Greetings from New England. I have been eyeing this site for a few years now. I'd rather learn from the experts than prove that I am not one. I'm a GM truck guy. I have a '61 4 wheel drive Chevy 1/2 ton longbed that started the addiction. I was deep into paying and waiting for that 7 year project when i spotted a 1945 GMC 1/2 pickup on the side of Route 1. I made an offer and bought it and started driving it. And updating it. A rolling restoration mind you. Something i wished the K10 had undergone. But the '45 eventually got a 302 c.i version of the original engine. A 3.55 gearset and a rare Truckstell overdrive went in as well. Some NOS parts and new paint helped out. And last year a new 13 gallon fuel tank was welded up by my welder/mechanic and put in along with the original 18 gallon tank. So now the truck can cruise at any speed you'd like. -Under 100 mph. Go for 400 miles without refueling. It's still 6 volt positive ground but with an alternator.
So where's the 409 stuff, you say. Well I was wandering around on the GM Phot archives site one day and spotted a couple of photos of a 1960 GMC 1/2 ton in red and white 2 tone paint. It really caught my eye having always liked the early 60's trucks. My Dad had purchased one a couple of months before I was born. So it was really a part of my childhood.
The V-6 in those GMC trucks was interesting but i wasn't that enamored with them. My inexperience eye thought that there might be some family lineage with the 409 engines. Some research brought me here and elsewhere and I realized that there was no relation between engine families. I liked the idea of a 409 engine with more horsepower and 100 lbs less weight and thought, maybe a 409 might look good in that 2 tone truck. Business was good back then and I had Jack Gibbs build me a 409 dual quad motor. Actually I had the engine before I had the truck! I had a misfire on the truck. I bought a real 1960 GMC 1/2 ton with big back window from some G** forsaken place down South and had it shipped up. Uhh, not exactly as it was described. Later I found a super clean 1961 Chevrolet pickup that had had a mild redo in the 90's but was rustfree and a good price. It did not have the big back window or a GMC dash, but those were soon remedied when the GMC was scavenged for those parts and put into the Chevy. The Red and white paint went on at the same time.
Soon the 409 was mated to a donated Turbo 400 (375 actually) that had been rebuilt for a little fun. Some new and some old parts came together to get it to shift on the column along with a deluxe wheel a la a 1960 El Camino. (same as 60-65 truck)
The truck is on the road now as of this Spring. All I can say is WOW!. I had never had the pleasure of owning so much horsepower (in ONE vehicle
) before.
This thing can giddyup and go. There are many more things that i would like to see on the truck. Whitewalls and the correct hubcaps (I have them-all painted up ) and probably a posi. The "Nascar" style bars original to these trucks puts the power down surprisingly well when you are lined up straight. Any sort of acceleration coming out of a turn however creates a mini fog bank in a hurry.
I appreciate all the little stuff that you can garner on a site like this and although it seems I'm a bit younger than most of you movers and shakers here, I'll at least try to keep the faith.
Pix on the truck section a little bit later. Pete/ K10
So where's the 409 stuff, you say. Well I was wandering around on the GM Phot archives site one day and spotted a couple of photos of a 1960 GMC 1/2 ton in red and white 2 tone paint. It really caught my eye having always liked the early 60's trucks. My Dad had purchased one a couple of months before I was born. So it was really a part of my childhood.
The V-6 in those GMC trucks was interesting but i wasn't that enamored with them. My inexperience eye thought that there might be some family lineage with the 409 engines. Some research brought me here and elsewhere and I realized that there was no relation between engine families. I liked the idea of a 409 engine with more horsepower and 100 lbs less weight and thought, maybe a 409 might look good in that 2 tone truck. Business was good back then and I had Jack Gibbs build me a 409 dual quad motor. Actually I had the engine before I had the truck! I had a misfire on the truck. I bought a real 1960 GMC 1/2 ton with big back window from some G** forsaken place down South and had it shipped up. Uhh, not exactly as it was described. Later I found a super clean 1961 Chevrolet pickup that had had a mild redo in the 90's but was rustfree and a good price. It did not have the big back window or a GMC dash, but those were soon remedied when the GMC was scavenged for those parts and put into the Chevy. The Red and white paint went on at the same time.
Soon the 409 was mated to a donated Turbo 400 (375 actually) that had been rebuilt for a little fun. Some new and some old parts came together to get it to shift on the column along with a deluxe wheel a la a 1960 El Camino. (same as 60-65 truck)
The truck is on the road now as of this Spring. All I can say is WOW!. I had never had the pleasure of owning so much horsepower (in ONE vehicle
) before. This thing can giddyup and go. There are many more things that i would like to see on the truck. Whitewalls and the correct hubcaps (I have them-all painted up ) and probably a posi. The "Nascar" style bars original to these trucks puts the power down surprisingly well when you are lined up straight. Any sort of acceleration coming out of a turn however creates a mini fog bank in a hurry.
I appreciate all the little stuff that you can garner on a site like this and although it seems I'm a bit younger than most of you movers and shakers here, I'll at least try to keep the faith.
Pix on the truck section a little bit later. Pete/ K10
Trucks are good too !! The little woman had a '59 Apache 3100 1/2 ton back in the day. We used it to haul my swap meet trailer to and from swap meets here on the Isle of Long ( Long Island ). It only had a 235 6 in it at the time. The "W" swap never materialized. I had a 1962 GMC 2500 series flatbed we used to haul my '57 drag car to and from the drags back in the day. It had a '67 impala 327 4bbl w/a 4 speed. It is the one in my avatar. I found it in Bel-Air Ohio and drove it home. My friends '69 Camaro ( which he just bought ) was on the back. The truck had a 6 cyl at the time. That motor took a dump on the cross bronx expressway right after the George Washington bridge. 
AHH!! Those were the days. Any way enjoy your ride and please send pics of the project as you go along.
Welcome,And yes "The General"had a great idea with this suspension.There's even a company[Hot Rods to Hell]that builds a like suspension for cars.What type of rear do you have in the truck[dana 44 perhaps]?If so there are parts to convert to a "posi"
bang Great story so far can hardly wait for those photo's
please don't be concered about being young. ( and I dont know what your concidering young) I for one am happy that younger guys are into the cars that were new when I was young
I've been saying at shows the last couple of years to buddies Iv'e been with that when we go all this will go too
no1::takethat somtimes. Ken
,some kid called the 305e[GMC v6]in my 67 GMC a "w"[I WISH].You have some really nice trucks there,congrats