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1948 Chevrolet 6400 Dump


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Owned by John Henderson
"kb3csw"
Bolter # 3974
Pocomoke City, Maryland


14 June 2010 Update
# 2520

More shots of my old truck stuff

From John :

In May of 2010, this old old dump truck changed hands from John and Peggy Milliman at Stovebolt HQ ... to me (see their history of the truck below).

This is a 1948 2-ton short wheel base Chevy with a Heildump body. It has been updated at some point in its life with a later model Stovebolt six with the cooling system moved slightly forward.

Since the truck arrived here on the Eastern Shore, we have done a basic tune up -- plugs, wires, oil change. The points, condenser and coil seem to be doing fine.

We tried polarizing generator but got no response so don't know if that's the generator or in the wiring harness.

At this time, plans are to replace wiring harness and go with 12 volt system. This would make things a little easier for pulling a trailer with my 1938 1.5-Ton Chevy on it ... eventually.

In the meantime, the old gal is doing her share of work around here! See the video.

John H

John, it's good to see the Stovebolt in good hands. We had the good (?) fortune of seeing our first dump truck over the weekend. It was an International Harvester we had used on the previous farm. We sold it to a friend who needed it for a special project. Once he finished with it, he sold it to some other ATHS friends here. Well, dang! We saw the truck at the mechanic's place over the weekend. The last guys RESTORED the truck. It was incredible. Hardly looked like the same old truck we had. So, maybe at Macungie one year, you'll blow the socks off John, too! Good luck! ~ Editor

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01 February 2009
# 2520

From John :

Well, I've always liked the early AD trucks, and I've always thought the short wheel base 2-ton dumps were really cool. So when one of our local members of the ATHS Baltimore-Washington Chapter called me for advice on how to dispose of a truck he'd been keeping in a barn less than 10 miles from Stovebolt HQ ... it got my attention!

Then he added it was a 1948 Chevy short wheel base dumper! Excellent. The previous owner had recently lost storage on the truck and needed to get rid of it.

It didn't hurt that Peggy preferred dump trucks to the long wheel base grain trucks we had previously been messing with ...

Also playing into the equation was that since Grigg Mullen had been to many of our events with his 1948 Detroit Diesel project, I had been wanting a good project for a diesel conversion. And not to be overlooked was the sheer peer pressure of Billy Marlow and *his* Detroit diesel endeavors.

I was doomed!

So I went over to the Chesapeake Bay tidewater farm where Ed's truck was tucked in an old tobacco barn (like I said -- less than 10 miles from Stovebolt HQ), saw that it was a pretty solid 5-window cabbed SWB dumper, and loaded it on the trailer. All with fellow local Bolter Doug Hamilton's help. The die was cast. I could explain all of this to Peggy...

The funny thing was that I didn't have to explain all of this to Peggy. God bless her, but she *got* it from the beginning and even encouraged me to call Ed and complete the deal.

The deal, though, is that this will continue to be a working dump truck for our Christmas tree farm, as well as be the prime mover for hauling the 1949 1-ton to future shows. It also means that we can dispose of the '95 Dodge duallie and the '85 Ford F-350 dump truck we currently use on the farm. Also relevant is that this is a 5-window cabbed truck that was built in Baltimore (that actually is important to me as my other AD trucks are Ohio-built trucks).

It also means that I forever and unequivocally avow any notion of ever owning a B-61 Mack ... Sigh ... (I can always play with Billy Marlow's... )

Anyway, my plans for this truck are to upgrade it to be able to continue functioning as a 21st Century dump truck and to be be able to cruise safely and efficiently at Interstate speeds while towing the '49 1-ton on a trailer.

To do that, I plan on upgrading the drivetrain as follows:

  • Engine: Detroit 4-53T
  • Transmission: Fuller Road Ranger RT610 (10-speed direct drive)
  • Rear axle: 10 lug GM Dana 80, 3.31 gears
  • Brakes: 4-wheel hydroboosted disc brakes
  • Power steering

The rest of the truck will remain original and stock (i.e., cab, front sheet metal and dump box).

So stay tuned to this project! Grigg is my coach, and Peggy, Billy and Mike Roache are my cheer leaders!

John



Boy, I'm glad to see this part in writing: "I forever and unequivocally avow any notion of ever owning a B-61 Mack" ... yee ha! ~ Margaret

-30-


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