01 November 2013
# 3038

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

1946 Chevy 2-Ton Stakebed

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From Ryan :

I am fortunate to have TWO 1946's Chevy trucks. This one is my 2-ton stake bed. My other is a 1946 Chevy 1/2-ton pickup truck.

About three years ago, I was looking for parts for my half ton. Searching on the computer, I typed in "46 Chevy" and this old two-ton truck popped up. It was was in Montague, California and they were asking only $400 for it.

So, I thought about going ahead and buying it for parts. We ended up going down there for my birthday to check it out.

There was a lot more to see than in the picture. Almost every thing was there -- just like with my half-ton. And this two-ton only had 12,348 original miles on it. This was the best investment I had ever made!

We trailered the truck back home. When we looked it over real good, we knew it needed a lot more work than the half-ton did.

We took out gas tank and cleaned it out. We drained the oil and replaced it. Before I even got the gas tank back in, I remember being in the shop and messing around with it. I put a battery to it, got a bit of fuel to it, and it was a neat experience to see the black smoke come out and hear the truck run, after all this time of being a dead. IT'S ALIVE! What an amazing thing about Chevys -- they run no-matter what! It may need a lot of body work, but it's a runner!

This was an old roofing truck from the Los Angeles, CA area. The company logo is still pretty readable on the door, complete with a 5-digit phone number. It actually looked better when we picked it up from the California desert. After sitting a few years up here in Oregon, it's still good but not as good as it was when we got it!

The seller was the son of the owner of the truck. So I am the second owner, which is pretty cool considering the age of the truck. The truck was parked in front of the son's shop and he hauled it up from an LA scrap yard. He tracked it down so it was saved from scrap.

The son went inside his little garage. I didn't think he would even have a title. The glove box was deteriorated and on the floor. He had the original commercial licensing for it for the state of CA and the title. The last commercial package was 1954.

Hauling it home was interesting. We had a 16 foot trailer and the truck was 23 feet long. The front tires hit the front of the trailer and the back tires were barely hanging on. We had it strapped on real good. We had about 100 miles to get it home.

I have recently put new tires on it and hope it will hit the road by next year. The wheels are okay.

After I put on the new tires, the brakes started going out. I was surprised they were working at all. So I just finished the right back brake cylinder.

I only had to replace the fuel pump and some of the hoses for the radiator. The radiator was in good shape. I had to flush it a few times because of a rats' nests but no leaks.

I just got a new bed for this truck and am currently putting it together.

The interior was the worst part of the truck. Initially, it didn't look that bad. The header panel that sits over the windshield wipers didn't look bad. When I barely touched it with my glove, it fell apart. I decided to take that apart and there was a big rats' nest all along the top of that area. The urine had deteriorate that part of the truck.

I took the heater out. The windshield wiper motor was completely gone. The actual framing of the truck and the hinges for the front windshield that rolls out were complete deteriorated and I will have to replace that.

Part of the front of the roof and the body is detached from rats' nest damage.

Already I've been getting a lot of requests from different people to use the truck for advertising or for background for pictures. As soon as I get it on the road, I'll have a job for trucking!

The truck has bullet holes all around it. That's why the windows are missing -- shot out. There are bullet holes above the passenger door, back of the cab above the gas tank, one in the top of the fender in the front and one below the headlights. This may have happened before it got to the scarp yard. On the driver's side front fender, it looks like they hit something a long time ago.

Some of the other body damage comes from a crash incident. When the truck was in use for roofing, the son told me, a 1953 Cadillac ran into the back of it and took out part of the frame work. The crash killed the passenger and driver of the car. It pushed the whole bed frame into the back of the cab.

Under the old turn signal, the arm that swings up, there is a "#5." I'm thinking there are four more of them out there. I don't know if they are still around.

~Ryan

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