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1956 GMC Question Update: He Got It!
- Thread starter Fordum
- Start date
Is it the bigger GMC? Like a 1 ton or 1.5 ton? The chevy version has the size of truck on the fender emblem. 3100, 3600, 3800, etc
I believe 370 series is a 2.5 ton gmc truck...those are cool trucks
It is also possible someone swapped parts from a medium duty truck onto a light duty.
I don't know much more than what I posted on my tablet above.
I didn't even know about this until this afternoon. He has been trying to buy it for about 3 weeks now. Not sure if he will get it or not. The lady trying to sell it is all over the place with price, and who she wants to sell to. She doesn't know much about the truck I don't think.
My friend went to see the truck late one afternoon, and was mainly worried about the body and frame.
I'm sure most folks here can relate.
He said that everything looked solid with little rust.
About the only thing he noticed about the engine was that it had one. Supposedly it ran, but had developed a knock, so the PO abandoned working on it.
Also, her ad states that it has an automatic transmission.........
My friend said he did not even notice that until after he left. No idea what kind of tranny it actually has. Not sure if GMC even had autos back then.
We suspect that its a three on the tree, and she figured it was an auto because of that.
He snapped some shots with his phone, and mentioned the 370 number. Since I'm more at home with Fords than GMCs, I did not know what it might mean.
But I told him I was hooked in with a bunch of people who probably would, so I posted from my tablet.
Last I heard, she had agreed to sell it to him, but when he texted back could he buy it this afternoon, she never replied. He had to go close to there this afternoon anyway, so he hooked up his trailer and went to do his other errands. He said he would go by when finished if he did not hear and see if he could buy it.
I'll post if I find out anything else.
I didn't even know about this until this afternoon. He has been trying to buy it for about 3 weeks now. Not sure if he will get it or not. The lady trying to sell it is all over the place with price, and who she wants to sell to. She doesn't know much about the truck I don't think.
My friend went to see the truck late one afternoon, and was mainly worried about the body and frame.
I'm sure most folks here can relate.
He said that everything looked solid with little rust.
About the only thing he noticed about the engine was that it had one. Supposedly it ran, but had developed a knock, so the PO abandoned working on it.
Also, her ad states that it has an automatic transmission.........
My friend said he did not even notice that until after he left. No idea what kind of tranny it actually has. Not sure if GMC even had autos back then.
We suspect that its a three on the tree, and she figured it was an auto because of that.
He snapped some shots with his phone, and mentioned the 370 number. Since I'm more at home with Fords than GMCs, I did not know what it might mean.
But I told him I was hooked in with a bunch of people who probably would, so I posted from my tablet.
Last I heard, she had agreed to sell it to him, but when he texted back could he buy it this afternoon, she never replied. He had to go close to there this afternoon anyway, so he hooked up his trailer and went to do his other errands. He said he would go by when finished if he did not hear and see if he could buy it.
I'll post if I find out anything else.
There will be a tag on the inside door jam on the driver side that will say the GVRW of the truck. That will also help determine what it actually is.
The bigger trucks have different front fenders than the smaller 1/2-1 ton trucks do. But once you get into the even bigger trucks like 2 ton and up, then I believe the whole front end is actually bigger. The grill will be wider and the fenders are even wider. Hood might stay the same, I'm not positive.
Rust prone areas on these are cab corners, footwells, door bottoms, the backs of the front fenders and headlight eyebrow area, and the area above the windshield.
GMCs are pretty cool and have a few things that are unique from their Chevy counterparts. But that also means those unique things are more difficult to find if you need a replacement
The bigger trucks have different front fenders than the smaller 1/2-1 ton trucks do. But once you get into the even bigger trucks like 2 ton and up, then I believe the whole front end is actually bigger. The grill will be wider and the fenders are even wider. Hood might stay the same, I'm not positive.
Rust prone areas on these are cab corners, footwells, door bottoms, the backs of the front fenders and headlight eyebrow area, and the area above the windshield.
GMCs are pretty cool and have a few things that are unique from their Chevy counterparts. But that also means those unique things are more difficult to find if you need a replacement
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yeah they had a 4 spd hydramatic my brothers 55 chevy came with it behind a blue flame. This is the trans that made B&M, R was all the way to the right you know R for Race ....right?
No luck with locating the owner today. She tends to do this. Send a text or call, then disappear for a while. He is going to keep trying. He would really like to get this truck.
If he does, I'll post some pics.
If he does, I'll post some pics.
Some of the 55 second series to 59 GMC's came factory with the Hydra-Matic automatic transmissions ,and could be ordered with a Buick 322 Nailhead or one of several Pontiac based V8's...(I never realized til I read the info posted below the engines were not identical to Pontiac's later v8's..)
GMC used their own six cylinder engines,the 55-59 base engines were either a 248 or 270 cid straight six,instead of Chevy's 235 or 261 sixes..
The larger series trucks could come with a 302 straight six also..
What engines did Task Force GMC's come with? - The Stovebolt Forums
GMC used their own six cylinder engines,the 55-59 base engines were either a 248 or 270 cid straight six,instead of Chevy's 235 or 261 sixes..
The larger series trucks could come with a 302 straight six also..
What engines did Task Force GMC's come with? - The Stovebolt Forums
The lady who owned the truck finally called him back Thursday, and was ready to sell. He grabbed his trailer and a come-a-long and headed that way. I had to go into town, and never heard if he actually got it until Friday.
He was about to unload it into his storage shed when I got there. I snapped a bunch of pics, and then edited them, mostly for size, this morning.
Wound up with 16 good ones, cropped to make the file size as small as possible. I still don't have great internet service.
He said it was a little hard to winch up on the trailer. I was going to try to help push it off. There is a slight down slope at the end of his trailer, and he wanted to slow it down as it went into the building.
The brake pedal just went up and down with no resistance. He reached under the dash and tried to pull the E-brake lever. Only got one click. I thought I saw a lot of rod, and suggested he try releasing it.
It went way back, and suddenly the truck would roll a lot better...........
The engine is an inline six, well frozen. It was supposedly running 3 months ago, but its locked solid now. It had supposedly developed a knock, I suspect that the knock turned into a lockup of some kind.
Unless the cylinders got water in them, there was no reason it would lock up that tight from sitting that short a time.
He put it in reverse, (three on the tree, not an auto) at my suggestion and dumped the clutch as it was rolling backwards. It slammed to a stop and chirped the tires, but a grease pencil mark on the pulley did not move.
I voted against high gear due to its rolling backwards. I killed the engine in my boom truck unsticking the engine by pushing the truck backward in high. It would not unlock forward in high, so I bumped it back. It broke loose, and would try to crank, but the timing chain had obviously jumped time.
Thinking back now, I wish I had let him try high. That engine will probably never move that truck more than a few feet again anyway. He is probably going to put a 350 in it later.
As for now, its in an enclosed building out of the weather, and will probably stay there for quite a while. I suspect it will be a year before anything substantial happens to it.
He is still digging out from the hurricane, and has three businesses to build buildings for.
If anything develops, I will post back here, but it should be a while.
Now, to see if I can get the pics uploaded........
He was about to unload it into his storage shed when I got there. I snapped a bunch of pics, and then edited them, mostly for size, this morning.
Wound up with 16 good ones, cropped to make the file size as small as possible. I still don't have great internet service.
He said it was a little hard to winch up on the trailer. I was going to try to help push it off. There is a slight down slope at the end of his trailer, and he wanted to slow it down as it went into the building.
The brake pedal just went up and down with no resistance. He reached under the dash and tried to pull the E-brake lever. Only got one click. I thought I saw a lot of rod, and suggested he try releasing it.
It went way back, and suddenly the truck would roll a lot better...........
The engine is an inline six, well frozen. It was supposedly running 3 months ago, but its locked solid now. It had supposedly developed a knock, I suspect that the knock turned into a lockup of some kind.
Unless the cylinders got water in them, there was no reason it would lock up that tight from sitting that short a time.
He put it in reverse, (three on the tree, not an auto) at my suggestion and dumped the clutch as it was rolling backwards. It slammed to a stop and chirped the tires, but a grease pencil mark on the pulley did not move.
I voted against high gear due to its rolling backwards. I killed the engine in my boom truck unsticking the engine by pushing the truck backward in high. It would not unlock forward in high, so I bumped it back. It broke loose, and would try to crank, but the timing chain had obviously jumped time.
Thinking back now, I wish I had let him try high. That engine will probably never move that truck more than a few feet again anyway. He is probably going to put a 350 in it later.
As for now, its in an enclosed building out of the weather, and will probably stay there for quite a while. I suspect it will be a year before anything substantial happens to it.
He is still digging out from the hurricane, and has three businesses to build buildings for.
If anything develops, I will post back here, but it should be a while.
Now, to see if I can get the pics uploaded........
Nice!...I notice the dash in a GMC is different than the '56 Chevy pickup like I had...GMC's have the gaudy grilles too,I like the Chevy egg crate one better..
I wonder what it is about stepsides--every one I see has a bashed in drivers side rear fender...my truck has a imprint of a telephone pole I backed into while plowing my driveway--looks almost like this one.. ..
I wonder what it is about stepsides--every one I see has a bashed in drivers side rear fender...my truck has a imprint of a telephone pole I backed into while plowing my driveway--looks almost like this one.. ..
79rustyk10
3/4 ton status
Wow! That's incredible.
GMC didn't start using the same (major) interior parts as Chevy until the 1967 body. Prior to that they had the same cab shell but unique dash sheetmetal and dash components.
Wow, that is very complete and in good shape
