In 1964, Cam Evans walked into a General Motors dealership and bought a brand-new GMC pickup truck for work on his farm.
The truck was used for tough jobs and served well in that department for many years.
Jim Sutherland
Eventually, the ’64 GMC was used up by hard service and retired to a forgotten area on Cam’s property. Cam’s grandson Mark grew up with the old truck and was interested in it because of its connection to his grandfather.
Mark also knew about the ’64 GMC and its location on the property during its lengthy timeout from active use. It turned out the GMC was a convenient target for Mark whenever he wanted to shoot something larger than a gopher, consequently the truck had a few bullet holes in it courtesy of his youthful marksmanship.
Mark eventually moved beyond the stage in life when he wanted to murder old pickup trucks as he got older and wiser. Eventually, he was given the truck by his granddad in the late 1980s and began to formulate a plan to resurrect the GMC and return it to the road better than ever.
20 years later, Mark’s wife Val gave him a green light with this suggestion:” Why don’t you fix up the old farm truck?” Val did not envision the length and breadth of the process because Mark wanted to turn the humble farm truck into a raging beast when he started the resto mod project in 2019.
The project would take the next two years, including a Covid year when car guys had more spare time and hunkered down in their garages to pass the time in a constructive way. In Mark’s case, the Covid timeout included his son Casey, a factor that “helped a lot’, in Mark’s words.
The GMC’s original powertrain was replaced by a LSX 454 General Motors crate engine and a 4L85 automatic transmission. It is a sturdy combination that can handle the extra horses under the truck’s hood. Mark made life easier for the transplanted engine when he swapped out the low rear gears for a more highway-friendly 3:73 package.
Mark also replaced the original suspension with a coil-over package on all four corners, along with a 4-wheel disc brake package to slow his ’64 GMC down in a hurry. The addition of aftermarket air conditioning, digital instrument panel and leather seats are also an improvement in the creature comfort department, as well as a short steering wheel column with a tilt feature in it.
The truck left the factory with factory vent windows, but Mark removed them to get a better fit with less wind noise in the cab. The AC keeps the ’64 GMC farm truck’s passenger department very cool so the vent windows were not necessary.
Mark added headers to the LSX engine, along with electric exhaust cutouts to help it breathe very easily when he opens them up on the street.
The truck’s cool custom paint job is a GM paint code and really enhances the truck’s overall style.
MyStarCollectorCar salutes Mark and his family for their efforts to keep a fond family memory alive with their 1964 GMC resto mod pickup truck. Congratulations for a job well done.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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