1981 Chevy C10 – Doug K.

My uncle bought it new in 1981 as his dad (my grandpa) got a nearly identical one. This one was a 3-on-the-tree, non-A/C truck. Grampa had an automatic, air conditioning, and his was a copper color. Really almost identical. Same 4.1L (250cid) inline 6.
My uncle used it for MANY years as his daily driver. Driving it up to the summit of Kitt Peak (where the U of A [University of Arizona] has a bunch of telescopes at an observatory.) Dad got her for free (yes FREE) when the pinion nut backed out causing catastrophic damage to the ring/pinion. It was quicker AND simpler just to replace the rear entirely with a junkyard sourced replacement. HE used it for years also as HIS daily driver. She developed a miss, and dad parked her. He suspected a head gasket. He looked into alternatives and one of those was getting a 292 (or 4.8L) to replace the old 250. So that’s where he was.
I’m starting to get her running again as dad was in the middle of those MAJOR repairs when cancer took him from us. I’ve sourced a 292 locally, I’m changing it to an automatic since I can’t do clutches anymore.
We have SEVERAL trucks in our family.
1955 2nd series Chevy truck (my daughter’s)
1969 F100 2wd (my son’s)
1972 Chevy Blazer (my brother’s)
1976 GMC 2wd (my brother’s)
1978 F150 4×4 (mine)
1981 Chevy C10 (mine)