You found me a truck!
 

I’ve been a member here for a long time and have had a few of these trucks and a blazer over the years. All of them 1972s. I started with a really nice two tone medium olive/white c-20 custom camper Highlander that was awesome, but sold it. I regretted selling it as soon as it got loaded on the hauler and have continued regretting it ever since. Then I got the K5 blazer and didn’t do much with it. Ended up selling it and also regretting it. I had a couple more crappy ones after that, but have always been on the hunt for a pre-71 k20. I didn’t like all the brittle plastic parts on the 72 door panels and grill, and I didn’t like getting stuck in the snow with the 2WD. I also really wanted a wood bed, tan interior, and 4 speed manual.

It’s been about 7 years since I sold my last one and I was starting to get a little itchy. I got a new job that came with a little extra side money and started browsing casually. I nonchalantly mentioned it to my wife and she was more supportive than anticipated, and said this would be a good time to get another one, so I started browsing less casually. I almost pulled the trigger on a couple of decent ones, but they weren’t quite what I was looking for. I probably would have done it anyway if 68Bowtie hadn’t saved the day. He posted a 69 GMC k25 that checked every box. The only box it didn’t check was being a Chevy instead of GMC. I thought about it and couldn’t come up with any reason that I should care, and I like the extra headlights. I called the seller with some questions and negotiated a bit before buying it, sight unseen. I considered driving it up from southern cali to southern Washington, but the cost would have been about a wash, so I shipped it. I’m sure just about everyone who has bought a vehicle without seeing it is disappointed in some way(s), and I was as well. It was a little rougher in more areas than expected, but I’m confident that I can get it back in shape. My plan is to do an original restoration over the next 10 years or so.

Long story short, thanks for the heads up, and I’ll be around a lot more often with questions and pictures.

Here are some pictures of a couple of my previous ones, and the post that put me on the trail of my current one.

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Some pictures

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Looks like I’m one of those people that posts pictures upside down and sideways.

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More

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Hey that’s super cool! I wonder how many other forum members have bought trucks posted on here by others (wikikid, Jocko, etc). It would be interesting to see more posts like this.

Re: You found me a truck!
 

That's a whole lot of original there. Cool options selection. Not so sure about the original paint, though. You probably already noticed. A Custom would have the lower side and tailgate trim, and are the holes for the original mirrors visible? I guess it could be trim delete, but nothing on the SPID

Re: You found me a truck!
 

I’ll get a better shot of the mirror holes when the sun comes up, but there have been at least three types of mirrors on there at some point. Also a money shot of the marker lights in action. The engine appears to be correct, if not original. I’m still looking for the vin stamp on the block. Air cleaner is off a 400 sbc from a later model Chevy. I’d love to find an oil bath to put back on but it looks like that will be tricky. Someone also welded a diamond plate floor on top of the wood, and they did a very thorough job of it. Not sure how I’ll get that out without ruining everything.

I need to familiarize myself on the GMC trim I guess. I thought it was screwy when the bezel and glove box door were tan, but I guess that’s how they did things. I also thought it was cool that it had no rear view mirror.

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Very cool truck! That GMC interior combo looks great. You likely wont find a vin stamped on the block, unless it was replaced by one from a car at some point, but it looks original to me. If it’s had a re-paint, it was a very long time ago.

Re: You found me a truck!
 

I guess it never had trim. Yeah, the GMCs got the cluster and glovebox door colors coordinated with the interior color. The truck is such a survivor. I can see it shiny new in all it's glory. Cool option selection.

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Here’s a number I found: V0904XX, which from what I can tell means it’s an engine that belongs in this truck. It was my understanding that there might be another number lower on that deck, behind where this fuel filter is, that would have the last numbers from the vin on it. I did find the last numbers of the VIN stamped on the frame in the usual spot.

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Yep, XX is 69 350 manual transmission 255hp 4bbl for a K20 & K2500

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Nice Truck.:metal:

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Nice truck!

Re: You found me a truck!
 

Looks like a great truck and the beauty of it is that its intact and driveable and you plan to keep it a long time so you can drive and enjoy it and then figure out what u want to do with it and then change your mind 10/15 times on what you want to change or improve on the truck. The cab lights are cool and I like em but first thing I'd do is make sure the 50 year old seals under them is keeping the water out.

Re: You found me a truck!
 

That cake with an oil bath air cleaner???

A 1 ton 4X4 would be fairly uncommon?

Congrats!!!

Can’t wait to see you get this rig done up right!!!

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Mirror hole pictures, as promised. Of all the mirrors to settle on…

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A familiar sight with these trucks.

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That truck is super cool. The GMC's have really grown on me, especially the 4wd ones.

I have purchased many vehicles and have had them shipped. Almost always I have an over inflated version of them in my head. It seems like once I start cleaning them up, fixing things that bother me and driving them the imperfections go away.