09 February 2012
# 2944

Owned by Jenny Christmas "jxtruckster" Bolter # 31725 Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada

1951 GMC 5-window
9300 1/2-Ton

"Cinderella"

More pictures of my old truck

Join the discussion about this truck

From Jenny :

It's always been a dream of mine to own an old truck. There's just something really special about these old beauties.

Perhaps this is when it all started? That's me and my Dad's old work truck.

I have always loved old trucks. It's just been a "thing" for me. Ask my kids. An oldie drives by, and I'm like "OHHhh Wow!!!. The kids laugh and say "Mom … why don't you just buy one?!"

Well I've never had the means to do it, until now. I divorced several years ago, and life went on ... happily. Kids are now grown and on their own. I met Jim over two years ago, and things just kind of fell into place. He is a heavy duty mechanic by trade, and also loves the old classic vehicles. Jim has a 1967 Camaro that he completely overhauled. It's beautiful. He's picky and it shows.

When we were planning our summer holiday, he jokingly said "Why don't we drive out to Saskatchewan and look at those old trucks?"

We had heard about a guy that has quite a collection of trucks on his property. "A long way to go to see some trucks," was my thought. But what the heck. Why not? I've never been to the prairies -- let's go.

So we gave the guy a call and told him we were coming out to "shop." So off we went with truck and travel trailer in tow. I took pictures the whole way there; it's kind of an obsession of mine. Got some pretty good shots, too. The weather was good, and prairies were beautiful. I took over 700 pictures that trip.

We got to the "truck farm" and met the owner. Soon we started "shopping." How overwhelming! Where do you start when you're not even sure what you're looking for?

We didn't have a make or model in mind. We just wanted something that spoke to us and was in the best shape possible. There were 89 trucks ... all lined up in pretty little rows. You have to see it to believe it. The owner said he used to have about 200, but had injured his back and was having trouble dealing with it all. So he was selling them off.

He bought these old trucks from Craigslist and from old farms. He'd bring them home re-sell them. How fun!! In my next life I want a truck farm.

So, the end results: this is my "new" treasure. It's a 1951 GMC 5 window 1/2-ton. She's a beauty; stood out from all the others. We made a deal.

This was going to be my truck! How cool, it was really happening.

We talked with the previous owner about shipping to BC and he said it wouldn't be a problem -- they do it all the time. He would call a few people. Long story short, no one wants to ship to BC anymore because the HST had messed things up for them (profits).

After about six weeks of trying to get it shipped here, Jim decided to go get it. We borrowed a friend's car trailer and off he went. He left early on a Tuesday morning and got home on Thursday night at midnight. It was a crazy long drive, but he was on a mission.

Now she was home. Not only did my handsome prince (Jim) drive me to Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan (we live on Vancouver Island), to pick out an old truck to restore, but he also got her home at midnight. Hence the name ... Cinderella.

Since there had been some critters living in it, we figured we should clean it up before it's put in the garage. The mice had been living in the headliner, and in and under the seats. What a mess. Quite the habitat they had going in there. It seems one is an Island mouse now.

Now the transformation begins. Even though we will tear it down to hot-rod it, we thought for fun we should try and to get it running, just to hear what the old girl sounds like. It only took Jim about 10 minutes to get it running. How amazing.

We will be stripping it down to the last bolt and making it what works for us. So we have started taking it apart. Only thing left right now is the cab, engine and the chassis.

We bought a 350hp 327 to put in it. Jim is doing his homework as far as other mechanical modifications. The details on that are in the making.

We will lose the 3 on the tree, and go for either a 4 or 5 speed stick shift. I'm having trouble deciding on seats. The bench seats are there and could be recovered. But I wondered if it would be a problem with a stick shift? Perhaps buckets are a better way to go.

Color ... I want something special, not trendy. I would consider a green or blue, but it has to be something amazing. Perhaps a deep metallic green with black running boards? Chrome, lots of chrome!! This truck has all the chrome bits, and we will maximize this. Will put the chrome strip down the center of the hood, too.

I want to put a visor on it. It has the chrome strips in the box, and we will find some type of beautiful wood to lay in there with it.

The dash -- I've seen it done with a cream color -- stunning. Some kind of funky material for the seat covers I think, just for fun.

All this mechanical stuff is new to me, and I am excited to jump in, learn, get dirty, and lend a hand to get it on the road. To think that one day I will be driving the old girl is a dream come true.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks,

Jenny

-30-