'73 C30 Dooley Camper Special

So here I am, finally getting ready to give my truck some much needed attention and get her back on the road(she's not so pretty these days and is showing her age).  I decided to search the forums to see what info I can find about the square bodies back in the day.  No surprise really, but like much of the 'net there's not alot there or just plain conflicts with the truck in my garage.  Maybe it's just the hazards of a body style that ran for 15 years and is having an identity crisis of being too old and too young at the same time.  Whatever the reason is, I've since figured out that there seems to be so many combinations of trim packages and accessories one could get that nobody really knows exactly in what way many of these beauties came together.  

It makes it interesting, at the very least, looking for repro parts to replace worn out factory items.  This is how I can understand why folks just go with what they like or settle with approximate items to freshen up their truck.  Well, that's just not me.  It may be loud, not as comfortable, old-fashioned, or just plain... but I'm happy with the vinyl bench seat and rubber floor.  It's still a beatiful head-turning ride and can still be a truck that's easy to clean at the end of the day.

My '73 is about as original as they come.  It's been in the family since '74.  I know her history since Fremont in November of '72 and it's %99.99 percent there.  So, for as long as it takes me to finish, as i reach project completions on getting the Double-Wide back to her former glory, I'll try to remember (CRS is starting to rear it's ugly head) to make some posts and share what I find while digging into her; factory locations of items, stickers, etc.  She's a gem and I'd like to help out other folks that ran into the same lack of published info I did on these early square bodies.

I'll also be looking for info, so please share your square body knowledge and experience!  

Hi, It sounds like a real nice truck._ I though maybe you could help me.
I have a 1967 chevy c10 8 foot bed .This truck once had a camper on the bed,the guy I bought it from said it was a camper truck.I don't see any numbers on it to tell me this. Is there any way to find this out?
Thanks JC  

JC, Thanks, once I figure out how to get the picture uploaded to readers' rides, it'll be easier to check out.  Meantime, the avatar sports my girl after her last paint job about 20 years ago.  Gives an idea on what's in store...

Only thing I can think to do is check the "SERVICE PARTS IDENTIFICATION" label.  They're usually in the glovebox, but my '73 had it placed on the left front inner fender when in rolled out of the Fremont factory in '72.  Look for "OPTION NO." Z81 CAMPER SPECIAL EQUIP. or similar wording.  If this is long-gone, there's not much else to do except to look at the springs and suspension for heavy-duty items that you don't find on other standard C10's.

I'm not real up to speed on the 67-72 series, but according to the '73 Chevy Truck RV Brochure; Camper Special equipment was, "Available only on 20 and 30 Series V8 models with 4-speed or Turbo Hydromatic transmission."  It did however list that a '73 C10 could carry an 8' shell-type camper, the "Maximum Camper, Passenger and Equipment Weight (lbs.)" was 2075 lbs.

Of course, the possibility exists that the guy you bought your truck from either put a camper on the back of a 1/2 ton truck anyways and called it his camper truck because that's what it did, or that the Camper Special package was available on '68 C10's!  I hope this helps!  

If you run into any problems uploading images to the readers rides section let me know and I will help you out.  

mpayne,

Thanks for helping out with the reader's ride pic.  I was able to get it uploaded finally.  I'm looking forward to sharing the story of getting the old Double Wide back into shape.  

Glad you got your readers ride setup.  

First step... I'm being relocated.  This means shipping the truck ahead before I arrive and before I can get the motor swapped out.  As anyone who's done this before knows, this is a daunting task.  First you put yourself on a spam list and get bombarded with what seems to be a million email quotes and phone calls for the next 2 days.    Once I got these sorted out, I was able to trim the "call back" list down...  Whew!  Since I need to get everything on the road altogether, only thing I could think to do is strap down the new engine, stand and cherry picker tight in the bed.  
Has anyone else gone through this process?  Any recommendations?  

The hard part is done... the Double Wide is on the road... via a car carrier.  It took nearly 2 hours of work putting her up there (2 tons and not running) winching and creeping the entire way, but with a little fender sqeezin' she made it.  check out my reader's ride to see the pic of the Double Wide all loaded up.  

The double-wide made it unscathed with all extra parts (crate motor, eng. stand, hoist) intact!  Just found out today, my father and a buddy of his took it upon themselves to do the motor swap for me while I relocate.  He tells me she runs like a watch!   That was huge and saved me some time.  I can't thank those two enough!  Pix are on my reader's rides.  In honor of the occasion, it's time to rename the double-wide.  My truck is now "BIG CHIEF"!

Dad has got some interest in this truck too.  He's also spent alot of time with Grandpa and this truck.  It's definitely a family thing!

Dad did tell me there were some snags, but all minor.  The biggest snag was the nice Edelbrock fuel pump I had on the new motor.  He found wouldn't clear the motor mount when installing on the truck.  Oh well, the one off the old motor was fairly new anyways and works just fine.