1954 3100 Chevy Shortbed

	Owned by Fran Gianfriddo "mr.brinker" Bolter # 17774 Massachusetts

From Fran :

          My truck is a 1954 3100 Chevy Shortbed. I purchased the truck in March in many, many pieces. The previous owner had started to restore it but got way ahead of himself.

          While I have owned and worked on a few oldies when I was younger, this is by far the most involved project I have undertaken.

          I actually found the truck by accident. For the past several months, for therapeutic reasons after having surprise and major heart surgery, I started looking for a late 1970’s C10. This, for me, would be an alternative to basket weaving. I looked on eBay, Craigslist, The Want Advertiser, and pretty much any other site or source I could find.

          Why a C10? Well, many years ago I had a C10 that mated with a ’65 Corvette 327 engine and it was a real fun truck. I started out with the plans of rebuilding the experience because it was so enjoyable when I stumbled onto both a 1970 C10 pretty much restored and driveable and a 1954 3100 in need of much rescue.

          Seeing the ’54 reminded me of a photo that I had many years ago, and still have in my studio [ pix ] , of a ’54 3100 completely restored. [ pix ] That beautifully designed truck had been on my wish list for awhile.

          After a couple of weeks of being torn in two directions (“immediate gratification” or “maybe someday”), I of course chose the hard road.

          I have owned a few vehicles in the past 30 or so years, including a ’34 Ford four-door, a ’52 Ford Sunliner, a ’62 Chevy SS (where I put the salvaged 327 from my C10 after my son hit a horse. The horse was fine, the truck didn’t do so well), and lastly a 1940 Ford pickup that I was forced to sell when I was building my new home. While I have had the past vehicles, this one will require armloads of work. I will “attempt” to do most of the work myself, but there will be the trade off of buying tools versus hiring someone’s service.

          I do not know the history of the truck but it appears that it has been restored in the past, evidenced by the discovery of bondo and skim coat after I stripped the paint. The floor pan has been replaced as well as the cab corners. I was told the original engine was rebuilt a couple years ago.

          I am, as you can imagine, a little overwhelmed as to how and where to start, but I guess I already have. I am not looking to build a show truck, just a dependable, sweet looking daily driver. Here is a link to my photo gallery.

          I look forward to my relationship with Stovebolt. In just a very short time I have met some fine and helpful people.

Thank you and be well,

Fran Gianfriddo

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