1972 Chevy C-20 Truck

SafariPacific

Adventurer
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I've had this truck since I was 13. Crazy to think its been around for 17 years now. Originally my dad bought the truck from his boss for a buck. Yep, one dollar hard currency. It was puke green and beat to hell since it was a job site truck. My dad worked in industrial construction and used the truck until the company bought a 1993 Ford Ranger as a replacement. Which I also ended up with for 200 bucks 3 years later, but thats a different story. When dad brought the truck home I told him I wanted it. My grandpa had a 1969 GMC truck and my great grandpa had a Carry All (aka Suburban) of the same body style. I've always like that era Chevy's/GMC's. I eventually convinced my dad to sell me the truck for 2 bucks. It eventually turned into a father-son project. We pulled the truck apart and overhauled the motor. We didn't get all crazy since we didn't have a bunch of money. All the internal motor components were reused, apart from bearings and piston rings. I wire wheeled all the parts clean. Even pulled the lifters apart and cleaned them out. My dad did the paint job and all the body work. We eventually got the truck put back together and running.

Since I didn't start working until I was 14, I wasn't able to put much funding in. When I did start making money, I did what any kid would do. Buy something shiny and kind of useless. I got a new chrome steering wheel since we still had the old crappy green one. It was half the size of the stock steering wheel. My dad complained a bit since it was smaller. 17 years later, the thing is still on there. :D Down the road I started working for an auto/truck shop. Still being cheap, my dad bough some take of tires and wheels from my boss. There were from a 2000 year F250. He machined out the bolt holes with a drill press to match the Chevy's bolt pattern. The caps are also from an F250, which now have a Chevy bow tie covering up the Ford oval. And to think, we ain't rednecks. :D

Over the years everyone in my family drove it. My dad started out. When I got my license I drove it. My brother drove it. Even my sister drove it...and hit someone in it. But its all good. The truck is a tank and barely got a scratch. It also was a fall back truck. Whenever anyone's newer car broke down, we drove the Chevy. It always ran. Well, just don't run out of gas...lol.

There's definitely been a lot of fun times with the truck. Being stupid and racing it while fully loaded with furniture from moving a friend, scaring the crap out of everyone in an intersection when the brakes lock up and come screeching to a stop, getting it stuck in the desert and just cruising. This year I turn 30 and I still can't get over that I still have a truck I drove to high school. Not to mention its still in good shape. My 1993 Ranger can't say the same. But I did roll that thing twice... :D

The truck was parked for the last 2 years at my brothers friends house out in AZ. With my Dad passing and having to close up shop I needed a place to store the truck for a short time. Like all short term things it ended up being years. Recently I got the truck transported out to my place in Cali. Now that Its here I want to fix it back up. The truck is still in good shape. Has some rust under the paint in spots. The driver door kicker panel needs to be cut out and replaced since there's a big hole. It just rusted away.

The plan right now is to rebuild the motor and possibly more. Its got 200k since its last overhauled. Needless to say we cheaped out on the rebuild. We didn't replace the cam either. New rings and bearings were added. We did use plasti-gauge and make sure tolerances were still good. Other than that its all the same internal components that have probably a previous overhaul on them. I'm guessing 450k+ miles on the components. I pulled the heads off and the cylinders look good. The valves themselves are starting to break down. The tops are chipping and one is pretty bad. Bad enough the rocker slides off and doesn't open the exhaust valve, so it backfires. Thats why I parked it a while ago. Didn't want to mess with it at the time. So, now I'm probably going to build a nicer motor or buy a crate motor. Leaning more towards a crate motor since it has a 3 year warranty. Building a nice motor myself is a little less, but I'd rather have a way to quickly replace it if something does go bad. I've got the motor torn down to the block, which I need to post up some pics.
 
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SafariPacific

Adventurer
After sitting in AZ for 2 years I finally got the truck to my place in Cali. There's some rust under the paint, though overall in decent shape.

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Trav0302

Observer
Great story! Glad to see an old chevy still on the road after all these years and not be a pavement princess. Keep us updated!
 

arveetek

Adventurer
Nice!

My first truck was a 1970 C-10 that I bought for $250 plus a trade of my 10 speed bike when I was 15! 250 straight six with 4 on the floor. I learned a lot on that truck......

Casey
 

plumber mike

Adventurer
I can say from past experience that I miss my 67 c10 and my 70 k5. I must have been less responsible in high school.....but I can say I miss them both very dearly. I have come to an age that I really like the creature comforts of a newer vehicle, but have the wisdom to know older is better. Any do dad on a newer vehicle can be retrofitted to an older one.restomod.hint.hint

Go have some kids and give it to them. Keep that tradition going!
 

Larry

Bigassgas Explorer
Cool story and good looking old truck, even better that it is a factory big block! Glad to see you giving it a third chance at life. It is cool to see you have owned it this long. The 67-72 GM trucks are probably my favorite body style of all time but I am partial to that. They're not much for backcountry adventures in 2wd form but still fun to look at and cruise around town to pick up parts for our off-roadsters.

Like you, my first vehicle was an old 67-72 truck which I still have. It is a ’68 GMC 1500 with a 396/TH400 that I got when I was 15 then spent every dime I had from then until my college years to get it where it is today. I also had a ’70 C10 that I bought, fixed and flipped in high school to fund the ’68 build then around 2001 I bought another ’72 C20 to use as a beater while landscaping our house. I couldn’t leave well enough alone and stuffed a TBI 350/700R4 after I bought a wrecked ’90 G-van with only 79,000 miles for dirt cheap. The low mileage powertrain was perfect for the ole ’72 C20. In 2009 I sold that truck to buy a 2005 Silverado to fix and flip which that project funded the Polar Bear burb that I have now. The Polar Bear and my K10 are the main toys/projects. The poor old ’68 GMC just sits in the garage these days. The last time it was registered was in 2001 but hasn't been driven on an actual road since 1999.

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How it looked in 1987 when I got it.
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The ’72 C20 I used around the house for 7 years for dirty chores. I hated to sell it.
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It wasn't fast, but the TBI 5.7L and 700R4 sure made it much more pleasant to drive
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Old trucks are fun to have around! :)
 

arveetek

Adventurer
All this talk of old trucks is making me really miss my old '81 C20 that I had converted to a hopped-up 6.2L turbo diesel:


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I owned that truck for 14 years, and just sold it a few years ago. :( Makes me want to hunt it back down....

Casey
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Travis great looking truck you have there....
Even better history to go with it.

I have my grandfathers 72 C-10 and my youngest son is now prepping it for his first high school ride.
Then there is my 70 Burb that is our family camping rig.

Looking forward to seeing you give your old girl a new lease on life.
 

SafariPacific

Adventurer
I decided for now to get the truck back on the road and fix what is need. Though I still plan to put a newer motor in down the road.

Just picked up the cylinder head for my truck! Had to replace one valve that was messed up and got a bunch more done. All new valves, valve seats, valve guides, valve seals and head resurfaced. Soon the truck will be back running!

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SafariPacific

Adventurer
Got the block cleaned up, head installed and tightened to spec, intake and exhaust manifolds bolted back on this weekend. Still need to have the carb cleaned and valve lash set. Then I can finish connecting everything back up and go for a drive!

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1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Looking good and glad to see you will be spending more time driving than wrenching.

Always great to keep these rigs around from our days gone by rather than just looking at pics and wishing they had never been sold.
 

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