Intro from an old Assembly Plant guy

[glimmertwin01]

NICE!!!!!!!!!! what a ride huh? nice 74 'bu

[JohnC]

Cool!

[Keith Seymore]

A little update from work:

My job title was changed earlier this week. You may now call me....


"Lord Keith Seymore
Earl of Scheib
Duke of Ellington
Grand Poobah of all He Surveyeth"










I'm kidding, of course.

Actually, I went from "Vehicle Engineer - Integration" to "Assistant Program Engineering Manager". Same job, just different naming.

I like the "Assistant PEM" title better, because it's a bit more intuitive. Most folks (around here, anyway) know what a "PEM" is so an assistant is just a natural extension of that. I tended to use it informally before the change, just because it saved some explaning.


We have some staffing changes coming in the next few weeks as we transition out of 2011 launch mode and prepare for the 2012 plant builds. Perhaps this is positioning me for that next step up: a full fledged PEM position.



K

[S10Fan]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Perhaps this is positioning me for that next step up: a full fledged PEM position.

...............Or they're getting ready to make you the Dadgum CEO! You've got my vote!

Congrats!

[bctom]

They'll promote you just because you got a 4000 lb car to run under 10 seconds!!

[dan76]

Congratulations:

As we've watched the tremendous upheaval brought about by GM's financial difficulties resulting in a government bailout and corporate restructuring let's not forget the end goal was to enable you as well as thousands of others to continue doing your job.

[JohnC]

Congrats man!

[Keith Seymore]

It's been a long winter, but lil Red is now out of hibernation and back to work -

and what a week it has been! Summer weather one day, but them immediately followed with snow flurries and bitter cold/high winds. Michigan is the one state where you can get two or three days worth of weather crammed into one. We call it "Indian Winter"....

Not only that, but we've crossed another threshold in our quest for 200k miles: rolled over 190,000 on the way home from work yesterday.



10,000 more and I'll have a "new" truck again!

[JMac11]

Keith.... found the rattle in my passenger door of my 84..... someone had left the knockout for the power wires in the door...... Talk about aggravating to find.

[MalibuSSwagon]

Hey Keith, looking at your before pics, I realized you have the same bed mat as my shortbed. Was this a factory GM mat, or aftermarket?

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by JMac11

Keith.... found the rattle in my passenger door of my 84..... someone had left the knockout for the power wires in the door...... Talk about aggravating to find.

Sorry 'bout that - it laid in there for 27 years?

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

Hey Keith, looking at your before pics, I realized you have the same bed mat as my shortbed. Was this a factory GM mat, or aftermarket?

It's a GM mat, but not installed in the assembly plant. I would say it was more of a GM accessory offering.

K

[MalibuSSwagon]

Nice, except the previous owner cut the corners out to install a roll bar.

I love the truck, very clean and well-optioned. Mine is very similarly configured, except its a stripped Custom Deluxe with the HD SM465 and V8. Was it very common for a 1/2 ton 2WD to be ordered with the SM465? I can't imagine it was.

[mod58]

Please try to convince them to build that Concept GMC Serria AlllTerrain!! I have to have one,it is sweeeeeeeeeeetttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by MalibuSSwagon

Nice, except the previous owner cut the corners out to install a roll bar.

I love the truck, very clean and well-optioned. Mine is very similarly configured, except its a stripped Custom Deluxe with the HD SM465 and V8. Was it very common for a 1/2 ton 2WD to be ordered with the SM465? I can't imagine it was.

Sounds like someone wanted to order the cheapest truck they could get: 1/2 ton, 2wd short box, Custom Deluxe, about the only thing they could have skimped on would be a M62/M64 three speed column shifted Saginaw trans.

They either wanted a "4 speed"/floor shift, or decided they needed the granny gear low.

K

[Zoomad75]

Keith, I just went through this thread yesterday and today and I've got to say wow. Great story on the truck, the career and the other toys in the shed too. I'm an Ex-GM'er like DirtyLarry. Actually his path and mine Paralleled from our college days through GM, Workhorse and it being bought out by Navistar. I was hired over to the Chevrolet Customer Assistance center there in Troy, Following by the Chevy Tech Assist center and then moving down to the Ren Cen and working at the DBC. I ended up in GM Fleet managing truck orders, expediting and coordinating builds for fleets large and small. I ended up leaving to move onto Workhorse as a Regional Service Manager which, like Larry allowed me to get back to my home state of Colorado. A couple of years back the bottom dropped out of the RV market and my job was a casualty along with a couple good friends of mine. Blessing in disguise, getting laid off in the auto industry is a lot better in CO than if I was in MI with the massive loss of jobs that happened out there. Lucky for me one of my former dealers was in need of help and I've taken over running the service department for them.

My tour of duty in Detroit was a fun one for sure. As a certified car nut working at Chevy/GM was a dream. Then I found out about the cruise scene. Then the late night illegal drag racing scene in Detroit and Dearborn areas. My son was born at Crittenton hospital in Rochester played soccer in the Royal Oak rec league. I brought my Nova back with Larry's help (long story there!) and Hit every Woodward Cruise while I was there. I lived at 13 and Crooks in Royal Oak which made cruise runs easy! I wasn't too far from AutoZone where some of your pics came from (bought too many die cast cars there too!) Royal Pontiac was a couple miles away too. I can only imagine what that place was like in the 60's.

It's great you've got such history in your rides, it's what makes them special. Thanks for sharing. Keep the assembly line and drag stories coming!

[grs]

Well Keith I looked at your very nice truck. I did not find how to get the instrument cluster out. Or how to get the main wire harness out, or the wires that are held in the back with a screw. Maybe someone can help me. Again nice truck.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by grs

Well Keith I looked at your very nice truck. I did not find how to get the instrument cluster out. Or how to get the main wire harness out, or the wires that are held in the back with a screw. Maybe someone can help me. Again nice truck.

Thanks for the compliments and sorry to lead you on a wild goose chase - I looked through my thread just now and didn't see what I was looking for, either.

I'll address your questions back over on your original thread: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=468746

K

[Keith Seymore]

Couple thoughts:

a) Yesterday (June 11) was my seniority date, and my 32nd anniversary of starting with GM. I celebrated by going to a Pontiac car show; Here's a link for any that might be interested: http://forums.performanceyears.com/f...d.php?t=668466

b) Funny story - I have been driving a company vehicle for a month or so and my son James is currently between vehicles, so he's been driving Lil Red.

He drove the truck to work one day last week and parked out in the corner, by his bosses' new BMW Z6.

One of the students came in and said "hey, what's that sitting out there?" so the receptionist, apparently fielding this question somewhat regularly, started her explanation: "oh, well that's Bob's new BMW...it's a Z6 and..."

Cutting her off, the student said "no - I'm talking about that old red pickup!"




K

[1985-GMC]

^ That's great! Kinda sounds like something I would do.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Cutting her off, the student said "no - I'm talking about that old red pickup!"

Sweet!!

What is the white bubble-top in pic 19 that has the inner headlamps removed with air ducting to the carb?? Was it a lightweight or factory effort of some sort??

Cool pics (even from a phone!!)

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

Sweet!!

What is the white bubble-top in pic 19 that has the inner headlamps removed with air ducting to the carb?? Was it a lightweight or factory effort of some sort??

Cool pics (even from a phone!!)

Not a factory lightweight or racecar, but certainly pays homage to what the factory might have done (or what individual racers did do) back in the day -

Thanks for the comments!

K

[Keith Seymore]

I had heard that Chevrolet, through the GM Heritage Center, now has the ability to produce invoices and build data (much like my Pontiac brethren have been able to do for years).

At any rate, I have regretted not having kept the original dealer order worksheet, or even the original window sticker. So - I thought it would be fun to purchase my actual invoice through the Heritage Center archives and see if it jogs any memories.

The attached arrived electronically today, with a hardcopy to follow via US mail.

So, in looking it over, I see some interesting points:

* Header information is as expected; 87 pickup, red, burgundy interior (the ladies in my family always hated that combination) VIN is correct
* RPO content is listed and is exactly as I remember, and corresponds with the Service ID label in the glovebox (still there); although the SPID label has a "9" in front of each RPO (ie, 9CD4, 9E63, 9GT4, 9G80). Not sure why that is.
* Note the truck was built in late September (relatively early in the model year) and the VIN is already up to 317388 (started at 100001).
* My name is on there, albeit misspelled (insert rolling eyes icon here), referenced as the GM Employee
* Note the reference to OPT-1; this would be the "Option 1" pricing, also known at the time as "Class A". That would be for the employee discount, which has historically been around 15% - 18%.
* Dealer shown as Hank Graff Chevrolet. This was helpful, because I couldn't remember for sure if the dealership had already converted from the previous owner (Bob Uptegraff) to Hank Graff, which apparently it had. While the transaction was going through they simply crossed off the "Upte" portion of Uptegraff on the street signs! (lol)

The invoice shows the truck being invoiced and shipped on 9/29/86. This is pretty consistent with my literature, which shows the warranty information taking place on October 2nd, 1986, which I have embraced as my truck's official birthday. Pulling up an old calendar reveals that 9/29 was a Monday, which sounds familar. I seem to recall working during the day Monday and then going in Monday evening to follow it down the line. Apparently it was documented as being shipped on Monday even though I know it was not physically moved until Tuesday during the day.

So - another fun document to add to the collection....

K

[xs-style]

Id be interested in having one of those just to document how far off base Ive taken my truck

[liftlawssuck]

WOW! Way Cool story. Maybe you remember my truck. Year was 1979 and it was black. Did you see one like that. LOL
Anyways very cool story.

[SBTork]

I know i've said it on here before but that has to be the ONLY truck with those exact options that GM ever made. I am sure you'd know for sure one way or another. That has to be the most unique build sheet/SPID that I have ever seen.