Gents, the dream truck has arrived!
After chatting with a forum member about some parts I needed, I decided to purchase the 1956 GMC Suburban pickup (GMC version of the Cameo) he wanted to sell as well.
It's not quite road-worthy yet, needs some parts chromed, needs paint, and the usual refresh of brakes/fuel/hoses for a truck that hasn't moved in awhile, but was otherwise well-cared for and should need very little work to get going.
As I have an ongoing build that needs to see the finish line, there won't be a build thread but I may get it up to snuff for legal road use and safe operation for now and just enjoy it. Thanks to G&R's57GMC for parting with this ole girl!
Fun Details:
- GMC Suburbans are much more rare than their Chevy counterparts... while there were about 10,000 Cameo's made, GMC only produced about 1,000 Suburbans over the same 55-58 timeframe.
- Original one-year-only Pontiac 316 swapped out for a more plentiful but more powerful 1960 Pontiac 389 sometime before I was born. Perhaps fortunately, its the low-compression 215 HP Economy version that is much more pump-gas friendly than it's high compression brethren of the time. The original 2-barrel carb and intake were swapped out for a 66 GTO 4 barrel. She's gonna have some torque!!
- Hydramatic Trans that directly bolts up to the '60 389 bellhousing (pontiac likely designed the transmission as well)
- Late 60's Camaro A/C installed back in the day!
- Has the RSD (Road Shock Dampers) that came with all GMC Suburban pickups, and were options on others. They have a sprung weight in a canister that counteracts the force of hitting bumps in the road.
- Has Pontiac-designed factory direct-drive Power Steering and a special steering column that ends in a rag joint connection instead of a solid connection to the box like the manual. I had NO IDEA this even existed!! Never seen one before. The Chevys use a power-assist that attaches to the axle. The GMC version functions like a CPP 400 conversion, where the box itself is assisted. Pretty cool! It leaked pretty bad and is disconnected at the moment, but still cool.
- Has the cool glow-in-the-dark clock in the dash
Now I just need to use some self-control and keep working on my 58!!
