trucks. GMC did not need to have room to send AC out the dash, so this 61 Impala vent worked perfect. A slight modification to the Chevrolet-designed truck AC Evap case was made to send the air to each of the left and right vents - a 2" hole was sawed into the forward or drivers side facing side of the evap case, and the drivers side AC hose to the vent connects there. The Chevrolet evap case design has a large 4" or greater sized square hole on top to accept the Chevrolet-only upper AC diffuser assembly; this large square hole was simply capped off (similar to capping off a chimney on a house) using simple sheetmetal that was then pop-riveted to the plastic evap case. another 2" hole was sawed in the sheetmetal cap and the passenger diffuser assembly gets AC from there.
I really like the borrowed 61 Impala vent design and think they really look great in a GMC - they are more functional than the Chevy diffuser design too, in that the driver, who is many times the only passenger, has easier access to cold air from the wider Impala diffuser to his left than the center vent on a Chevy which is harder to get AC pointed to where you can actually feel it when on.

[GMCNUT]

So, over the years I have hoarded some of this GMC-specific AC stuff, so now that I have this complete setup on this burb, once I have inspected everything thoroughly and the AC is working and blowing cold etc, I will begin offering up my spare AC system and parts.

[Culver Adams]

GMCNUT, you just got yourself a dealer's showroom demo Suburban. I'll be surprised if it has many more miles than the ebay sale price. You must be living right. Congratulations. I'll be one of many parked on the edge of my seat awaiting your next post on this baby.

Culver Adams
Minneapolis, MN
1961 GMC K1500

[BobS]

Nice find! I'm glad you were able to save it from being hacked up. I have a 66 1000 short fenderside that was fully optioned, 351E/TH-400 with most of the AC stuff missing. I've collected a few pieces to restore it but I didn't realize there was an overflow tank and those hose supports on the core support. Thanks for posting the pics!

Bob
Pelican Rapids, MN

[Funky61]

Question on the powerglide setup; does it use support rods like the Turbo 400 setup?