Owned by Mike Gramann "69Cuda" Bolter # 40939 Washington

1958 Chevy Viking 60 2-Ton Dump Truck

"A tale of three trucks"

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From Mike :

We found this old truck on Craigslist in Eastern Washington. My Dad and I picked it up Saturday after Thanksgiving 2015. I learned from towing the 1955 Chevy 2-ton home (check the story in the Gallery) and made sure I had 50 psi in all the Suburban tires, and also put load equalizing bars on the trailer / hitch coupling.

We got to the designated exit on Interstate 90 and Gary, the previous owner, was waiting for us. Oh, did I mention Gary's Dad bought this truck new? Gary is probably in his late 70s or early 80s now. The paperwork / title is still in Lobe farms, so I believe this makes me the second owner.

And, did I mention they had put a 327 in it at some point? It is still the truck's engine. I plan to drive it and see what kind of shape it is in. I need to do a compression check on it still but, I am almost afraid to! .

My Dad and I followed Gary on a back country road, over a few rolling hills, and around some corners, eventually turning into snow covered gravel roads. We went on what seemed like forever but was really only a few miles (somewhere between 5 and 10).

When we got out of the Suburban, there was the Chevy two-ton, in a line with a few other trucks. It was about 26 degrees and snowing on top of an inch of that white stuff that was already on the ground. Gary and Derek, the guy living at the farm, tried to get the backhoe fired up to pull the '58 out of its spot in line and push it up onto the trailer. (Oh, did I mention that Gary said the '58 had not been started in a few years?)

Well, they were having a hard time getting the backhoe to start (dead battery and COLD diesel engine). So I yelled over, “The race is on, boys!” and started to siphon some gas out of the Suburban into the gas can I brought along for this very thing!

We put a battery in the 2-ton, some gas in the old five gallon can that was on the floorboards (it had been there for years as a "temporary fuel tank"!), dribbled some gas down the throat of the carb and she fired right up (blowing chunks of who knows what out of the exhaust stacks and all over me!).

We had to dribble gas down the carb five or six times and finally it cleared everything out from the line between the can in the cab and the carb and started running on its own!

Gary gave a whoop and he and Derek came over and helped guide me up on the trailer! We chained it down, rounded the barn in the fresh snow (driving on a snow-covered side-hill) and headed back out to the gravel road! We only got lost for an extra 15 minutes finding our way back to I-90!

That trip home was pretty uneventful. It handled much better with air in the tires and the load bars, even though we weighed another 2,000 pounds than with the '55. (We weighed 17,340 when we rolled across the scales!)

I need to put some insulation in the cab (firewall and floor) and then put the heater in. Right now, I am building the seat for it and then the truck should be ready to license, insure, and drive!

My eventual goal is to cut the '58 off right about the back of the wing windows and put the back of it on the back of the '55 cab to make an extended cab truck! I will use the axles out of the '58 (and probably the frame since the dump bed is already on it). I’ll shorten the bed as needed to fit the longer cab and use it for a tow vehicle for my 1951 trailer (that is what started this whole big truck project in the first place!). Here's a computer-generated rendition of what I'm looking for.

Actually, I had three 1941 Ford COE cabs that I was going to use to create a 4-door crew-cab tow vehicle out of but changed direction and bought the Chevys instead!)

Our 14 year old daughter hasn't been real involved in this project much but she does want this extra front clip for wall art in her room!

Thus far, I put a new turn signal switch in it, got all the lights working (re-wired rear lights, replaced / rebuilt all the original vintage running lights on the bed, re-wired front park lights so they are also turn signals, swapped the grille out for one that has not been cut, gutted the cab, repaired some rust (right side kick panel around the vent and fresh-air intake for the heater was pretty much gone), repainted the inside of the cab, reconditioned the original 2-speed electric wipers (including a new switch, new bushings where the transmission arms attach to the motor, and added grease fittings to the pivots so, no more squeaks!), re-sealed the floor plate over the tranny, changed all fluids, rebuilt brake cylinders (all wheels and master), all new steel and rubber lines for the brakes, new seals in the PTO, new seals and bearings in the hydraulic pump (still chasing a leak there though), and put 6 new tires and wheels on it (actually used but like new!). I put new-to-the-truck heated mirrors on it (not hooked up yet though), modified a Torklift superhitch for it and installed (also bought a Supertruss extension for it!).

Oh, and I put an old Ahooogah horn on it! (Eventually I will put some long air horns on it, but have not gotten that far!)

Whew, I guess I have done a bit on it, huh?

Mike

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