There are so many great things to say about Chevrolet pickup trucks in general, let alone the total classics built from 1967 through 1972. The ‘67-’72 Chevrolet series of pickups is well on its way to achieving icon status. These trucks have maintained a solid popularity over the years and that popularity has only steadily increased, even now, well into the beginning of the 21st century. The demand for nice 1967-1972 Chevy C/K trucks has intensified as the most desirable trucks are quickly snapped up. By the way, the term “C/K” refers to C = two-wheel-drive and K = four-wheel-drive.
With ‘67-’72 trucks, the fully-loaded, big-block-powered shortbeds lead the price and demand parade. The small-block equipped versions of these loaded trucks quickly follow in popularity and scarcity. As supply dwindles for these powerhouses, people who love these trucks (but don’t have as much ready cash) go for the plainer short bed trucks, and others prefer the long bed renditions.
Most people want to modify and restore their trucks with modern upgrades. The number of people doing factory-perfect, numbers-matching restorations is very small. There are two reasons for this:
- It is a very expensive and difficult process to bring a truck that is 50 years old back to factory specs.
- It is just so darn much fun (although maybe just as expensive) to trick-out old Chevy trucks and make them better and prettier than the originals.
As the popularity of these classic trucks has grown, so has the scarcity of original parts to repair and restore them. The availability of high-quality reproduction parts has made it much easier and less expensive to own one of these awesome trucks. Another considerable reason to be happy you own a 1967-72 Chevy truck is the great deal of interchangeability among Chevy engines, transmissions and rear ends. These trucks have spacious engine compartments, so swaps and add-ons are easy.
Functional Beauty Is Not Hard To Find
One of the easiest and most eye-catching things you can do to the engine compartment of your 1967-72 Chevy is to install polished billet aluminum hood hinges. The original hinges on the hoods of the 1967-72 Chevrolet pickup trucks are made of stamped, pressed steel. These are held together by inferior (to what we have now) riveting processes and compression springs. You can easily replace the old stamped steel hinges with beautiful polished aluminum.
A billet is a solid block of aluminum (because aluminum is relatively soft, alloys are added to make it extremely strong) and billet parts are created by removing excess material from the billet, actually carving the part out of the aluminum. Billet aluminum is prized for car parts because it is lightweight and stronger than cast aluminum. A CNC milling machine is used to literally sculpt the hood hinges from the solid block of aluminum, then the hinges are polished and ready to install.
Where to Get Chevy Truck Restoration Parts
Tuckers Classic Auto Parts is a great place to get all the parts you need or want for your 1967-72 Chevy Truck. They carry polished billet aluminum hood hinges from Eddie Motorsports. When you are rebuilding, refurbishing or replacing parts on these particular years of Chevy trucks, you want a mechanism even better than the original. You want a mechanism that will stand the test of time and look beautiful while performing the task.
Hood hinges from Eddie Motorsports are made from solid chunks of 6061-T6 billet aluminum in southern California. They use a stainless steel nitrogen filled strut in place of compression springs to raise and lower the hood. The hinges also have sealed ball bearings at all pivot points to ensure smooth and reliable operation.
Obviously, you cannot order a new 1967-72 Chevy truck, so you have to deal with what is available. If you have several trucks from which to choose, buy the best combination of condition and equipment. Body condition needs to be the very best you can afford, and with parts from Tuckers Classic Auto Parts, the equipment will become the best you can afford. Although prices for ‘67-’72 Chevy pickups are rising, you can still find good deals. There were about three million of these trucks made and many of them are still around, just waiting for some TLC.