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01 November 2013
# 3037

 
Owned by
Ryan Rabjohn
"Chevy46"
Bolter # 36730
Applegate, Oregon
 

 

1946 Chevy 1/2-Ton Pickup Truck

 

More pictures of my old truck

Join the discussion about this truck

 

 

From Ryan :

I wish I could be telling this story in person to everyone so that I'd have the truck next to me to show all the different features. The paint story is a tale of its own!

I am fortunate to have TWO 1946's Chevy trucks. This one is my half-ton pickup. It use to sit in my Grandpa Charlie's barn. When I was little, I'd run down to it and pretend to drive it.

My other old truck is a 2-ton stake bed which is also in the Stovebolt Gallery. A "jewel" of a different sorts you could say.

My Dad got me into this love for old trucks and restoration and he taught me the basics. After that he didn’t so much as show me stuff but got me a bunch of books to learn from. Most of my grease monkey knowledge I learned through trial and error or by talking to the ol’ guys at the car cruises. This is a pic of me when I was three years old sitting on my Dad's hotrod project.

 

Ryan has a pretty cool picture of the two '46's setting side-by-side. (Check his Photobucket link.)

I have also linked his Gallery picture to a larger image of this truck that is an impressive shot. Click on the image it to see!

Good luck with the projects. Hope the gang can be of help. ~ Editor

For my 13th birthday, Grandpa gave this pickup truck to me! He wanted to see it go to a good home and on the road. He didn't want it scrapped or hot-rodded. He didn't have the time or energy to do it -- and he's more of a wood guy.

The truck came into our family when my Uncle picked up the truck when he was on a demolition job site a good while ago. The crew was about to bulldoze a barn when my Uncle asked if anyone had checked to be sure there was nothing inside. Turns out, no one did. He went to look and he found the truck sitting inside with the original plate still on it.

He asked if he could have the truck, and they said to take it. My Uncle wanted to hot rod it but he never got around to it.

It sat in my Uncle's barn for nearly 50 years until the day he traded it to my Grandpa for a 1969 MGB. The truck only had 18,720 original miles. I have been restoring the truck ever since I got it ... and I'm 18 now.

We hauled the truck home. First thing I did was to drain the oil and clean out the gas tanks. I put in new gas and a new battery. It didn't want to turn over at first but a little coaching with some starter fluid and it ran!

It was far from street ready. We had to replace the fuel pump for starters.

The old truck had a Rochester carburetor in it for some reason and it needed a W1. I had a friend who was working on a 1942 Jeep which happened to have a W1 carb and he let me have it.

Our next project was to work on the transmission. The case had a crack in it. I had to buy a new transmission and had to transfer all the gears over from one case to another. We had to remove the whole rear end since it was a one piece driveline. It was a lot of work but we got it all back together.

Next on the list was replacing the odometer cable that goes into the transmission. It wasn't working ... and still not working even to this day. I can't find the gear for it.

i worked on brakes next. I had to re-do the master cylinder and had to replace all the brake drums. I got wheel hubs for Christmas.

To get the truck street ready, my Grandma bought me the licensing plates for it. For my birthday, I got the original vacuum wiper motor.

My Grandpa fixed up the two back fenders. They just had primer on them. They were badly rusted. As I mentioned, Grandpa is more of a woodworking kind of guy but he got the job done.

The grille looks good in the photo but the sides are a bit rusty. The front is nice and polished. My Mom is an artist and she re-did the paint on the grille for me and it looks great.

Speaking of paint, the color under the hood is a deep blue. From the factory, this truck was a deep blue with black fenders. When it got to the dealership, the original owner who bought it said his wife would not let him have a blue truck. When he took it home, she said to take it back! He took it to a paint place and they painted it maroon, with black fenders. But they only painted the visible parts. Under the hood is still the original blue paint and it looks real good!

People keep asking me if I'm going to repaint it and I will some day. They ask if I'll do blue or maroon. I want to keep the story alive -- I'd like to pain under the hood blue and the rest the maroon.

So we got the truck licensed and on the road about two years ago. Driving it has been fun. I have to slow down around corners because there is no independent suspension.

Took it to one car show but I wasn't entered just parked on side lines. We've taken the truck to a "Back to the '50s" cruise around here.

There are some bugs to work out with the windshield wipers. Also have some electrical issues so I'll be working on the generator.

Well, there is my story and I hope you have enjoyed it!

See you all in the forums!

~Ryan

 

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