1961 Viking
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This absolutely the last thing I needed to go out and buy but, it was love at first sight! I have never even thought of owning a "Heavy Hauler" but, I could not get past how cool the front of this truck looks. Just tough! It is fairly local to me as well which I think is a major consideration as shipping something this big is pricey. It is located about 30 minutes from my house and I will have to do about 5 miles of Highway driving to get it home. Owner claims it is capable of 55MPH and runs great so we will see. I'm out of town for work until end of next month. I'm sure the wife will love it :lol::lol: It was cheap enough that I feel pretty good about the purchase. I figure I will have some fun with it running my daughter around the Island and my nieces and nephews when they visit. It use to be a Bend, Oregon Fire Department truck. It is suppose to be rust free, just surface stuff. Previous owner does not know much about it. I'm guessing that is a 283 in there. I've combed over this section of the forum and have found some good information. The slave cylinder is leaking so, that will have to be replaced. I'm also curious about wheels and tires. I have to get it home to see what I'm, dealing with but, alot of guys seem to upgrade to the 22.5 accuride wheels. My plans are to get it mechanically reliable (previous owner says it is). Probably repaint it red. I usually try to save "patina" but, I think this is beyond saving. I will get rid of the wood sides as I think that will clean it up a bit (save them for any future dump runs). I will also clean up the interior a bit. I know this is one of the years that uses ball joints so, I'm curious to see what shape those are in. Any other things to look out for?
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Re: 1961 Viking
Love it,looks like a cool project,also love the front tag!
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Re: 1961 Viking
Nice survivor! I had a 1965 GMC C/50 with 305 V-6, about the same wheelbase as that one.
What's in the bed? It must be a heck of a load. Those wheels can be changed safely if you know what you're doing. |
Re: 1961 Viking
I just came across a 59 on fb marketplace for $700 this morning. It has a nice bruise where someone bumped it into something on the front fender.
It's a good looking truck! |
Re: 1961 Viking
Nice '61. Looks solid. Like the 10-Lug Fronts.
It's a 283 for sure. The Front End will actually be a "Torsion Bar" Front. |
Re: 1961 Viking
Thanks fellas. I did read that the 60-62’s have the torsion bar front but, there is also some sort of ball joints? Another member on here describes having to replace them and that it is an early truck design? I’ll have to see if I can dig up the thread. Not sure what he had in the bed in those pictures. I was happy about the 10 lug fronts as well. My concern with the split rims is the availability of finding tires. I actually deal with split rims quite a bit at work. It was cheap enough that I could justify buying it sight unseen from pictures and videos.
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Re: 1961 Viking
Mine had 10 hole wheels but only five bolts in front.
The make 20" pickup tires now but not sure if they are heavy enough? They would need tubes and maybe they don't even make 20" tubes anymore... |
Re: 1961 Viking
Neat truck.
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Re: 1961 Viking
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First, it is a critical system when dealing with the weight of these trucks, especially when loaded. To make matters worse, it is a single pressure system, not a split circuit like all modern (post-sixties) vehicles. Second, it is more complicated with the Master/Slave setup and vacuum booster setup. Thirdly, many of the parts are tough to find. Technicians with experience in these systems are also difficult to find. |
Re: 1961 Viking
Unfortunately the Acurride 28160 are nearly impossible to find, A company called WheelsNow makes repro accurrides but they look funny--I own a set for my C50. $250 ish per wheel.
Original Hydraulic brakes are almost always in poor working condition and finding the part numbers is getting harder and harder. I love these trucks but maaaaaaaaan they don't seem to love us back sometimes.:lol: |
Re: 1961 Viking
I can see the appeal. Looks to be in great shape. I'd imagine there'd be some way to upfit later more serviceable brakes
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Re: 1961 Viking
I’m getting ready to tackle the brake system on this truck. The previous owner replaced the slave cylinder and then lost the brakes completely shortly after that. He thought it was the master cylinder so, he tracked down a new replacement. I’m getting ready to install the master cylinder and bleed the system. Is the bleeding procedure like a conventional truck? Bench bleed the master cylinder and then bleed each wheel starting from the furthest position away? It does run and shift excellent, just has zero brakes. The emergency brake does not seem to hold it either so, I will have to investigate that system.
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Re: 1961 Viking
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A few current pictures. I found a very nice condition original seat on craigslist for it. I’m not sure what year it came out of but, I think the color will be a nice match for the truck. After I get the brakes sorted, I need to do a few small items like replaced the drivers door glass etc. Then I need to sort out wheels tires and get some single stage red shot on the cab and front end.
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Re: 1961 Viking
What a nice find.
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Re: 1961 Viking
Nice
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Re: 1961 Viking
Sweet truck! That seat looks to be a 63 Deluxe seat. The red seat is a somewhat rare piece
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Re: 1961 Viking
LOVE your new truck! Hey here is a link to the GM Heritage Center, someone here told me about this when I was looking for info on my 1963 C50. This will be super informative in VIN decoding, finding your truck specs, brake info, you name it. It does cover all light/med/heavy models so you have to pick through it but it’s pretty well organized
https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/doc...olet-Truck.pdf |
Re: 1961 Viking
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Thanks for the great info. I think I will start by bleeding the wheels cylinder first and then the hydrovac last. I also found a few places that rebuild the hydrovac. I have a good hose manufacturer by me and I may take all the rubber hoses there to be reproduced. Non of the wheel cylinders look like they’re leaking so, hopefully I’m good there. I found this sticker to be pretty cool. It’s in the drivers door jamb.
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Re: 1961 Viking
Love your truck! I personally am a fan of the way the paint/patina looks on this truck, many spend a lot of time attempting to achieve that look with fautina paint jobs. I'm also a huge fan of those original 10 lug wheels. Congrats on obtaining such a nice example!
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Re: 1961 Viking
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If you are a DIY guy it might be a cool project and his turned out really great. His restoration site is full of info even though it’s a ‘64 you will find plenty to work with for your ‘61 PS love the sticker, I’m a retired Firefighter and I remember barcode stickers on every piece of equipment for tracking asset location, maintenance records, etc you should definitely keep that sticker in place after restoring! |
Re: 1961 Viking
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Re: 1961 Viking
All I know is that for a while I had a trailer brake controller teed into the MC to tow a mobile home, and started having brake pedal problems. I took it off and bled the system a bunch of times but I never got it completely right again. It was fine going downhill but you would have to pump it back up when stopping uphill / engine under load.
I did bleed the unit under the cab, but maybe I never did all of them at the same time in the right order? It would be good solid pedal but then would go to nothing after pulling a load with the engine. |
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