1949 GMC Pickup Truck

Owned by John Keller Abingdon, Illinois

From John :

           My first buy was a 1949 Chevy 5-window truck. I finally started tearing into it and took off the driver's side running board and realized it was held together with two pieces of dog chain and a turnbuckle.

           When I took the chains apart, the cab fell into a huge heap in the driveway! There were enough license plates patching holes that I could have plated almost every car in the town I live in.

           So, I scrapped the truck. I was really bummed until a few days later. My best friend found a 1949 GMC in restorable condition for $800. (Well, that'll cure the bumm stuff real quick! ~ Ed.) My best friend loaned me the money to buy the truck. (That's even better! ~ Ed. )

           The guy I bought it from, bought it off of eBay from somewhere in Oklahoma. He intended to restore it but realized he already had three projects and wouldn't have time to fix it up for quite awhile.

           I have had this truck for one year and am just now starting to work on it. So, this is my first time restoring a vehicle. My seven year old son, Derek is a great helper and is as excited as I am about this project.

           Hopefully, we will have good luck getting this done. After the factory I worked in shut down, I went back to college. While there in auto mechanics, I built a 388 stroker from the ground up. The heads and intake are ported and polished and it has a mild cam. The motor has been dyno tested 639 horse 497 FTLB of torque and has never been in a vehicle.

         Check out the pictures in my Photobucket album! Any helpful hints will be appreciated!!

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