1973-1987/1991 GM Trucks/SUV Picture Thread

[AndrewGS]

Sierra was the base (i.e. "Custom Deluxe" at Chevy), then there was High Sierra (like Scottsdale) Sierra Classic (Cheyenne) and Sierra Grande (Silverado).

Ah, I thought it was Custom, Sierra and High Sierra. Now that you mentioned them I do remember seeing those trim levels, but I didn't know they were all available every year.

Here is mine. 1978 K10. 454HO, SM465, NP205, 14FF, Q78x16 Super Swamper TSL, 4:56 gears, rear Detroit Locker and front Detroit TrueTrac. The current project on this rig is a compiling a concoction of Marine L29 and RamJet 502 fuel injection parts to finally get some fuel injection action going on in this thing. Carburators suck...especially at 12,000 ft elevation.




More here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/1188958...7601574888388/

Damn man, that's the life! A bad-ass truck to crawl around one of the greatest places in the world, Colorado. Hopefully one day I can do the same.

[SDRacing]

oh sweet, i didnt read you already had the intake/parts. That should wake that puppy up!

Thanks! I spend all my lunch money on it. hehe. Nah, I want to keep it all GM. I got a smoken deal on a brand new GM Marine L29 EFI intake and will be running it on a 12499117 RamJet 502 wiring harness and MEFI 4 engine controller with a special calibration file from AZ Speed and Marine to match my engine specs. MSD has a similar harness and MEFI 4 controller but for a lot more money. Also planning to use the new Quick Fuel Techologies mechanical fuel pump designed for EFI. That should be interesting. I am still in parts hunter/gatherer mode collecting parts so I don't freak out my wife with blowing too much money at one whack. Should have it all done by the end of the winter.

[Strapping.Young.Lad]

That truck is awesome DirtyLarry, I love the Color as well.

[DirtyLarry]

Thanks FordRules,

The color is 1998 Pontiac Montana Quasar blue.

Hey what about 67-72’s? No love for the best looking body style yet?

I have two of them….one beater and one decent looking one. I got to show you the nice one anyway given that hardly anybody has seen it in 8 years since it was last registered. It just sits in the corner collecting dust.

1968 GMC C1500 bored and whored 396/TH400 - 1976 Corvette Yellow





Woodward Dream Cruise 1999 – Royal Oak, MI

[Strapping.Young.Lad]

Thanks FordRules,

The color is 1998 Pontiac Montana Quasar blue.

Hey what about 67-72’s? No love for the best looking body style yet?

I have two of them….one beater and one decent looking one. I got to show you the nice one anyway given that hardly anybody has seen it in 8 years since it was last registered. It just sits in the corner collecting dust.

1968 GMC C1500 bored and whored 396/TH400 - 1976 Corvette Yellow





Woodward Dream Cruise 1999 – Royal Oak, MI

Heres the thread:
Up to 1972 GM Trucks/SUV Picture Thread

[RamJet502]

First of all, I love the truck. Where were those pictures taken? I am from Grand Junction, Colorado and that territory looks familiar, maybe around Canyon City somewhere?

[DirtyLarry]

Thanks,

Actually, the mountain picture is from our last camping/fishing/4wheeling adventure near Buena Vista about 3 weekends ago. We were all over the place that weekend. We did Mt Antero, Hancock Pass and Tomichi Pass. The mountain picture above was taken at the summit where Hancock and Tomichi meet. We are headed back up to that area the weekend after Labor Day to drown more worms in the lakes up there.

More pictures from the trip are here…. http://www.flickr.com/photos/1188958...7601608286662/

(the pictures are not in order as I just had to transfer all of my photos from Yahoo to Flickr and have not had a change to reorganize them)

[KingElvis]

This is my most recent story in the Chicago area "Gearhead News" - all about the 454 Big 10 1/2 ton whipped everything in sight - including the fabled Dodge Lil Red Express...



It’s a fact: Chevy and GMC 454 pickups were not just the quickest pickups of the 70’s, but, due to loopholes for ‘heavy duty’ vehicles, they were also quicker than any cars you could buy except 4 speed Trans Ams or Z-28s. In 1975, the worst year for super cars, GM installed an “Efficiency System,” which included a catalytic converter, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and electronic ignition, on all cars and any pickups rated below 6000lbs Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). The “heavy duty emissions” 454 used in C-20 and C-30 trucks got high energy ignition, but no smog equipment, so it actually gained 15hp over the 230hp 1974 454.

In 1976 Chevy introduced the “Big 10” rated above 6000lbs GVW. This heavy half ton’s optional 454 resembled a supercar engine from 1965. It lacked the belt driven smog pump (said by GMC engineers to steal 15hp), EGR and catalytic converter.
The same year an L-82 Corvette ran a 16.5 e.t. for Road and Track, a 454 Big 10 with the standard Turbo 400 automatic and 3.07:1 axle ran a 16.9 e.t. for Pickup Van and 4WD. The PV4 crew was particularly impressed with the un-smogged gas mileage of the 454 – 14mpg. They fell in love with the Big 10 and named it “Pickup of the Year.”

Soon the Big 10 454 sparked a mini trend. A June 1977 Car Craft headline blared: “Supercars of the Seventies are Where You Find Them: Car Craft’s First Truck Off.”
They drag tested the 454 step side with an optional positraction 3.73:1 axle against a Dodge “Warlock” (precursor to the Lil’ Red Express Truck with similar gold pin striping and bedside stakes) sporting a 440 V8 and 3.55:1 axle and an F-250 Ford with a 460 engine and 3.25:1 gears. The crew spent all day whittling the Rat’s e.t. down to just 15.51 seconds at 87mph. The Dodge, without the benefit of posi, scored a 15.93/86mph e.t. and the Ford ran 16.32/83mph.

Given the Chevy’s 4300lb girth and blackjack weight distribution, a 15.51 second run is impressive. In addition to the heavy iron big block, Turbo 400, and heavier springs the test vehicle came with nearly every option in the book, including air conditioning and new for ’77 power windows and door locks. It also sported the “Chevy Sport” trim with tape stripes, white spoke wheels and fat tires. The truck was a boulevard cruising “Cowboy Cadillac” that could still embarrass any 1977 car on the strip. The truck didn’t come cheap. Though based priced at $3989, the window sticker was a shocking $8467. PV4 tested the same black step side in their August ’77 issue. With plenty of hard break in miles inflicted by the Car Craft hooligans, PV-4 measured a thrifty 14.4mpg on its fuel economy test loop, despite the high winding 3.73:1 axle

Car Craft writers emphasized that the Big 10 was a 60’s supercar holdout. “It brings back memories of days spent behind the wheel of a Rat motored Chevelle with 3.70:1 gears. Merely stomping on the go-pedal is enough to produce billowing clouds of tire smoke.”
This was a rare period when California engines had an edge since California “heavy duty emissions” 454s rated 250hp at 3800rpm and 385lbs/ft of torque at 2800rpm in ’76 and ’77, while Federal 454s rated 245hp and 365lbs/ft. The Big 10 454 retained the ’76 compression ratio of 8.25:1, while compression dropped to 8.15:1 for the ‘77 ¾ and 1 ton.


For 1978 the Chevy Sport added a hood ornament, color keyed bumpers and chrome hubs for the white spoke wheels. Unfortunately, Chevy lowered the compression to 8.0:1 for the Big 10 and 7.9:1 for the ¾ and 1 tons. For Californians, the Super Truck party was already waning. They got a smogged Rat that made just 205hp at 3600rpm and 335lbs/ft at 2800rpm. 49 state Rats made 240hp at 3800rpm and 370lbs/ft at 2800rpm.

According to a December ’78 Hot Rod test of a 454 GMC with the flashy “Amarillo” paint and stripes package “The difference (between Federal and California engines) is nearly a full second in the quarter mile, two miles per gallon of gasoline and rubber in second gear.” Hot Rod drove the 240hp Amarillo to a 15.60 e.t at 87mph at Orange County Raceway. “That run is the quickest laid down by any HOT ROD test truck in recent history, dethroning the ’78 Dodge Lil’ Red Truck that ran a 15.71/88mph e.t. (June ’78 HR).” Testing the same truck in the February ’79 issue of PV4, editor Don E. Browne wrote “The Amarillo was considerably faster than the 205hp GMC and even was a tad quicker the Dodge Lil’ Red Truck (both of which PV4 tested in September ’78).”

By 1979 even federal Big 10s used the 205hp 454. Motor Trend drove a GMC “Street Coupe” (GMC’s version of the Chevy Sport) to a 0-60mph time of 8.0 seconds and a 16.4 second, 83mph e.t. This was still quick for anything built in the late ’70s, but ironically, the smogged Rat suffered an even bigger penalty in gas mileage. While the 8.25:1 compression ’77 delivered 14mpg, and the lower compression, but unsmogged ’78 made 12mpg, the smogged ’79 got about 10mpg.

It’s possible a ’79 Dodge LRET might have beaten the ‘79 GMC. Chrysler used twin catalytic converters on the “police” 360 to maintain a true dual exhaust, while GM’s “X” dual exhaust forced both pipes into a single catalytic converter then split them back into twin mufflers and tailpipes.

By 1980 the “heavy duty emissions” loophole was raised to 8500lbs, limiting the 454 to ¾ and 1 ton trucks. Though the “Super Truck” genre has waxed and waned since the demise of the 454 Big 10, later models like Ford’s “Lightning” couldn’t claim to be faster than most performance cars. The smog loopholes of ‘76-‘78 created a unique era when Rat powered pickups could outrun 99% of contemporary cars. It’s an era we will likely never see again.

[KingElvis]

Here's a very limited edition "Amarillo" '79 GMC. The expensive tape stripe option could be combined with any engine, but the 454 was chosen for magazine road tests.

[MelvinJ]

Here's a very limited edition "Amarillo" '79 GMC. The expensive tape stripe option could be combined with any engine, but the 454 was chosen for magazine road tests.

Great rundown on the muscletrucks of the late 70's I've got all the PV4 issues from that era (including the pictures from this post). It's great to see Don E. Brown mentioned. PV4 was the best truck magazine ever. When I was a sophomore in high school, we had an English assignment to write to a celebrity to try to get them to send an autograph back. Instead of a movie, TV, or rock star, I wrote to Don E. Brown. He had just returned from the London-to-Sydney rally and I said something about that. He sent me a handwritten letter back thanking me and telling me a little bit about the rally, plus an autographed copy of the issue with the London-to-Sydney story in it. Great guy.

BTW, minor correction to your GMC trim levels: Sierra = Custom Deluxe, Seirra Grande = Scottsdale, High Sierra = Cheyenne, and Sierra Classic = Silverado. This was for '75-'81. For '73-74, it was Custom = Custom, Super Custom = Custom Deluxe, Sierra = Cheyenne, and Sierra Grande = Cheyenne Super.

One more thing: The heavy duty emission cutoff was raised from 6000 lbs. to 8500 lbs. in 1979, not 1980. GM did keep the big-block in the half-tons in '79, but as most the articles mentioned, with a cat-converter and single exhaust, it was a mere shadow of it's former self, and dropped from under 8500 lb. applications entirely in 1980, not returning until the 454 SS pickup of 1990.

[MelvinJ]

OK, I finally scanned in pictures of my first two Blazers. The '73 (burnt orange/black) was my first vehicle when I turned 16. The '82 diesel was my third. The picture of the '73 was taken with an Instamatic. I'm not kidding.

[KingElvis]

Thanks for respoinding Mel

Yes the '79s had the 'light duty' emissions, but GM restricted it to the f-44 'big 10' which was above the 6000lb gvw.

Interesting to note that the C-30 was the only thing above 8500lbs in '79, then you got the 'Cp6' HD 3/4 ton in 1980, apparently just so it could get a 454. Even then it was down to 210hp.

[ol' Blazer Chal]

A rare GM factory camper, joint venture with Chinook Mobilodge in '76-'77, same company that was putting out the more widely seen Toyota & Datsun Chinook mini-motorhomes.

[Uzzy]

A rare GM factory camper, joint venture with Chinook Mobilodge in '76-'77, same company that was putting out the more widely seen Toyota & Datsun Chinook mini-motorhomes.

Makes me wanna sing that Sesame Street song..."one of these things is not like the other, one of these tings, just doesn't belong."

That doesn't look like a joint venture, that looks like somebody had too much time on their hands and made the thing fit, "just cause."

[AndrewGS]

Makes me wanna sing that Sesame Street song..."one of these things is not like the other, one of these tings, just doesn't belong."

That doesn't look like a joint venture, that looks like somebody had too much time on their hands and made the thing fit, "just cause."

It was built specifically for the Blazer, they didn't just slap a camper top on a Blazer. The only thing that makes it look incomplete are the factory tail lamps still in their location with the same taillamps on the back of the shell. It's actually pretty cool for it's vintage and a rare collector.