Mike Allen's 1953 Chevy 1/2-Ton 5-Window

"The Burgandy Bolt"

Valentine's Day
14 February 2007
# 1825

From Mike :

           Here is my tale of my 1953, 5-window, 1/2-ton, three on the tree, 216 6 cylinder 1 bbl Rochestor'ed Babbitt pounder.

           I first found this gem locally. It was being sold by the original owner's son who was in his sixties and his Father had long since passed. The truck was repainted in the 1980's for the Grandson. He drove it to high school for one year then like most teenagers, wanted the thrill of a belly buttoned five litre Mustang (yawn).

           The truck was then returned to its original resting place in a single car garage where it had always been at Grandma's house since new. I sought it out from a classified ad and after seeing the holey grail, I made an offer. I came home with much glee to tell my then recent bride about my find. My then spouse was not impressed as we were saving to buy a house and what did I need an old truck for anyway ? So, I had a friend of a friend buy it.

           Fast forward 13 years. I would call the second owner every few years to ask when I could have my truck back. In 2003 he called me to say "Come and get the truck if you're still interested." Good timing as I was on final faze of my divorce and jumped at the chance. My ex got to see it one day as I rumbled by her in the parking lot of the courthouse. Man did her head spin around to watch my grinning mug roll past. We settled the last of the asset divisions on our house. I now refer to the truck as my "Good luck charm" as every court appearance after that day, the Burgandy Bolt was there. (I even gave my lawyer a ride back to her office -- she loved it!)

           I am in the midst of installing a Mustang II front suspension and will be installing a rebuilt 235 cid along with Offy intake, twin carbs, Fenton headers, bee hive oil cooler and a T5 5-speed out of an S-10 topped off with a skull shifter knob ala '50's hot rodder style. The front end will have approximately 4" drop. The rear will lose the rolly-polly torque tube for a Camaro or Nova 10 bolt with lowered leaf springs. I will eventually install a hotter 261 stovebolt once the wallet has had time to recover.

           The truck is in my will for my son but he's going to have to wait a long time before he gets it. Stay tuned for further up dates.

           I've got to tell you, and I'm sure you hear it alot, as what a fabulous site you have. I'm on this site all day reading tech articles and just can't stop reading member's truck bio's and classified ads. When I can't be spinning wrenches on my truck, I enjoy reading about others. I have been e-mailing another fellow in Vancouver, who has been a wealth of info for my restoration project. I can't wait to get started. I also met some great guys the other day in Langley BC for a "Meet and Greet" with some fellow Bolters (our pics are posted in the Events forum). We were unable to take our truck that day.

           So I wanted to say huge thank you for all the hard work that is done in producing and maintaining this site to you and all involved.

Cheers,

Mike Allen
"burgandybolt"
Bolter # 12314
Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
Canada

           Mike, Thanks for the compliments about the site. It is very much a team effort, all volunteers. And folks are very willing to join in and help out. Even the "Meet and Greet" came about because Niagara in Halfmoon Bay, BC thought it would be a good idea. All those guys just made it happen. And it was great! ~~ Editor