John Lucas' 1942 Chevrolet 1.5-Ton

1 May 2006

From John:

       I greatly appreciate your efforts in updating and improving the Gallery section in the Stovebolt. They say that a picture is better than a thousand words, but a photo without a caption can generate as many questions as answers. With that said, I must admit, that I have been wanting to submit Gallery photos of my other trucks for a long time, and also wanted to note my recent purchases from fellow Bolter Carl "RaceCarl" Riemann I will find the time in the near future to provide you with the information that you need.

       My recent purchases from Carl, included this '42 Chevy 1.5-ton big bolt, a '41 Chevy big bolt parts truck, and an extra cab. I have picked up the '42 along with the extra cab, but have yet to go after the '41 parts truck. It is about a 600 mile round trip, and I hope to get that done within the next five or six weeks.

Thanks,

John Lucas
"JLucas"
Bolter # 5369
South Omaha, Nebraska

       I finally remembered to get you a picture of my '42 Chevy 1.5-ton truck. It is a working truck and is shown hooked to my newly acquired trailer hauling my tractor. I used to load the tractor on the truck, and the truck handled it OK, but finding a loading dock that the public can use is durn near impossible.

       Anyway, I have owned this truck about three years. When I got it, it had set in a tree row for about 15 years. The packrats built a rat condo of sticks in the cab level with the dash. The mice ate EVERY bit of cloth insulation off EVERY wire under the dash and in the engine compartment. The engine was a little stiff but it turned over. I had to replace five pushrods that got bent because the valves were stuck shut. Once I got the valve train loosened up, I dumped a little gas in the carb and it fired right up. It didn't run real good on the 15+ old gas in the tank, and with fresh gas it runs EXCELLENT.

       I believe this is the original babbitt beater motor. It used NO oil and starts in any weather. The previous owner converted it to 12-volt so all I had to do was rewire the entire truck. I added turn signals and incorporated them into the original park lights in the front.

       This truck has a Timken double reduction two speed rear axle which is a godsend. The box has a dump hoist which works good. It has box sides but I usually do not use them when towing the trailer as I need all the aerodynamic help I can get.

       I go to several tractor shows around the area. Top speed is around 40 mph. I get a real good look at everyone's iron piles when plodding along at this pace. I usually put on 300-600 miles per year. I intend to paint the truck someday, probably John Deere green and yellow to match the tractor.

       This is my first Stovebolt and I have been impressed by how well this truck runs for no more than I have done to it. Someday I would like to upgrade the power (261 or 302 GMC), but for now it is OK.

Carl

Carl Riemann
"Racecarl"
Bolter # 86
McCook, Nebraska

       Carl's got another truck in the Gallery if you care to check it out, too ~~ Editor