how did you get hooked?

[stingray72]

My dad's 72 Cheyenne was about the only thing I was allowed to drive when I turned 16. All my friends called it the RNAV (RedNeck Assault Vehicle). I loved it, runs good and is a nice truck. I've got my own 70 now and am looking for a blazer or jimmy

[Palf70Step]

I guess I'm a late bloomer. I've always been into cars and trucks, no matter who or what made it. I loved them all. I wanted to get back into a "toy" or project again and initially I was looking at the 48-55 type GM trucks. A friend at the church had his dad's old truck and debated on getting rid of it. I did not go head over heels for it, but when he decided to sell it to me the 70 had grown on me and now has matured to a full fledged something or other. It might even be a truck again once all the pieces get back together.

[vtblazer]

I'm a Blazer but, same, same.
My wife asked me to take my son for his first year check up which was out of town...saw the blazer sitting in a parking lot on the way down and stopped to look on the way home...yep, I bought it.
Ya think my wife wishes she'd made the trip instead...?

[Putter]

When I was born, my grandpa's '69 C-10 was already 3-years old. That was the first truck I ever laid eyes on. For the first 10-15 years, it was just "grandpa's old truck". Nothing special, just a truck. In high school I was all about my '52 Chevy truck. 327 with a powerglide. Bad as could be from redlight to redlight....sucked at anything over 60mph. After H/S, I sold it (mistake) and bought a Jap-truck (mistake). Found a '69 short/wide with a 350/350. Un-assed $1000 and drove it for a while....all the while, grandpa's truck was just sitting there under the 'truck-shed'. (he never had a car, so it was a truck shed instead of a car port). I was always told I could have it when he passed, but with that condition set on it, I really was not too anxious to get it. Well, the day came, and I ended up getting it the hard way. I titled it in my name, but left it in Arkansas for grandma to drive for something like 8-10 more years. I paid for all the tags, inspections, tires, maintenance, etc... She decided she was unable to wrestle the three speed, manual steering and manual brakes any more, so I hauled it home to Mississippi, and have driven it every day since. Not much of a story I guess, but that's how it laid out over the years.

[70ChevyLongbed]

I was out looking for an older truck to buy and use as a daily driver and weekend hauler... Drove out to a garage that always had older cars and trucks for sale but they were closed. I didn't know the area that well but I turned off the main road and figured I'd make my way back by cutting through a residential area, turned a corner and there sat my 70 longbed in someones front yard. Pulled in the driveway to look at it and a week or so later paid for it and took it home.

[Yukon Jack]

I've always liked trucks but what really hooked me on the 67-72's is my buddy Tony's 1 ton dually that he converted to 4wd. It's all his fault!!!

[krazy_texan]

the day my parents bought my 71 c/20 was the day i got the bug, i was and still am a very big fan of the 60-66 style as that was all that grandpa ever had and my first truck was grandpas 65 4x4 gmc v6, i sold it to my cousin when my dad moved the family over seas after we got back. i had found a truck in the next town, one day i was in school dad was on his way to buy the 71 ford swb 351clevland motor,4spd truck and saw my 71 at another dealer on the way to buy the ford, he turned around, bought the truck and surprised me at school with it that day.

[71Rat]

when i was about 14 my dad wanted to get a father son project. he remembered seeing an old k-5 blazer at a local shop and thought it was really clean... well a few days later he saw one in the paper that met the discription of the one he saw, so we looked at it and bought it(middle of winter so we didnt look under it). We get it home and i start pulling it apart... to only find out the floor is rotted and the rocker boxes are 1/2 gone also. we got prices to fix them but he didnt want to put that much money into just floors. so i cleaned it up and we sold it for a couple grand more then we paid. i was pissed because my dad made me sell it, i loved it(besides the floor that '70 was mint).... so about a year and a 1/2 ago i bought my 71 long bed at carlilse and have been playing with it ever since.... one day i am going to get another blazer


Rat

[dubie]

When I was in high school there was a local guy that had a 72 GMC that was painted a metallic medium blue with a whole lotta chrome. When I saw that truck, I was hooked!!! It wasn't till about 7 years later that I actually bought one. It's a 72 Chevy that now has a 67 GMC front clip on it. I was addicted to the look of that big chrome GMC grille. But right after I bought the truck, I intended on just using it as a beater for the rest of it's life. That was until I found this site. Then the addiction got worse and worse and eventually I ended up tearing the truck down to a rolling chassis and treating the ol girl to some new parts. And here we sit today, almost back together and it will be ready to cruise this summer

[Nima]

Hi to eveybody
I bought my 67 C20 (with 327 engine and 3 on 3)couple of months ago. Unlike most of you, I didn't/don't have any previous history with old American trucks. I neede a pickup for my weekend project (I consider myself handyman!) and I like 67-72 bodies!. Couple of months ago I found this truck, which was the first one I looked at!, and I bought it!. It is very straight but everything on it need to be changed or upgraded. Although it is not running perfect nowand is not in perfect body condition, But I love it. You are gona hear from me a lot since I am in need of lot's of help.
I also want to take advantage and let you all know that this is great website and you are all a great help.
Thanks.

[Primed67]

I started off in a 67 Mustang that broke down all the time. Well I was driving down the road one day and of course it started acting up again and died, I rolled it off the road and there it was a 72 Chevrolet Fleetside LWB just staring at me. The owner had been rebuilding it and lost interest in it. He had another frame for it where everything had been replaced and he also had every nick nack you could imagine for it to get it looking like it came off the show room floor. He made me a deal I couldn't refuse on the truck so I bought it, but I couldn't afford the rest of the parts yet. About 6 months down the road I guess he sensed I was wanting to paint the truck and he called me. Told me he would sale me all his parts and even put it together and paint it for me. Again he made me a deal I couldn't refuse so I bought the stuff and he painted my truck. It turned out awesome. Man I miss that truck, I still want to kick myself for selling it. Well at least I've got my 67 now.

[ryanroo]

my grandpa bought my green 72 new and when i was 12 told me i could have it. since i couldn't drive and i lived with my mom i couldn't work on it much but the next summer i got the bug to get it goin and me and dad pulled it out of the weeds. a year later it had an 8 inch lift. i just got my SWB 72 and decided that grandpas needs to get redone. so the white one is getting the lift and the green one is getting the bodywork. now for the next one.....
ryan

[busterwivell]

I was just lookin' for a truck to use to run to the dump! Found my 71 Longhorn C30 with a for sale sign in it in a little town about 30 miles from here. Thought it would do just fine, paid 1500.oo for it, and then I found this website. Once you hook up with you guys (and gals) you can't stop playing with your truck. See what you've done to me?

[71 Blazer CST man]

Lived on the east coast all my life and thought cars were the thing, till i moved out here to No. CAl after my Soph year in highschool. THen i realized trucks are by far the sickest. I ALWAYS wanted ... 4x4, Convertible, V8 (dual exhaust!!!). But what are you going to get these days that has all 3? That's when i started getting into the 1/2 convertible blazers. I always saw the 1st gens and LOVED the full convertible, but after searching far and wide - thought i would NEver find one, and if i did - not in my price range!!! Finally nearing the end of my junior year after just about a whole year of searching, and going car-less because i wanted THE RIGHT ONE....it showwed up. My 1971 Blazer k/5. LOcal too! right under my own nose!

A boy who goes to my school had his dad pick him up, in the blazer. Saw it with the 4sale and ran over. A week later, its mine! And at a steal too, Not a centimeter of rust anyplace...solid as can be,$4,500!!!!! - and a new windshield 'cuz the orig was cracked - he "knew a guy" and got a new one for me(+$200). The guy i bought it form had it for only 6months or so, and the son had NO intrest (HE thought the 63impala in dads garage was more his style - FOOL!) so the blazer became MINE! MINE MINE MINE MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here i am just about done with my Senior year...the trucks brought me better times then i'v ever had before since i'v owned it, and some real close calls(its faster then a crown vic, this i know!), and bad times too...i'll leave it at,....i'm sure many more good times are to come!

[TsgtE662]

Back in '74 as I was walkin home from school my dad pulls up in a '72 Chevy CST with a camper shell on it. Blue with a white roof. We had it a couple years or so. Took it camping / fishing towin his bass boat around.
HE traded it for newer trucks over the years of course, but I always liked it. Well, in the past few years now I got the itch to get one like dads ole truck. My brother in law told me about a Gold 70 GMC near him that he knew the guy and was told it was for sale and it had sat for about 3 years cause it wouldn't start. So I go look at it and that was it. Since I was excited about the truck and obviously wanted it as a play toy, the wife didn't object. So we towed it home and less than $30 later it was running. Replaced the brakes shoes and a couple brake lines and it is my evening / weekend driver. Drove by the guys house about a week ago on my way to the brother in laws house and he was sittin on his tailgate of his Dodge Ram as I passed.
Looked like he about spit in his cup as I came over the hill and waved to him.
My brother in law says the guy isn't too happy that I got it running so cheaply and can now drive it. All it needed was a coil wire fixed and a tune up and it runs great.
QJet rebuild also. The wife is even gettin to like riding around in it. The only thing she don't like about it is no A/C. I told her it has the old style AMBIENT Air system - just roll down the window. I have everything working on it now, but it still needs alot of the typical body work. But its mine.

[lewi]

Sold a 73 a few years before buying the 71 and wished I hadn't but I rarely ever drove it. So I decided to by a truck and chose THE BEST LOOKING TRUCK I could find!!! it took some smooth talking but the old gal that had the truck never had a chance, paid $1000. In the last 2-3 years it's up to around 18k and I'm happy about it. The wife couldn't stand it, now she wants to drive it.

[724wdcopper]

in highschool (I'm noticing a trend here) a buddy had a '72 camper special 4wd with 4" lift, exhaust cutouts, 350, a pretty tough truck! he rolled it in the mountains, bought a 2wd body to replace the rolled version and spent 8 months waiting for it to get out of body shop jail. my dad owns a body shop in the same town, but he thought since the insurance company told him to go to the other shop, he had to! not so, and he wishes he had taken it to my dad. the other shop did an ok job, but the paint sucked, and 8 months to swap a body?

anyway, i was sporting a 74 GMC jimmy my dad bought new. LOVED that rig! it was a monster! well, i thought so. stock sagged springs, 31" tires, factory exhaust, but it had a 350 (built in the late 70's by a local race car engine builder) with a quadrajet. massive bog, but when she started to eat all that gas, man! what a sweet sound! but, after 20 some years of never any maintenace (rode hard and put away wet - as my dad would say!) it lost third gear. continued to drive it. good to 80mph in 2nd. we looked around for a mid 80's 4wd chev with AC, but they were all hashed. then a beautiful orange 72 4wd came to a car lot my dad does business with. he sent me down there to check it out. no ac. i thought it would be a deal breaker, but the next day, there it was! at my dads shop. i fugured it was getting worked on. nope! it was there for me!

have never regreted it since! plan on keeping it forever, and want another! this is a sick disease!

[bumpster]

I always liked built and drove 62-64 Impalas, but they have become too expensive and hard to locate. {anybody have a 63 sport coupe rolling chassis for sale ?} Anyhow, being an Oklahoma boy and required to drive a truck, why not drive the best? My daily 72 has 298,760 on the clock and heads have never been off. Of course, the rest of the truck has been replaced a piece at a time, but it's always gotten me home.

[Sweet72]

I have always been a truck nut for as long as I can remember. My "first car" was a 57 IHC pickup with straight six, 4 spd, vacuum wiper motor and optional heater, that truck was awesome! It ended up being converted to a Hay Sweep by some rancher in Wyoming. I remember going elk hunting in 1973 in my neighbors brand new '72 K20 long fleetside and was so impressed with the modern look of the 67-72 trucks. They're still in style and IMO are timeless.

[1972C10]

When i was younger around 8 or 9 ish My uncle bought a 72 LWB stepside Custom 10 from the original owner

Wasnt the best truck in the world but he drove it everywhere like people drive there comuter cars so that kinda hooked me into them

Around the time i was 13 i was cutting grass and saving money and traded and bought a 1972 LWB Fleetside Custom 10 with a supposed "Blow Head Gasket"
Well the guy i got it from had taken the heads to get rebuilt and never picked them up so i needed heads for awhile and eventually scored a set of 993s that someone had left at a machine shop just about got ready to put them on untill i was under the truck one night and noticed a 9 inch long crack on the block so i pulled it had the numbers ran come to find out it was a 305 supposed to have been a 350

so the truck sat for several years and when i turned 16 a good friend lent me 1000 to get a new engine well i found a clean running driving 72 LWB fleetside Custom 10 with power steering

Drove it from aug-dec and motor blew had a cracked head and busted a piston between the valve reliefs I put an engine in it in late dec of 98 and have put three engines in it since Each one a litlte better than the prior.

Made it A SWB and have owned 4 67-72s since then For a total of 5 Kinda started it all

[Budweis]

my dad had a 70 chevy truck as well and i always liked the look of it . i was just a small kid and used to play cars in the driveway around it and was always amazed at the size of it. i remember it was tough cus i banged my head on the bumper a few times too many prob. then like 6 years ago when i got into corvettes a problem appeared that i needed something to drive in the winter and haul stuff so i went out truck hunting and looked for months with nothing i really liked and when i saw my 70 k20 it was love at first sight. i knew it was mine no matter what they wanted. lol drove it for like 5 years and its been to hell and back with me and yet it always starts even on the coldest day. earlier this year i decided i wanted more so started rebuilding it and cant wait to get it done. when i set out to decide what to purchase i knew i wanted 4 wheel drive and knew i wanted a gm product and knew i wanted something pre emissions and with a big bed so there wasnt much of a choice i guess. id rather ride a horse than drive a ford truck. and dodge trucks are just plain ugly.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

My dad bought the 72 back in 1980 moved us from so cal to oregon in it.... I was really wanting the 75 nova we had but when I moved out of the house my dad gave the 72 to me for graduating from h.s.(1994) that was my first car and I still have the truck... The truck needed to much work to be a daily driver so I boughta 87 swb p.u. and only had it a week before my wife showed me the blazer I have now so I guess I am hooked cause now I also have a 69....

[Stocker]

In early '77 I needed a truck to haul firewood, and a Chevy dealer had just taken a '72 K20 on trade. It hadn't been detailed yet, and seemed to be in good shape, and I liked the body style better than the newer trucks. I still own it.

[PanelDeland]

I was into cars since I was probably 6-7 years old.When I was about 10 a nieghbors dad had an old coupe he was always working on.One day he had finally gotten it running.He called his son and I and said get in let's go to the store.A 34 Ford with a flattie and 4 sp.old school with plywood floorboards in primer.I was really hooked on cars/trucks after that.Then in High school a friend used his grandads 69 SWB step, and I always liked the way it looked.I had always wanted a sedan delivery or a panel because I like to have room for stuff.Fast forward to 1980 and I was in need of transportation.I went looking on car lots and found a 67 Chevy Pnael and fell in love.$900.00 later I owned it.I drove it until 1996 going thru 2 3 speeds and 3 different 350's(lots of miles).I had torn it down to replace the engine again and happened to pass the 68 on the side of the road.I stopped to look at it and my wife wrote down the # and called the guy a couple of days later.
Weds evening I got home from work and she asked what I had planned for the weekend and I said "nothing". She said don't plan anything we need to go pick that truck up, it's yours.

I still have the 67 and I had a 69 parts truck for a year or so.I have owned three of these trucks and had possesion of a forth.Someday I hope to have a 67-72 Chevy pick-up.(all mine have been Panels)

[72 CustomCamper]

I was brought home from the hospital as a baby in dad's 69 longbed...

Chuck