01 January 2013
# 2989

	Owned by Dave "Gibby" Gibson "54nut" Bolter # 32817 Poulsbo, Washington

1954 Chevrolet COE Dump Truck

More pictures of my old truck

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From Gibby :

In about 1977, I bought my first truck from a friend while we were in high school. It was a 1954 Chevy 3100. My friend had named it "Ol Blue." I wanted it red ... so I painted it red ... but no name.

My Brother and I used that truck to move from Salt Lake City, Utah to Port Orchard, Washington. My brother is cleaning the windshield in preparation for our move. He has since passed away, so the picture is pretty special.

Years later, I moved back to Utah and sold the truck back to my friend. He painted it blue again and he still has it to this day.

I got my second 1954 Chevy around 1985. I painted it blue ... go figure. That truck I owned for only a few years. I switched over to 1972 pickups and Suburbans all through the '80's and '90's.

I live in Washington state again now. I spent several years building homes and had no time for trucks. In 2007, after building what I thought would be our last home for awhile, I was out of projects and spent too much time watching "Overhaulin'." I needed a project.

I had done minor bodywork in the past and have painted several cars, trucks, and motorcycles. But I wanted to learn to do more extensive bodywork. I thought restoring an old truck would be the perfect project.

Now that I'm older and my toys are getting bigger (see track hoe), I decided to look for a 2-ton. I had never even seen a COE before, but something about the looks of the COE dump truck had me hooked. I do some excavation work with my track hoe and a dump truck would be very handy.

I found this 1954 Chevrolet COE Dump Truck in a Craigslist ad. It was so rusty, I should have scrapped it. However, since I wanted to learn some bodywork, it was a perfect candidate for that purpose. The truck was in Michigan, which is a far piece from Washington.

I flew to Michigan, met the owner Joe, and we became fast friends. He is a retired mechanic / auto worker with a yard full of projects and a barn full of tools -- a hobbyist's dream!

When I told Joe what it would cost to ship the truck, he offered to sell the yellow flatbed truck to me so I could drive it home myself. He then put me up at his house for a week while the two of us (90% Joe, with help from his son) got the yellow truck ready for the road. That was the best part of the whole adventure!

After we said our goodbye's, I drove the old yellow truck hauling the old red truck back to Seattle without a hitch.

Back to houses again: My wife Marla and I live on just over an acre outside of Poulsbo, WA. We sold the last house in 2010 because we wanted to downsize. I also wanted room to park trucks and track hoes! We rented a place until we found a new home, so there was no progress on the COE for a couple of years.

Once we got into the new house, and I finished an addition, I was free to dive in to the trucks -- did I say trucks? Oh, I picked up a second one -- Elmer! He's a 1954 2-ton Chevrolet 6200 Cattle Truck. Everyone thinks I'm crazy.

Of course, you all understand!

Lots of projects now! Check for the status of the projects in my forum thread and I'll keep adding pictures to the Photobucket album.

Dave

Dave's "getting older and his toys are getting bigger." Some nifty stuff. So far in the Stovebolt Gallery, Gibby's got a 1954 Chevrolet COE Dump Truck and "Elmer, a 1954 2-Ton Chevrolet 6200 Cattle Truck, and "Big Jim," a 1954 Chevrolet 2-ton 6500. "54Nut" is an appropriate screen name! He's "downsizing" his chores and "upsizing" his Stovebolt Cylinder Count! And then there's this 1995 International 4700, T444E with refer box.

And may we add, Dave is a firefighter for the City of Belview, Washington. Another Bolter in Uniform to whom we toot our horns in thanks for your service. ~ Editor

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