1957 Chevy 3800

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Owned by Dwayne Morrell "Duwop" Bolter # 27611 Union Hall,  Virginia Join the talk about this truck in the DITY Gallery

More pictures of my old truck

From Dwayne :

Here is my 1957 Chevy 3800 which I found in 2002 when I moved to Virginia from South Florida. The old truck was owned by my neighbor for use on his small farm. He bought the truck in the early 70's from the original owner who used it on his own farm. I saw him use the truck sparingly and asked him if he was interested in selling. He was not but commented that from time to time others had stopped by and asked the same because he left it parked out in a field for everyone to see as they rode by.

Over the next nine years we became good friends and occasionally I would bug him to sell it to me because he was getting into his 80's and didn't use it anymore. In 2008 he sold me a 1956 Farmall Cub tractor that his father bought brand new. Beings I own his Father's old home, I told him it belonged on my farm now. He agreed and I told him I would restore the tractor to new condition.

Soon after I bought the tractor, he told me he had cancer and was going to die. Well that motivated me to finish the restoration of the tractor so he could see it in its glory as he did when his Father had owned it. (The pictures of the Farmall are on Dwayne's Flickr account. ~ Editor)

Soon after the tractor was completed, he asked me to come over and visit. When I arrived, he surprised me and asked me to make an offer for the truck. He said that he liked the work I did restoring the tractor and he wondered that if I had the truck, would I restore it to new condition? I told him that was the plan from day one, way back all those years he wouldn't sell.

So I made him an offer which I felt he thought was low as he claimed he had an offer for $1100. After I told him to sell it to the other guy, he said he didn't think the other bidder had the money or the ability to restore it. In his mind, it was an "antique" and was surely worth more than my offer. I told him that it might be worth more to someone else, but I had researched for years on costs to restore this truck and just wouldn't pay any more for it.

Well that's how I came to own this truck, as he agreed to sell it to me.

Sadly, my friend has passed on and will not see it completed. I believe he really wanted me to have the truck because not only were we friends, but he saw my work and sold me the truck that same day.

I've not yet started restoration of the truck because between the time I restored the tractor and getting the truck, I needed a project and picked up a 1963 Aristocrat Travel Trailer which is in a frame off restoration. (The pictures of the Aristrocrat Travel Trailer are on Dwayne's Flickr account. ~ Editor) I can't wait to get that finished because I wanted that truck for so long. Besides, I enjoy wrenching more than wood work.

I will be posting more as I get started on the truck.

Thanks,

Dwayne

Wow some cool work on the tractor and the trailer! I'm sure it'll be great to follow along when you start on the truck. You already have some cool pictures of the '57 on there. Look forward to hearing when you start. ~ Editor

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