2nd Chance at My First Truck

[Sed27]

How many have had the opportunity to buy back their first truck? I did, earlier this fall.

A little background and introduction...

The truck in the pictures below was my first vehicle. It was purchased when I was 16 (I’m 35 now). It was driven to and from High School and work for the better part of a year and half. It was in fair condition when I had it, but being young, I hadn’t the funds to undertake a proper restoration. I eventually sold it to my uncle’s friend to help finance the purchase of a 1974 Bronco.










Time passed and the more I though about the old truck, the more regret started to creep in. As rough as it was around the edges, it had a certain timeless, classic style about it. To my surprise, some years ago, I got wind that my uncle had purchased the old girl back from his friend. At the time, I half joked that I had right of first refusal if he were to ever sell it.

Earlier this fall I was surfing the local online classifieds and what did I see - but my old truck and another one for sale! I contacted my uncle immediately and he assured me that there was a mix up. It turns out his fiancé was cleaning up the property while he was out of town and was attempting to gauge interest on another truck they owned (mine just happened to be in picture for the ad). Needless to say, I struck a deal shortly thereafter to purchase.

As you can see, I have a lot of work ahead of me. I haven’t had a chance to perform a thorough assessment, but a preliminary review reveals a fair bit of rust. This will be long term project, as I need to set some funds aside and start collecting parts. At this juncture, I am leaning towards a Resto-Mod (e.g. upgraded engine, brakes, suspension, & wheels etc.) while keeping the original colours and reverting back to the stock interior.

It appears the truck was painted at least once during its lifetime, because the exterior colour is slightly darker shade than the interior and there is evidence that undercoating was applied to the lower body panels. Unfortunately, one of the previous owners had decided to install a sunroof and cut the dash/ doors for an aftermarket stereo and speaker set up. The seat frame was also hacked at one point to accommodate a subwoofer.

Yes, those hacked seats are buddy buckets (covered in pleated, crushed, velour no less). However, I promised they would go to my uncle, who had the foresight to get the truck back into the family stable (which includes my Grandfather’s 1969 GMC, as well as another 1971 GMC 2wd and a 1972 GMC 4x4.



The SPID has seen better days. Here is my best guess/decipher:

555 - White/ Saddle
650 - Saddle Vinyl Trim
D99 - Two Tone Paint/ Moulding
E81 - Pick-up Box Floor (wood bed?)
F51 - Front & Rear Shock Absorbers
F59 - Front Stabilizer Equip.
F60 - Heavy Duty Front Springs
G50 - Heavy Duty Rear Springs
G80 - Rear Positraction Axle
J70 - Brake Booster Equip.
K05 - Engine Block Heater
LS9 - 350 CU. IN. V8 Eng.
M49 - Turbo Hydra-matic
? - Unreadable/ Unknown
P4? - 15 x 5.50 Wheels
? - Unreadable/Unknown
V48- Max Anti-Freeze Protection
Z49- Mandatory Canadian Base Equip. Mod.
Z52 - Full Foam Seat
Z53 - Ammeter-Oil Gauge


It is an Oshawa truck, so I may bite the bullet and purchase the vintage vehicle package through GM Canada to get a definitive list of the options and other related info.

Three quick questions for the experts out there:

1) Am I correct to assume this was a fairly average optioned truck?
2) Would the original two tone colour option 555 be as shown in the pictures (i.e. white cab and saddle body), or would it be another configuration?
3) Does the D99 code only apply to the cab moulding or has some additional body moulding been removed over the years?

Thanks,

Sed27

[Sed27]

Some more pics as she sits now.

[68 Stepper]

Lucky guy, dont let her go again!

[70LonghornCST]

Sed27,

Welcome to the forums! Congrats on getting your truck back. Have fun with your restoration.

Richard

[Husker]

Cool
Ron

[BrianG]

Congrats on getting your truck back!!! I can truly say that I understand now wonderful the feeling is. I got my first truck back a few years ago after being without it for about ten years. I sold it around the time that my wife and I were getting married. She surprised me for our ten year anniversary by tracking it down and striking a deal with the guy. We've spent the last three years searching for parts and it just recently got back from the body shop. Hopefully yours is not in as bad of a shape as mine was when I got it back.

First pic is when we got it back... second one is recent, when we got it back from the body shop. Unfortunately, I don't have any digital from when I had it originally

[Sed27]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Congrats on getting your truck back!!! I can truly say that I understand now wonderful the feeling is. I got my first truck back a few years ago after being without it for about ten years. I sold it around the time that my wife and I were getting married. She surprised me for our ten year anniversary by tracking it down and striking a deal with the guy. We've spent the last three years searching for parts and it just recently got back from the body shop. Hopefully yours is not in as bad of a shape as mine was when I got it back.

First pic is when we got it back... second one is recent, when we got it back from the body shop. Unfortunately, I don't have any digital from when I had it originally

Brian,

That is awesome. Your wife sounds like a keeper. The pics I posted are how the truck sits now. It basically is a time capsule from when I first owned it almost 20 years ago.

[ho70]

Nice to have an old friend back-good luck
1.it is an average optioned truck-built for work
2.I don't know code wise, but it looks like stock paint set up
3.It appears no other moldings were installed, just cab

[slikside]

Sed,

You must be stoked! Congrats.

White/Saddle interiors are awesome. I hope you're able to return to that.

And a posi...

Lots to work with there.