This thread is cool. I was looking for a big old workhorse when I was truck shopping last year. I ended up getting a deal I couldn't pass up on a '97 Dakota, but someday I'd love an old 70's/80's beast.
This thread is cool. I was looking for a big old workhorse when I was truck shopping last year. I ended up getting a deal I couldn't pass up on a '97 Dakota, but someday I'd love an old 70's/80's beast.
This is a cool video of a NAPCO-equipped 50's Chevy pickup driving up Pike's Peak...Not on the road. The best part is the last third of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x5LYTkRjdno
That is a face to love 
1960 GMC Farm Truck - $2000 (Carrollton)
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/wat/cto/3621671047.html
V6. The truck runs. Has 6 wheels.
bravenrace wrote:
Love Love Love those wheels
HeavyDuty wrote:alex wrote: Here are the two workhorses in my extended fleet. The 1500 has about a ton of 1/2" gravel in the bed, hence the stance.Could you tell me more about the car hauler? That looks like my dream set up! Awesome truck!
It's a custom, built by Pro Street hot rod (and amphibious vehicle) builder Rick Dobbertin. He built it specifically to haul his ridiculously over-the-top J2000, and sold the truck to fund his latest amphibious vehicle project. Dude operates on another level.
Anyway, it's built on an '86 C30 454 crew cab with the wheelbase stretched a fair bit. The box is about 15' long (if memory serves), with airbags to help with a load. A triple fold door makes loading low cars quite easy, and there's a winch to help pull dead stuff up. It's a pretty basic rig, and it benefits from that. No real living space accommodations, since Rick was on the show circuit, but an adult can pretty comfortably catch some shuteye on the bench seats.
I've used this thing more than my father, honestly. I hauled my Model A from MN, stuffed it full of 9 motorcycles haul to the AMA vintage races at Mid-Ohio when worked at the bike shop, used it to move a couple times, dragged a Miata to OH and hauled my giant vintage French bread dough mixer back from KY in it.
Aside from the long wheelbase and some tail swing making it a bit of a pain to navigate tight quarters, it's actually ridiculously easy to drive. The 454 is just an incredible engine - limitless reserves of torque. It doesn't care if there's load in the box or not, and if you get the airbags adjusted for the weight, you'll barely notice yourself. Hell, the thing doesn't even kick down going up hills on the highway - just seems to call down to the engine room for more coal.
alex wrote: and hauled my giant vintage French bread dough mixer back from KY in it.
I know it's WAY off topic, but do you have a picture of that thing? I am not a baker or anything, but that just sounds cool!
i heard this truck existed and have a friend that is looking for one to make a car carrier out of. i was told "oh ya it's restorable" i guess people have different ideas of what is restorable. wasted trip to look at but you never know
In reply to cutter67:
ANYTHING is restorable....with enough $$
He needs to move those fenders front about six inches.
In reply to ddavidv:
The truck is claimed to be original.
Didn't know this thread existed, or knew of it and forgot about it! 
Hope I haven't already posted in it!
I think my truck is cool. It's a workhorse for sure, always there when I need it.
pinchvalve wrote:alex wrote: and hauled my giant vintage French bread dough mixer back from KY in it.I know it's WAY off topic, but do you have a picture of that thing? I am not a baker or anything, but that just sounds cool!
I call it André, 'cause it's huge and French.
You can almost get an idea of the griminess in this picture. It's pretty gross. I think it was used for a pizza shop in the '80s, and when it fell into disuse, it sat in a basement for who knows how long. I have more descriptive pictures of the gunk, but you don't want to see them. Trust me.
It's still in the hauler here, obviously. I had to disassemble it into component pieces to get it out. Getting it in involved 4 guys, a winch, and precariously lifting it, off balance, with a pallet jack. At about midnight behind a strip mall. It was...challenging. And I still needed a second set of hands to get the base, stand/fork and bowl out with a two wheeler. This thing is stout to say the least. I would guess it's around 800lbs.
And in this picture it's missing the box that shrouds the belt and contains the (minimal) controls, all written in French.
Here is said box, after having powerwashed and painted all the parts. I'm still going to have it all sandblasted and professionally coated, since I know a guy that does industrial coatings on bridges and water towers and such. That will be more durable than rattlecan paint, and should help this thing see a few more decades of service.
And here's the bits laid out in my lot, awaiting the first round of washing and painting. For reference, the height of the stand with the box installed is about 40", and I would guess the bowl is around 40" in diameter. (Fortunately only about 30" top to bottom, so it will fit in the door. And no, I didn't think about that until well after I had it.)
It's a bit hard to tell from these shots, but the only motorized part is the fork itself. The bowl just sits on a ball bearing and rotates by the friction of the dough being dragged along the wall, as the bowl axis is offset from the fork. The speed of the bowl's rotation is regulated by a simple friction brake on the base - the crescent-shaped thing on the base in the last picture. Pretty elegant.
I'll take some more pictures when it gets its final coating. I'll probably keep the base white/cream and do the exterior of the bowl in red, something pretty striking. My kitchen is wide open when you walk in the door of my shop, so I figure I should show off the weirdo equipment.
1988RedT2 wrote: I think my truck is cool. It's a workhorse for sure, always there when I need it.
I love this model, especially in a single cab dually with a big block. I'm looking for one.
Not a pickup or particularly heavy duty but it suffices for most of my hauling duties...
In reply to 1988RedT2:
A guy down the road from me has a '79 that is otherwise identical to yours. Cool truck you got there.
mines not too heavy duty i guess. but its cool and old and does work.
pimpm3 wrote: Not a pickup or particularly heavy duty but it suffices for most of my hauling duties...
Why does it not sit level?
alex wrote: I love this model, especially in a single cab dually with a big block. I'm looking for one.
This'n might be available in a few weeks... (it has a 350 though)
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