Fred Nixon's 1951 Canadian GMC Model 9430 1-Ton -- A great old truck to restore

My Background: I was born in 1949 and by the age of around 12, I had to get permission in the local library to use the adult section, so that I could read all the electronics books. At the age of 15, I was busy repairing people’s TVs and radios on the side.

After University, I worked as an Electrical Engineer for Ontario Hydro from 1974 to 2000 in the field of Computer Control. In 2000, they had a down-sizing and I took early retirement. I have been working with a consulting firm part time since then. My work is thinning out now and I now have more time to spend at home with my wife.

Here are some photos of my truck. It's a 1951 Canadian GMC, Model 9430, which is a 1-ton. One photo shows how it looked when I found it and the other shows its present transitional state. It had a typical farm flatbed on it, or the remains of one. I have seen a few since with the big lumber bed.

While I was working at the Chenaux generation plant several years ago, I discovered that one of my colleagues had an old truck on a piece of farm land that he bought. I also found out that he wanted to part with it! It was in more or less derelict condition and it was just the type of project that I new I would enjoy working on. I figured that I would be able to get into every aspect of restoration as, previous to this, most of my experience was in the mechanical ends of things -- rebuilding motors etc.

I had the truck brought the 300 miles to my house on a flatbed. Since that time, I have rebuilt the front end suspension, steering and brakes, and rebuilt and tested the motor. At present I am completing the rebuilding of the cab. I have installed every patch panel known to man!

I thoroughly enjoy your site and it is always the first thing that I look at every day on the computer. Besides all the great advice, I really enjoy the “extended family” or community that the site fosters. It will be a real pleasure to make a contribution to it.

Fred has been gracious enough to hold a Virtual Clinic on Radio Repairs for The Stovebolt Page. Be sure to check it out. And if you want to see some more photos, Fred has a site set up for you to do so. ~~ Editor