This is not a very common GMC and this one is even more rare since it still has its work benches and drawers whereas most have seen their interior emptied at some point in time. Additionally, we stumbled upon a 1940s lathe of the same model that existed inside such trucks, it is now more complete than ever.
In 2000 the truck body has been treated all over, then painted. Normal maintenance has been performed over the years, the brakes avec been overhauled. In 2014 it passed with success the State Technical Control newly required for the vintage trucks.
Same year, it went to Normandy by the road for the 70 year celebration of D-Day. A break down in the gear box forced us to return by the road without the 5th gear, but it came back on its own power. A complete overhaul of the gear box was undertaken immediately. We took this opportunity to replace some gears and ball bearings by new ones.
The leak tightness of the roof had already been done in 2000, but we did it again in 2015. The silicon compound dries out over the years. When UNIVEM got the truck, the seals were in poor condition and the inside roof was badly damaged by corrosion. So we eventually renovated this inside roof. It was also the opportunity to renovate the inside electrical distribution and to get lights operating again, which we had never seen so far ! We put low energy bulbs, not so much for the cost of electricity but more for the heat generated by conventional bulb,s with the fear that it could set on fire the thermal isolation made of pressed straw between inside and outside roofs.
Maintenance continues on this truck. In march 2016 we had to deal with a leaking oil seal at the timing gear cover. We also converted the brake system of the truck from Lockheed to silicon.
A donation of a pillar drilling machine in November 2016 is welcome and completes our workshop truck.
