1993 Chevrolet C3500HD Hodges Bed Car Hauler
GMC 6.5 TURBO DIESEL WITH BANKS POWER PACK!
Just short of 154,500 miles this morning - GM
6.5 turbodiesel with NV4500 HD MANUAL 5-speed transmission
19.5" truck wheels, true 1.5 ton GM C3500HD chassis (think Topkick
GMC truck - NOT just a stretched pickup!!)
4 WHEEL DISC BRAKES, MULTI-CHANNEL ABS - It stops as well as it goes!
ALWAYS maintained - ALWAYS in road-ready status for transporting antique,
classic and vintage racing cars in my care.
Hodges are still in business and get around
$9,000 for a conversion of a 1 ton dually pickup with a new bed ALONE. This
is not just a 1 ton pickup converted - this was the Chevy dealer's pick
of the litter to be converted back in the day - a very unusual beast that
is perhaps one of the best-suited trucks to have such a bed on it.
Just replaced the hood-mounted Bugflector yesterday,
it was cracked down the center. We trimmed back the lower lip to make it
ride tighter on the hood so it didn't flex back and forth.
The 19' long Hodges ramp bed. I have had everything
on here from a '24 Model T and a '33 LaSalle rumble-seat roadster (three
weeks ago, over 5,000 lbs, were you at the ODMA meet in the Shenandoah Valley?)
to my 2000 Mazda Miata SE (the easiest car to tie down of any of them, four
hooks on the body for the chain cinches and away we go, about a 4 minute
load).
Note exhaust outlet in front of right rear wheels,
4" throughout. What a sound!
If you race a car - street, strip, oval, road
course et.c. - vintage or newer - you will think you've died and gone to
tow vehicle heaven. If you tranport single cars short distances as I have
in taking cars to the ports, ditto.
I have a big box of the trim from the side of
the bed which a friend of mine found and bought for me. I've used a little
of it, someone ran into the side of the bed and tore it off (no other damage).
I also have a custom-mixed bottle of the blue touch-up paint. The bed paint
is Plastikote Medium Grey (I think Duplicolor is the same, I have used both
for touchups).
The rear of the bed. The license plate frame
is a flip-down step if you don't like putting your back out when a car is
sticking off the back.
If you think I'm nuts already, try this one.
I've towed a car on a flatbed trailer with a car on the bed - yes, two cars
in tandem - the 7 pin round plug has electric brake controls (see under-dash
shot below). The 6.5TD does it well, but you do use the granny first gear
to get going sometimes...
Both sides of the bed have spacious slam-lock
cubbies. I keep the cinch bar and a big Rubbermaid container in here with
my spare parts, fluids and supplies. Yes, I use D ring axle straps with
the chains most of the time, that's what those are.
The extra big mirrors can see over and around
almost anything to back this 28' rig into any spot. I backed this into the
driveway with a 1995 Range Rover County Classic on the back, talk about
drag... and a major blind spot.
That big dent in the bumper has been there forever,
looks like someone ran into a tow ball or trailer gooseneck. The windshield
also has a couple small stars in the upper left corner, well out of line
of sight. I only remembered they were there because I went looking at the
glass while writing this ad. They have not spread and have never given me
reason to replace the windshield, it passes VA State Inspection, et.c.
This truck was originally owned by a large Chevrolet
dealer in southwestern Virginia, then by a good friend of mine in the vintage
racing community. When he died I bought it from a friend of his who had
a car lot, it took some doing to get it away from them but I had been pestering
him about it for years and they came around when I offered them enough cash.
The title was a many-times-over re-endorsed GMAC financing title from 1993,
he had a dealer license, so essentially I'm the first registered owner.
I did a little trick at the DMV so I could keep my personalized plates "West
of Sweden" by convincing them it was a C3500 Pickup truck - otherwise
I would have needed all new commercial tags and the hassle that went with
it. This may be a benefit to you as well, I hope so.
The front of the bed with the "oh s***"
bar. With the excellent tie-downs and wheel chocks, I doubt seriously if
it's anything but a good roll protection device (not that you could roll
this over, either, the way the big truck suspension is). Note Pierce winch
under its cover and the hook tie-down in the bed.
20' long cable and winch control plug into the
jack on the other side. Just used this winch the other day. Looks like I
forgot to clean beneath it, sorry.
That's one big bed!
I dug this picture out of the archives rather
than load something on it for kicks. I went to Binghamton, NY to buy this
1970 DeVille Convertible from a friend whose father had passed away in September
of 2005. A month later, I took it to the port of Chester, PA and put it
on a boat for Germany. That's one big Cadillac - but it's barely even hanging
off the back and I've got the wheel chocks in the middle position.
Additionally, under my care, this truck has
hauled the following vehicles as far afield (or back from) as Elkhart, Indiana,
Stratton Mountain, VT (2005 SAAB Owners' Convention, if you were there,
you saw it!), Atlanta, GA and the port of Norfolk, VA, plus many points
in-between:
1966 SAAB Monte Carlo 850 (now in the GM Heritage
Collection) - 1968 SAAB Sonett V4 (ran the Targa Tasmania Rally in 2000)
- 1971 SAAB 95V4 - 1971 SAAB 96V4 - 1973 SAAB 96V4 - 1974 SAAB Sonett III
- 1978 SAAB 95GL - 1940 LaSalle 5019 - 1929 DeSoto Coupe - 1970 Cadillac
DeVille Convertible (yes, another one to Europe for my friend Rik!) - 1967
Mercedes 250S - 1995 Range Rover County Classic - 1994 Cadillac Fleetwood
Brougham - 1955 Ford Thunderbird - 1925 Packard Limousine - More Anonymous
Model Ts and As than I can recall - 1938 Ford 1/2 ton pickup - 1946 Chevrolet
1/2 ton pickup - plus miscellaneous late-model cars, race cars et.c. that
I cannot currently recall. I have never had low ground clearance problems
with the long ramps et.c.
The interior of this truck is one of the more
remarkable and well-executed aspects of it from a creature comfort and convenience
standpoint. During the Elkhart trip, I stopped off at Accessory Truck Corporation
in Elkhart and bought these Phantom full-leather seats from some friends
in the business. They are some of the finest RV bits out there, oh so comfortable.
Originally, the truck had a Chevrolet knit bench seat and a rubber mat.
I went to GM before the aforementioned trip and bought new carpet and hit
the truck store down the way for the diamondplate-pattern all weather mats.
You would think that Hodges had done the interior
work as well, everything fits perfectly and does not look "hacked-in".
The truck runs at 180-190F even with the air
conditioning on (all new, see below service records), oil pressure never
drops below 10psi per 1000 rpm even under the most straining circumstances,
and returns nearly 15mpg loaded on the highway.
The tripodometer works until the 1/10ths hits
the 9, at which point it stops. The odometer works fine. The electronic
speedometer works fine. Cruise, signals, wipers et.c. ditto. Nothing else
to report.
Yep, still sporting the original AM/FM/Cassette
head unit specific to 1988-94 Chevrolet truck. Hey - it works. Climate control
all works flawlessly as well. Banks plaque covers unused switch blanks.
Tape player is towards the passenger side. Cupholders
beneath. Draw-Tite Activator II is the electric brake control unit with
variable adjustable gain. Radio-Shack CB is nice on long trips, I just use
a magnet-mount antenna which I keep under the seat unless I'm on a long
trip.
Seats again.
The dash is perfect aside from the plastic hinges
for the glovebox door. I haven't seen one of these trucks in the pick and
pull which doesn't have the same problem or worse. It stays latched.
Armrest up for a tight third seat, hey, it comes
in handy.
Below the third seat, the super secret safe
box when you're a vendor at a swap meet or similar. Good to have.
Behind the seats, a selection of small pockets
to keep supplies in.
Aha - the big 6.5 Turbo Diesel, it's a different
designation engine than that found in 1/2-1 ton pickups with a much deeper
pan and some other strengthening internally as the GM dealer explained to
me. Note the giant Banks plenum. There's a K&N in the airbox, serviced
12k ago or so. I leave the GM plastic heat-trapping "TURBO POWER"
cover off since heatsoak is the #1 cause of injection pump failure. The
nice thing about this early 6.5 is the non-electronic Stanadyne Injection
pump - no PMD failure is possible. However, the pump head can still go bad,
this truck has a 2 year old replacement along with injectors, glow plugs
and more, see service logs beneath.
Service Log for this truck since 2005:
1993 CHEVY C3500HD HODGES BED VIN 1GBKC34FXPJ106870
142,916 - 2 NEW BATTERIES
143,235 - 24 JUN 05 - OIL AND FILTER (L40084) 8 QTS ROTELLA 15W40/2 QTS
LUCAS O/S
26 JUN 05 - GLOW RELAY, RE-OIL K&N, R&R FUEL FILTER, REPLACE HORN
CONTACT
REWIRED LIFT PUMP POWER TO WIPER MOTOR KEY POWER LEAD (25A)
CLEAN BATTERY TERMINAL CONNECTIONS, INSTALL BUG-FLECTOR II
143,268 - 7 JUL 05 - NEW 4" EXHAUST MATCHING ORIGINAL BANKS SYSTEM,
NEW FUEL LINES ALONG FRAME RAIL, GEARBOX AND DIFF LUBE CHANGED.
143,800 - 20 JUL 05 - #3 INJECTOR AND LINE, BALANCE FRONT WHEELS - VANDALIA,
OH.
145,000 - 2 AUG 05 - TIMING CHAIN, GEARS, OIL PUMP AND PAN GASKET, REMAINING
INJECTORS, GLOW PLUGS AND INJECTION PUMP. HARMONIC BALANCER, WATER PUMP,
RADIATOR HOSES. LUBE, OIL, FILTER AS BEFORE, INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKETS, TURBO
OIL RETURN GASKET.
147,849 - 19 OCT 05 - BRAKE LINE TO REAR - DUDLEY MARTIN, MANASSAS, VA -
$450 WITH TOW
147,949 - 21 OCT 05 - OIL & FILTER CHANGE - ROTELLA AND 2 QTS LUCAS
148,357 - 26 OCT 05 - BALANCE OF COOLING HOSES CHANGED, ANTIFREEZE AGAIN
149,680 - 10 APR 06 - OIL & FILTER CHANGE - ROTELLA AND 2.5 QTS LUCAS
149,700 - 14 APR 06 - ALIGNMENT - TOE SET. FRONT PAD ANTI-RATTLE CLIPS -
KEITH MILLS
151,776 - 2 JULY 06 - R&R FUEL FILTER
151,790 - 30 JULY 06 - A/C COMPRESSOR, MANIFOLD HOSES ET.AL, CONDENSER,
EVAPORATOR, R12 BALANCE - AUTO AIR
151,806 - 15 AUG 06 - OIL & FILTER CHANGE - CASTROL 15W40 & 2 QTS
LUCAS
153,437 - 27 MAR 07 - OIL & FILTER CHANGE - CASTROL 15W40 & 2 QTS
LUCAS
153,450 - 28 MAR 07 - TIRES ROTATED/BALANCED/MATCH-MOUNTED, VALVE EXTENSIONS
- MINCZ, RIC SS.
I have spared no expense keeping this truck
going and reliable so I can jump in it at a moment's notice and do what
needs doing. Additionally, I have allowed a friend of mine over the last
year to use it at his will - he was getting his restoration shop going and
needed the extra revenue that pick-up and delivery provided him with. While
he uses it enough to justify it, he can't justify its cost, and I've been
too busy with other stuff to use it myself.
so why am I selling this truck?
My wife and I decided that we enjoyed using
our small RV enough to justify a larger one. I bought an enclosed car trailer
to tow behind it. I sold our smaller camper and now this must go to cover
acquisition and improvement costs to those units. There's also a severe
shortage of parking, especially for this rig!
I hate to do this but my emotional loss is your
gain. I know this truck going back many years and lusted after it. But priorities
are priorities, and having a valuable commodity such as this sit more often
than not makes no sense to me from a variety of standpoints, perhaps the
most pressing one that it's not doing the truck any good to just sit there.
payment/shipping terms:
Buyer must complete transaction with cash or
cashier's cheque within 7 (seven) days of auction close. There are no exceptions
to this unless cleared with me in advance
of your bid. Assume any bid on this vehicle to be a successful one, no playing
games, please! If you have very low feedback or a lot of negatives, please
talk to me or e-mail me with your intentions.
Shipping - well, nobody is going to put this
on a transporter. Drive your car here, load it up and go home, or fly/train
in and do the same (I'll pick you up!). Please do this within 14 (fourteen)
days of auction close, and if you need an extension, please
ask me before placing your bid.
QUESTIONS?
COMMENTS? CONCERNS?
E-MAIL ME OR CALL 804-357-4926