# My play area!



## ck1 (Jul 2, 2010)

and it houses my two toys:


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## thomask (Jul 4, 2010)

Welcome ck1:

Nice cabinets and toys.


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## Admin (Jul 9, 2010)

Nice, Welcome!


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## StingRayCaretaker (Feb 12, 2011)

Nice toys and garage.  The Snap-On man, is a; your father, b; your best friend c; died and left you his truck contents, or d; you found a great rummage sale.  Thanks for employing part of Wisconsin.  Great tools !  I have a box full but your collection rocks !
The GMC.. is it the comparable to the Chevrolet of the same vintage with the fiberglass box ?  Great color, one of my favorites.


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## ck1 (Feb 12, 2011)

StingRayCaretaker said:


> Nice toys and garage.  The Snap-On man, is a; your father, b; your best friend c; died and left you his truck contents, or d; you found a great rummage sale.  Thanks for employing part of Wisconsin.  Great tools !  I have a box full but your collection rocks !
> The GMC.. is it the comparable to the Chevrolet of the same vintage with the fiberglass box ?  Great color, one of my favorites.


.

I am a retired Master Tech for GM (tech center) so i did employ a few out there in cold wisconsin 
My GMC is a step side so it has steel bed. Only the Cameo had the fibeglass outside bedsides (the inside was a standard step side bed) The Cameo beds were made at the corvette plant back in the day...GMC are much better truck then the Chevy as they were built a lot tougher. Thanks for  the compliments
cameron


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## thomask (Feb 12, 2011)

"My GMC is a step side so it has steel bed. Only the Cameo had the fibeglass outside bedsides (the inside was a standard step side bed) The Cameo beds were made at the corvette plant back in the day..."

Hey ck1,  I am a Vett fan, please tell us more... about that Cameo with the fiberglasss from the vett plant.

Best to you in your retirement, are you staying busy as ever? What projects do you have going on there?


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## ck1 (Feb 13, 2011)

Yes the Cameo bedsides were produced at the vette plant for the model years 55-59 at which time they came out with the styleside truck beds. Due to the cost of the bed they didnt sell many. The Cameo was designated a "3150" where as the regular 1/2 tons where 3100. GMCs carried the "Suburban" designation for them. They also had a unique spare tire mount behind the rear bumper. You would loosen two turn tabs and the center potrion of the bumper would drop down (Like a Nomad tailgate) and viola...spare tire is right there..I have owned 12 of the GMC's pups and 4 chevy and the GMC is a much stiffer truck then the chevy's. GMC in the day had one extra crossmember and torque bars that run from the cowl down to the front frame rails to eliminate frame twist when trying to haul heavy...that 302 six is probably one of the best motors ever built. equal to or better then the small block chevy...many many races were won with a hopped up 302 in the days .....no projects at the moment...just play with the gmc and the ford...and my Jeeps..
Cameron


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## thomask (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks CK1

Do agree on the GMC always seemed to be the heavier duty of the two. Looking for some pics on internet of the Cameo. I have a good car buddy whose dad worked at GM on the first vett.

I am also very fond of JEEPS. Finally, found a classic 85 cj7 back last summer and have been restoring her. I had wanted one since my days in high school growing up near the beach.  I guess you don't live in Wisconsin after retiring, were you looking for better car weather?

Hey, how about some pictures of your Jeep?


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## StingRayCaretaker (Feb 13, 2011)

I toured the St. Louis Corvette plant back in 78 when they had a run of silver anniversary cars being built. Just prior to our tour the gas station across the street was held up, gun fire and the whole works.  One casualty we were told.
The Kentucky plant tour was better.  We were allowed back after hours to touch and feel.  Got to play with the paint robots and drive cars in the delivery area.
To work in a GM tech department must have been a dream job, especially in the Corvette department.


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## ck1 (Feb 13, 2011)

in the early days it was a job...the later years it was a great job as I was a technical trainer for transmissions and electrical  and that was fun but glad it is over. I must confess i dont own any newer GM vehicles as honestly GM aint what it used to be  The 4100 and the V8-6-4 made me lots of $$! The ZR1 is an awesome machine but I dont care for Vettes , sorry seen too many of them in the years .Great drive train, but the rest of it is typical chevy...all the same problems.. back in november I took the tour of the Bowling green plant and laughed at how those folks were slappin those together. one dude was litteraly holding the rear panel with his knees and he pushed so hard he popped out the rt side tailamps and didnt even put them back in...that car went all the way to the fluid fill area before that person popped them back in...They build 60 a day and 25 were at the Fix the booboo area at the end of the line...there just seemd to be no pride with the folks building them which is a shame for such a expensive and long running vehicle in GMs history!...I guess i should be thankfull as the UAW kept me busy fixin stuff over the years...the stories I could tell of what disgruntled workers have done over the years I could probably write a book. 
the new camaro is ok but the fit and finish on those is not all that great. Here is a link to my photos and you will see that I am an older ford guy .GM stopped makin decent cars in the early 70's and worked on so many 1980+ GMs I never had the appitite to own them! ..the falcon in there is a 35k mile orig. I am also a Cummins person as the Durmax is over rated (flame on  ) I have had Wranglers a couple of old flat fenders which in hindsight never should have sold and now have a very low mileage 91 cherokee for jeepin (i am old and have a bad back and cant handle the short wheel base leaf sprung animals any more . I will have to dig up some of those old Jeep photos. here is a link to some of my toys: 
http://community.webshots.com/user/ck1105

and here is a few picks of one of my Jeeps: 

View attachment Jeepee 006.jpg


View attachment Jeepee 007.jpg


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## thomask (Feb 13, 2011)

Hey ck1

Nice Jeep, and I do agree on GM products, although I have two of them, 81 and 05. My old cj7 could outlast them all...

Just last night the 05 vett drivers window went down and now will not come back up.  Trouble started some time back when it only went up to about three inches from closed. This should not happen on a car that costs this much. Where is quality control? Is there QC?


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## StingRayCaretaker (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks for the pictures and information.  I can agree that the Cummins made the truck.  Without it you probably wouldn't see half as many Rams on the road.  Here one cannot give a gas version away unless you want to throw in your 410k.
I seen your point with the assembly workers.  One does a half fast job while the other reads a newspaper.  Tour guide told us exceptionally high rate of workers absent without good reason adds to the cars price tag.
I have a ton of Chevrolets, only one newer Malibu a couple years old with 20k on the clock.  Great car so far.  Its prior Malibu ran 170k with a couple wheel bearings and an intake gasket.  Four old vettes, one ground pounder 425 / 427 66 coupe, the rest 300 - 340 hp small block split windows, and a 40k convertible full option 75.  Also a stable of GTOs, one 360 hp version, but nothing early, all 69-71 endura nose machines.
I do have a 94 Wrangler we use on the property.  The carburator just gives me fits when its cold.  First and probably last Chrysler product.  I would like a Cummins though but no real use for it.  Can't beat the ride, style, resale of the GM trucks.
Just adopted a Wheaten Terrier puppy.  What a terror !  He is a great dog that gets into everything in a matter of minutes.


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## thomask (Feb 14, 2011)

B]Hey StingRayCaretaker[/B], PLS post some pics here of those neat  cars...[

Does anybody wonder what if all the techs at vett plant had to also drive a vett would the quality improve or is the problem bigger than that.  I did notice when I toured the plant, there was some folks who felt their problems were due to the parts suppliers and manufacturing being less than what should be expected. The car can only be as good as the parts put in it. Parts have been cheapened in quality but price keeps going up.


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