Jeff Evans' 1951 Chevy 3800 1-Ton Pickup

28 August 2006
# 1638

From Jeff :

           Hi! First, thanks for a great site. I access it regularly to read bulletin board postings and make use of the tech articles.

           Now to my truck. It is a 1951 3800 one-ton pickup. This is a picture of the condition of the truck when I got it. This is a view of the original bed. You might say it needed work. However, the powertrain was actually quite good with a 1948 235 engine swapped in sometime in its past and a 1987 inspection sticker in the window.

           To "fix it up," the cab and all body panels were first removed. A friend of mine with a garbage company (Kevin) had an employee who paints dumpsters (Brian). So, one piece at a time, body panels were worked and painted. I found a rust free cab locally which turned out to be a whole lot better than a bunch of patch panels on the original cab.

           I sketched up drawings for Amish woodworker (Ben) and he made the bed wood and side boards. The bed is oak with stainless steel strips.

           Along with another buddy of mine (Sam), a new wiring harness was installed.

           This truck runs great, starts easily and still has the 17 inch tall tires (from Amos) and 5.14 rear end.

           I hope you like the pictures. They show what can be done without spending a lot of money on professionals to build your truck. And, it's been a fun project!

Jeff Evans
"PaFarmer"
Bolter # 5437
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania