Not many people find value in 'rejects.' Thomas Mortske of Mortske Repair YouTube channel is one of those individuals. He lives by one rule; if it comes with a healthy engine – it should run. His track record lives true to his words. On a recent upload on the platform, he rescues a 1982 Chevrolet Dually Flatbed that's been sitting since 2006.
The Chevy Dually truck (Chevy C30) belongs to the third generation C/K series range of trucks manufactured by GM and marketed by Ford between 1973 and 1991.
The 1982 Dually was a 1-ton, rear-wheel-drive truck with a wide range of engine options, including an inline six, V6, and V8 with power bands between 105 hp (106 ps) to 230 hp (233 ps). The C30 was available in both manual and automatic. These trucks symbolized power from the late '70s to the early '80s.
Mortske's co-worker was looking for a manual transmission vehicle to teach his children how to drive stick when he stumbled upon this gem. The owner got it as a project car 16 years ago, and it's been sitting between trees ever since. It was a re-manufactured truck with only 500 miles (805 km) on it. Fortunately, it's still in reasonably good condition.
The Dually-find is a 454 big block with a stationary flatbed. It'll need a little TLC on the interior, new flatbed sideboards, and suspension restoration.
Getting sitting cars to run isn't a walk in the park – Mortske knows this too well. The truck also had a lot of connection issues and couldn't start. But after fiddling with the engine and adding a little 'hot sauce,' the 454 big block roared back to life for the first time in 16 years. Mortske also found a badge on the flatbed confirming it was a factory-remanufactured truck.
Unlike other projects, this flatbed truck isn't for sale. Mortske's co-worker plans to use it to teach his kids how to drive a manual transmission vehicle.
We recommend watching the video below for the complete revival tutorial and first drive. There's a lot to learn about repairing these old GM trucks.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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