A 'virtual garage' of antique Chevy & GMC trucks from around the World

1950 Chevy 3800 1-Ton

28 January 2008
# 2202

From Chris :

           This is my 1950 Chevy 3800. I have always liked the 1949-51 Chevy trucks, but really like the extra bed length and size of the 3800, along with the 4-speed on the floor.

           I bought this truck from photos and had it shipped to my house. The shipping company was “early” and I was still away on business. So, needless to say, I had not “greased” the wife up to this truck yet. Convincing her it was a truly a "diamond in the rough" was tough … having never seen it in person myself. I laid it on thick, but I’m still in the dog house.

           The truck was about as I expected. The motor turned over when dragged by a tractor, but I wanted a teardown challenge. The one thing that upset me, and was not disclosed by the seller, was that the truck had been forked out of a barn. No problem there except the rear fork kinked the driveshaft and put a few annoying crimples in the running boards.

           I tried to get it running quick with a partial teardown. I rebuilt the starter, put in new cables and battery and gave it a go. There was a terrible grinding sound, but both the starter drive and the flywheel looked fine. After a few tries, I realized that the flywheel ring gear was cracked and was spinning free around the flywheel.

           All my hopes of a quick “running” were over. Thus began the complete teardown [ before pix ] and rebuild of the original 216 engine [ after pix ] . I know a bunch of folks beat up on this old 216, but I’m glad to have an original in an original truck. I’m doing what I call advanced stabilizing maintenance trying to save most of the work for when my kids can help and learn.

           It’s been fun so far. Old cars / trucks in general are a great hobby!!

Thanks,

Chris Harbourt

-30-