Scott's 1967 GMC 1500 pickup

[Beagle]

That's pretty darn nice for a pickup that's almost 50 years old!

ditto. Looks really clean!

I wouldn't be too surprised or even all that upset if it was a 305. Dulcich built one a few years back, and despite the bad reputation the 305 enjoys, you can make some steam with one. If that's a granny gear 4 speed, it'll probably pull anything you want up to about 60 mph. The beauty of a truck is once you've had one, you'll never want to be without one and wonder how you made it that long in life without it!

- edit -

On the hitch, looks kinda like it might be a class III frame mount, should be good for 5000 pounds of trailer rating. There's probably 4 or 6 bolts holding it to the frame. Not much to check out on them other than the 4 or 6 bolts being tight. The clip-on junk for the wiring is a principal cause of failures. Most late model trucks I've looked at (low end even) have a 7 prong plug pre wired for trailer brakes these days, maybe worth looking into if it doesn't have one already... The plug ins are available for just about anything from 4 wire flat to 7 wire trailer brake connections.

[STINEY]

I was thinking the same thing on the hitch. Looks like a good frame mount from the edges of the pictures. Update that wiring plug to a modern dual-outlet (7-pin AND flat-four) and you should be golden to tow.

Prodigy makes a very nice brake controller for the money. Milner turned me onto them, I've ran 2 of them now and both were well-behaved.

I don't get all the SM465 hate though? Sure its a granny 1st trans......... but you simply do not use first for normal street driving. And the output in 4th is 1:1, just like any other non-overdrive transmission. That trans will take anything you can throw at it and never even whimper.

If I were closer I'd give it a home in a flash.

[68scott385]

The beauty of a truck is once you've had one, you'll never want to be without one and wonder how you made it that long in life without it!

Truer words were never spoken.

Great score Scott!

[Russell]

So how do you tell the vortec heads from the non vortec heads? I thought all center bolt heads where vortec? have you tried a comet wash on the paint?

[squirrel]

All 87 and newer heads are center bolt.

Vortec is a brand name, that means "truck engine". nothing more. But some folks have decided that it only was used on 96-2000 small blocks, which had CFI and funky straight up bolts, and really good ports and chambers (for a truck head).

The front pad says VLO45832.

The engine number....is that really all it has on the pad? Doesn't seem right. But it could be a Mexican or Canadian replacement engine, they had some strange numbers on them.

Normally we'd expect to see two series of characters. The engine number has a letter for the plant, 4 numbers for the month/day, then 3 letters/numbers for the suffix code. The other set is a partial VIN, with the carline, year, plant, and the last 6 are the serial number.

[Beagle]

I was thinking the same thing on the hitch. Looks like a good frame mount from the edges of the pictures. Update that wiring plug to a modern dual-outlet (7-pin AND flat-four) and you should be golden to tow.

Prodigy makes a very nice brake controller for the money. Milner turned me onto them, I've ran 2 of them now and both were well-behaved.

I don't get all the SM465 hate though? Sure its a granny 1st trans......... but you simply do not use first for normal street driving. And the output in 4th is 1:1, just like any other non-overdrive transmission. That trans will take anything you can throw at it and never even whimper.

If I were closer I'd give it a home in a flash.

not hating the trans at all - it's a truck transmission in it's correct application... a truck! 1:1 with 3.73's might not be too bad but the last truck I had with a manual was 4.11 geared 3 speed toploader, 30x9.50's and 60 was about it for any kind of economy.

[TheSilverBuick]

Vortec is a brand name, that means "truck engine". nothing more. But some folks have decided that it only was used on 96-2000 small blocks, which had CFI and funky straight up bolts, and really good ports and chambers (for a truck head).

When I worked at Autozone, a dude came in asking for a a distributor cap, wires and spark plugs for a "Vortec" engine. I asked, "V8 or V6?" and he called me an idiot, said they only made one, "V6!" as he pointed to his "Vortec Chevy" tattoo on his forearm. :facepalm: It was for his Astro Van.

[/hi-jack]

[Beagle]

/ hijack back on

Ink of an Astro Van? BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH OMFG BUAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA Cough cough BUAHHHH... Oh Dear.

/ end hijack

[TheSilverBuick]

It was a tattoo of the bow-tie and the word "Vortec" under it, but apparently was inspired by his Astro van's V6, :facepalm:

[Scott Liggett]

So how do you tell the vortec heads from the non vortec heads? I thought all center bolt heads where vortec? have you tried a comet wash on the paint?

These are the 87-95 non vortecs because they still have a 12 bolt intake, bolts at 45* angle. Vortecs have 8 5/16" vertical intake bolts. 2 at each corner. The heads I have suck for power. We have a 355 with these heads and it makes 310 hp/360 tq and we an identical 350 with Vortecs that make 385hp/405 tq.

[Scott Liggett]

All 87 and newer heads are center bolt. Vortec is a brand name, that means "truck engine". nothing more. But some folks have decided that it only was used on 96-2000 small blocks, which had CFI and funky straight up bolts, and really good ports and chambers (for a truck head). The engine number....is that really all it has on the pad? Doesn't seem right. But it could be a Mexican or Canadian replacement engine, they had some strange numbers on them. Normally we'd expect to see two series of characters. The engine number has a letter for the plant, 4 numbers for the month/day, then 3 letters/numbers for the suffix code. The other set is a partial VIN, with the carline, year, plant, and the last 6 are the serial number.

No other numbers on the pad. The reason why I thought it was a crate engine or over the counter replacement. What does David's 350 have on the pad?

[SuperBuickGuy]

the center bolt, ramp heads (because they have a ramp cast into the intake port) are good for torque and not much else. Vortec heads, which came off Vortec motors, are smaller chamber and have much better flow characteristics. They're easy to identify because the intake manifold has bolts that run vertically into the heads. In 1989, Camaro and 86 Corvette came with aluminum heads (late 86 to be specific) - thus, since the motor doesn't have aluminum heads, the intake bolts aren't vertical, the motor isn't reverse flow (LT1), the heads are center bolt, that leaves either 87-88 Camaro, or 88-95 Chevy pickup. It could be either flavor, 305 or 350 - but, again, guessing, given that they spent the money on intake, carb and headers, I think it's a 350 truck motor. Which means it has awesome torque, really good fuel economy (in part, because they fall flat on their face at 4200 rpm)... but squirrel is right, Vortec was the entire motor package, not just the heads; but since it's GM, the only real difference between any other one-piece rear main motor and a vortec motor is the heads and CFI... the name sticks. But heck, I have a vortec 454 intake... which isn't heads, it's just the intake.

[squirrel]

1M0512 and on the next line Z0VP (I think that's what it says) where VP is related to the engine suffix...there are a couple stickers on the engine and crate that say 4VP. . M for Mexico, I think. 0512 sounds like the assembly date, May 12th, this year.

I took a picture of it, it's hard to read, being stamped and painted black. Also the back of the engine has the HECHO EN MEXICO casting, and the casting number. There is also the last three digits of the block casting number on the sides of the block, between the freeze plugs, you shoudl be able to see that pretty easily, and look it up on the internets. The 305 and 350 use different block castings, so that should sort out whether it's a 305 or 350. The production engines said 5.0 or 5.7 on the block easy to see, but the Mexican motors don't seem to.

[Scott Liggett]

I climbed into the engine compartment at lunch today to try to see any part of the block's casting number. Not a chance. It's tucked way too far under the firewall.

[squirrel]

I was going to mention that....as I recall, the 67-72 trucks that came with the V8 had the engine mounted further forward, and the six had it mounted back like that. There's a good chance that your truck came with a six, and someone swapped in the engine using the original six cylinder mounts (it's a bolt in).