According to the writer of Ecclesiastes 1:9, there is nothing new under the sun. Chances are, the question or problem you have has been faced by someone else. It might even be here.
About This Site:
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Restoration Specifics
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We're glad you asked! We were beginning to wonder what was taking you so long. We've had so many now (June 2005), we've actually needed to make a page for submissions!..
Of course we do! We originally set out to do a website just for '39s and '40s. Tom Brownell, at Vintage Truck magazine , suggested we open it up to other years as well. The street rod guys just came in on their own. They are such nice folks, we couldn't turn 'em out. So we all live together in peace and harmony, eating granola and swapping NOS stuff (yeah, right!). We also get into friendly conversations about street rods versus originals and why one would go either way. Read about it here.
Another great magazine is "Vintage Truck" (formerly "This Old Truck"). It is "Dedicated to the preservation of pickups, vans, station wagons, light trucks and commercial cars of all makes and vintages." It is a wonderful resource for folks like us who like driving LSTs (large, slow trucks). See the Lots O' Links page for subcription information.
There are some good clubs out there. We have quite a listing on the Clubs page in our Lots O' Links Section.
For books, we have a Publications section (books, pubs and magazines) and go get "How to Restore Your Old Chevy Pickup" by Tom Brownell. I found mine at the local bookstore, or you can probably find it from American Classic Truck Parts. Also get the "Chevrolet Pickup Color History", by Tom Brownell and Mike Mueller, while you are there. Don't forget to pick up (nice wording, huh?) the Standard Catalog of American Light Duty Trucks, edited by John Gunnell.
If you know any good sources I've missed, please let me know.
Answer from Barry Weeks of Weeks-End
Machine:
So
you just bought the truck of your dreams, and now you want to know
just exactly what you own? Or you know what you own, but the title is a mess
or lost? The older they are, the more of a problem this seems to be.
Well,
first of all, all trucks should have a body serial number tag on them somewhere
with the serial number and gross vehicle weight (GVW) on it. The GVW is stamped
as 46 (hundred pounds) on the '40's trucks. Don't confuse this as being the
year of the truck.The serial number is not stamped on the frame of '30's, '40's,
and early '50's trucks. It may be on the frame of late '50's trucks near the
steering box. On the pre-'39 trucks, start by looking at the dashboard or inside
/ outside of the firewall. '39-'46 should be found on the right side of the
cowl, under the hood. Advance-Design ('47-'54) and later trucks should have
a plate located on the left front door post.
Many of these plates were just screwed on from the factory (not riveted in the
older trucks), and sometimes have been removed. Reproduction blank plates are
sometimes available to replace lost or damaged plates. You have to stamp your
own numbers on them.
Some
states titled vehicles by the serial (VIN) number that you, hopefully,
just found on the tag, but to really make life interesting, some states titled
by the engine serial number (found stamped in the block to the left of the distributor),
which doesn't have much to do with the body serial number. As most old trucks
have had the engine replaced once or twice, your title may not match your engine
if it has been replaced and your title uses an engine number. Also, some states
titled vehicles by the year they were sold, and not the model year. Since production
usually started in September of the year preceding the model year, you may see
a title for what you would call a '39 truck, but it says '38 on the title. This
can happen easily since it was sold in the last part of '38, but was really
a '39 truck. Some states called this a '38 then, since it was sold in '38. I've
seen this happen up into the early '50's. You may also see one that was a slow
mover and got sold a year after it was made, and titled as such.
So
you can't always trust the title to tell you the correct model year. You can
get alot of information from the body serial number. This will tell you the
model year, sometimes the month the truck was built, which plant it was assembled
at, the series (size) of truck and production sequence number.
An
example would be one of my '40 1/2-tons which has a number of : 21
KC 06 10891. The first numbers here are the plant. (1=Flint, MI / 2=Tarrytown,
NY / 3=St.Louis, MO / 5=Kansas City, KS / 6=Oakland, CA / 8=Atlanta, GA / 9=Norwood,
OH / 14=Baltimore, MD / 20=Los Angeles, CA / 21=Janesville, WI). Later trucks
used a letter abreviation for each plant instead of numbers.(A=Atlanta, B=Baltimore,
F=Flint, J=Janesville, K=Kansas City, L=Los Angeles, N=Norwood, O=Oakland, S=St.Louis,
T=Tarrytown, W=Willow Run, MI). On the later trucks this letter will be found
later in the serial number, such as the 3rd ('53-'55 1st series) or 5th ('55
2nd series-'59) symbol.
Back
to our example, which was assembled in Janesville, WI. This makes sense, as
that would have been the closest plant to the area where I bought the truck,
so it probably didn't make any cross country trips to a new owner.
The
next two symbols (KC) in our example tell me it's a '40 1/2-ton. The next two
tell the month it was built, in this case, June. This would have been June of
'40, as production usually ran from September-July/August. So this truck was
assembled rather late in the '40 model year. This is shown in the last 4 or
5 symbols which are the production sequence number. This started at 1001 at
each plant, and I have never seen one over 15000 for the 1940 trucks, but I
have only had trucks from the Janesville, St. Louis and Kansas City plants.
Another
'40 truck I have is: 21 WA 10 2415. This is a 1940 133" wheelbase 1-1/2-ton
that was built in October of 1939 at the Janesville, WI plant. You can see the
lower sequence number here since it was built early in the model year.
The month system got really confusing during
WW II. Basically, 1942 trucks were made for 43 months is what it amounted to.
Sometime after the war, the month code changed from numbers to letters. A=Jan.,
B=Feb. etc.
In
'53 some more changes happened. The first symbol was now the series of the truck,
the second symbol was the model year (3=1953), the third symbol was the plant,
and the sequence numbers had gotten longer by now. With the '55 2nd series came
some more changes. The first symbol was the code for the series of the truck
(1/2-ton, 3/4-ton etc.) and the second symbol was a 2 for second series of '55
trucks. The 3rd and 4th symbols were the year, and then came the plant symbol.
Last of course, was the sequence number (6 digits by now).
In
'56-'59, everything remained the same, except for the first two symbols were
now the series. The 3rd and 4th were still the year. We will try to list the
series codes here in the near future so you can identify the year and series
of your truck easily. You can learn quite a bit about your truck from this little
tag.
Wayne McGee also suggested calling the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center to get their free "Restoration Package" -- here are more details for American and Canadian GM trucks . When he received this pack, Wayne was able to decode his VIN immediatly without any problems ('52 1/2ton). There were complete engineering specs for all the trucks produced in his year and a large list of parts suppliers. This also includes engine, transmission, and rear end codes.
And one last big. One of our newsletter sponsors, American Classic Truck Parts, has a program in their website for help with decoding your VIN. Give it a try, and feel free to give them some feedback -- they aim to please.
I would
like to convert my 49 Chevy to 4x4. Four wheeldrive shops here don't have a
clue as to how to do it.I would like to be able to add this feature without
cutting my truck or a major frame changes.
About the only way to do it
without butchering a fine old Stovebolt is to find a set of NAPCO running gear
to install in your truck. From 1951 through 1957, GM offered the NAPCO 4x4 setup
as an aftermarket option (dealer installed). All you need to do is locate one
of these conversion kits and essentially bolt it up.
There are several requirements,
though (There's ALWAYS a catch...). First, these kits were initially designed
for use with 3/4-ton and 1-ton trucks only. This is because the torque tube
enclosed driveshafts on AD 1/2 tons prohibited the installation of the transfer
case. Second, the NAPCO conversion kits were designed for the specific series
of trucks, i.e., you have to match the year and series of the truck to the kits
(Advanced Design or Task Force series). Napco 1/2 ton units were manufactured
and installed starting with the 55 2nd series through 59'. Third, the gear ratio
of the rear differential must match the the NAPCO unit for the front (duh --
so must the tires).
The Chevy NAPCO Registry has
been combined with Napco Owners Group, 17123 Carys Bridge Road, Courtland, VA
23837 (our "Mr. NAPCO" and Assistant Stovebolt Page Editor
(by default!) - Kevin Pennell).
For more information on NAPCO
kits, contact the Chevy NAPCO Registry, PO Box 1162, Big Rapids, MI 49307. For
parts, try the parts vendors listed on the Lots-O-Links page.
And definitely contact the NAPCO Owners
Group.
We often get this question
and we've asked Barry Weeks,
our guest columnist and awesome person, to come up with an answer:
Well, it's not like pulling out the Kelly Blue Book and putting in a few calculations:
"Yea, your truck is worth $8,563.42, and don't take one dime less!".
What is your truck worth? As with anything, price varies alot with options,
condition, etc ... Your truck could be worth $1,000 or $10,000. I would suggest
taking your time and doing some research before you sell it so you can advertise
it at the right price. You don't want to sell it too cheap and short yourself,
but you also don't want to advertise it too high because you will just be wasting
your time and money. Check out what comparable trucks are advertised for in
Hemmings Motor News, or Deals on Wheels, or Round-Up, or whatever else is available
in your area. You might also ask around in your area for the local Chevy truck
"expert", maybe they can give you an idea of what to ask after seeing
it. You can also look on magazine racks for an Old Cars Price Guide, they are
published by Krause Publications a few times a year, and have current old car
and truck prices.
These are usually auction prices,
and are not always accurate in my opinion. Prices vary in different parts of
the country, and depend on demand for that particular vehicle. So do some homework,
but don't spend all summer at it because seems to be harder to sell stuff towards
winter.
In addition I would like to say that when you price your truck, it should reflect
how bad you want to sell it. If you want it out of here, maybe you should price
it 10-15% lower than the typical asking price. If you don't care how long it
takes to sell, but want top buck, then you might want to start out 10-15% higher.
You might eventually find a buyer. I guess one other thing to keep in mind --
your truck may have been an "investment" by you, a "love",
or a "hobby" ... it just may not have the appeal to the next buyer.
I bet if you ask most of the people on the site if they'd actually get out of
their truck what they paid in to it --- they won't want to tell you! (So, ask
their wife!)
If you hope to sell your truck,
study the market and see what people are looking for and willing to buy. Many
of the magazines and clubs that Barry mentioned are listed in the Lots
O' Links page ... plug in. And don't be shy - go into the Gallery,
look for a truck similar to yours and contact the person about how the priced/would
price theirs. The Swap
Meet page is again another resource -- you can contact the person and
take a look at their truck.
The '39 had a new front end
design and was the first year for the two-piece windshield. The hood sides had
a single chrome strip and a single louver.
The '40 was the first year for sealed beam headlights and parking lights (mounted
on the crowns of the front fenders). The grill had a wider top strip (where
the Chevrolet script is). A new dash, featuring an instrument unit like on the
'40 cars, was also used. In back, the bed for the '40 was lengthened to 78 inches
and widenend slightly.
For a more detailed description,
please see the Illustrated Chevy Pickup Buyer's
Guide article.
Could you give me some of the differences in '41 - '46 trucks? I would like to be able to tell the differences in those years of trucks. T
Answer from Whitney Haist:I'm trying to restore a "Big Bolt" but all I see are parts listed for pickups -- what parts interchange?
Answer from Spanky Hardy et al:
On the 4100 series and larger "Advance Design" trucks, all cab-related parts are the same (Including the doors and cab itself), except the floor area ( the center section of the floor, where the shifter and hand brake is located, is different). Front fenders, hood and grille are larger on the big trucks to accommodate the larger wheels and tires.
For more info on restoring "Big Bolts," check out the article, Restoring the Big Trucks in our Tech Tips section!
Hopefully, all you've done
so far is get your new project off its trailer or unhooked from the tow vehicle.
Good, STOP HERE! First, go get Tom Brownell's book, "How to Restore Your
Chevrolet Pickup Truck." Read it.
Then, before you do ANYTHING,
go to the Tech Tips section and read the article on Shop
Safety -- it's a must read.
Now that you are safe and ready to work, go get your camera and start taking
pictures or video of EVERYTHING. In two years, when it's time to put the throttle
linkage back together, you'll thank yourself. Also, document your truck's condition.
Start at the front and work backwards. Write down everything, its condition
and what you think needs to be done to it. I even constructed a computer data
base with every part I could think of on it. It also worked as a budget.
Once you have the truck's current condition fully documented, then, and only
then, can you start taking it apart. When you disassemble the truck, have some
sort of parts filing system worked out for the many small, medium and large
parts coming off the truck. I used several old filing cabinets and storage bins.
I tagged everything and wrote down where I stored each item. For smaller parts,
I used Ziplock bags. I wrote with an indelible marker on the bags what was in
the bags. This works especially well with bolts, screws and other fasteners.
Otherwise, you end up with a big coffee can full of various screws and bolts
and without a clue as to what is what -- (another VW lesson, Don). This came
in handy two years later when I was trying to put pieces back together.
Disassembly went in this order
for me: bumpers, taillights, rear fenders, tailgate, box, running boards, hood,
front fenders, grill & ornament, radiator & stand, interior (what there was
of it), door glass and window regulators, doors, windshield (be VERY careful
-- a two-person job) and rear cab glass, dash, cab, engine peripherals, engine
& transmission, steering column and box.
At this point, support the
frame on jack stands. Now take apart the front end -- mark where the everything
connects. Now drop the rear end and springs.
Congratulations! You've disassembled your truck. Now clean, repair and put back
together in the reverse order. How hard can it be?
Put the matches down and step
slowly away from the truck. Slowly. That's good. Keep your hands where I can
see 'em. There. That's good. Now breathe.
Seriously, we've all been where you are. Is this your first restoration? I've
only done one myself, but I just about gave up, too. It was about this time
of year (Winter is usually when "Restoration Frustration" strikes),
the frame was together but it seemed like the body work wasn't getting anywhere.
The cab was the worst. It just never seemed like I made any progress, yet I
sure was spending money on the pig.
I just got so frustrated with
the whole thing. But then I put the cab away for a little while and broke out
some smaller pieces and worked on them. I did a fender and got it all finished
and in primer. And then I did something else small and finished it, and something
else after that, until I started seeing some progress. That remotivated me.
And after a while, I just got the cab going again and just determined to put
my nose to it until I got it done, or die trying. Then spring came and it warmed
up a little in the garage and everything was cool again.
You are hitting "The Wall",
kind of like distance runners do. You just have to keep going through it. For
me, it was doing little parts -- stuff you could start and finish in a couple
of days so you could see rapid progress. But also be careful about looking at
too many photos of finished trucks. For me, that got to be counter productive
-- "Ugh, I'll NEVER get there."
One last thing -- don't work
until you get really tired and frustrated. Don't walk away from the truck mad,
tired and frustrated. Stop before you get tired of it, then put the wrenches
away and turn out the light. This is supposed to be fun, right? I'm a believer
in learned behavior -- if you're always working until you reach your frustration
breaking point, then you will soon equate working on the truck with being really
frustrated and you'll keep going to try and work through your frustration. Pretty
soon, all your friends wonder where you've been, your family has moved out and
your cat uses your pillow as a litter box 'cause you're obsessed with this thing
that's supposed to be fun. That's the voice of experience talking. I didn't
have to take a match to my truck -- my wife and daughters almost did it for
me (with me tied to it).
That's when I turned out the
garage light for about two weeks and didn't even think about it. And when I
went back to it, I did the small item thing for a while to rebuild my motivation.
I also limited my time. When I turned out the light and left the garage, I really
didn't want to. That way, I was leaving while I was still having fun. Pretty
soon, it got to be fun again AND I wasn't obsessed.
A neighbor of mine has
an Advance Design Chevy truck sitting in his garage. It appears to be a one
ton and has a chrome plate on the side of the hood which says "Thriftmaster
3100". I have checked in Chevy books and seen reference to an Advance Design
truck model called the "Loadmaster" but have never found a listing
of a Thriftmaster.
Does anyone out there know what makes a Thriftmaster different from other Advance
Design trucks?
From: Casey
From the 1947-2nd series to
the mid 1950's, the 3100 series was refered to and sold by Chevy as the "thriftmaster."
They droped that designation in mid 1950 and simply refered to the differing
models by their model #'s 3100=1/2 t, 3600=3/4 t, 3800=1 ton. Then they went
to a 6000 series for the Cab overs and 2 ton trucks. For the 47-2 thu the mid
50 model year, it would be appropriate to call the trucks by their "thriftmaster"
or "loadmaster" designation in stead of the more popular 3100 ect....
Loadmaster was the designation for any truck over 1 ton for the above mentioned
years.
Here are three answers:
#1 Hydraulic Lifters -- "The adjustment of the 235's valves is real
fun. You need to run the engine until it comes up to operating temperature and
add about 10 minutes. (About 30 Min Total). With the valve cover off and the
engine running, set the valves in any order you like. I like to start at the
back and work forward. You may have to go through the valves as many as 3 times
before you get what you want. You need a tappet wrench to do this job, you cannot
do it with a hand wrench and screw driver. This job takes a good hour to do
right."
Ted J. Welch
Editor: The Classic Truck Shop
#2 Solid Lifters -- "You never should attempt
to adjust solid lifters with the truck running! This will only result in bent
pushrods if one is inexperienced. The proper technique is listed in the shop
manual, Warm the engine to 185 degree OIL temperature. Bring each valve to top,
using a feeler gauge, wrench and screw driver, set the required gap as shown
in the shop manual. The rocker castings can have as much as .005 difference
between hot and cold. Using this technique you should have perfectly adjusted
valves first time! Thanks!"
Jim
Beidatsch
past president, Northern California
Chevy/GMC Truck Club
local Chapter Coordinator, Pickups
and Panels 'n Print Magazine
Norcal Truck Club
#3 General (Engine NOT running) -- "I have a trick I use every
day at work to set valves on inline 6 cyl. motors. Chevrolet and John Deere
firing orders are the same: 153624. Set the motor to fire on #1. Set the lash
on 1E, 1I, 2I, 3E, 4I and 5E. Then rotate crankshaft one revolution. #6 should
be in firing position. Set lash on #6E, 6I, 5I, 4E, 3I, 2E. Your valves are
all set, and it only took about 5 or 10 minutes. Remember exhaust valves are
on the ends of the head, and they look different than intake valves, so it is
easy to identify the valves for cyls. 2,3,4,5. I hope this will help someone.
Again, thank you!"
Carl Riemann
Answer from Barry Weeks:
"I have both an early
and late set of original Fenton cast iron headers. The early set has "
'37-'48 Chev." cast right on the rear header, which comes down straight.
The late set has " '49-'54 Chev." cast on the rear header, which comes
down at an angle. These headers were made so that the rear one would hook up
to your stock exhaust pipe, and then you only had to have a new front pipe made
to split the exhaust. Both front headers to these sets are identical, just the
rear outlet changed from straight to angled in '49. So my vote is for straight
outlets for '48 and earlier, angled for '49 and later."
Answer from Gary W Stevens:
"These screws can be impossible
to remove when rusted. I have found two resolves:
1. Use a speed-handle with a socket that will fit a clutch-head driver bit,
like the ones used in most cordless drills, and with an enormous amount of pushing
pressure they will usually turn out. Work the handle back and forth a bit to
get them started.
2. Drill the heads off, but you must use a carbide-tipped bit, like those used
to drill masonry, 1/4" seems to work the best. With the head removed, the
part can be removed and the piece of screw left can be delt with without destroying
the removed part. Caution must be used because the masonry bit chews the head
off rather quickly, again like the speed handle a lot of pressure and slow speed
works best with the drilling operation."
And here's some additional info from David
Harder
I saw the entry on the Stovebolt FAQ page regarding clutch
head screws. In the past, I have used a Dremel tool with the cutting disc to
cut a slot across the long portion of the clutch--this allows one to use a large
flat head screwdriver to turn them.
And from John Fenn
Get yourself a cup of cold water, a welder and a pair of vicegrips.
Take your wire welder and weld a blob of weld onto the screw or bolt about the
size of a pea. Pour the water over the blob of weld then clamp on the vicegrips.
The bolt or screw will undo very easily. The weld gives you something to hang
onto and the cup of water shrinks the bolt inside it's thread.
Answer from Barry Weeks:
"Any headers made for
1937-62 216,235,or 261 motors will fit. Stock exhaust manifolds are different
from 216 to 235 because of the bolt pattern where they bolt up to the intake
manifold, but since headers don't bolt to the intake, this doesn't matter.
"Patrick's Fenton rear
header will bolt up to your stock exhaust pipe ,if your stock pipe kicked back
at an angle, and not straight down like pre-'49 pipes do. You will have to make
a new front pipe for the duals. They sound good! Let me know if you need more
info. or want info. on joining the Inliners club ( 6-cylinders nuts). Barry
Weeks".
Answer from Dave Alama:
"Most headers made
for a '67-'69 Camaro fit real well between the frame's rails. Borla's headers
tend to be a bit wide for a good fit, although you could probably do a little
frame grinding near the starter area to get a good fit. Most other brands, Doug's,
Hedman, seem to work well without too much modification."
Editor's Note: If you install headers using this excellent advice, you owe Dave a bag of poi.
A response from Toby K --The reversed
305 manifold trick is not even close to working for me so I'm
wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if this trick only works on
the '54 models for some reason. Right now I have the engine in and even with it pushed over towards the passenger side about an inch the
reversed 305 manifold won't allow the steering box to bolt back in to
it's original place on the frame.
Answer from Barry Weeks:
I think the 265 front dump manifolds might work, you may have to
offset the motor towards the pass. side or shim the steering box
towards the outside for more clearance. I have no idea about the 305
manifolds. If they would work they may be easier to find and would
flow better than the old, small 265 manifolds."
Toby K again: I just wanted to follow up and let you know that the reversed
305 manifold did NOT work for me - This was using the "universal"
tubular crossmember sold in all the catalogs and a small block Chevy.
I just thought I'd let you know so you could consider tweaking the
stovebolt FAQ. I also traded e-mails with someone on the forum who
tried the 265 exhaust and they said it DID work (ie, they were able to
put the steering box back in the stock location) but they had to
offset the engine about an inch towards the passenger side.
Answer from Randy Rundle:
"You can use the 12-volt
timing light on 6 volts -- it will just be difficult to see as the light will
be half as bright as it should be. There are a couple of options. If you want
to make the timing light 6 volts, you can swap out the 12-volt bulb inside of
the light for a 6-volt bulb. if you use the light for modern applications as
well, just find a 12-volt power source like a motorcycle battery or another
car battery etc. to power the light when checking 6-volt applications. If you
swap out the bulbs, remember to not connect it to the 12-volt power source or
the 6-volt bulb will "protest" and not work any longer. Hope this
helps ..... RR"
My Johnson Rods are out of alignment. What do I do?
Well, the first thing you do is jack the truck up about 3 inches. Then you reset the Binotz fittings with a medium-sized flavitz bar (GM part #4ImA_brd). Be careful reading the dial, though, as some mechanics have accidentally stripped Binotz fittings through over-torquing. That should realign your Johnson Rods very nicely and to factory specs. Check your Service Bulletins, though, as there might have been a slight change to this procedure in the mid '50's. While you're at it, this would be a good time to check the grease level in the Fallicalator. It really is a pain to be stuck on the side of the road with a seized Fallicalator (not to mention, misaligned Johnson Rods).
Got a good one to add? Let me know
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